Best FPSs and best exclusives prove 360 is 'still at its heart a gaming console'.

Halo 3 screenshot

The Xbox 360 has the best games and the best first-person shooters, a high-ranking Microsoft executive has claimed.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com to promote the launch of the Sky Player on Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE Europe general manager Jerry Johnson said that the console's exclusive games "prove the point that this is still very much at its heart a gaming console", despite strong moves to broaden the 360's appeal.

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He said: "I'll come back and say that Xbox has the best games out there. It's got the best first-person shooter games out there. The exclusives we've had over the past years and what we had going into this holiday prove the point that this is still very much at its heart a gaming console.

"There's nothing we're going to change with that. You will start to see us, though, do things that are broader marketing and start to expose some of the things that are broader than just first-person shooters."

The launch of the Sky Player, which allows 360 owners to stream Sky content, is part of Microsoft's attempt to broaden the Xbox 360's appeal.

According to Johnson, Microsoft hopes the 360 will become known as more than "just a Halo or Gears of War machine".

Johnson denied, however, that Microsoft's focus would move away from the core gaming experience fans love it for.

"Trust me, I think you'll find people operate in different modes," he said. "My wife doesn't like the fact I game sometimes. I'm still going to go game sometimes. There's nothing we're going to change that's going to not focus on those customers more. In fact, not just this year but in the next year, we'll continue to do features that are targeted at that hardcore gamer. At the same time we are going to start to do things that appeal to both the hardcore gamer and the broader user, and continue to do things and start to do more targeted at the broader user specifically."

Johnson's "best games out there" comment comes at a time when the PS3 owners are enjoying the launch of some incredible games, including Naughty Dog's stunner Uncharted 2.

In the FPS category, the PS3's exclusive Killzone 2, released earlier in the year, saw rave reviews, as did Insomniac's Resistance series. The Xbox 360 has, of course, Halo 3 and the recently released Halo 3: ODST.

What do you think? What console has the best first-person shooters? What console has the best exclusives? Will the Xbox 360 always be a Halo and Gears of War machine? Let us know in the comments section below.