2006 Tokyo Game Show Update: XBox 360

The Xbox 360 has had a bit of a slow start, with some great-looking, yet not so entertaining list of titles, that is with the exception of a few (Call Of Duty 2, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth....) but their next wave of titles is promising to be a lot stronger. Here are some of the new games Microsoft had on display at the Tokyo Game Show this week and a couple pics of a few of them. I recommend going to your favorite video game site and downloading the new video clips for these games. Most are quite amazing. It is evident that the next-gen is upon us with some of these titles: (images courtesy of IGN.com)

Gears of War - Microsoft has been pushing this title as their next Halo until Halo 3 comes out. I don't think it could ever live up to Halo 3's hype, but the game looks darn good! I have to admit, I'm impressed! (FYI I'm one of the hardest people in the world to impress....I hate everything....I'm not joking) The gameplay footage looks awesome and the overall design is sort of like Halo, but a lot darker. The game is also a 3rd person shooter but plays like a FPS. It's sort of like a Resident Evil 4 control scheme. I'm looking forward to playing it.

Half-Life 2 - Spectacular. Very cool FPS that looks quite stunning. Can't wait to try it. You need to watch video of this game to appreciate it.

Lost Planet - Very awesome. Third person shooter with great graphics and design style. Fight aliens and giant monsters on a hostile frozen planet. Looks promising.

Project Sylpheed - A very Macross/Robotech-looking arcade-style shooter. Shooter as in, you pilot a spaceship shooter. Looks fun.

The Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II - If any of you haven't played the first installment (LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth) you should rent it or buy it right now. It's totally a blast to play, especially if you are a fan of Warcraft and Starcraft-type strategy games. It was a pleasant surprise.

There were also some titles announced that I was surprised to find out that they would be released on the XBox 360. I had originally assumed they would be PS3 exclusive games. It looks like Microsoft will be stealing some of Sony's fire by releasing Armored Core 4 and Assasin's Creed on the 360.

Assasin's Creed - In case you haven't heard about or seen Assasin's Creed, Take a look at the pics below. That's actual gameplay footage (or so they say). You play an assasin that must sneak around through populated areas and kill your target, then escape without being caught. Non-player characters will either try to help you, or hinder you depending on your actions.

Armored Core 4 - Nothing has really beed said about this game. We're all assuming it's going to be a typical Armored Core game but better looking. Hopefully they will improve on the gameplay and missions though. The series needs a makeover badly. Still looking forward to playing it though.

Gundam Mobile Ops: The One Year War - If this game plays anything like the PS3 Gundam game that's coming out, then it's going to hurt. The PS3 Gundam, well let's put it this way, it's complete drudgery. I think the world is tired of sluggish mech fighting. I'll choose Armored Core over Gundam any day. The mechs look way better also.

Blue Dragon - This is the first RPG title by Mistwalker studios. The new studio formed by Square-Enix's Hironobu Sakaguchi. Character design is done by one of my favorite artists, Akira Toriyama. The game is about a young boy who goes on an adventure with his two friends and a blue dragon. It looks very kiddy, but might be good.

Lost Odyssey - The second RPG title by Mistwalker studios. The footage I have seen of this game kicks A**. It has a dark medieval yet futuristic look and is graphically very impressive. The action cut scenes and the gameplay are seamless and well animated, making it an RPG worth playing. The turn-based battles are worth playing just to see all of the animations take place. Very cool.

Viva Pinata - This is a very weird game coming out where you tend to a farm full of living pinata animals. Yes, pinata animals, like the kind you hit with a wooden stick on your birthday. I don't know who dreamt this one up, but they should talk you the guy who invented Katamari Damacy and they should get married. I'll pass on this one.

And let's not forget about Call of Duty 3. If it's anywhere near as good as Call of Duty 2, then I'll take it. The original Call of Duty on the PS2 was not very good in my opinion. However, it seems they re-vamped the series for the next-gen systems and they became totally different games.

So, these were the games that caught my eye for the 360's showing at the Tokyo Game Show this week. Next post, the PS3.