X05 Line-Up Solidifies Ahead Of Amsterdam Event

Further details regarding Microsoft's X05 European press event have emerged, with Electronic Arts officials confirming that the company will be showing five Xbox 360 launch titles in playable form. Need for Speed: Most Wanted, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, NBA Live 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 and Madden NFL 06 will all be shown at the event in Amsterdam, due to take place on October 4th and 5th. Although the company describes the five games as launch titles, it also claims that it has not announced exact release dates for any of its Xbox 360 games. Others known which EA is developing, but that will not be available in the console's launch period include The Godfather, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and “a new title from the Burnout Revenge franchise”. Officials from Midway have also announced the company’s plans for X05, with launch title Stranglehold – produced in collaboration with movie direction John Woo - due to make its debut. Other titles have not been confirmed for X05 but the publisher has already spoken out as a keen supporter of the Xbox 360 format. Microsoft has also confirmed that Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, Gears Of War, and Kameo will all be shown at the festival, in marked contrast to Microsoft's showing at Tokyo Game Show, where only Kameo was displayed in public. With the exception of last year's gap, the X0 events have been an annual part of the European games calendar. The first European X event in 2001, held in Pierre Cardin's Bubble House in Cannes, France, revealed pricing details for the Xbox and Xbox Live in Europe. X02, set at La Isla Magica (Seville), saw the first announcement of Microsoft’s acquisition of Rare, and X03 at Juan-les-Pins was used to announce Microsoft Game Studios’ partnership with Epic Games, now starting to be consummated through titles such as Gears Of War. Although Microsoft has not commented on the exact itinerary for this year’s event, a final list of the launch titles for each territory is thought to be likely, since this will be the last major press event before the launch of the Xbox 360, with the console debuting on November 22nd in North America, December 2nd in Europe, and December 10th in Japan. Gamasutra will have full reports from X05 as the week progresses.