Next-gen Xbox launch title Ryse billed as next Gears/Halo

Sources say it’s a Kinect game

As much as we hate using the overused ‘according to multiple sources familiar with…’ so often lately, “according to multiple sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans,” The Verge says Ryse and Forza will be launch games for the next-generation Xbox console, set for release later this year.

Actually, they have word on four of the launch titles for the next Microsoft console from these sources. One is a zombie game, and another is a Kinect family game set on an island with “Pixar movie-style graphics.”And the Forza game is…well, it’s going to have cars, folks. 

Back to Ryse. Remember this game? It was shown at E3 2011. We didn’t think much of the Kinect-enabled showing from Crytek, but Verge says it’s going to be Microsoft’s new “Gears of War / Halo mega launch title.” They say it’s set in the Roman period, and will use Kinect to let players kick and slash enemies. 

Watch that E3 2011 tease trailer below and tell me if you think something like this is “mega launch title” material.

Oh, and they say that Microsoft Points are being dropped for real currency in an Xbox Live clean-up.

The Verge says that these four titles are a “small selection” of the launch titles for the system. I’m sure we’ll hear more from the rumored Xbox event set for May, as well as the full shindig at E3 in June.