E3: MS Shows "Perfect Storm" Line-Up

Peter Moore says the Xbox 360's line-up is the best thing since, like, forever.

Microsoft vice president Shane Kim summed up the company's approach to 2007 in one sentence, saying: "Everything starts with the games."

The evening kicked off with some Halo music

On Tuesday the company kicked off its campaign at the E3 Media & Business Summit, running all of this week in Santa Monica, and while there was some news about the Xbox 360 itself, games were the main attraction.

Peter Moore, a vice president at Microsoft, led the assembled crowd through 90 minutes of announcements that he said demonstrated that the Xbox 360 had the best line-up of incoming games of any console.

Leading the way in '07 is Halo 3, Bungie's concluding chapter in the Halo trilogy. After teasing the crowd with a short live-action film, put together by Bungie, Lord of the Rings special effects company Weta Digital and one-time Halo movie director Neill Blomkamp, Moore introduced one of the most eagerly awaited snippets of game footage for this year - a glimpse at the singleplayer portions of Halo 3.

Halo 3 was the big game at Microsoft's press event

The clip showed some of the new enemies and vehicles and even appeared to show The Arbiter, the quasi-lead character last seen in Halo 2. And to show just how much the game means to Microsoft, Moore revealed a special edition of the Xbox 360 that will be ready for the game's launch in September.

This new version of the system includes an HDMI connection for HD TVs (last seen in the Elite) and a 20 GB hard drive, and both the console and the controller will be decked out in the green and gold of Master Chief's suit.

Outside of Halo 3, the game most Xbox 360 owners are probably waiting for is Grand Theft Auto IV. Microsoft emphasized that the game would be getting exclusive downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and confirmed that this would be rolling out by next spring

MS showed the second GTA IV trailer, touched on episodes

In the weeks leading up to E3 there was talk that Microsoft had spent a lot of money to make sure it got the two episodes, which Moore says will "complete" the story in the game. What they'll contain is anybody's guess, but he did say they would offer "hours" of extra gameplay.

Microsoft was at pains to point out the important contribution third-party publishers have had in the success of the Xbox 360, and the stage was handed over at several points in the presentation to the creators of some of the biggest games of 2007.

There was Assassin's Creed and Madden 08, Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat and even a sliver of footage from Resident Evil 5 - the only game shown during the presentation that will not be out this year.

Moore pimps the Xbox 360 line-up

Far from the rough-and-tumble was Viva Pinata, British developer Rare's stab at catering to the little ones. Though the Xbox 360 game was shunned - despite critical acclaim - last year by console owners, Microsoft's not giving up. The company announced Viva Pinata: Party Animals, a minigame compilation by Australian developer Krome Studios that is due out in time for Christmas.

There were hints that Microsoft is starting to think of more casual gamers too. One of the surprise showings was Scene It?, a game based on the popular board-and-DVD game. The Xbox 360 version will include HD-quality movie clips and there even be four special controllers (reminiscent of Sony's Buzz controller) bundled with the game.

After a slow start, things are starting to hum along on the Xbox Live Arcade. There has been a spate of games recently, and these are being joined this week by classic versions of Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog and Golden Axe. Other games announced included Hexic 2, arcade classic Track & Field, and Bungie's pre-Halo game Marathon: Durandal.

Gears of War on PC lets you battle the Brumak

It's not just about the Xbox 360 either. Microsoft showed off several of its PC games due under the Games For Windows banner, the highlight being Gears of War. The PC version will include a new multiplayer mode and five extra singleplayer chapters, including a chance to fight the tank-like Brumak creature Xbox 360 players were teased with.

Microsoft didn't say anything about the extra chapters coming to the Xbox 360, but, given Epic's willingness to serve its existing fans, it seems likely that it will happen at some point.

Missing from the event was anything related to a price cut - something many people had thought was made likely by Sony's recent decision to cut the price of the PlayStation 3.

Moore instead concentrated on what he called a "perfect storm" of games coming for the Xbox 360 in the latter half of the year. "This holiday will be unlike anything that's come before," Moore said.

If you're an Xbox 360 fan, he may well be right.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo