Santa Monica, California—On the eve of the E3 Media & Business Summit (E3), against the backdrop of the Santa Monica night sky, Microsoft tonight demonstrated its leadership in interactive entertainment when it showcased an unparalleled lineup of holiday blockbuster hits and exclusives for Xbox 360™.
Get ready to "Finish the Fight" this holiday season.
Microsoft delighted a live audience of thousands, and many more watching the live online broadcast, with titles such as the epic finale to the groundbreaking
Halo series,
Halo® 3; the successor to the seminal
Grand Theft Auto franchise,
Grand Theft Auto IV, featuring exclusive content for Xbox LIVE®;
Madden NFL 08 with stunning high-definition game play; and the widely anticipated
Rock Band, where you can perform music from the world's biggest rock artists with your friends as a virtual band.
"No company in video game history has ever had
a lineup of blockbusters and exclusives
like we will have by this holiday."
—Peter Moore, Microsoft
Exclusives and Blockbuster Games
Xbox 360 is a great place to play the next chapters of
Grand Theft Auto,
Madden, and
Halo—the best-selling franchises of the last generation. In fact,
Halo 3,
Grand Theft Auto IV, and
Madden NFL 08 are expected to account for one-third of all console new release sales in the U.S. during the second half of the year, according to a recent report by IGN Entertainment's GamerMetrics.
Experience dynamic weather in
PGR 4.
Xbox 360 has an unprecedented lineup of blockbuster titles available by holiday 2007, including these:
- Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (NAMCO BANDAI Games): Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation takes you up to the sky and into the heat of realistic air combat with next-generation audio and visual effects and online multiplayer action. Available this holiday, only on Xbox 360.
- Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft): Assassin's Creed is the next-generation game developed by Ubisoft that merges technology, game design, theme and emotions into a world where you assume the role of the main character, Altair, and have the power to throw your immediate environment into chaos and experience the art of a master assassin. Available this November.
- Beautiful Katamari (NAMCO BANDAI Games): Marking the debut of Namco's beloved ball-rolling puzzle game on a next-generation platform, Beautiful Katamari, the fourth installment of the Katamari series, features levels of quirkiness, cosmic animations, and musical stylings never seen before. Available this October.
- BioShock (2K Games): BioShock is the "genetically enhanced" first-person shooter set in the ruined undersea metropolis of Rapture. Available this August, only on Xbox 360 and Windows®.
- Blue Dragon™ (Mistwalker/Artoon Co. Ltd.): From famed game producer Hironobu Sakaguchi comes Blue Dragon, a unique, epic role-playing game. Available August 28, only on Xbox 360.
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision): The new action thriller from the award-winning team at Infinity Ward Inc., Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare delivers the most intense and cinematic action experience ever. The epic title also delivers an added depth of multiplayer action providing online fans an all-new community of persistent, addictive, and customizable gameplay. Available this fall.
- Dance Dance Revolution UNIVERSE™ 2 (Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.): The series' encore performance on Xbox 360 delivers new gameplay options along with a mix of songs from the seventies, eighties, nineties and today as well as online play, downloadable music, enhanced graphics, and accessibility for players of all ages.
- Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games): Grand Theft Auto IV is the next chapter of the award-winning Grand Theft Auto franchise, available October 16. Grand Theft Auto IV will feature episodic content through Xbox LIVE exclusive to Xbox 360.
- Guitar Hero III™: Legends of Rock (RedOctane/Activision):Fire up the fret board, crank up the amp and get ready to rock out on the new wireless Les Paul guitar controllers. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock includes star-studded tracks by such legendary artists as Guns N' Roses, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Muse, and Pearl Jam. Available this fall.
- Halo 3 (Bungie Studios):The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Halo 2. Available September 25, only on Xbox 360.
- Madden NFL 08 (Electronic Arts Inc.): EA's unstoppable football franchise returns for the '08 season in Hall of Fame fashion, featuring new players, modes, rosters and rewards to create the ultimate touchdown for pigskin fans. Available this August.
- Mass Effect™ (BioWare Corp.):An epic science-fiction action and role-playing game, Mass Effect delivers an immersive, story-driven experience presented in a cinematic style with high production values. Available this holiday season, only on Xbox 360.
- Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (Ubisoft):Relive the hit anime and manga and experience Naruto's transformation from noisy ninja-academy dropout to respected ninja. Available in October, only on Xbox 360.
- Project Gotham Racing® 4 (Bizarre Creations Ltd.): Project Gotham Racing 4 redefines the acclaimed PGR franchise by delivering a unique, exciting racing experience complete with motorcycles and cars. Available this September, only on Xbox 360.
