Finally, Microsoft showed off some of the forthcoming faceplates for first-party games. The plastic facades for Forza Motorsport 2, Viva Pinata and Halo (that's the franchise, not any specific game) couldn't be more different, but we were happy to see that they were rich with color and not glossy. The matte finishes let the designs stand out and there's no glare from surrounding lights. Besides, if you want to see super-shiny objects, just play any Xbox 360 game where the devleopers went nuts with reflection effects. Click the Images tab above to see more photos of the pretty plastic pictures.
The only thing Microsoft wasn't really ready to talk about was pricing and availability of all these goodies. We expect we'll hear some of that news at some of the upcoming trade shows overseas.
August 18, 2006
