Confusion reigns over Xbox 360 games

Only three games will be available at the console's launch in November

Microsoft unveiled a wide range of games for its forthcoming Xbox 360 console in Amsterdam yesterday.

But the company confirmed that just three games will be available at the console's launch in November, and only 15 to 20 new Xbox 360 titles will be available by year end.

Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide Xbox marketing and publishing at Microsoft, said that there were 200 Xbox 360 games in development. But a degree of confusion remains about availability.

A Microsoft statement listed only three titles - Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power - saying that these would "form part of the impressive Christmas holiday portfolio ".

A second category was described as "other great games announced or shown at X05", including Gears of War, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, Full Auto, Saint's Row, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Too Human, Mass Effect and Crackdown.

The statement also said that "franchise titles" that will make their debut on Xbox 360 include Superman Returns: The Videogame, Call of Duty 2, Castle Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, MotoGP 2006: Ultimate Racing Technology, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 4 and Quake 4.

This leaves up to 12 games that have not yet been named for the launch day. Microsoft claimed that these will be named in the next few weeks.

The company also announced that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the creative team behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and this autumn's King Kong remake, will serve as executive producers for the summer 2007 Halo movie.