40 games for Xbox by year end, 160 under development

At a news conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft officials said 160 new game titles are under development for Xbox 360, including Final Fantasy XI which comes from Microsoft’s partnership with Japanese game publisher Square Enix.

Square Enix has made games for Nintendo and Sony in the past, and Final Fantasy from them has sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.

It might be recalled that Microsoft had launched Xbox 360 last week on MTV, and Sony in response has already announced the arrival of Playstation 3 right after XBox launch. Nintendo is expected to annouce their plans very soon.

One good thing for the gamers in Xbox 360 is the backward compatibility of the console. It means they will be able to play their favorite old titles on the new console.

Gaming giant Electronics Arts has announced its commitment to develop games for Xbox.

Electronic Arts games include Need for Speed Most Wanted, Madden NFL 06 and a game based on classic film, The Godfather.

XBox 360 is to be launched in the US for the holiday season, and Playstation 3 is sceduled to be launched right after that.

With PS3 Sony has bridged the technology gap between itself and Microsoft. With little technologically setting the two machines apart, CEO Kaz Hirai has emphasized Sony's ace card -- third-party games exclusive to the machine.

Front and center was EA Chicago's latest boxing game, "Fight Night Round 3." The graphics vividly showed the impact of a boxing glove on a boxer's face. The only way for things to get more real would be to experience a punch yourself.

By far the most promising game featured was "Eyedentify." Using the EyeToy video camera, you are literally put in the game with game characters reacting to your speech. Laugh and one character starts laughing with you, prompting the other character to wonder what's so funny.