the Xbox 360. This is based purely on how many games I own for what console, and of them, how many I actually played to completion.

Nintendo Wii. To be honest, you can spend a lot of time not really completing anything as this is a party/exercise console. There was a lot of Wii Sports and Rayman Ravin’ Rabbids (which I did complete to unlock all the games). Twilight Princess was okay but it never gripped me and so, unlike Windwaker, it got sold back with me not even getting past being a wolf. Zack and Wiki was amusing but it didn’t hold past a weekend. Mario Galaxy is the one game I still plan on coming back to if I can overcome my clumsiness… that and maybe the Wii Fit again. Suffice it to say, the Wii is definitely the least used console in my house.

Playstation 3. If I were to include all the Blu-ray movies I’ve watched, then perhaps it might rocket up to No. 1. But a game console is for games, and the PS3 has been hamstrung by its "complete" and therefore costly entertainment center marketing angle. That I use it primarily for watching movies does not a game console winner make. Also, it’s not as compatible with all codecs TVersity serves up as the 360. It also doesn’t have Netflix. So even as an entertainment center, it’s only clear advantage is Blu-ray. I admit that some of the best games have come out of it though. I am an absolute fan of Uncharted and Valkyria Chronicles (LittleBigPlanet is cute, but I suck at platformers). But to be honest, that’s pretty much it.

Xbox 360. The clear game console winner. I preferred it to the PS3 for games released on both for many reasons. First and foremost, the 360 controller is ergonomically better for me than the PS3 controller, which cramps my thumbs up. Second, Xbox Live is far more mature than PSN and I know far more friends who play with an Xbox than with a PS3. Many try to harp on the subscription fee, but less than ten bucks a month for all that added value is a small price to pay. I pay almost twice that a month just to play City of Heroes, for crying out loud. Third, I hate to say it, but getting achievements is fun. Sony finally released trophies, their equivalent, but like Live, it’s not quite there yet. The recent GUI update (an update that took 10% of the time it takes for one of the PS3’s seemingly monthly if not weekly 30 minute updates) made it simpler to use and added my Netflix queue to my TVersity. Game-wise, eliminating the non-exclusives like Fallout 3 or Assassin’s Creed, and even removing the far better online play with non-exclusives like Call of Duty 4, there’s Gears of War 1 and 2, Left 4 Dead, Fable 2, Forza 2 (no Prologue here) with the absolutely fun to use Microsoft Wheel (which makes a game like Dirt equally as fun). Hell I even liked Crackdown. It just won, okay? There are way more green boxes than there are tiny milky ones or matte white ones.

So there you go. That’s how it has played out in my house this past year, so no one can really argue differently about it. What the world thinks or what the market thinks… probably a different story (I keep hearing the Wii keeps chugging along). But seeing as I just decided to get all three and avoid the whole debate, I think I can be pretty objective in my declaration.

No lie, virtually all the presents I got for folks I got through Amazon. And virtually all the presents I received I received thanks to an Amazon wishlist. So hey, I guess I helped net them that huge profit they just reported for the season.

I was made the Santa this year so all the unboxing pics were taken by Mom and are on her SmugMug site.

So a power pole snapped in two and the top bit is hanging by its wires over the intersection. Yeah, power’s gonna be out all day.

Whoa. They just cordoned off the entire intersection. Not only is my car stuck in the garage, now if I get a pickup I’d have to walk a couple of blocks just to clear the cordon.

Great. First I wrench my back and decide to recuperate at home. Now the rain has knocked out the power in the whole block, including traffic lights.

I’m halfway through my list, just the impossibly difficult ones left. In the meantime, I’ve spent the last few weeks nursing gamer’s thumb. Thankfully, Fallout 3 and Valkyria Chronicles being slow-paced RPGs has kept me gaming while recovering. Sadly, Resistance 2 remains unplayed for that very reason. I tried, honest. But after ten minutes my thumb was hurting something fierce, so I had to stop.

Oddly enough, playing Left4Dead wasn’t nearly as bad. I could go an hour there before it got bad… I guess that really does confirm what I always strongly suspected: I find the Xbox 360 controller more ergonimically ideal for me than the PS3 controller.

Anyhow, finally finished updating movies and games on this ol’ blog. I’m debating on whether or not to add a few books, but that’ll have to wait. Need to do more shopping.

Best multiplayer game of 2007 for me. I supposed I should add that I played mostly in 2008, considering that the sheer number of Xbox 360s that went Live for the holidays killed the servers until mid-January.

I think I was still having fun with this up till March, if I remember correctly.  I know a lot of my old COD4 buddies are now on COD5, but honestly, it’s Treyarch and they just WWII-ified the COD4 engine. I’d rather just play COD4. Besides, WWII guns are pretty dull.

Better to just wait for COD6, no?

Continuing in that vein, here we have my favorite game for the Xbox 360 for 2007 and my favorite game for 2007. It’s probably true that I’ve logged more hours on Call of Duty 4, but that’s all in multiplayer. I am really a sucker for story, and Mass Effect gives me story (the worst bits were boring planet trekking that ultimately led to something dull).

I look forward to the completion of what BioWare claims is an extended trilogy. In the meantime, I see myself dipping back into Mass Effect for a quick fix (already done so twice). Honestly, with this, Fallout 3 and a promising time playing Valkyria Chronicles (not posting that till I’m done), a game drought brought on by the glut of November 2008 doesn’t sound as bad as all that.

Now that I’ve added a game category I’m going to go ahead and backtrack a bit, adding games I simply must write about.

Uncharted was my absolute best game for the PS3 last year, and for that year definitely the most beautiful. Shocking. A platformer. I typically can’t stand platformers. And yet, here we are.

The story is light and fun, even if the denouement was a little on the flat side. Still and all, a fantastic must have of a game. I’m never trading mine in, and that in itself tells you that Uncharted is just plain awesome.

And wouldn’t you know it? The sequel is already in production. Awesome.

Actually, the story was a bit better this time around. The first game had a pretty plain vanilla sort of story. This one did that part better. And thankfully, no more darkness critters killing you instantly when you leave the light. That was bullshit.

The best part, though, is the multiplayer experience known as Horde. That’s a keeper right there.