Microsoft already talking about Christmas in July (August, really)

Remember that scene in the Lion King, where Simba is standing in the bottom of the gorge after Scar leaves him there? He's chasing around this silly chameleon thing, having a good time, and then the ground starts to vibrate and the pebbles on the valley floor start to jump around. The vibrations grow and crescendo, and all of a sudden he turns around and there's a HUGE heard of wildebeest bearing down on him. Suddenly, he's surrounded by the chaos, which then leaves as quickly as it came.

Yeah, and that's kind of like the holiday season for video games (except without the death of Mufasa, even though parents/gift-shoppers are pretty fatigued after this is over).

The holiday season of video games is a blitzkrieg of who has the best holiday lineup and titles. The only exception to this is when new consoles are released, and then it's the age-old, never-ending "console wars," the debate on which system will be the mightiest, which is the best deal, and which has the most solid launch titles of them all.

I bring this up only because we're 4 months away from the "most wonderful time of the year" and Microsoft is already tooting its own horn about its most elite holiday lineup yet. Microsoft does have some pretty decent titles slated for holiday release, but their tenacious confidence might be a little much. Here are the games they're promising:

• Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock” (RedOctane/Activision),
• Halo 3 (Bungie Studios),
• Madden NFL 08 (EA)
• Rock Band (MTV Games).
• BioShock (2K Games),
• Lost Odyssey (Mistwalker and Feel Plus),
  
• Blue Dragon (Mistwalker and Artoon Co. Ltd.),
• Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action (Screenlife),
• Project Gotham Racing 4 (Bizarre Creations Ltd.),
• Mass Effect (BioWare Corp.),
• Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (Ubisoft),
• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

Followed by this quote:

“On the eve of the best holiday games lineup ever and the launch of ‘Madden NFL 08,’ there has never been a better time to jump into Xbox 360.”

I don't know about that. Last I heard the Xbox 360 was still having technical hardware issues with what has been dubbed by frustrated gamers the "Red Ring of Death." But it's probable this hardware issue will be fixed come holiday season.

Looking at this game list, I don't know if it secures Microsoft's success. They do have some solid system-exclusive titles, namely Halo 3. But this list is rounded out by Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, both games with big expectations. I can also see some titles that are family-friendly and would be great for the kiddies, like Scene it?, Rock Band, and Naruto.

Oh, the possibilities. I wonder how many articles are written on videogames just based loosely on conjecture.

Anyway, my plans to prepare for the holiday season... I will have for you:

• List of holiday titles for each system
  
• have short evaluations/previews of said holiday titles
• Include a list of games from last season/year that are solid titles, and probably pretty cheap right now

I promise. These will be here. And if they aren't, I'll do all of your holiday shopping.

That's how serious I am. :P