Notable Xbox 360 exclusives this past year included Halo: Reach, Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake and Fable 3. There's still a lot of guns and space marines in that list, but the Xbox 360 did a much better job of diversifying its library in 2010. Other smaller, but still important, hits included Kinect compatible titles like Dance Central and Kinect Sports and a host of downloadable titles like Limbo and Super Meat Boy. All in all Xbox 360 had a pretty strong year, the high point being Bungie's final Halo game, Reach. I spent a lot of time playing online team deathmatches with my brother and recommend that everyone find a friend or relative and do the same.
PS3
The PS3's heavy hitters in 2010 included the long awaited Gran Turismo 5, Heavy Rain, God of War 3 and ModNation Racers. Also bolstering the library were some quality B tier titles like 3D Dot Heroes, an homage to old school Zelda games, and Yakuza 3. Unfortunately, Sony didn't have as much success with their motion controller, Playstation Move, as Microsoft did with Kinect so there wasn't much in the way of worthwhile exclusives available in the Fall. Move compatible titles in 2011 are looking a lot better so this list will probably be much bigger next year.
Wii
A lot of so called "hardcore" gamers spend a lot of time trash talking the Wii, but lets take a look at some of the great exclusives that came out in 2010. Nintendo alone released Super Mario Galaxy 2, my game of the year pick, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Metroid: Other M and Sin and Punishment 2: Star Successor. That is a stellar list already, but wait there's more! Third party developers released gems like Goldeneye 007, a loose remake to the Nintendo 64 classic, Sonic Colors, the best 3D Sonic game yet, Red Steel 2,Trauma Team, No More Heroes 2, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Epic Mickey. That lineup is diverse, offering something for just about everyone, but also high in quality.
Winner: Wii
Just the Nintendo releases alone would have put the Wii ahead of its competitors, but there were also a ton of great third party titles as well. All of the games listed are worthy of your attention so be sure to spend the rest of your holiday break playing these great games!