IE Magazine (Interactive Entertainment) is running an interview with Ed Fries from Microsoft's gaming division. In addition to a couple of tidbits I didn't know, like the fact that Fries started with MS in 1985 as an intern, there's a short mention of Halo and other Xbox launch titles:

We recently came off a preview tour with game editors, and there was a lot of enthusiasm for our launch lineup over not just how well these games played, but with the variety of titles weТll have ready around launch. Halo plays like youТre in the middle of a science fiction novelЦitТs destined to be a hit in the action category; NFL Fever 2002 is giving television a run for its money it looks so real; and Oddworld: MunchТs Oddysee has great characters in Abe and Munch and massive environments that can only generated with the Xbox hard drive.

He also talks about a few Xbox features I wasn't aware of-- like the fact that you can apparently copy music tracks off of a CD to play in the background while you play Xbox titles like Amped and Project Gotham Racing. I suppose that's done in WMA rather than MP3 format, right, Ed? Thanks to Jeremy at XboxAddict who first spotted the item.