It’s official. E3 is in full gear with the Microsoft press release ending only moments ago. I, being awesome, have noted the event’s highlights for your reading pleasure. Included in this article are the most important highlights according to my opinion, and commentary on those highlights. Read on!

• Since the release of both the Wii and Playstation 3 in November of 2006, 65% of third party title sales were Xbox 360 titles. That is a rather staggering number if I do say so. This really goes to show that the extra year given to the Xbox 360 has paid off immensely, providing an established fan base which seems to be very solid at this point in time. More numbers go to show that the Wii and Xbox 360 seem to be neck and neck as far as total sales since the Wii release, and the Xbox 360 selling 2 units for ever 1 Playstation 3 sold since its launch.
• Some incredible titles are on the way for the Xbox Live Arcade, with the most prominent titles being Sonic the Hedgehog, Bomberman, Super Puzzle Fighter HD, Tetris Splash and Super Street Fighter 2 HD. I found the most interesting of these announcements, not that they are really new news, was that both Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe are being released this evening on Xbox Live Arcade. No need to wait for these titles!
• Microsoft announced a new partnership with Disney, making their vast library of family favorites available on the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning tonight. Another step in a great direction for one of the only ways to rent high definition videos at this point in time.
• Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 Elite will be launching in Europe during August of this year. I suppose that is good news for the European video downloading fanatic, but for those in the states, this was a ‘whoopdie doo’ announcement.
• Project Gotham Racing 4 was shown, and to be honest, I am not really interested, however this does bring hope for a Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 release this year. *crossing fingers*
• Gears of War is finally coming to the PC with new multiplayer content, and 5 new levels. This is obviously apart of the Windows Live Games initiative, and therfore supports the Xbox 360 controller, which was used in the demonstration. I would like to comment that the graphics were about the same as what we have seen on the Xbox 360, but the frame rates were silky smooth, with seemingly better resolutions. This new content alone will not get me to buy this title for the PC, so I hope that this new content will also be released as downloadable content for the Xbox 360.
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is looking to be incredible. The playthrough seen included voice acting by the famous Sean Connery, had what looked to be amazing gameplay, graphics to drool over, and a very fitting soundtrack. This looks to be the title which makes me jump over this this long running franchise.
• Grand Theft Auto releases this October with exclusive downloadable content for the Xbox 360. Very good news for Microsoft.
• Resident Evil 5 was announced for the Xbox 360 with a very short, although extremely awesome trailer shown. Another series debuting on the Xbox 360 for the first time.
• A fairly lengthy playthough of Assassin’s Creed was shown, and although this was not a title I was initially caring about, this demonstration has changed my mind. The gameplay looks to be vary varied, and the crowd dynamics appear to create a very chaotic experience. This title releases this fall.
• A limited edition green and gold Xbox 360, which is a strangely very ugly color scheme, was shown which will be released along side Halo 3. No real surpise there. We also saw a limited edition Halo Xbox years ago.
• Lastly the Halo 3 campaign gameplay trailer was shown which looks to be coming along. The graphics are certainly better than those seen in the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta, and for a change, I actually seem to be slightly excited for this title which is being released in September, only 11 weeks from now.

All in all, this was a solid event, however next to no surprises were shown. Glaring omissions such as IP TV, a price drop annoucement, or even new titles really brought this down. I do commemorate Microsoft for showing only titles that would be released this year (except for Resident Evil 5 which will not be released until 2008), but in that decision, much excitement was lost. At this point we have a lot to look forward to this year, but none of this is new news. It would have been great to have seen some previously unannounced titles show their faces, but I suppose Microsoft will show us when ready. Look forward to additional articles on the Nintendo and Sony press releases coming tomorrow.