A month from now we’re taking flight with Blue Dragon, the extraordinary role-playing game from Mistwalker. Although not the first RPG to grace Xbox 360, the main reason we’re so fired up is because of Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi – otherwise known as the father of Final Fantasy. With contributions from Akira Toriyama, famous for his Dragon Ball artwork, and Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, Blue Dragon is nothing less than genre-defining. Our Japanese cousins went wild for this last Christmas. You bet we’re hungry for it too.

One very short month after Blue Dragon and you don’t need reminding what’s next: Halo 3. Yes, 26 September is the date Master Chief returns to finish the fight in his Xbox 360 debut. During E3 we got our first glimpse at the single-player campaign that confirmed expectations of a lavishly detailed world, in the case of the E3 demo an area called Sierra 117 that was shrouded in trees with vegetation underfoot – camouflage for mischievous grunts, but of course these are merely appetisers for the battle ahead and the certainty of greater adversaries. The big tease is almost over.

Even with blockbusters such as these, the arrival of Assassin’s Creed in November will be the year’s crowning glory for many. Ubisoft promises that hero Altair’s acrobatic forays into bustling medieval cities will redefine third-person action control, but there’s another twist to the tale that is yet to be revealed. Well, at least it isn’t just Bungie Studios that like to keep things cryptic! And for sure Xbox 360 being the world’s greatest gaming console can no longer be a secret.

By Mark Eveleigh, Xbox.com Editor, Gamertag: Making Sparks

Out this week:

Transformers: The Game