- Rock Band (MTV Games): Rock Band lets you perform music from the world's biggest rock artists with your friends as a virtual band. Available this holiday season.
- Scene It?® Lights, Camera, Action (Screenlife Games/WXP): Scene It?brings the fun of movie trivia to players of all ages with new TV and movie clips in high definition as well as five new puzzle challenges never before shown in a Scene It? game. It also ships with four new Xbox 360 Big Button Pads and will be available this holiday season, only on Xbox 360.
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft):In the latest installment of Tom Clancy's coveted Splinter Cell franchise, experience an adrenaline rush of gameplay where hunted down as a fugitive, you have no choice other than using everything in your environment to survive. Available this holiday.
- Virtua Fighter™ 5 (SEGA):This new installment in the critically acclaimed series brings intense, arcade fighting action, an all-star cast of 17 fighters and, a next-generation first for the franchise, online two-player versus mode only on Xbox LIVE.
- Viva Piñata®: Party Animals (Krome Studios Pty. Ltd.): An exciting new party game based on the critically acclaimed Xbox 360 exclusive and hit animated TV series, Viva Piñata: Party Animals brings back the familiar piñata animals and invites you and your friends to compete in a host of mini-games against friends at home or over Xbox LIVE. Available this holiday season,only on Xbox 360.
"Thanks to our amazing partners and our own studios, no company in video game history has ever had a lineup of blockbusters and exclusives like we will have by this holiday," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "We have a monumental library of titles hitting stores by the end of this year for Xbox 360 that will strike an emotional chord with every type of customer."
High-Definition Content on Marketplace
In a move that will add to the incredible popularity of Xbox LIVE Marketplace, Microsoft announced an agreement with Disney-ABC Domestic Television to make high-definition and standard definition feature films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, and Hollywood Pictures available for rent on demand to members of Xbox LIVE in the U.S. A growing catalogue of current and library titles will be available this July with more blockbusters to come.
Microsoft also announced the highly anticipated rollout of the high-definition video store on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for customers around the globe. Microsoft will begin bringing content to living rooms in Europe and Canada by the end of this year. Currently offering more than 2,350 hours of premium entertainment content from 28 networks and studios, and nearly 500 hours of HD content alone, this puts the U.S. on-demand, high-definition library for Xbox 360 at more than twice the size of the nearest cable provider.
In addition, Microsoft will be adding several new Xbox LIVE Arcade titles sure to be a hit this summer, including these:
- Bomberman Live: This bomb-dropping action title features eight person multiplayer from Hudson Entertainment.
- Golden Axe: The classic action-adventure game with two-person multiplayer from SEGA is available for download now from Xbox LIVE Arcade.
- Hexic® 2: Experience head-to-head competition in this action puzzler sequel to Hexic HD from Carbonated Games.
- Marathon: Durandal: This first-person shooter was the precursor to Halo from Freeverse.
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords: This is an engaging action-RPG puzzle game from D3Publisher of America.
- Sonic The Hedgehog: The classic platform game updated in HD from SEGA is available for download now from Xbox LIVE Arcade.
- Undertow: This underwater shooter features multiplayer for up to 16 people from Chair Entertainment Group.
Special Edition Console and Accessories
The Xbox platform of hardware and accessories is thriving with American consumers spending more money on Xbox 360 than on any other next-generation platform (NPD, May 2007).
Join the Halo Nation with this new console.
At E3, Microsoft announced European availability of the premium Xbox 360 Elite starting August 24 and unveiled several new additions to the Xbox 360 hardware and accessories lineup, all available this holiday season, including these:
- Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition Console: In anticipation of this year's largest blockbuster gamer launch, Microsoft will offer the Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition console. The console features an authentic Spartan green and gold finish and comes with matching Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, 20GB Hard Drive, Headset, Play & Charge Kit, and exclusive Halo 3 Gamer Pics and Theme available via Xbox LIVE download. Available in September.
- Xbox 360 Messenger Kit: Chatting with friends and family on Xbox LIVE and Windows XP- and Windows Vista®-based PCs can now be done using the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. This device easily connects to any Xbox 360 controller and provides thumb-stroke chat capabilities while maintaining gameplay functionality in one easy-to-hold device. The Xbox 360 Messenger Kit includes a Chatpad and Xbox 360 Headset, and will be available beginning September 6.
- Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers available in festive new colors: Express your identity with new pink and dark blue Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers. These new colors will be available in October.
