New Special Edition "Halo 3" Xbox 360 and Family Fun 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). At E3, Microsoft announced European availability of the premium Xbox 360 Elite starting Aug. 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 Sept. 6. ERP $29.99 (U.S.).
* Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers available in festive new colors. Gamers can express their identity with new pink, dark blue and light blue Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers. These new colors will be available in October. ERP $49.99 (U.S.).

Whether you want to find adventure in a blockbuster game or lose yourself in a magical movie moment, you can get the ultimate in entertainment in your living room with Xbox 360® and Xbox LIVE™. Today at the E3 Media & Business Summit, Microsoft Corp. and Disney-ABC Domestic Television announced an agreement to bring feature films from The Walt Disney Studios to U.S. members of Xbox LIVE, the online games and entertainment network on Xbox 360.

Beginning today, consumers of all ages will have access to a growing catalog of new and classic movies from The Walt Disney Studios including titles from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films, on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, the leading high-definition-video download service. Xbox 360 owners will be able to rent popular Disney films on demand as they become available, such as "Bridge to Terabithia," Miramax Film's "The Queen" and Touchstone Pictures' "Déjà Vu."

"We're always looking for more ways to let people experience our films," said Dan Cohen, executive vice president of pay television and interactive media for Disney-ABC Domestic Television. "With the millions of Xbox 360 consoles in living rooms today with a direct, high-speed Internet connection, Xbox LIVE really has become a terrific device for the delivery of digital entertainment content."

As a result of this partnership between Microsoft and Disney-ABC Domestic Television, an array of current and library titles will be available this July, with more to come in both standard and high definition. Currently offering more than 2,350 hours of premium entertainment content from 15 partners, Xbox LIVE Marketplace is the only online service offering downloadable movies and TV shows in high definition. In a little more than seven months since video content was launched on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, there have been nearly 10 million downloads of entertainment content.

"Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE Marketplace truly offer something for everyone of all ages, gender or personal taste," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "With this partnership, we are able to feature blockbuster new releases as they become available, as well as an incredible array of classic family films that made Disney the icon it is today."

Xbox LIVE Marketplace content is available to all Xbox 360 owners. High-definition new-release movie rentals are 480 Microsoft® Points each, and standard-definition new-release movie rentals are 320 Microsoft Points each. Classic feature films in high definition are 360 Microsoft Points each, and classic feature films in standard definition are 240 Microsoft Points. More information is available online at Xbox.com | Movies & TV Shows - Movies and TV on your Xbox.

8:00: So here we are on the eve of the new E3 and every thing's much the same so far with Microsoft getting its press conference in first. Tonight's location is Santa Monica High School's amphitheatre. We wish our school had an amphitheatre. We don't really know what one is but it looks good. And as we're in LA, there's zero chance of rain for the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows showcase. This isn't Wimbledon...

8:15: While we wait for things to begin we're treated to banging dance music and a huge screen displaying the Gamertag's of all present. No sign of CVG Online yet. Over on the left of the stage are four stands with three different Xboxs on. There's the Core, Premium and Elite. What would sit on the fourth we'd have to wait and see...

8;30 We're being told to sit down and shut up as things are about to get started. Smoke is coming from under the stage - we hope that's planned. Here we go:

Five Halo 3 fans are introduced and the Halo monks are singing away. The screen goes all starry. It's a bunch of kids playing the Halo theme live on stage. We did a story about it a few months back AND MADE THEM FAMOUS. They've must have been practising as they sound much better - especially that girl on the violin. And the crowd goes wild during the solo bit. Few whoops there. It's like Top of the Pops but with Halo! Shots of the game fade into the screen as the monks do their thing. They're off again, hammering that theme tune. No sign of Steve Via though. Now on to the third encore.

8:37: Peter Moore steps out of the smoke and thanks the teenagers. He says they're just like all the other Halo 3 fans who'll be playing this game this September. Moore says hi to everyone watching from home (hi) and says all games we're about to see will be out this year.

