Joystiq: Folks are understandably a little confused about what exactly the Xbox 360 launch lineup looks like for this holiday season. We know that the exact list is still being finalized, but can you give us a sense of how many titles are definite for Xbox 360's Nov. 22 launch here in the US? How about the UK launch?

David Reid: You bet. First we're thrilled to reaffirm that as we announced at E3, we're still on path for Xbox 360 to have the greatest launch lineup in console gaming history. It will start with 15-20 titles available on launch day, which is Nov 22 in the US and Canada, and Dec 2 in Europe and will continue with a steady pipeline of great titles through the rest of 2005 and beyond into 2006.

David Reid: We confirmed from Microsoft Game Studios that Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, and Project Gotham Racing 3 will all ship in this launch window in 2005. We also announced several new titles at X05.

Joystiq: But those titles are just that—announcements at this point and not part of the Holiday lineup, right?

David Reid: Yes—the other titles we announced from Microsoft Game Studios are on track for 2006. The new announcements include Mass Effect developed by Bioware, Too Human from Silicon Knights, and Crackdown from Real Time Worlds. Those three join Gears of War from Epic as all exclusive Microsoft Game Studios titles for Xbox 360 in 2006.

Joystiq: Got it.

Joystiq: How do you decide whether or not to include a game for launch? What’s the absolute cutoff date for inclusion in the launch window? Or (another way of asking the same question) when will we know for certain what the launch list looks like?

David Reid: Final launch list is nearly completed—we are in the final laps of certification and expect to have a definitive launch day list in the next few weeks. But we are waiting until all titles pass through certification to announce the launch day lineup.

Joystiq: Excellent — good to hear.

Joystiq: Can you characterize the strength of pre-orders for Xbox 360 to date? Strong? Within projections?

David Reid: We can’t disclose specific numbers but we are very excited with what we’re seeing so far on Xbox 360 preorders. Very much what we expected—very strong demand overall. We definitely expect to see Xbox 360 as the hottest consumer electronics product this holiday.

Joystiq: With all of the excitement surrounding the Xbox 360 launch, it’s understandable that some retailers are taking advantage of the opportunity to test the waters with mega bundles that cost $579 (Wal-Mart), $1200 (GameStop) and even $4499.68 (GameStop). Is Microsoft concerned about the level of these prices? Might sticker shock deter some gamers from next-gen gaming before they’ve really had the chance to try it?

David Reid: Actually what we’re seeing is not all that unusual for a new consumer electronics launch. Think of it as similar to what we saw with the original Xbox launch where the rabid early adopting core gamer—much like your audience at Joystiq—is ready for the ultimate gaming experience and ready to dive in.

David Reid: There will be consumers who aren’t interested in everything on day one of course and they will buy Xbox 360 at a later stage in the lifecycle—they normally aren’t folks who are lining up for a launch midnight madness event.

David Reid: On pricing: one thing to keep in mind is the consumer coming this holiday—most of them are those rabid gamers who are looking to buy the Xbox 360 with every accessory, every game and so forth—the bundles are in many ways exactly what they are looking for.

Joystiq: How fully functional will Live be at launch? What multimedia content is being prepared and will be available by Xmas? How are people with current Live subscriptions going to switch over to the new system? Is a big system download in the works for current Xbox systems to work with the new Live features?

David Reid: The great news on Xbox Live is it is a seamless service across the original Xbox and Xbox 360. So you’ll be able to easily migrate your account onto Xbox 360.

David Reid: Xbox Live will be fully functional on launch day with every Xbox 360 title “live enabled” with voice chat and connection into your friends list, digital identity and the Xbox Live Marketplace. We don’t have any specific announcements on multimedia content for this holiday at this time.

Joystiq: How are you planning to unveil the Xbox 360 across the globe? Will there be physical launch events (ie. Central London, NYC, Tokyo)?

David Reid: We’ve got a very exciting launch event in the works but unfortunately nothing I can announce just yet

Joystiq: Is there anything we haven’t touched on regarding launch that you’d like to mention in closing?

David Reid: sure—just reinforcing that we’re well on our way to having the greatest launch lineup in console gaming history—gamers have a lot to be excited about with the Xbox 360 launch coming soon!

Joystiq: Ok — sorry for the follow up when I indicated that we were at the end — but what does “greatest” mean?

Joystiq: Is it sheer number of titles?

David Reid: It’s the number and quality of the titles—you’ve got an awesome lineup of exclusives from MGS like Kameo, PDZ, PGR3, more exclusives from the top publishers: Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 from Activision, DOA 4 from Tecmo, Oblivion from Bethesda/Take 2 and then the cross-platform games like EA’s full lineup with Madden, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Tiger; Ghost Recon 3 from Ubisoft, Tony Hawk American Wasteland—the list goes on—those cross platform games will look and play best on Xbox 360.

David Reid: That’s what we mean by greatest—the best support ever from the publishing community and our own exclusive 1st party titles

Joystiq: Sounds like it should be fun. It also sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you. I suppose we should let you get back to that.

David Reid: Terrific—has been a blast chatting with you.