With the roll out of Mango for Windows Phone just around the corner and Microsoft starting to open up on Windows 8, , things are starting to get very interesting. To help the excitement along, Microsoft made a couple of announcements via their Windows Phone Blog.

First up is Xbox LIVE and some new capabilities coming down the pike.

• Avatar Awardables: Like achievements—but wearable. Once unlocked, these items will automatically appear in your avatar closet and can be worn on your avatar’s sleeve as a badge of honor. “Chickens Can’t Fly,” a forthcoming Xbox LIVE release, will be among the first titles to feature them.
• Game Add-ons: In the Xbox LIVE title “Beards & Beaks,” players can purchase extra mushrooms and other items from within the game using Microsoft Points. In the months ahead, keep your eyes out for more titles in Marketplace that let you buy in-game add-ons and downloadable content like extra weapons or levels.

• Parental Controls: The next release of Windows Phone gives parents more control of what content their child can access on Windows Phone, including M-rated (Mature) games. The first M-rated Windows Phone title, “Splinter Cell: Conviction,” is scheduled to arrive in the Marketplace later this fall.
• Fast Async: A new Xbox LIVE service coming this fall that improves gameplay for multiplayer, turn-by-turn (or asynchronous) Windows Phone games.

On top of that goodness the Xbox team has also announced a line-up of 14 new Xbox LIVE game titles that are going to be coming to your Windows Phone.

• Beards & Beaks: Cave Area
• Bug Village
• Burn the Rope
• Chickens Can’t Fly
• Collapse
• Gravity Guy
• Farm Frenzy 2
• Fight Game Rivals
• IonballEX
• Kinectimals Mobile
• Mush
• Orbital
• TextTwist 2
• Toy Soldiers Boot Camp

Fun times ahead.

[Cross-posted at Winextra]