Treit and True:

Beyond the Holiday Season

After the holiday season, the natural question for any gamer is "What's next?" As we lay back, stuffed with holiday food, belt unbuckled, the answer has often been bleak. Traditionally, the glut of November and December game releases has left January and February a thin selection to choose from.

When they say Extreme Condition, they're not kidding.

Not so these last couple of years, though. While January through March doesn't pack the abundance of games that ship during the holiday season, there's quality, and plenty of it, to be found. When I look at the coming months, and even the coming weeks, I have plenty of reason to worry that I won't be finished with my stack of holiday titles before the next wave hits.

Return to Hoth, uh, Lost Planet
Capcom's frigid shooter Lost Planet™: Extreme Condition will probably be out by the time this column hits Xbox.com, and what a way to start the New Year! This classic third-person shooter invigorates the genre with several unique features, including:

• A unique ice planet setting that is as dangerous as an environment can be.
• The use of mechanized robots called Vital Suits for extra fire power and an action packed change of pace.
• Two unique sets of foes: A band of nefarious space pirates and the planet's native alien monsters.
• An energy system that builds relentless tension by requiring you to continually power your suit, or face freezing to death.
• Several multiplayer game modes, one of which is already available as a free download on Xbox Live® Marketplace.

If this game sounds like your cup of tea, check out our Lost Planet preview for more details.

Working with a friend has never offered so much freedom.

The Crackdown Commences
Crackdown™, a new sandbox action title from Dave Jones, one of the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series, represents one of those gems that slipped from the holiday release schedule, leaving you a marvelous February surprise.

From a massive world that is designed to be explored both horizontally and vertically, to an intuitive upgrade system that lets you grow strong enough to hurl cars, to a unique open-ended mission structure, Crackdown is perhaps the year's first contender for Game of the Year.

Its essential ingredients alone make it worthy of the hype, but the thing the pushes this game over the top is the inclusion of an unconstrained cooperative experience. Team up with a buddy and go wherever you want. You can even split up and work independently, and then team back up for important missions.

It's Party Time Again!
Bill Gates' favorite franchise makes its first appearance on Xbox 360™ with the upcoming Fuzion Frenzy 2. Xbox 360 already provides a social center for the family with its DVD and HD-DVD functionality, not to mention the Xbox Live Video Marketplace and Arcade, but Fusion Frenzy 2 will bring family and friends together in a interactive, action-packed game like no other.

Take on a group of friends in Fuzion Frenzy 2.

For those who aren't familiar with the concept, party games are packed with single-serving mini-games that combine crazy antics with easily understood game mechanics like racing around a track or knocking opponents off a platform. Expect groans of despair to mix with cries of triumph as you get your friends together for some friendly, fast-paced competition.

Advancing Warfighter
The sequel to last year's critically acclaimed Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™ (what a mouthful!) is currently set for the first quarter of 2007, and anyone who's played the first masterpiece of tactics on Xbox 360 should know exactly what to expect from the sequel, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2™.

Not much is known about what upgrades or features are going to be packed into GRAW 2, and as with other blockbuster franchises like Splinter Cell and Halo®, we certainly have no reasons to question the quality, and every reason to anticipate.

Content, Content, Content
As impressive as any upcoming game may be, we can also expect loads of content on Xbox Live Marketplace. From expansions of existing games, to new shows and movies on Video Marketplace, and new games on Xbox Live Arcade, every week will continue to bring new and exciting reasons to keep up with what's new on Xbox Live.

Like the movie industry, the videogame industry is moving past having 'seasons' and towards an annual cycle with quality fare offered up every single month, and that can only mean more games to look forward to.

Article by Ryan Treit