2008 was a blockbuster year for games on the 360.
In November alone, the Wii sold 2 million units, double its numbers for same month last year. The Xbox 360 sold 836,000 units that month, compared to the PS3's 378,000. And although one month's numbers don't tell the whole story, it's a representative look at 2008. Over the course of the year, we saw the Wii own the market while the Xbox 360 held a respectable second-place position. With a few exceptions, the PlayStation 3 fell to third place.
So has Microsoft lost the battle for the living room? Hardly. Although the Wii is probably being played by millions of moms at this very second, it's the 360 that's come closer than any other current-generation console to the indispensible entertainment device that Bill Gates and crew so desire it to be. And that fact can be attributed in large part to the November launch of what Microsoft calls the New Xbox Experience
Games of 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV
Rockstar Games
IGN Rating: 10
Fallout 3
Bethesda
IGN Rating: 9.6
Gears of War 2
Microsoft
IGN Rating: 9.5
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Capcom
IGN Rating: 9.4
Prince of Persia
Ubisoft
IGN Rating: 9.3
Call of Duty: World at War
Activision
IGN Rating: 9.2
Left 4 Dead
Electronic Arts
IGN Rating: 9.0
Rock Band 2
MTV Games
IGN Rating: 9.0
NHL 09
Electronic Arts
IGN Rating: 9.0
Fable II
Microsoft
IGN Rating: 8.8
Madden NFL 09
Electronic Arts
IGN Rating: 8.8
We're still getting e-mails about Xbox 360s seeing the dreaded three red lights which was our first bad prediction. It seems that the process of repairing Xbox 360s and shipping them back out was only a temporary band-aid as people continue to be frustrated with faulty hardware. To be fair, the number of complaints we've seen and rate of failure at IGN has decreased significantly.
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