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.

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.

I really need to finish this game. I haven’t played it in a month, mostly because all these other games came out and to be honest, it was starting to get a little monotonous. It’s a good game and presentation is gorgeous. I can’t and refuse to play this game in the dark. Horror sci-fi games are like that. But honestly, I’m halfway through and I’m sort of losing speed, much the same way I lost speed with Bio-Shock (friends still can’t believe I never finished that game).  It’s sort of the same deal, though… the story sort of peters out for me. I’m stuck walking all over the place fixing this dead ship and whatnot, and it just feels like the tasks don’t really jive with my ideas of getting out of there alive. So the contradiction is that the scenes are immersive and scary as shit but the story is losing to it. I felt the same way about Bio-Shock. I’m not giving up yet, but like Bio-Shock, I may just keep them on the shelf until I decide to finally finish. Of course, my all-time record for "no way you did what?" is Metroid Prime. I have a save right before facing the final boss. It’s been there for SEVEN years.

Cute and customizable, this game is definitely a masterpiece. Sadly, it being a platformer (and a tough one at that near the end for the likes of me) means I’ll never be able to unlock its true potential. I can still enjoy the beginner areas and mess around with the online content. And playing it with my sister was a solid hour of hilarity. But yeah, beautiful game, but not my expertise.

Fantastic game. I grabbed the 360 version, mostly because I enjoy playing multiplayer with friends on Live (I know too few who have PCs and frankly, Steam is annoying). This is, without a doubt, some of the "funnest" multiplayer coop you’ll have yet. The game is designed to require team work; and by require, I mean you better be coordinated because if you aren’t, it only takes second for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.

The game AI is all about surprises. Spawns don’t always come from the same place at the same time, and sometimes a spawn happens just for dramatic effect. The best example of this is when you’re trying to avoid the zombies (I guess you should know this is a zombie survival game wrapped around the premise of it being a zombie survival movie) and your team is about to enter the safe house. You’re the last to enter, and just as you get to the door, a zombie lashes a noose around your neck with its tongue and drags you away from the doorway. Now your teammates either let you die or come out and try to save you.

The drama.

You’ll be talking about the terrifying, exciting and often times stupidest side-splitting moments with your friends for days. Now that’s a fun multiplayer.