We’ve often said that Windows Phone 7 may live or die based on how it leverages Microsoft’s immense stature in gaming. A few games have been shown off here and there, but they’ve just blown the lid off their whole Xbox Live interface and Launch lineup. Inexplicably, they called Engadget to check it out instead of me, and so they’ve got some hands-on video over there.

Some key points:

• They’ll be launching with about 60 titles, including some big names like Halo, Crackdown, and Splinter Cell.
• Full support for Avatars, including phone-specific games and apps using them as props
• No live multiplayer at launch, only turn-based (they seemed to think this would change)
• Demo versions will be available for every game

There’s more info and a full game list available here, so get excited. Looks like it could be a pretty decent platform; I’m looking forward to playing some Puzzle Quest 2 on it.