The highly anticipated Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is less than two months away, and Sony and Microsoft have announced the dates and times of their individual press announcements. The biggest event in gaming will run from June 5 through June 7, bringing lots of exciting news and video game goodies. The day before the conference, however, is of particular importance, as that's when most of the major companies hold their press events.

Just like last year, Microsoft will be the first to set the bar, kicking off the E3 with its media event. The Redmond-based software company will be followed by Sony, Nintendo and other major players. The events are commonly referred to as the E3 "press conference," however the name is rather misleading since the press does not get to ask any questions. Instead, these conferences are highly orchestrated individual presentations, setting the tone for the rest of the E3 event.

Microsoft Starts the Day, Sony Ends It

Microsoft's E3 presentation will take place on Monday, June 4, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time/ 10 a.m. local time in Los Angeles, where the event will take place. Sony will follow at the end of the day, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Microsoft did not reveal its event location yet, but Sony announced it will use the same venue as last year, i.e. the Memorial Sports Arena. Last year, Sony took advantage of its timing as the last announcer and offered a night full of open bars and playable game stations. The company is expected to do the same this year.

According to the Examiner, both publishers are expected to make big announcements regarding both hardware and software. Both Sony and Microsoft, however, have confirmed that they will not be revealing nor talking about new-generation consoles at this year's event.

What to Expect

The so-called E3 press conferences are generally where publishers make their new announcements. At this year's E3 event, Microsoft it expected to talk about its Xbox 360 sales, platform-exclusives such as Halo 4, as well as its upcoming Kinect software lineup. Meanwhile, Sony is expected to talk about its PlayStation Vita titles, PS3 and Vita worldwide sales, as well as upcoming PS3 platform-exclusives such as The Last of Us from developer Naughty Dog, creator of Uncharted. Nintendo has yet to announce the time and date for its E3 media event. However, the company did confirm it will reveal a new Super Mario game for Wii U.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)