8:40: Harmonix comes to the stage and Moore gets into a bit of Rock Band. Crap joke about pumping it up to 11 made by Moore. Four of them are doing the whole band. There's a woman singing away, a bloke sat down on drums and Moore is one part of the dual axe-attack. It's not Slayer but it looks like awesome fun. Moore's looking a bit like my Dad now, lightly bouncing on the stage. Oops, he's failed. Moore puts his hands up and it all starts again. Then fails again. Everyone loves it though. More bands are expected to be announced later this week, Moore adds.

8:43: Semi -new game coming in the form of Viva Pinata: Party Animals. A trailer of the new Rare game looks as colourful as every and has the US audience laughing their heads off. Sounds like it's mini-game based.

8:45: Now on to something completely different - Mass Effect. New trailer now being shown and the crowd goes numb. Moore says the game will be with us this November.

8:47: Now for the financial stuff. Moore says 360 is outselling Ps3 almost 2-1 and that people will spend more money on games than music. 360 has sold more game at retail than both Nintendo and Sony COMBINED. He points out that this is very good for third-party publishers. 2.4 billion dollars spent on 360 stuff - again more than Wii and PS3 COMBINED.

8:50: Moore starts talking about last gen best-sellers; GTA, Madden and Halo pointed out as massive sellers. He points out that the same is about to happen this Christmas and it's only Xbox 360 where you'll be able to play all three. Ok, now on to a reel of other games that will drive things forward. We see PGR4, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, COD4, Stranglehold, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey, NBA Live 08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, MOH: Airborne, Tiger Woods, Ace Combat 6, NHL 08, Assassin's Creed (big cheer for that one), Spider-Man: Friend of Foe, The Simpsons Game, Conviction, NASCAR 08, Eternal Sonata, BioShock (another cheer), Madden 08, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans, Potter, The Orange Box (cheer), Bee Movie The Game, Rock Band and Naruto. No Halo oddly - maybe they're planning something special.

8:55: Corporate VP Jeff Bell takes to the stage and talks unique content. He's here to introduce Scene It, the board game game for 360. There's a new controller too - looks a bit like the BUZZ! pad to us. Everyone in the audience sees it too. Buzz on 360 under a different name. A bit fuss now being made about Ubisoft's Naruto with a trailer being shown. Bell says MS is bringing the best of games to the console for kids and families. His voice is very soothing. He sounds like one of those TV voice overs advertising a relaxing gentle spar product. We've been stuck in the hotel room too long.

9:00: Bell brings out an NFL football player and starts wise-talking with him while playing live on screen. EA's games will now run faster than ever over Live Bell promises. Now we're into Xbox Live chatter and he says there's a new subscriber every 8 seconds. By next E3 (!) we'll see ten million people on Live, we'll hold you to that Jeff.

9:08: Some new stuff here too! Run VT - Bomberman Live, Undertow, Hexic 2, Sonic, War World, Sensi Soccer (gets a clap that one), Geon, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track and Field, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle SF 2, Marathon (!), Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest, and maybe another.

Two are available RIGHT NOW! Golden Axe and Sonic! Go grab 'em we say.

9:13: Now we move on to video distribution. They're announcing a deal with Disney to bring its hits to Xbox Live. Yes, that includes Jungle Book, Hunchback, Atlantis, Hercules, Armageddon, Waterboy, Bad Company, Unbreakable, Brother Grimm, Deja Vu, The Queen, Venus. All content we just saw can be downloaded RIGHT NOW! Shame us Europeans can't get any of it yet. Fingers crossed that'll be sorted out.

Bell says Global roll-out this autumn. By end of the year Canada and Europe get some too - August 24 for Elite in Europe is confirmed. About bloody time too.

9:11: MGS Games boss Shane Kim grabs the mic and bigs up 360's incoming games. He just mentioned Halo 3! Single-player footage soon please. Kim talks high review scores, in particular Forza 2 (we give it 8.5) and PGR. Time for some new footage of the fourth. Two lads from Bizarre step out. People start looking at each other as the Liverpool accents ring out across Santa Monica. They start showing the bikes everyone's been talking about and say it'll be out this September. We're going to put through a few extra taxi receipts to help us pay for all these games coming out in September.

My back and **** are starting to ache now from sitting on an Xbox 360 pad for the last hour

9:18: Kim talks future games including Halo Wars, Banjo 360 and whatever Peter Jackson's up to in New Zealand. Lost Odyssey is now being shown on the big screen. This'll get the RPG nerds sweating - it looks incredible on a truly epic scale. Claps all round for that one too. Kim says 360 is the only place to be for RPGs this Christmas.

