Disclaimer first: I'm a 360 guy, and while I own a Wii...it's for the kids, so everybody is happy!With that said, I think the 360 is REALLY going to come into it's own in 2008.  There are several factors that I believe will greatly contribute to these events, and these are really just my opinions, not really something for fanboys to spend their time arguing about.  I’m not interested in the other console, simply because I have no interest in them as my platform of choice, so if you’re some zealot fanboy, please stay away.  With that said:

1.      The line-up of games for the console are incredible, and imho, Halo 3 really was a drag for 360 last year.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a MASSIVE success for the console and served as a great anchor for the year, but it totally overshadowed everything else and sucked up all the 360-love.  In 2008, GTA is going to get A LOT of attention, and probably become the #1 seller for all consoles, but it’s going to generate another kinda mystic for the gaming industry.  I’m looking at the games on tap for 2008, and I think it’s going to be ALOT  more balanced over the year.  Every quarter is going to provide a lot of options for 360 gamers.  I’m drooling over Too Human, Halo Wars, and Gears now!

2.      If the price drop happens, I think it’s going to boost sales to non-holiday level that top last year’s numbers.  I’m thinking it’s going to happen in the next month, with the rebate checks looking for some cash burn and with GTA…looks like a match made in heaven. 

3.      The dreaded RROD --- This was a huge black-eye for the console in 2007, but it’s an engineering problem, and anybody who has a clue about manufacturing, knows that the problem probably has been isolated and will be address on the new console  being sold.  With the problems in the rearview, the console is going to receive a media boost for it…I can see some article coming out in the summertime talking about how a year has made a difference…of course, it’s all going to be a media event staged by Microsoft, but hey, the effect is what matters.

4.      Xbox Live…the service is like fine wine…it’s just getting better with age.  Some whine about having to pay, but here’s what I DO KNOW…anybody trying to sell the “Free Online” bag of goods is just selling gimmicks.  I’m a MMORPGer with subscriptions for LOTRO (Well…I was a beta guy, and paid $199 for lifetime), Tabula Rasa, and of course the big daddy WoW, and you can’t do it for free.  The Guild Wars guys tried and it just couldn’t be dome…it cost too much.  MS is adding A LOT of functionality to the service, and I’m loving it.

5.      This of course leads to another major point…as a MMORPG guy, I’m pretty pumped about having something on a console.  The Marvel MMO has died, but I smell something in the water for MS pulling the plug.  I don’t really think a console can afford to have 2-3 MMOs on the system…you need one decent one at this stage, and maybe another in a few years, as the console saturation reach a level to support it.  While we might not see a HARDCORE persistence universe like Wow…I think we’ll see something with a lot of persistence online…probably for a fee, but nothing on the level of $12.99-$14.99 a month

I’m sure there are a lot of other factors that excites a lot of 360 fans, but these are some of the ones on my radar for 2008, which is shaping up to be a great year, based on the library of games to be released.

What's wrong with free online? Ever used Steam or Xfire?

And MMOs are an entirely different situation. MMOs on the 360 charge over and above the cost of XBL to play (i.e. FFXI).

hmmm, I disagree.

1. Xbox will once again have a solid lineup this year, but nothing will beat last year's Halo 3, Bioshock and Mass Effect trio.

2. xbox's main competition, PS3 will have a much better year (software wise).

So, unless Microsoft gets their acts together, (Get rid of RROD + a real price cut), it's not going to be a pretty year for xbox.

Grand Theft Auto 4
Gears of War 2
Alan Wake
Too Human
Ninja Gaiden 2
Fable 2
Banjo Kazooie 3
Fallout 3
Mercenaries 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Endware
Bionic Commando
Borderlands
Brutal Legend
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Dead Space
Elveon
Silent Hill 5
Soul Calibur 4
Prototype

And many other great games make this a year that will rival if not surpass last year.

>And many other great games make this a year that will rival if not surpass last year.

again, in a direct competition with PS3, Exclusives are what makes a potential owner decide to get either a PS3 or Xbox.

and on that list of yours. Where's the "must have" game for 360?

Last year you have Halo 3 (and the trio), this year you have NG2, Alan Wake and Too human?

I think the gaming gap is over emphasized or might even be non existent. Being stoked about your particular platforms games tends to blind you to other games on other platforms. Microsoft has plenty of highly anticipated games, and a number of exclusives enough to match Sony. We can list titles all day long, but basically the 360 has a answer and is matching on the quantity front. The only question lies in the quality front. Which is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Which stable of titles will garner the most critical acclaim.

Further more in all of these debates we tend to turn a blind eye towards those lovable dark horses. There are games on the horizon that are below all of our radars but which are ambitious enough to be ground breaking if the developers can realize their vision. We just repeat the same titles over and over again, but the likes of a Huxley is just absent even though it reads like a FPS wet dream.

That is hurting the debate in all honesty the roster of players is too fluid. The exclusive lists for both consoles dwarf what could be referred to as the golden few. Further more the cross platform titles dwarf the exclusive content on both platforms. Anyway if you take the time to do a comparative listing without any biased curving the 360 and the PS3 are on par with one another. The only difference being that the 360 has a deeper more varied back catalog of games.

@kingofwale

What exclusives are you talking about? Almost all the ones worth stealing like Grand Theft Auto 4 and Resident Evil 5 are already going to appear on 360 (and GTA 4 with exclusive episodes as well).

As for the rest...

Metal Gear Solid 4 - The game's codec is truly annoying, and after trying Metal Gear Solid 2 I realized the game's storyline was going to be even worse. I'll take Gears of War 2 anyday over it.

Little Big Planet - The concept seemed really interesting until I saw the horrible gameplay. I'll take Banjo Kazooie 3 over it even without knowing what the gameplay is like, it can't be worse.

Gran Turismo 5 - Are they really charging people for a demo of the game? LOL. On 360 we've had Forza Motorsport 2 to play for awhile and I'm sure Forza Mortorsport 3 will be kick ass.

Afrika - LOLOLOLOL.. HAHAHAHAHA.. Sorry that's all I can think of saying about that one...

Killzone 2 - Well considering how amazing Killzone 1 was I can see why all the PS3 fanboys are hyped... Umm.. Yeah... Is there anyone really excited about this one that isn't a PS3 fanboy, seriously.

Resistance 2 - Actually looks interesting, I guess with the dought of shooters we should all be thanking the gaming gods for this one. Wait... There's like 25+ shooters coming out this year right? Yeah I think the genre is already well covered...

God of War 3 - 2009... By then there should be more than enough 360 games to compete.. If I wanted to get my action fix in this year I have Ninja Gaiden 2 and others...

Tekken 6 - It's not like we don't have some other great fighters coming already and ones that have already been released.

Final Fantasy 13 - Actually the one feather in the cap for Sony, I admit this one does look good. The one PS3 game worth a damn for non-PS3 fanboys. Wonder if it'll come out in 2008... Or if it'll be coming to 360 ;)

Rest of the PS3 exclusives - unproven franchises that most people haven't heard about to even care about.

wow, I must say, some of the most biased opinion I've ever seen. LOL but having said that, it doesn't matter what you and I say. Clearly we've both already invested in our own console and have no interest in other person's.

 It's the other 20 million people who will either buy a 360 or PS3 in 08's money that matters. So it doesn't matter if you find MGS story annoying or you think Forza will be better than GT5, it's THEIR opinion that matters.

@Legend11

WOW that is some of the most Biased BS I have ever seen

All i can say is, with Banjo Kazooie 3, and Too Human, the ony console i would purchase this year is the 360.

There is no game exclusive to the ps3 that interests me even slightly.

btw..just so you know im not  a 360 fan, i dont own one. Ive only got a wii atm.