Ikaruga, Rez, NG2 on Xbox 360

Tomonobu Itagaki from Team Ninja, Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker and representatives from Square Enix all took to the stage to unveil release dates and info on Xbox 360 titles which Microsoft hopes will drive Japanese sales of the platform.



Itagaki said that Team Ninja will develop Ninja Gaiden 2 exclusively for Xbox 360 and that the game will be released in 2008. Sakaguchi revealed that Mistwalker's upcoming role-playing game Lost Odyssey will release December 6 in Japan and in February 2008 in North America and Europe. Square Enix reps also spent some time discussing two new Xbox 360 games, Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant.



The release of Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation and Beautiful Katamari on Xbox 360 this holiday were also confirmed.



"We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan's best and most innovative developers, and we're looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond," said Don Mattrick, a senior vice president at Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division.



Microsoft noted that these new titles would add to the likes of Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Viva Pinata: Party Animals, helping to form what the platform holder is touting as the “greatest holiday line-up in videogame history”.



With regard to Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft announced high-definition arcade games including Every Extend Extra Extreme, or E4, from Q Entertainment, a puzzle shooter from the guys behind Lumines and Ninety-Nine Nights. Q’s cyber-world action shooter Rez will also be making the jump to Live Arcade. Treasure's 2D shooter Ikaruga and Hudson Entertainment's Omega Five will also be making their way to the service.



Microsoft also confirmed that it would be making coverage of the Tokyo Game Show available to 360 owners via Xbox Live beginning Thursday, September 13.