9:20 Kim moves on to Windows (Ross from PC Gamer - sat behind us - lets out a small whoop) and announces Viva and, surprise, Gears of War. Cliffy B's now coming out to talk about the new stuff for Gears on PC. Five new single player chapters for PC, new multiplayer modes and other stuff. Cliffy plays a fight with that big massive ******* we only saw in the ads. Looks AWESOME! It's due this Christmas. Nothing about cross-platform play though...

9:24: Moore is back and announces Sega, Eidos and THQ as partners with the Windows. Games For Windows will be built into Unreal Engine 3, so that should be interesting at some point in the future. Bit of noise now being made about PC Gamers moving to Vista. Couple of sniggers humming around the amphitheatre there.

Here comes a video of Vitsa games to expect; Hellgate, AoE III, Stranglehold, Gears of War, BioShock, Crysis, Universe at War, Blacksite, World in Conflict, Conan, Kane & Lynch, Zoo Tycoon 2, Juiced 2, Viva Pinata, Spider-Man: Friend of Foe... Claps all around.

9:30: Time for some COD4 now and a new trailer to take in. Looks like a lot of CGI so far with a scary Russian voice-over, Whoops AND claps for that one. Moore brings out two of the devs to show us some in-game action. "We're going deep and going hard," says Grant Collier and that got the biggest laugh of the night so far.

In-game it looks great. John's recording every second and he'll be up all night posting videos of the show. The animation on the NPC supporting you looks fricking real. They've skipped to a more exciting bit in a house. Now they're running through the grass as a copter comes overhead. They're running again and then they dive into the ground and start crawling. enemies troops are right on top of them now... This is tense. Doh, it's stopped.

Exclusive 360 Beta for the game on its way. Check out COD.com or something like that.

9:37: Moore's back to talk Fisher and Conviction. But he's stopped and we're now onto GTA IV on the GIANT screen. We're being shown the second trailer again (Moore points out that both trailers have come from the 360 version - dig, dig). Shame there's nothing new here but it still look good on a GIANT screen. Moore tells us again about the release dates and exclusive downloadable content that'll provide "hours" of extra play.

To Tokyo now and Japanese development. He had to get the VF5 online dig in there too! Now we're being shown a game that won't launch this year but it's all in game. It's the new Resident Evil game! Holy ****! Looks set in a third world country with disease everywhere. July 26 will see the full trailer go up on Xbox Live.

9:42; Ah, Jade Raymond comes to the stage for some new Assassin's Creed action. We're seeing Jerusalem for the first time. Everything in the distance is interactive. Jade's sidekick is going to take out a street trader. Looks pretty similar to what we've already seen. Pushing people through the crowd etc. Oh, there's some of that memory stuff going on. Jade's not giving anything away though. Dead bodies are floating in the air, this looks a bit buggy and the demo's not going to plan. Jade laughs it off though so we'll forgive her. Combat system being shown now and it's all about counter-attacks. This is the bit of the game we need to play for ourselves. Word is it's not that hot. Game's still on track for a November release.

9:48: It's Halo time! Bungie and Wetta director Neil Blomkampt show us some live action stuff. Looks like the makings of a movie to us. Warthogs and Pelicans being assembled, troops preparing for battle. We'll have it up soon hopefully.

On to Halo 3 and Moore says it'll be the biggest launch and he's announcing a new console for Halo Nation. It's a special Halo 3 Edition Console. Goes down a lead balloon. Only one person whoops and someone yells out if he can swap the Elite he's just bought. We're building up for some new stuff... Maybe...

People are already beginning to leave. They'll be the ones that get the cabs first. We hope this part of Santa Monica's not rough. We're loaded with kit.

9:54: Moore says the cards are on table. Oh, here we go - new Halo 3 stuff. Single player stuff too! Lots of fire and destruction. Elites and Spartans going for it. Some multiplayer stuff too. Chief and an Elite together again? Bit action on Earth it looks like. Massive round of applause for that one.

10:00: Game over. My fingers hurt. Where's a cab?