(In case you missed part 1)

4. Every Move You Make

This has nothing to do with Sam Fisher but everything to do with spying.

Now that Microsoft has made cyber stalking from the comfort of your couch as simple as can be, it’s high time that they start working on making Internet piracy completely undetectable. Where’s the love for those deviants?

Last year, Microsoft furthered their goal of turning the Xbox 360 into the center of your home entertainment by adding Netflix streaming into the stable of options available through the system. This year, they’ve gone and added more features with a defined focus on blowing out the social networking aspect of the system.

Coming this fall, the 360 will integrate Twitter and Facebook, meaning that you’ll be able to keep up-to-date on your friends’ activities while you continue ripping Liberty City a new one.

Now, I don’t tweet, but I am on Facebook and that utility does look compelling. In fact, I recall last year, when I was in the first days of the Facebook honeymoon, I would often pinball between the TV and the PC, bouncing between game to computer screen to see what the latest updates were and to see if any conversations sparked an ounce of my thought. Now, I never have to leave that couch bringing me one step closer to Wall-E’s vision of humanity. You know what – at the end of the day, after I’ve been bustin’ my hump at the docks hauling in today’s catch, that’s fine with me. All I wanna’ do is work on digging a couch divot and spending an hour or two in fantasy land. If I can keep up with my Facebook cronies while runnin’-and gunnin’ alongside my Xbox pals, GREAT!!!

Oh, who am I kiddin’? I’m never gonna’ set it up. But it is cool for the kids.

3. Game On

With this generation of consoles comfortably sitting at the midpoint of their life cycles, these conferences becomes less about unveiling new tech (although Microsoft did have that base covered – more in a moment) and more about showcasing the reason we own these bricks in the first place.

I think the one trend we’ve seen this generation is the deterioration of system exclusivity, which is a good thing for all involved. Suddenly, you don’t feel compelled to own every system (although the first party ware is usually a tasty carrot towards that end). While I’ve got a separate piece coming that will dig a little deeper into my most wanted titles, I thought Microsoft had a good showing and it looks like it’s going to be a very busy winter gaming season again.