X06 Officially Underway

Kirjoittanut: Livegamers

27.09.2006

Uutinen

X06 is now officially underway with Microsoft’s press briefing. Some of the wild rumours have been confirmed but that is not all. The most interesting news were the converting of Halo series into a real-time strategy game Halo Wars by Ensemble Studios, Microsoft Game Studios collaborating with director/producer Peter Jackson and the announcement that Xbox 360 gamers will be provided with exclusive access to two downloadable episodes of Grand Theft Auto 4 via Xbox Live.
Halo Wars is the product of Ensemble Studios also known for the Age of Empires games. The game is made from the ground up exclusively for Xbox 360 and PC. Halo Wars is set in a time before Halo 1. For more information see the official website.

Director and producer Peter Jackson together with screenwriter Fran Walsh have come together with Microsoft Game Studios to create two new interactive entertainment series also exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The first will be a collaboration with Bungie Studios to create a new Halo game, which is not Halo 3, but something completely different with cinematic and interactive elements. The second will be an original title targeted to bringing new audiences into the world of interactive entertainment. For these purposes Jackson, Walsh and Microsoft Game Studios will establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio dedicated to the creation interactive entertainment.

Also released at the X06 Microsoft press briefing:

  • Two downloadable episodes of GTA 4 will be available via Xbox Live, with hours of gameplay. Available only on Xbox 360 within months after the release of the title.
  • Ubisoft confirmed that the new Splinter Cell (after Double Agent) title will be available only on Xbox 360.
  • A new title Bioshock from 2K Games will be released exclusively for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows next Spring.
  • Project Gotham Racing 4 was officially revealed, also exclusively for Xbox 360
  • The Banjo-Kazooie franchise will be brought exclusively for Xbox 360 by Rare.
  • A new MMO game by Microsoft Game Studios will be released for both Xbox 360 and the Windows Vista operating system, and it will be set in the fantastic Marvel Universe developed by Cryptic Studios.
  • Two new additions to Xbox Live Arcade: First the groundbreaking first-person shooter Doom from Software and Activision, available now on the Marketplace, includes original single-player game, four-player split screen action, both co-op and deathmatch and four player co-op and deathmatch on Xbox Live. Secondly the football game from Codemasters Sensible World of Soccer, which will be released at a later date.
  • The Xbox 360 HD DVD player will be arriving at retailers mid-November this year and the price will be €199,90 in Europe and $199,99 in North America, and as an extra treat the player comes with Peter Jackson’s King Kong on HD DVD and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.