More X07 Coverage

X'07 Canada Round Up

Well, another X’0 has come and gone and all I can say is ... it is going to be a busy, busy fall for Xbox 360 gamers. SO many great titles coming out before the Holidays! The event was amazing as always, with special guests and an absolutely mind-blowing line-up of games to play well before they’re released.

The line to get in to the event started forming at around 2:30pm; luckily it was a gorgeous Toronto day and eager gamers got to enjoy the sun and meet other members of our great Xbox Canadian community while they waited for the doors to be thrown open. At 5:00pm, the fans started streaming into the event ... which was suspiciously dark. As you may have heard, there was a Toronto Hydro power outage and the whole block went down. Does that stop Microsoft Canada from throwing a great gaming event? No way! The event team leapt into action, ordered up a massive generator and got the important things (the GAMES) up and running.

On the show floor, the community got to spend some quality time with a lot of titles that are probably already on your pre-order list and some hidden gems and games slated for early next year.

Big titles that had everyone RAVING:

• Halo 3: I know ... a bit of a no brainer. But ... Halo 3 was there, playable, on the show floor!! And looking amazing, I might add. The multiplayer beta in the spring gave us a great taste of things to come, but in the much more final version we were playing at X’07, controls had been tightened up, some of the weapons had definitely been rebalanced and the graphics ... WOW!
• Guitar Hero III: What can I say? Everyone’s favourite way to feel like a rock star (musical ability optional ;) )has been tweaked and refined but it doesn’t stray too far from the formula that’s been working for this franchise. The new Gibson Les Paul controller is nice and hefty, and response time is bang on.
• NHL 2K8: Out of this world gameplay in this year’s hockey game from 2K Sports. Watch for a new faceoff system (the player has a LOT more control) and a new set of goaltending behaviours. Plan on picking up this one soon – it lands in stores on Sept 11.
• Rock Band: From the videos I’ve been seeing pop up on YouTube, EVERYONE had a blast trying out Rock Band. (Including Jeff Bell!) Warning: the drumming is tough! But for the rhythmically-challenged, grab hold of that mic and belt out the crazy list of original and cover tracks in this game.

Other titles I’m looking forward to:

• Scene It?: A chance for me to use all of my trivial knowledge about movies? I’m so there! Scene It? Lights, Camera Action is an Xbox 360 translation of the popular DVD board game. Best part? The very cool special controllers that work like game show buzzers. Bzzzt!
• Turok: I couldn’t wait to see how this game has come along since I last got a chance to see it at E3 2006. Even then, they had me at the promise of next-gen dinosaurs and futuristic weapons. Yeehaw! Plus, I’m always a little Canada proud when I talk to Propaganda Games, the BC-based developers of the game. We’ll have to wait until early 2008 for this one though!
• Devil May Cry 4:Yes, the fourth instalment in the popular (and legendarily difficult) Japanese action series is coming to Xbox 360 in 2008. Originally slated to be a PS3 exclusive, X’07 was one of the first opportunities to get hands on with the game. Yeah, Canada! Absolutely gorgeous-looking game with what sounds like a fascinating storyline.

On top of the games, X’07 was a great chance to hang out with lots of great people from the Xbox.ca community. It was amazing watching people from all over the country meet in person for the first time after getting to know each other in our forums. Hope everyone had an awesome time!