Xbox Living

Well, I’ve fallen behind on my blogging, and what a week for that to happen.  I didn’t have time to post all of the news on here, so I posted most of it to the Xbox Living Twitter account.  Here’s a rundown of what’s going on:

• Point Lookout, another DLC for Fallout 3, will be out on June 23
• Halo 3: ODST will be out on September 22
• Dragon Age: Origins will be released on October 20
• Forza Motorsport 3 will be out in October
• Assassin’s Creed 2 will be out November 17
• Left 4 Dead 2 will also be out November 17
• Alan Wake finally emerged with a trailer on Xbox Live.  It will be out Spring 2010.
• Final Fantasy XIII was shown off on the Xbox 360.  It will be out Spring 2010.
• A new Halo title was announced.  Halo: Reach will be out in Fall 2010.
• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 will be out in 2010
• Crackdown 2 was confirmed to be in the works.  A short trailer is available on Xbox Live.  The game promises “unprecedented levels” of multiplayer, both coop and competetive.
• Metal Gear Solid Rising is in development for the Xbox 360
• Square Enix announced a third-person mech shooter, Front Mission Evolved
• Microsoft announced Project Natal, a camera controller that will eliminate the need to hold anything.  It has facial recognition features and can track body movements.
• Microsoft promises that the Xbox 360 will get Modern Warfare 2 DLC maps first
• Joy Ride will be a free-to-play driving game featuring Xbox Live avatars
• Wolfenstein 3D is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace
• Sony announced that Final Fantasy XIV, the next Square Enix MMO, would be PS3-exclusive.  Later, they admitted it was coming to PC also.  Even later, Square Enix said it may still come to the Xbox 360.  Nice try, Sony.
• Microsoft says the Xbox 360 will be supported until 2015 at least
• The Xbox 360 will get support for Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm

So that’s most of it.  Lots of exciting games to check out in the next little while.  Be sure to follow @xboxliving on Twitter to get more updates as they happen!

Check out this interview with a DICE rep from GameSpot. We’ve got details on the multiplayer in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, as well as a first look at the game in action. 2010 seems too far away now.

Want more Xbox 360 updates?  Follow @xboxliving on Twitter.

We’ve got a new teaser for Modern Warfare 2 out now, showing a hint of gameplay:

It looks like the big reveal will be during the NBA Eastern Conference on May 24.

Want more Xbox 360 updates?  Follow @xboxliving on Twitter.

An image of the main character in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed sequel has surfaced online.  Named Ezio, the character will appear in 15th Century Venice, where the game is set.

The character appears to be similar to Altair, the protaganist of the original game.  Assassin’s Creed 2 will take the players to a different time in Italy.  Ezio is said to have gliding wings available, designed by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci himself.  He also carries hidden blades on both arms, and will have a wider variety of weapons available.

The game also promises to offer up more variety in gameplay, as the first Assassin’s Creed was a bit repetetive.  Ezio will also be able to accomplish one simple task that Altair apparently couldn’t do: swimming.

More as it comes!

At the Tokyo Game Show today, Microsoft confirmed and named a new Bungie title that’s been in the works: Halo 3: Recon.

Halo 3: Recon will be a prequel to last year’s Halo 3, and will give Halo fans a new hero to play as.  The events will be told through the eyes of a new character.  The game aims to provide a fresh take on the Halo story and will, along with the upcoming RTS game Halo Wars, expand the Halo universe.

Says Microsoft:

“Experience the fate of Earth from the brand-new perspective of a special forces ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), adding a unique outlook and new gameplay elements to the events that unfold in the trilogy’s finale. While the feel of this new chapter greatly resembles that of previous Halo experiences, Halo 3: Recon will require you to employ more elements of stealth and cunning than ever before.”

I’ll have more details on this Halo side-story as they surface.

This list is out-dated, and is only for the 2008 holiday season. To see a more current and complete list, see our full Xbox 360 Release Schedule.

There are so many games coming up between now and the holidays, it’s a little tough to keep track. I thought I’d compile a quick release calendar to show the schedule for the rest of the year. This isn’t 100% complete, but it includes all the major games.

Game	North America	Europe	Preorder (Amazon)
October
FIFA 09	October 14	October 3
Saints Row 2	October 14	October 17
Far Cry 2	October 21	October 24
Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon	October 21	November 14
Spider-man: Web of Shadows	October 21
Guitar Hero World Tour	October 26	November 7
Fable II	Ocboter 21	October 24
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3	October 28
Fallout 3	October 28	October 31
November
Tom Clancy’s EndWar	November 4	November 7
Quantum of Solace	November 4	October 31
Gears of War 2	November 7
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009	November 9	November 7
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe	November 10	TBA
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts	November 11	November 14
Call of Duty: World at War	November 11	November 14
Mirror’s Edge	November 11	November 14
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009	November 12	October 17
Tomb Raider: Underworld	November 18	November 21
Need for Speed: Undercover	November 18	November 21
Sonic Unleashed	November 18	November (TBA)
Left 4 Dead	November 19	November 21
The Last Remnant	November 20
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest	November 24
December
Prince of Persia	December 2	December 4

It’s a busy holiday release schedule, to be sure. Let me know if you think I’ve left out anything worth mentioning.

Fallout 3 and Mirror’s Edge are the ones I’m most interested in, although I’ll probably play Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2 and some others as well.  Which games are you looking forward to this Fall/Winter?

UPDATE: I’ll now be maintaining an Xbox 360 Release Calendar, so that new page for updates on Xbox 360 release dates and releases beyond 2008.