Microsoft has unveiled an impressive lineup of games to be released on Xbox 360 this year. Many offer only a modicum of originality but some appear to be a little more ambitious, like Alan Wake, which Microsoft claims will pioneer a new genre in gaming.

Fable III and Final Fantasy XIII are likely to be popular, as are the planned add-ons for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.

Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer said: "This is going to be an amazing year for Xbox 360 and for gamers worldwide. It's our biggest year yet, filled with games and entertainment that you won't find on any other console".

Upcoming games include:

March

Toy Soldiers (Signal Studios) - PG
Enter a miniature world where antique toy soldiers fight in vintage World War I dioramas. Launching March 4.

Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) - M
How many Final Fantasy's are they going to make? Sure it's been a brilliantly successful franchise, but it will be interesting to see if anything of value can be added this time around. Due March 9.

Perfect Dark (4J Studios) - Yet to be classified
Agent Joanna Dark brings her epic tale of galactic conspiracies in future America to Xbox 360 with remastered visuals, LIVE-enabled multiplayer modes, leader boards, achievements and avatar awards.

Scrap Metal (Slick Entertainment Inc.) - G
Guns and racing. What could be better? This one harks back to the good old days of top-down arcade racers. Launching in March as a part of the Xbox LIVE Arcade Block Party.

Game Room (Krome Studios Pty Ltd.) - Yet to be classified
Launching this March as a part of the Xbox LIVE Arcade Block Party, Game Room lets gamers relive their favourite arcade and console games in their original forms. Available on Xbox 360 and Windows-based PC.

April

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft Entertainment) - Yet to be classified
Tactical and super-realistic shooter. Coming to Xbox 360 and PC on April 15th.

May

Halo: Reach (Bungie) - Yet to be classified
Halo: Reach is a prequel to the best-selling Xbox franchise of all time. A Halo: Reach public multiplayer beta will start on May 4 on Xbox LIVE. Access to the beta will be available through the Halo 3: ODST game disc on Xbox LIVE.

Lost Planet 2 (Capcom) - M
This third-person shooter picks up 10 years after the original game. It allows players to follow the exploits of their own customized snow pirate on their quest to seize control of the changing planet. Due May 19.

Alan Wake (Remedy Entertainment Ltd.) - Yet to be classified
This game promises to establish a new genre - "the gripping psychological action thriller". Microsoft claims it will feel like a "chilling episodic TV series, where your wits and light are your only allies". Find out for youself on May 20.

Second half of 2010

Fable III (Lionhead Studios) - Yet to be classified
This will be one to watch. Fable III lets gamers journey from revolutionary to the ruler of Albion and beyond. As with the previous iterations, every decision you make has consequences that impact on your character and the rest of the game.

Crackdown 2 (Ruffian Games) - Yet to be classified
An open-ended action-adventure game that allows you to explore, destroy and battle it out in Pacific City.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2; content pack (Infinity Ward/Activision) - Yet to be classified
The first content packs for this award-winning title and biggest entertainment launch ever will be available first on Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE.

Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing (Valve) - Yet to be classified
This add-on brings the original Left 4 Dead survivors down south for a meeting with the Left 4 Dead 2 cast. If you can't get enough of the zombie killing, this could be worth picking up.

Dead Rising 2 (Capcom) - Yet to be classified
Zombie-bashing action-adventure game. More of the same, but could be fun.

Posted by James Heffield at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Hundreds of Kiwi gamers are expected to take part in New Zealand's first virtual LAN party on March 19 when gaming service KiwiLAN officially launches.

Setup by Auckland gamer Josiah Spackman in partnership with retail website GetThatGame, the service allows New Zealanders to compete over local servers, providing a smoother multiplayer experience than playing on an overseas server.

Spackman said KiwiLAN offered two servers hosting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, Age of Empires II: The Conquerors and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (The Frozen Throne and Defense of the Ancients scenario).

Gamers could access one of the servers already, but the March 19 virtual LAN party, kicking off at 7pm, would guarantee there were plenty of other gamers online to compete with.

Spackman said he setup KiwiLAN after he and his gaming friends became frustrated at how much their connections suffered when accessing similar overseas servers like Hamachi or Garena.

"We are just looking to encourage the gaming community in New Zealand by facilitating a good meeting place"

The service's registration process allowed access to New Zealanders only and many people suffered ping times, or delays, as low as 7 milliseconds between their PC and the servers, he said.

"If you compare it to a traditional LAN connection there's not much of a difference. People can get delays of up to 300 milliseconds when they are using overseas servers."

If KiwiLAN proved popular, Spackman was considering adding further games and support for Xbox 360 and PS3 connections. There were currently no forums on the website, but it did provide access to Teamspeak 3 - a VoIP service that allows gamers to chat with each other via their PCs much like a conference call, he said.

Posted by James Heffield at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 )