As we mentioned just a few days ago, we were expecting Microsoft to have a few announcements at Gamescom conference in Germany this week and sure enough, they delivered. And in our opinion, big time.
In an exciting move, Microsoft has announced a whole hodge podge of game titles that will be released during the launch phase of Windows Phone 7 and there are some biggies. The are so many in fact, you'll have click the link to see the whole list, but we'll tease you with a few:
- Halo: Waypoint
- Bejeweled LIVE
- Castlevania
- Guitar Hero 5
- Max and the Magic Marker
- Star Wars: Battle for Hoth
- Assassins Creed
- Asphalt 5
In all, there will be 50 titles launching this year (all listed after the break), from studios such as Gameloft, Konami, Namco Bandai, PopCap, THQ and of course, the newly formed Mobile Gaming Studios from Microsoft.
Sound exciting? Read on for some screen shots, videos, the official commercial, a poll and much more details!
One of the most interesting games will no doubt be Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst. At first, it seems to be a traditional tower-defense game, but ahhh..there's a twist! The "tower" you defend and the maps come from Microsoft's Bing map engine! In other words, you choose your location and the game will make your tower there (e.g. your house) and use the roads as entry points for enemies.
Talk about augmented reality--this is the kind of creativity we want from Microsoft and their partners. Amirite?
Not too much is know about Halo: Waypoint except for this screenshot, but we imagine it has to be good but we here it's nothing special. This is not the Halo we were looking for but just a way to follow your online stats/history.
Microsoft plans to add new titles in addition to those listed below every week between launch and the Holiday season, meaning there won't be a shortage of game titles or choices:
First wave launch titles:
- 3D Brick Breaker Revolution (Digital Chocolate)
- Age of Zombies (Halfbrick)
- Armor Valley (Protégé Games)
- Asphalt 5 (Gameloft)
- Assassins Creed (Gameloft)
- Bejeweled LIVE (PopCap)
- Bloons TD (Digital Goldfish)
- Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
- Bubble Town 2 (i-Play)
- Butterfly (Press Start Studio)
- CarneyVale Showtime (MGS)
- Castlevania (Konami)
- Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst (MGS)
- De Blob Revolution (THQ)
- Deal or No Deal 2010 (i-Play)
- Earthworm Jim (Gameloft)
- Fast & Furious 7 (i-Play)
- Fight Game Rivals (Rough Cookie)
- Finger Physics (Mobliss Inc.)
- Flight Control (Namco Bandai)
- Flowerz (Carbonated Games)
- Frogger (Konami)
- Fruit Ninja (Halfbrick)
- Game Chest-Board (MGS)
- Game Chest-Card (MGS)
- Game Chest-Logic (MGS)
- Game Chest-Solitaire (MGS)
- GeoDefense (Critical Thought)
- Ghostscape (Psionic)
- Glow Artisan (Powerhead Games)
- Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
- Guitar Hero 5 (Glu Mobile)
- Halo Waypoint (MGS)
- Hexic Rush (Carbonated Games)
- I Dig It (InMotion)
- iBlast Moki (Godzilab)
- ilomilo (MGS)
- Implode XL (IUGO)
- Iquarium (Infinite Dreams)
- Jet Car Stunts (True Axis)
- Let’s Golf 2 (Gameloft)
- Little Wheel (One click dog)
- Loondon (Flip N Tale)
- Max and the Magic Marker (PressPlay)
- Mini Squadron (Supermono Limited)
- More Brain Exercise (Namco Bandai)
- O.M.G. (Arkedo)
- Puzzle Quest 2 (Namco Bandai)
- Real Soccer 2 (Gameloft)
- The Revenants (Chaotic Moon)
- Rise of Glory (Revo Solutions)
- Rocket Riot (Codeglue)
- Splinter Cell Conviction (Gameloft)
- Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (THQ)
- Star Wars: Cantina (THQ)
- The Harvest (MGS)
- The Oregon Trail (Gameloft)
- Tower Bloxx NY (Digital Chocolate)
- Twin Blades (Press Start Studio)
- UNO (Gameloft)
- Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet (i-Play)
- Zombie Attack! (IUGO)
- Zombies!!!! (Babaroga)
On top of all of this excitement, Engadget managed to get some video of some of our new games in action. Trust us when we say these game look mighty good--almost bizarre on such a phone. Maybe it's the AMOLED screen, but it almost looks like movie special effects instead of a real, live demonstration. Take a look for yourself:
Also demonstrated were just how functional the Avatars will be on the device. Turns out that they can handle mini-apps just fine--very creative usage. It's sort of like having a mini-Tamagatchi...but of yourself:
Finally, to top if all off is the official commercial for Xbox LIVE + Windows Phone 7. We think it hits all the right notes and would do well if seen on TV:
What can we say? While true, live multiplayer is currently not enabled, it is something they seen doing on the platform in the future, so for now we'll have to rely on turn-based multiplayer games which is just fine by us.
Overall, there are some very strong titles here and goes to show how well Microsoft has gone ahead and worked with their partners to deliver a solid gaming platform right out the gate. While there are rumors of a Playstation + Android partnership coming down the line in 2011, the fact is this Xbox LIVE and Windows Phone 7 is a reality that will be launching in less than 7 weeks.
Very exciting and you can read more at the official 'Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone' website right here. But perhaps we're just being giddy, what do you think of this announcement versus your expectations?
Take our poll below and let loose in the comments! High-fives to anyone who critiques Android (just kidding drphysx!)
