The Xbox 360 had some seriously fun titles in years past -- Oblivion, Dead Rising, GRAW, [Your Favorite Here]. But the past year has churned out some amazing stuff. Gears of War tided me over for a while, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance was fun for a change of pace, but the stars of Christmas 2006 to Christmas 2007 were these:

Call of Duty 3: The end of an era. I think everyone was satisfied with the WWII genre of gaming, starting with Medal of Honor, evolving into Call of Duty, exploding into Battlefield 1942 (almost a genre unto itself), going retro with Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and returning again and again to Medal of Honor and Call of Duty sequels. Countless spinoffs took flight, with Blazing Angels, Battlestations Midway, and any number of other games concerning the gritty combat of 60+ years ago. It served its purpose: It's more fun to play a slightly historical shooter than to play yet another sci-fi or anime snoozefest. When it comes down to it, there's two kinds of gamers -- the kind that want to play Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and those that want to play the best WWII first person shooter ever made, Call of Duty 3. Which one are you?

Rainbow Six Vegas: I was a die-hard Ghost Recon fan. I still am, really. But I've played through SIX different Ghost Recon games in the past five years. It's had its ups and downs, but I've always been faithful. I tried my hardest to like any of the three Rainbows on the original Xbox, but I hated them, especially online. Then I was talked into R6 Vegas by a friend and wow, I think it redefines the tactical shooter genre. I'm sold. I've seen so many cool battles, great graphical effects and other unique touches in this game. I'll buy the next Rainbow sight unseen. Yea Ubisoft. Those French and Canadians are ruling the Xbox scene.

Forza Motorsport 2: My progression of video game racing over the past 15 years goes something like this: Test Drive ---> Need for Speed ---> Gran Turismo ---> Project Gotham ---> RalliSport ---> Forza Motorsport. And that's where it ends. If a RalliSport for the 360 ever hits the scene, I'm there, but for now Forza 2 rules. Project Gotham lost me after PGR3. Fully customizable rides didn't exactly start with Forza 2, but it perfected the idea, and the racing beats everthing that came before it.

Call of Duty 4 Modern Combat: It's everything Battlefield 2: Modern Combat wasn't, and far more. It's missing vehicles? People would care if it didn't include an excellent custom class system, great weapons and unlockables, and some addictive gameplay modes. Well worth the hype. When they say it's the most photo-realistic, beautiful, deep shooter ever seen, they're not lying. It's definitely in contention for best FPS ever.

Assassin's Creed: So we didn't get Grand Theft Auto IV this year. Well, if you want engrossing storylines, immersive gameplay, beautiful graphics and scenery and top-notch action, this is the best game since Oblivion. I haven't played it through, but I can only hope it's half as deep as it looks. Middle East assassins are the new ninja.

Merry Christmas. Peace.

It was a dark and stormy night.  I was getting bored playing Xbox Live.  Shoot.  (On a side note, XBL has been pretty boring ever since I stopped playing Project Gotham 2 and RalliSport 2.  Most 360 games just don't live up to the hype on Xbox Live.  I'm looking forward to DiRT to change that.  Otherwise, meh, I'm over it.)  This particular night, I stopped playing Call of Duty 3 online and switched over to single player on verteran difficulty.  I'm 10 levels in, four to go, which rocks because my video game nemesis is stuck a few levels behind me.  I rule.

This just in:  Gears of War still sucks.

Anyone read or heard about Wal-Mart's extensive surveillance programs?  These guys are spying on their own shareholders and anti-Wal-Mart groups, but they're also monitoring email, phone calls and internet use from their own employees.  Think about it -- you're a Wal-Mart company man and you're using Gmail or Hotmail and thinking that as long as I'm using a non-company email service, my emails should remain private.  Not so, according to insiders at Wal-Mart.  And that's just email -- employees are instructed to have no expectation of privacy while making phone calls and their state-of-the-art internet surveillance program monitors flesh tones on your computer display and automatically reports you if it displays pornography -- even if you just happen to be on the same computer network as Wal-Mart.

Now I'll admit I've bought from this place from time to time, but I've had my reservations about the place.  Everyone's heard a few bad stories about their business practices or the way the treat employees.  Is it right to keep buying from this place when they treat their underpaid workers like garbage and in the meantime drive out all competition in the area?  Is it worth trudging through these places, which are dirtier than the K Marts of 20 years ago, to buy a $2 Chinese-made mop, all the while making the Walton family members richer than Donald Trump?  Is it worth paying a few dollars less for things when they're telling us what we should and shouldn't buy?  Wal-Mart doesn't like hip hop and they barely tolerate video games.  And now I can't tolerate them.  I'm over it.