Nintendo announced today during its E3 press conference in Santa Monica that its anticipated platformer Super Mario Galaxy will be shipping in North America on November 12, 2007.

Speaking on the game, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said, "I don't know how else to put it. This game is over the top. This is the first worthy successor to Mario 64. We believe this sets a new gold standard for player interface--not just for platformers, but for any game."

The company also divulged the release date for its upcoming Wii fighter Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The game will ship in North America on December 3, 2007. No mention was made as to whether or not the game will support online play.

During Nintendo's E3 press conference today, Nintendo of America revealed the Wii Zapper, a gun-like controller housing for both the Wii remote and nunchuk attachment. The peripheral, which will sell for $19.99, resembles an SMG and will release this fall. It will be packaged with Nintendo-developed software; specific details regarding the software were not revealed.

Nintendo pointed to a variety of games designed for use with the Wii Zapper, including Capcom's Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Sega's Ghost Squad, and a new Medal of Honor game from EA.

Microsoft today announced a new partnership with Walt Disney Company to bring its broad catalog of movie properties to Xbox Live Marketplace. Animated films such as Tarzan, The Emperor's New Groove, Hercules will make an appearance, as well as live action titles like Armageddon and The Brothers Grimm.

Past and future films from studios Walt Disney, Touchstone, Paramount, and Miramax are included in the deal. The movies will be available in both SD and HD formats, according to a trailer shown at Microsoft's E3 press event. The standard HD price of 360 ($4.50) Microsoft Points for older titles and 480 points ($6) for new releases will apply.

Microsoft also revealed that the Video Marketplace will be launched in Europe and Canada this fall.

During Microsoft's E3 press conference, company VP Peter Moore stated that the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV, shipping for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 16, 2007, will be the only version of the game to include all available additional content.

In 2006, Microsoft announced that Rockstar would be releasing "exclusive episodic content for Xbox Live" on its system, but was unclear as to whether other veroins might have separate exclusive content. Rumors later surfaced that GTA4 on PS3 would be exclusive downloadable content as well.

"Where the GTA4 experience stops on other platforms, it continues on Xbox 360," said Moore. "This will make Xbox 360 the only console where you can get the complete Grand Theft Auto IV experience."

This week's comments by Moore seem to snuff those earlier PS3... Read more

Contrary to recent rumors, Namco Bandai's upcoming Beautiful Katamari might not be an Xbox 360 exclusive after all.

While discussing the publishers forthcoming Xbox 360 titles, Microsoft VP Peter Moore mentioned Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation and the tri-Crescendo-developed Eternal Sonata as examples of the company's exclusive Xbox 360 offerings, but failed to apply that same label to Beautiful Katamari.

Beautiful Katamari was originally slated for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but the PlayStation 3 version has not been referenced by Namco Bandai since the initial announcement. Rumors of Xbox 360 exclusivity have persisted--including a report in this week's issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu--but have yet to be confirmed.

Turning up the the Halo 3 hype, Microsoft will release an Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition Console this September, the company announced at its E3 press conference. The hardware will feature a "Spartan green" and gold color scheme on its exterior and all its components.

The black, HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 Elite that launched in North America earlier this year will be coming to Europe August 24, Microsoft also announced.

Though the Halo 3 Special Edition bundle will feature the HDMI port of the Xbox 360 Elite, it will come with the smaller 20GB hard drive of the premium Xbox 360. The special edition console will not include... Read more

The first Resident Evil game on a Microsoft console won't be appearing until sometime next year, Microsoft VP Peter Moore revealed at the company's E3 press conference. While most of the games at the event were slated for a 2007 release, Moore prefaced the trailer for Capcom's Resident Evil 5 (PS3, X360) by saying the much-anticipated followup would be the only title to not hit this year.

An extended version of the brief trailer, which was recorded using in-game assets, will be available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace on July 26.

Epic Games' beautiful tactical shooter, Gears of War, will be making the jump from Xbox 360 to PC this year.

Epic founder Cliff Bleszinski demonstrated the PC version of the game at Microsoft's E3 event when the announcement was made.

The game will feature new content including a game editor, five new chapters, an additional multiplayer mode, new maps, and new achievements.

Gears of War on PC will be compatible with both Windows XP and Vista, according to Microsoft.

BioWare's anticipated Xbox 360 roleplaying game Mass Effect will arrive in stores this November, Microsoft announced today during its E3 press conference. Nothing had been heard regarding the game's ship date since being rumored for summer release.

Additionally, Microsoft said Mistwalker Studios' own RPG Lost Odyssey should see a release before the year ends. Mistwalker's other Xbox 360 RPG, Blue Dragon, will ship in North America on August 28.

Microsoft ran off a list of more than 20 games coming to Xbox Live Arcade this year during their Santa Monica E3 press conference. Two classic titles will be available on the service today: Sega's speed-platformer Sonic the Hedgehog and the hack-and-slash brawler Golden Axe.

Also confirmed for a 2007 release were Bomberman Live, Undertow, Hexic 2, War World, Sensible World of Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Geon, Wing Commander Arena, Feeding Frenzy 2, Track and Field, Spyglass Board Games, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Word Puzzle, Marathon: Durandal, Poker Smash, Switchball, Tetris Splash, Puzzle Quest, and Boku Sudoku.

During its E3 press conference, Microsoft unveiled Viva Piñata: Party Animals, an Xbox 360 mini-game collection by Krome Studios. The title will feature the characters from Rare's well reviewed business strategy game Viva Piñata, and the animated television show based on the game.

Microsoft also announced that Rare's original game will be heading to PC this fall. The port will be headed by Climax Group, who made the RPG Sudeki for Xbox. No release date was given, but Microsoft released several screenshots of the game.

Party Animals developer Krome Studios developed the Ty series of platformers and is currently developing an action game based on Mike Mignola's Hellboy property.

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