In front of a live audience of thousands, and many more watching the live online broadcast, Microsoft Corp. unveiled its lineup of holiday titles -- and some exclusives -- for the Xbox 360, including with titles such as the epic finale to the groundbreaking Halo series, "Halo 3"; the successor to the seminal Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto IV (featuring exclusive content for Xbox Live); the annual Madden release, Madden NFL 08; and the widely anticipated Rock Band, where players can perform music from the world's biggest rock artists with their friends as a virtual band.

Grand Theft Auto, Madden, and Halo are the best-selling game franchises of the last generation, which is why Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and Madden NFL 08 are expected to account for one-third of all console new release sales in the U.S. during the second half of the year, according to a recent report by IGN Entertainment's GamerMetrics.

Forthcoming titles for the Xbox 360 revealed include:

• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Namco Bandai), available this holiday, only on Xbox 360


• Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft), available this November


• Beautiful Katamari (Namco Bandai Games), available this October


• BioShock (2K Games), available this August, only on Xbox 360 and Windows


• Blue Dragon (Mistwalker/Artoon Co. Ltd.), available Aug. 28, only on Xbox 360


• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), available this fall


• Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 (Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.), available eventually (no release date given)


• Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games), available October16, 2007


• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (RedOctane/Activision), available this fall


• Halo 3 (Microsoft/Bungie Studios), available September 25, only on Xbox 360


• Madden NFL 08 (Electronic Arts Inc.), available this August


• Mass Effect (BioWare Corp.), available this holiday season, only on Xbox 360


• Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (Ubisoft), available in October, only on Xbox 360


• Project Gotham Racing 4 (Bizarre Creations Ltd.), available this September, only on Xbox 360


• Rock Band (MTV Games), available this holiday season


• Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action (Screenlife Games/WXP), available this holiday season, only on Xbox 360


• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft), available this holiday


• Virtua Fighter 5" (SEGA), available this Fall


• Viva Piñata: Party Animals (Krome Studios Pty. Ltd.), available this holiday season, only on Xbox 360

"Thanks to our amazing partners and our own studios, no company in video game history has ever had a lineup of blockbusters and exclusives like we will have by this holiday," boasted Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "We have a monumental library of titles hitting stores by the end of this year for Xbox 360 that will strike an emotional chord with every type of customer."