I love a sequel to a good game as much as the next guy. The plethora of promising - although entirely predictable - sequels due out in the next year or so is enough to keep anyone with a 360 excited. But as much as I enjoy continuing a great game's story, I also love playing entirely new IPs and discovering brand new worlds with fresh faces and unfamiliar game mechanics. One of the things that keeps me playing games is that feeling as you open a new game to that fresh smell of fresh-from-the-factory plastic, pop the disc in the tray, and get ready to delve into a brand new game without knowing what it's in store for you.

The first few years of the Xbox 360's release were amazing for those looking for new franchises to sink their teeth into. Who can forget the first time they stepped onto the Citadel's dock in Mass Effect? How about the first time you chainsawed someone in an online game of Gears of War? How long did it take you to realize the cutscene was over and pick up your controller when a plane crash left you stranded in the ocean amidst a sea of burning wreckage in Bioshock? How many times did you pan your camera around 360 degrees when you climbed your first tower in Assassin's Creed's gorgeous urban panoramas?

As impressive as the Xbox 360's line-up for the next year is, I'm more than a little disappointed that there are only 3 new IPs worth nothing. Dragon Age, APB, and Alan Wake all look simply amazing. As for the rest of the line-up...well, I feel like all I saw was a half dozen new music games and a bunch of sequels I already knew were coming. I'll be the first in line to pick up my shiny new copies of Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and a whole bunch of other blockbusters with the number 2 somewhere there in the title.

One thing that does bug me though is the introduction of Project Natal. I don't want to go off on a rant here, but I dread the release of this thing. I haven't bought a Wii yet because I just have no interest in flailing around like an idiot every time I play a game. I know Microsoft just wants to cash in on the casual crowd market like Nintendo has done, but I think there's better ways they could have done it. Fleshing out the Primetime functionality is one of those ways. I just got done playing 1 vs 100 for the first time tonight, and I can tell this will be a huge draw for the Xbox 360 to casual players.

While I like to see fresh innovations in the gaming world, I just hope Microsoft doesn't change its focus entirely and forget that the Xbox 360 is popular with the hardcore crowd for a reason. That reason is because we enjoy our adult-oriented games filled with blood and gore and mayhem. We're mostly lazy folk who are more than capable of sitting on our fat butts playing Gears of War for 4 hour marathon sessions. We do not want to have to get up off our arses to play a game that simulates having an underage friend to mess around with. Maybe a few lonely souls need the company of an AI companion, but I'm mostly happy with just shooting AI, not dropping rocks into ponds with it.