In the best tradition of the beholder’s eye, here are my picks for the top 5 games for the Xbox:

1. Red Dead Redemption. Saddle up, pilgrim, it’s time to bring some justice back to the Old West. This free roaming third person shooter puts you in Clint Eastwood’s shoes as John Marston, outlaw turned hero in the American Old West that should have been, and perhaps only ever existed for Hollywood.

2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. A shooter with heavy RPG elements is still a shooter, but Lucas Arts did it right with all the trappings and rich back story of the Star Wars universe. Lightsabers, the Force, droids, and an unmatched hive of scum and villainy put you in the action in a world where Greedo never would have got the chance to shoot first.

3. Lego Harry Potter: Okay, so waving a wand and blasting little Lego people into their component bricks isn’t exactly a shooter. But this latest entry in the Lego series of licensed games brings its own twist to the addictive puzzle and platform formula that made Legos Batman, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars so captivating. And its funny; famous scenes from the movies done up in silent movie Legos? Priceless.

4. Halo: Reach. Halo is unquestionably the game that established the bar for every other Xbox shooter to target, and the new entry in the series is no exception. It makes the most of that Xbox Live connection to put you and your buddies into the hot zone with a whole new set of rules, toys, and customizations that are guaranteed to keep your guns blazing.

5. Bioshock. This is one to watch, with the combination of intriguing gameplay and immersive storyline. The sheer variety of tasks puts you in a world where I just want to keep exploring the possibilities of one more upgrade, and the challenge of hacking another odd computer. Just because I can.

No coincidence that shooters form the core of my top Xbox games. The fast pace and frenetic action fuel my adrenaline like unfiltered caffeine!

At E3 2009, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 peripheral code named Project Natal. This system introduced full motion tracking capabilities — all without a controller. Microsoft hopes to outdo what Nintendo accomplished with the Nintendo Wii, the first home console capable of tracking gestures released on the home market. But while Nintendo included the use of Wii controllers to accomplish this, the Xbox 360 seeks to use a specially designed 3d tracking camera that can seek depth and position. Yes. It can sense 3d space. Furthermore, the game can track up to 4 players at once. In addition, the player can issue vocal commands. One of the most astounding games previewed at E3 gave a demo of how this works. This game, Milo and Kate, allowed a user to communicate directly with a digital child and carry on conversations. The biggest surprise? Milo can read your facial expressions.

We’ve obviously gone through the rabbit hole: Motorola’s income reaches positive figures while Nintendo turn around and report slashed profits.  After a healthy last quarter, the Japanese gaming giant has announced a drop in interim net profits from 144.83 billion yen this time last year to just 69.49 billion yen this past six months, with a 43-percent drop in Wii sales.

In fact the company only sold 5.75m Wii consoles, while handheld console sales also fell by 15-percent despite the launch of the DSi in Europe and the US.  Nintendo have tweaked their financial year-end predictions to more conservative figures, suggesting 1.5 trillion yen sales and an overall net profit of 230 billion yen come March 2010.

Nintendo have officially announced their latest handheld console, and like the rumors suggested it packs larger displays than the DSi.  The Nintendo DSi LL will drop in Japan on November 21st, complete with twin 4.2-inch displays (compared to the DSi’s two 3.25-inch displays); as before, the lower panel is a touchscreen.

Update: Nintendo UK have confirmed to Electricpig that the handheld will arrive in the UK come Q1 2010, as the Nintendo DSi XL.  We’re guessing it’ll have the same name and launch schedule in the US, too, though nothing is official as yet.  No word on pricing, either.

The size of the DSi LL is obviously greater, with the new dimensions being 161 x 91.4 x 21.2 mm (compared to the DSi’s 137 x 74.9 x 18.9 mm) and it weighs in at 314g (the DSi is 214g).  Battery life has also increased, up to 13-17 hours with the display at minimum brightness or 4-5 hours at maximum brightness; in contrast, the DSi manages 9-14 and 3-4 hours in the same conditions.

Ports, microphone/speakers and cameras are the same as the DSi, and as far as we know the internals are unchanged too.  The Nintendo DSi LL will be priced at 20,000 yen ($221) and available in wine red, dark brown or natural white when it arrives in Japan on November 21st; no word right now on a US or European launch.

Reggie at it again!

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime took the fight right to Sony today. When asked how he felt about the recent release of the PSP Go, good ol’ Reggie didn’t mince any words. “Who’s it for? What’s the benefit?” he grumbled.

Although famously outspoken, Fils-Aime’s comments may have been too much. Japanese corporate culture frowns on attacks such as this and with blood drawn Sony spokespeople are certain to respond in kind. With the recent release of the DSi, it seems that we might be hearing some harsh words about the new portable-console-slash-camera from Sony sooner rather than later…