Psst...have you read The OXM 30? This article's a follow-up, an extension to our annual look at the 30 things that will matter most to Xbox 360 gamers in the coming year. Go read that, then c'mon back.

10 Things That Won't Matter in 2008

Xbox Originals
Which would you rather buy: Fuzion Frenzy as a used CD for $10, or Fuzion Frenzy as a downloadable for $15? By missing the golden opportunity to add Achievements to the direct-download re-releases, Microsoft ensured our answer is “Fuzion Frenzy not at all.”

1080p
Xbox 360 games are still primarily 720p affairs, by design. If your HDTV can’t see 1080p, you’re not missing much. Upsampling doesn’t make a big enough difference. Live Anywhere Remember how PC gamers were all going to log in to Live, and then we were going to be able to check each other’s Gamerscores on our cell phones while we played Hexic? Oh, how big the dreams were then…

The One-Console Future
It might be a good thing for third-party developers, but Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have too much invested (money, time, and pride) at this point, and they won’t be waving a white flag in the console war any time soon. Maybe ever.

The Clancyverse
Vegas will continue to be a hotspot, but with no GRAW this year, EndWar and Air Combat probably won’t reinforce the extended franchise so much as spread it thinner. And while the very undercover Splinter Cell Conviction definitely has potential, the series has always been completely Sam Fisher’s, despite the Clancy label slapped on it.

Rare
We really liked Viva Piñata, but it didn’t set the world ablaze. Fans keep begging for Killer Instinct and it has yet to arrive, in any form. We’re keen to see it, but the next Banjo likely won’t sell consoles. And the Stampers have left the building.

Fighting Games
Seems like the only brawlers with a 360 following are the ones where success is measured in cup sizes. If the gorgeous Virtua Fighter 5 couldn’t pick a fight, we’re doubtful we’ll see any solid contenders to revive the genre this year.

Zune
For gamers, the Zune doesn’t do anything the iPod doesn’t. (Actually, since iPod now plays games, the Zune does even less.) Hell, it took a year for Zune to natively support podcasts and come in colors that weren’t brown; we’re not expecting any big perks for 360 owners on the horizon, beyond the warm fuzzy feeling of corporate loyalty.

Orange Box–Style Megavaluepacks
Enjoy the beautiful fluke that was five titles for one price. We’re chalking it up to Valve needing a practical way to deliver bite-sized content to Xbox 360, and we (sadly) don’t expect it to start a trend.

Movies Based on Games
Uhhh…have they ever?

Win Some, Lose Some

Wondering how we did in predicting 2007’s heavy hitters? Here are some of our hits and misses:

We Were Right!

Limited Editions
These special versions of games were as popular as we predicted, with limited editions of BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, and other triple-A tearing up the shelves.

Updates
The Xbox 360’s version of game-patching is even more widespread than it was a year ago. Fortunately, it’s as painless as it we previously described it — although the system does leave people without online access in a bit of a lurch.

Valve
Every gamer knew the developer’s name this year. The Orange Box was every bit as great as we’d hoped, earning a 9.5 score from us and selling super-well at retail.

We Were Wrong!

Arcade Joysticks
We assumed that all the retro ports and twitch games on Live Arcade would encourage hardware makers to pump out XBLA joysticks. But to date, we’ve seen MadCatz’s Retro Stick (OXM score: a shocking 1.5) and the Virtua Fighter 5 Arcade Stick (which is just a relabeled Dead or Alive 4 stick), and the pricey, made-to-order Arcade in a Box Solo stick. Three is hardly a trend.

Def Jam: Icon
Its use of music was definitely unique: the gameworld reacted to beats, including those in your own MP3s. But this innovation didn’t catch on with other game developers — maybe because Icon performed poorly at retail.

Windows Vista
It’s less-than-loved by PC gamers, let alone 360 owners. Turned out there was no compelling, synergistic reasons for 360 owners to upgrade.

What About Japan?

It pains us to make this argument, but the Japan experiment on Xbox 360 is, for this year anyway, on hold. The Japanese release of Blue Dragon at least caused a blip on the hardware sales radar in late 2006 (sadly, it tanked in the U.S. in ‘07), but outside of Itagaki-san’s Ninja Gaiden 2 – which should light up both sales charts and gamers’ hearts – the 2008 crop of Eastern Xbox 360 software won’t matter in the U.S., let alone Japan itself. Sure, Lost Odyssey will probably be good, but it likely won’t inspire anyone who’s not already a fan of Japanese-style RPGs to purchase the system or the game. And Soulcalibur IV only appeals to a hardcore, niche audience.

Only Capcom has proven that it can bring mass-market thunder from The Land of the Rising Sun, but sequels to Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter won’t be released in 2008. In fact, only one of those (Resident Evil 5) has even been officially announced. Check back in ’09 for a more optimistic forecast.

Five for 2009

When 2008 isn’t enough, we go for broke and call out what we think will dominate Xbox 360 gaming a year from now. Maybe we’re just being cocky, but if we end up being right – you heard it here first.

BioShock/Mass Effect clones
The 2008 calendar year may not be enough time for us to fully see the effect of hugely successful, highly polished story-driven games like Mass Effect and BioShock. After all, all those competing publishers greenlighting development on similar projects may have been holding their collective breath waiting to see if these types of games ended up hitting their targets. But boy did they –– and we’re confident that 2009 may be the year we begin reaping the benefits. Let’s just hope those competitors know what made BioShock and Mass Effect so good – and not just slap some cockamamie story onto half-baked gameplay design.

Street Fighter IV
Are we the only ones depressed by the steep downturn in the popularity of fighting games these days? The excellent Virtua Fighter 5 Online is testament to the fact with sluggish sales on 360 and PlayStation 3 despite its awesomeness. But we have a good feeling that the trend may be on an upswing for 2009 in time for the return of the king – Street Fighter. Already looking mighty fine in early screenshots from the arcade version, we have high hopes that Ryu and co. will hadoken some sense into the new generation of gamers next year.

Bungie’s new IP
The home of Master Chief ain’t talking anything beyond Halo 3 DLC at this point, but we know that the studio has something new and something big up its sleeve outside of the series’ universe. When it hits, we expect big things –– and we suspect that it’ll make 2009 a great place for Xbox 360 owners.

Un-rocking the music game
With Rock Band already established and in countless homes, what better way to nab more interest and treat the game as the “platform” that Harmonix envisions it to be than trading straight ahead rock music for the multitude of other musical genres out there? We picture everything from Johnny Cash to The Roots to Parliament Funkadelic blaring out of surround sound systems everywhere – with plastic instruments keeping time.

Warren Spector
The (very humble, polite, and talented) man behind some of the biggest games in videogame history is beavering away quietly in Disney’s interactive division working on an unannounced new IP. With Spector’s winning track record (Ultima Underworld, Deus Ex, Thief: Deadly Shadows), we’re bold enough to say that whatever he’s working on right now in 2008 should make 2009 a happy place to be if it ends up 360. And we bet it will in some form.