Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and then ported to Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 edition was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Windows edition was released on May 28, 2008, published by Electronic Arts.[10]

The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard, set out to explore the Galaxy on a starship, the SSV Normandy.

In addition to plans for two sequels to complete a trilogy, BioWare plans to release episodic content online to fill in the story between each game, though these episodes are not essential for understanding the main plot line.[11] The first downloadable content package, Bring Down the Sky, was released on March 10, 2008 (with a PC version released on July 29, 2008 [12]) The second downloadable content package, Pinnacle Station, was released on August 25, 2009 for the PC and Xbox 360.

The sequel, Mass Effect 2, is to be released on January 26, 2010.

Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for Xbox 360. The game is the third title in the Halo series and concludes the story arc that began in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2.[7] The game was released on September 25, 2007 in Australia, Brazil, India, New Zealand, North America, and Singapore;[4] September 26, 2007 in Europe; and September 27, 2007 in Japan. On the day before its official release, 4.2 million units of Halo 3 were in retail outlets.[8]

Halo 3's story centers on the interstellar war between 26th century humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command, and a collection of alien races known as the Covenant. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he wages war in defense of humanity, assisted by human Marines as well as an allied alien race called Elites, which is led by the Arbiter. The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay not present in previous titles of the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor; a utility which allows the player to perform modifications to multiplayer levels.

Halo 3 grossed US$300 million in its first week.[9] More than one million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours.[10] As of January 3, 2008, Halo 3 has sold 8.1 million copies,[11] and was the best-selling video game of 2007 in the U.S.[12] Overall, the game was very well-received by critics, with the Forge and multiplayer offerings singled out as strong features. By March 2009 more than 1 billion online matches had been played.[13] A prequel to the game, Halo 3: ODST, was released worldwide on September 22, 2009.