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Microsoft's 2011 Xbox 360 line-up

To spring and beyond.

Microsoft has pumped out a press release trumpeting a "blockbuster line-up" for this spring and beyond.

Are these the big-ticket Xbox 360 exclusives we've been waiting to hear about?

No. The only non-downloadable Xbox 360 exclusive is Gears of War 3, which is due 20th September with a beta mid-April.

It's on Xbox Live Arcade where Microsoft claims the most exclusives: gory platform game The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile; action-RPG Torchlight and downloadable Kinect games The Gunstringer and Once Upon a Master.

The former is a Wild West played out by marionette puppets while the latter is a Sesame Street-themed adventure by Tim Schafer's Double Fine.

Does DLC count as a platform exclusive? If it does, notch Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack and Fable III Traitor's Keep up, too.

As for multiplatform games, Microsoft named many: Crysis 2, Homefront, Batman: Arkham City and Shift 2: Unleashed. Promising downloadable games Child of Eden and Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime were picked out, too.

The remainder is the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood add-on the Da Vinci Disappearance.

Exclusive

  • Gears of War 3 - 20th September
  • Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack (DLC) - 15th March, 800 Microsoft Points
  • Fable III Traitor's Keep (DLC) - 1st March, 560 Microsoft Points
  • The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (XBLA) - 2011
  • Torchlight (XBLA) - 9th March, 1200 Microsoft Points
  • The Gunstringer (Kinect XBLA) - 2011
  • Once Upon a Monster (Kinect XBLA) - autumn

Multi-platform

  • Crysis 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - 25th March
  • Beyond Good & Evil HD (PSN, XBLA) - 2nd March, 800 Microsoft Points
  • Homefront (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - 18th March
  • Child of Eden (XBLA, PSN) - "later this year"
  • Batman: Arkham City (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - autumn
  • Shift 2: Unleashed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - 1st April
  • Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - The Da Vinci Disappearance (PSN, XBL) (DLC) - 2011
  • Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - March