Well 2010 was an epic year. Especially if your a Microsoft 360 fan. I of course own all the consoles but as many know I prefer the Xbox 360.

I bought a lot of games and hardware this year, more then most years in fact. I totally blew past my budget, but with gaming sometimes you just have to splurge a bit. I got a new Xbox 360s with Kinect, that was my biggest splurge, I finally replaced my launch date Xbox 360. Oddly enough I sold that 360 on Ebay and made $150 off it, so in reality the new Xbox 360s and Kinect only cost me $250, which is a heck of a deal.

I'll start my ratings below for this past year.

1.Mass Effect 2-This was my Game Of The Year pick. It's so unbelievable how well the import system works from the first game, every decision is reflected, large and small ones. I'm surprised other games haven't incorporated this feature. The second Mass Effect is my all time favorite game. I've played through it three times so far and cant get enough of it.

2.Alan Wake-This game I only picked up a few days ago, I bought Red Dead Redemption on release date instead of this game, but I always planned on buying it, then I kept seeing how well the game was received by critics and it won Time Magazines Game Of The Year honors so I went and picked up a new copy. I told the lady at Gamestop I wanted to buy it new to support the developer on this one. It cost $29.99 and came with free DLC. I haven't put the game down and this game is the most unique, interesting and creepy games I've ever played. A Must have for any true gamer

3.Super Mario Galaxy 2-This was such a great game, a vast improvement on the first game, which is saying something because that game was so well done. They fixed a lot of the little problems with the latest Mario title. It's safe to say as long as Nintendo keeps putting out quality games like this they will always be new generations of gamers.

4.Halo Reach-I am a huge Halo fan, I cannot stress how bad I am at the games online though. That being said, I still love to slap on the helmet and go head to head with the millions of other Halo fans. Reach offered something new and it has become my favorite Halo game in the series. It's so well done, beautifully done in all aspects.

5.Fable 3-I'm an avid RPG fan, so when Fable 3 was coming out I knew I had to get it. For some people it's a hit or miss game, but for me it was a total hit. The combat is simplified and easier to manage, the game had some of the best music and voice acting ever. The story was epic and longer then previous Fable games. With the ability to play through the Moral side or the non Moral side this game has plenty of replay value as well. Also the online Co-Op was fixed from Fable 2.

6.Call Of Duty Black Ops-Call Of Duty 4 was one of my all time favorite games, I though World At War was pretty good too, but Modern Warfare 2 was just awful in many aspects and I was really hoping for redemption in Black Ops, I was so happy when I went online with it and there just isn't any camping. Killstreaks don't add to higher killstreaks and there is far less BS overall in this game. Treyarch has made a believer out of me...Plus Zombies!

7.God Of War 3- This game might have been rated higher by me had it offered a longer campaign, better story or online modes. It is fantastic to look at but to be honest doesn't offer any replay value or anything like that. I actually don't even own the game, I just got it off Gamefly, beat it in about five and a half hours and sent it back

8.Splinter Cell Conviction-I was so happy with how this Splinter Cell game turned out, it was like a reboot but wasn't. I enjoyed the story and how the new controls worked. The online modes are improved and offer new aspects. Hope they make a sequel in this style.

9.Metro 2033-This game is a game I didn't even realize was coming out, I read about it in Game Informer and thought it looked interesting. It's a new IP that offers really interesting offline and online options. Too bad not many people picked up and played this interesting FPS.

10.Crackdown 2-I know, I know it's a fanboy pick. I just love the online aspects of this game. Yes it's a lot like Crackdown 1, but who says that's a bad thing? The multiplayer is unmatched in my opinion and the co-op is simple and fun enough to complete a few times over.

Honorable mentions-

1.Red Dead Redemption-This was a solid game, but it's basically GTA on horses

2.Heavy Rain-This was an odd "game" I don't really classify it as a game though, more like a movie with QTE

3.Dance Central-This game is huge with the ladies, get Kinect and this game and bring on the ladies, they love it.

4.Donkey Kong Country Returns-This should have actually made my list, wonderful throwback to the old school

5.Epic Mickey-This game was amazing, dark and wonderfully done. Wii actually had better exclusives then PS3 in 2010.

Biggest Letdowns of 2010-

1.MAG-Massive action game my butt! They made us pay $64 for a game with no offline mode, yet they didn't think to give us a headset included with the game? The game already looks like a PS2 game, but then to not include a way to communicate with other players sealed it's fate. 256 players and nobody talks and everyone thinks they are RAMBO.

2.Mod Nation Racers-Nice attempt at a Nintendo Kart racing game, too bad nobody bought it and the controls were horrid.

3.Ninety Nine Nights 2-I loved the first game, this second one seemed clunky and repetitive to me. I expected better.

4.Metroid Other M-Such a letdown, it's just weird and not at all what you'd expect from Team Ninja and Nintendo.

There were a ton of other games I could have listed Assassins Creed Brotherhood for example but I didn't get a real chance to play that yet. I know many wont agree with me, but this is my opinion and I'm entitled to it, just like you all are entitled to yours.

As we close in on another E3 I have an optomistic outlook on what's coming up, I am waiting on a few big announcements and most are from Microsoft. However I am certainly hoping for certain games to be announced as well.

Microsoft:

1.Slim Xbox 360---They are going to rebrand themselves and help this console cycle last longer

2.Project Natal---I am loving this new tech, MS hasn't shown their hand with this yet, unlike Sony's "Move"

3.The Xbox 360 Slim bundled with Project Natal, The biggest rumor is bundled together for $250 or $299

4.3-D gaming and movies--I am not a fan of this new 3-D fad, but I know something is in the works for MS.

5.Gears Of War 3---The first two Gears games sold more then 12 million units, I want to hear details, so far I like the idea of the Double barrel shotguns and dedicated servers

6.Halo Reach--The biggest game of the year is going to be Halo Reach, I want some new details

7.Microsoft Portable---This could very well be the biggest surprise at E3, a handheld system from MS

8.Fable 3---I love the Fable series and I am very interested in seeing what this new chapter holds

9.Natal Games, now most people are writing Natal off (or MS haters anyway) as a "Mini game" or "Casual gamer" device, but with "Rare" "Konami" "microsoft Studios" "Lionhead Studios" "EA" all working on projects to use with Natal, I suspect it will have a lot more applications then just casual stuff. Rumor has it a Metal Gear Solid game, Ghost Recon, Fable 3 we know will work with it. So I am excited.

10.Crackdown 2---This underrated game could be a sleeper hit, the stylish graphics and sandbox gameplay are addicting

11.Dead or Alive game--This rumor is running crazy these days

12.Killer Instinct 3---Another Rumor, but weould be amazing to see

13.Ninja Gaiden----This is almost a certainty at this point, new Ninja Gaiden game, whats not to love?

14.Forza 4--Could Microsoft really get 3 Forza games out before Sony get's GT out? Yes!

15.Lost Odyssey 2--This will most likely happen and be announced

16.Blue Dragon 2---A great RPG series and a sequel I've been looking forward to for a long time.

17.Final Fantasy Versus will be announced as being no longer a Sony Exclusive.

Now on to

Nintendo:

1. The 3-DS--Word is it's a portable gamecube with 3-D, 3-D without wearing glasses. There is a switch to turn it off though, So I am very interested to see where this is going.

2.Zelda, a new Zelda game is going to be announced this E3 and I am looking forward to it.

3.Super Mario Galexy 2--Nuff said

4.Mario Kart racing 2--The first one was amazing and I really cant wait for this

5.Metroid, other M--This game has had me drooling since last year

6.Mad World 2---The First one was amazing, too bad it didn't sell too well, but an amazing game

7.Resident Evil game---We know ones coming out

8.New colors? Here's hoping for all the flashy colors Nintendo Promised us years ago

Now on to

Sony:

1.Resistance 3-Will be announced

2.Killzone 3--*Sigh*

3.Infamous 2---We wont see much on it, and it wont be out this year, but expect to see something on it

4.Playstation Wiimote...err I mean "Move"--- Party games anyone? Wii HD anyone?

5.Little Big Planet 2--Even though they said they wouldn't make a sequel because it would alienate the fans

6.Gran Turismo 5? Maybe.......

The other big thing I am hoping for is.....

The announcement of STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 3!!!!!!

Star Wars Battlefront 2 was my first online game and how I got into clan gaming, it's been 5 years and nothing has come out for next generation consoles yet. Production has been halted due to studios closing, thanks to terrible games (Haze, Lord of The Rings Conquest, Socom Confrontation) When we saw the leaked video of what was going to be SWBF3, it was amazing. I am looking forward to this very much.

All in all it's Microsoft's year to lose, they sat back and weathered the storm from Sony last year and now they get to make their move, slim 360, Natal, games almost every month. possible handheld....It's not there time to shine.

Remember the 1990's and early 2000's? WHen you thought of a Sony gaming console what comes to mind? Fun, great selection, affordable. It's not too bold to say that Sony owned the Console market then.

The Playstaion 1 was so great, it had a ton of fantastic titles and a controller that was revolutionary. Then the PS2 came out and was the biggest console EVER! It was everywhere and introduced DVD players into everyone's Home.

The game selections, the online service, while raw, was still there. The exclusive titles. Sony had a foot hold on the gaming community and it didn't look like they would ever give it up.

Then came the next generation of consoles. Microsoft took notes on what Sony did before. They offered an affordable console, great exclusives and the best online you could have. See the Original Xbox had the best graphics and the best technology the previous generation, but the PS2 still won because, even with less tech it had games and was fun. People don't care as much about Graphics and people tend to think.

So Microsoft does the right thing, what does Sony do?

Well they cram a bunch of high tech and a lot of useless stuff in the PS3, 2 proscessors, 4 USB ports, All kinds of different flash drive ports, backwards compatability, Wi-Fi, Blu Tooth, Blu Ray and a whole list of other stuff that most people didn't have a need for. All of this could be yours for the low low price of $600 + tax.

See, while Microsoft was busy taking notes, Sony was not paying attention to what people actually wanted.

The high powered graphics, which really aren't much better then the 360, but cost much, much more to make, weren't that important to people as a whole. If Sony had just made a next generation console that was affordable and then had some of those add-on's for the people that needed them. Personally, I don't need Wi-Fi or 4 usb ports or 4 flash drives or Blu tooth on a GAMING CONSOLE.

If they had just gone back and done what they did with the PS2 and PS1 then they would be owning this generation too. The mass amounts of people who owned a PS2 (130+ million units sold) were all waiting and willing and wanting the next Sony Console. Then Sony went and alienated there fanbase.

Sony needed to make the PS3 competitive, affordable and easy to use. Keep it simple, but most of all, they should have saw how well the original Xbox' Superior online service was doing and tried to improve on there own online service.

Instead of good online on the PS3, we get a laggy, uninspired, Mess. Now only did PS3 people have to wait almost three years for a decent game to play, they had to pay $600 for the console itself. Then had to buy High Def cables and a headset for online. That's before you even have a game.

Another failure for Sony this round is the PSP, while I actually kind of liked the PSP, I bought one, then quickly realized there are no good games for it, so I sold it. Then what does Sony do? Makes a PsP Go and sells it for $250, and it only offers "Download only games" plus any PSP games you already had, you had to re-purchase for the PSP Go.

That thing flopped big time.

I know there are hard core PS3 and Sony fans, but the numbers don't lie. The PS3 could have and should have the market this generation. If you go by the numbers, the PS2 was out-selling the PS3 for the first year and people with PS3's were buying more PS2 games and playing them on there PS3's, which is a big reason they stopped the backwards compatability feature in PS3's.

It was Sony's Generation to lose and they sure lost it.

I was one of the suckers to buy into some of the hype, wish I hadn't. Sony needs to go simple next cycle. Simple, affordable console, with great online and great online features. Like Better voice chat and headsets.

I think we are stuck with the PS3 for the next few years at least with the recession, and with the PSP Go Flop, I doubt Sony rushes to make a new console or handheld system anytime soon.

Microsoft took nots and expanded on what had worked previosly, there console only sold 25 million, but 20+ million had sined up for there paid online service. So they expanded on that and now have the best online service around.

Sony, likes to point out that their online service is free, but you tend to get what you pay for. Also, anyone who paid $600 for their PS3 did pay for online, it was built in to the cost of the machine.

See Sony didn't give their customers a choice really, they thought people would follow them into Hell, but people were smarter this time around.

If you just wanted a bare bones gaming machince you could pick up a Xbox 360 for less then $200, there was no option like that for PS3.

I was a fan of Sony, now I see it was all about the money. They didn't even lower the price on the PS3 until game developers threatened to stop support for there console.

Sony, you have failed this generation, the numbers don't lie. How people can claim otherwise is a mystery to me.

Clearly going from 1st place to last place and from selling 130+ million consoles to under 35 million should tell you something about the product your shoveling.

We don't want 3-D Sony, we don't want expensive, we don't want a million flash drives, USB drives, Blu tooth drives etc... We want affordable, easy to use and good online.

Better luck next time.

So most of the time when I play a video game online I am usually running with my clan mates. Since were a coordinated team we tend to not lose very often in open public rooms. This however, leads to some interesting smack talk over the headsets.

How original does a person have to be to spout off with "You live in your moms basement"? or have the idiotic nerve to call me a "No life" when they are on the same game at the same time?

I've had people threaten me, so I send them my name and address, I mean seriously, nobody is going to come to my house and try to start something because I killed them on a video game.

Are they going to send me an E-punch? Or an E-Kick? Of course not. Now I get competition and a little smack talking, but when people start talking about killing someone over a game, I have to take a step back. Lighten up people.

The other thing I hate is how British people tell any and all Americans to "Go eat another Hamburger" or Go "eat at Mcdonalds" What British people don't have Mcdonalds? they don't eat Hamburgers? Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike British people, The Beatles are my favorite band of all time. I just hate how stereo types are played out over online games.

Also the thing's people say can sometimes blow my mind, like when people say "9-11 was funny" or that "They were glad America got terrorized" I mean really? Now I know America isn't the most popular country, mostly because we are forced to clean up everybody else' mess, more often then not and it has been like that for a long, long time.

So I'll get this out of the open, I don't live in my mom's basement, I in fact live in Florida, no basements here. I am in my 20's but I am not a no life. I have a family, own my own business and house. Own classic cars and play in a rock and roll band in my down time.

I am however "Fat" I used to play High School and College football and was pretty good at it. I am 6'5" 315 pounds, so the threat of someone "Beating me up" doesn't exactly scare me"

Also the times when people find out that I'm in my 20's and bash me for playing video games is a little perplexing as well. I mean, should I have stopped gaming when I turned 18? I mean I grew up with games, should I have stopped? of course not and, in fact the average online gamers age is 35. So I have a way's to go before I reach the average age.

Now mostly this rant is for XBL people, as PSN folk don't usually even have headsets and the ones that do, you cant understand what they are trying to say, aside from the "Your mom" jokes, that are a staple on PS3.

So I will close by saying, Lighten up people. It's just a game. No need to pop a blood vessel or get your blood pressure up over someone killing you in a VIDEO GAME. They are for fun, and the time you stop having fun with video games is probably the time you should give up video games.

So a lot of hype has been made recently on this whole "3-D" fad that seem's to be taking the nation by storm.

Personally I hate 3-D. I never have been a fan. I think that people are trying to make 3-D the "Stopgap" until the next generation of consoles hit's the shelves, but since these consoles are doing so well and the economy is so bad, I tend to think were a few years away from new consoles from the big three.

So to bide the time someone thought "Hey, let's bring back 3-D!" "It's been years since this fad died out, everything old is new again at some point"

3-D was huge in the 1950's, 1960's and the 1980's and even some beyond that like with Spy Kids 3-D etc...

My big complaint is that it's just a fad, which has been proven time and time again. Sure, they updated it and pay a lot of money to studio's to make 3-D games and movies, (Which is why we get a reboot Spiderman movie instead of a part 4, The Director and crew didn't want to make a 3-D movie especially not knowing the equipment and anything about it, but Spiderman is made by Sony Studio's which is pushing 3-D heavily at the moment to coincide with there new line of 3-D TV's)

I didn't get anything extra out of the 3-D version of Avatar and I really, really, REALLY hate the idea of wearing glasses to play games or watch something.

It seems so primitive to me. Yet they try to pass it off as "New and Exciting" Let's call it what it is a Fad and a stopgap.

Even Nintendo has jumped on this ship with the new DS 3-D that is supposed ot be coming out March of 2011. THough we get a sneak preview this year at E3.

The idea of a Handheld with the power of the Gamecube is interesting, but the 3-D thing does nothing for me, even though it's supposed to be "Glasses free" 3-D.

To me, the next big thing in technology is Microsofts "Project Natal" I mean it's right out of a futuristic movie.

Voice control your media and tell it when to start and stop and turn up the volume. Change media, Video phone, controller free gaming. That seem's more like real "new tech" then this 3-D thing swirling around.

I will never spend $5000 on a 3-D television and I'll never wear stupid looking glasses to enjoy a movie, especially not in my own home.

It is true, everything old is new again at some point, Like Gi-Joe, Transformers, The A-Team, The Beatles, He-Man and the list goes on and on.

3-D in my opinion just need's to go away, I don't need to be anymore involved with my gaming or viewing experiences.

Good day 3-D....not today!

Originally when I got back into gaming as an adult, the Dreamcast was the console I had been playing.

The NFL 2k Football games totally blew my mind. I am a huge football fan and I thought they were super realistic compared to the Montana Sports talk Football of my earlier days of gaming. I guess I was never a "Madden Football" fan.

I always preferred another NFL game to Madden.

When ESPN NFL 2k5 came out I was in Sim Football heaven! The animations looked real, unlike Maddens (Gears of War type Animations) There was gang tackles, you could control the defense like never before, you could double cover the wide recievers, the playbooks were authentic. There was a trophy section called "The Crib" where you unlocked items from your favorite teams to put around your crib.

There were celebrity people to play against like Steve-O from Jackass and Carmen Electra. Where the Computer simulated what the celebrities did when they actually played the game themselves. This was also a feature online, you could download the top players "Profile" and play against it, even when they weren't there, and it would copy all the things they would do. That way you could practice against them.

There were online leagues, I won mine. There were online ranking systems, I was in the top 10.

The running game actually worked in this game. THere was even the unique First person Football mode. Which was fun to mess around with.

Best of all 2K sports realized what a total rip off it is to sell a new sports game eact year for a full $50 or $60 when most games just give you an updated roster.

So there solution was to charge $19.99 for all there sports titles. Due to this, I was able to buy ESPN 2k5 Football on Playstation 2 and XBox and I also was able to buy 2k5 Baseball.

The folks over at EA Didn't like this very much, they were outclassed and outsolf by ESPN NFL 2K5, so what did they do? THey purchased the very expensive exclusive NFL license.

So now Madden is the only game that can have actual NFL players and and stadiums and things like that. My big concern is that with no competition EA doesn't have to improve the product. People will buy it because it is the only game in town. They aren't forced to get better.

I have not bought an NFL game since then and I cant wait until the license runs out. I think it is a mistake to let any one developer have rights to something like the NFL or MLB or anythything like that.

I am happy to see EA fail again and again, I love the fact that less and less people are buying Madden each year. You reap what you sew EA.

Okay this topic gets locked and flamed and will never really be resolved. I will give it my two cents though. First I'll give a few facts about me and my position. 1. I own a Xbox 360, bought it in 2006 for $120, used with 20 gig HDD, 2 controllers and a headset, High Def Cables 2. I own a PS3 bought it in 2008 for $600, new with the MGS4 bundle. Came with PS2 AV Cables and no Headset purchased HDMI cables and a new headset bringing the total to around $700 I will start by saying I've gotten more from the Xbox 360 that cost me only $120 then the PS3. I love the online for the Xbox 360, XBL is heads and shoulders above the other consoles online services. I know the PSN service is free, but it's kind of relative because originally people were spending $600 a piece on PS3's so essentially they WERE paying for online, just all up front. PSN is just not very efficient, it's hard to find friends and add them, you cant appear offline to avoid getting invites from people like the 360 can. XBox 360 has 8 person cross party chat, where you can chat with your friends even if there on another game. There is private voice chat as well. The quality of voice chat is also much, much better on XBox 360 then on PSN. I think mainly because there is no quality control on PSN, all Blu tooth works on PSN, which makes for a mush mash of chat devices. On PSN everyone sounds like the guy at the Burger King Drive through. You can permanently mute people by gamertags on XBL, no such feature on PSN. XBL has little to no lag, while PSN is full of lag. XBL has 25 million users, while PSN has less then 5 million. There is better competition on XBL, MLG, GB Teams are plentiful on the XBL side of things, while those things don't exist or are scarce on PSN. So for voice chat and online appearance, the edge goes to XBox 360 Online service Xbox 360-XBL-10 PS3-PSN - 5 Games: I love Shooter games and RPG's so naturally I favor the XBox 360 again. I mean for me, it doesn't get better then Gears of War 1, 2 and Mass Effect 1 and 2 , the Halo Series, Forza series and then when it comes to making something totally new Left 4 Dead just really reinvents the genre. Even games that PS3 should have a lock on like the Stealth Genre of Metal Gear solid 4 is outdone by the stealthier Splinter Cell Conviction on the Xbox 360. Games: XBox 360-10 PS3-6.5 Graphics: I will say that a lot of games on PS3 don't even run at 1080p Now Uncharted 2 while I think it's a good looking game, doesn't look as crisp as say Mass Effect 2 or Gears of War 2. A little known fact is multiplatform games are all made on Xbox 360 dev kits and then ported over to the PS3, they tend to dumb them down and don't run as smooth on PS3. Graphics: XBox 360-10 PS3-9.5 Media: I stream media from my PS3 and Xbox 360, Windows 7 works great with Xbox 360, I can save movies and music to my xbox 360 through my P.C. The PS3 has a Blu Ray Player, which is good, HOWEVER, I bought a Stand alone Blu Ray player for Christmas for $99, so that and my $120 Xbox 360 are perfect together and cost far less then the PS3 did. Now you can buy a refurbished Xbox 360 arcade for under $130, so why not get one? try it out. I have personally turned 10 people away from PS3, they play Xbox and get hooked on the online and the exclusives the the fluidity of the online. Media: Xbox 360-10 PS3-8 I tend to see so many overrated games on PS3, MGS4 for example, totally ruined a great franchise. MAG is terrible, nobody uses a headset, the graphics are PS2 like. No offline mode. Uncharted 2, while an okay game, is nowhere near as good as people like to make it sound. I liked the story better when it was Tomb Raider. The lack of people with headsets and a quality online service just make the PSN seem very last generationm it makes me not want to use it. If your into competition and gamebattles then PS3 is a nowhere land, mainly because MLG is Xbox 360 only and there are so many more Xbox's out there. I don't sugar coat it, I think Xbox 360 is the far better machine for gaming and everything. I have heard all of the excuses about why PS3 is in last place, Price, lack of exclusive titles etc.... That doesn't work when PS3 just releases God Of War 3, Heavy Rain and MAG and still sells less per month then the Xbox 360 and said exclusives fail to really light up the charts. So if your into online gaming, competition, trouble free online, easy to use online and great exclusives from Shooters, stealth, survival horror, sports, racing, RPG's then go Xbox 360! Project Natal is going to be the next big thing, so might as well get on board. Over all scores. Xbox 360-100 PS3- 75