Xmas 08 beats 07 for quality games, says Microsoft

MS UK head of gaming points to Gears of War 2 and Fable 2.

Christmas 2008 has trumped Christmas 2007 for quality new releases, according to Microsoft.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, gamers enjoyed Halo 3, Project Gotham Racing 4, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mass Effect, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy, among others. Such was the quality of the titles released in late 2007 that some commentators called it the golden age of gaming.

However, Microsoft's Head of Gaming and Entertainment UK, Stephen McGill, told VideoGamer.com in an interview to be published next week that Christmas 2008 was even better, pointing to the releases of Gears of War 2 and Fable 2.

He said: "A year and a bit ago, September 27, we launched Halo 3, and we were thinking Halo 3, amazing, and we had a great line-up of games from us and third parties on Xbox 360 last Christmas. It's even better this year. I mean we've got Gears of War next week, we've just had Fable straight in at the charts at number one, and there's just so much more coming from us, because we've got the New Xbox Experience on November 19, and there's just masses of great games from third parties as well on our platform."

Since the beginning of September this year, some stupendous games have been released, including Far Cry 2, Spore, Dead Space, Fallout 3, Fable 2, FIFA 09, Warhammer Online and Bioshock on PS3. And there's more to come, including LittleBigPlanet, Wrath of the Lich King, Left 4 Dead, Mirror's Edge, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Resistance 2.

We can't pick between the two line-ups here at VideoGamer.com HQ. But maybe you can. Do you agree with Microsoft? Is Christmas 2008 better than Chirstmas 2007 for quality games? Let us know in the comments section below.