Sony gave us a sneak peak at its upcoming PlayStation software earlier this month, and Nintendo will take its kick at the fall preview can in mid-November, but last Wednesday was Microsoft's turn to show off imminent ware for the Xbox 360 at X06, the video game maker's annual autumnal foretasting at The Brant House on King West in downtown Toronto.

Gears of War, published by Microsoft and developed by Epic Games, was the event's main attraction. Eight journalists at a time sat on couches going head-to-head with one another in this spectacular sci-fi shooter. It looks to be one of the prettiest games yet released for the Xbox 360, using the console's considerable power to deliver gorgeous environments chock full of rubble and towering buildings as well as highly detailed characters and stunningly gory special effects. Played from a third-person perspective, Gears of War is heavy on adrenaline-pumping combat, but also manages to throw in some surprisingly deep tactics as players communicate with one another in team play and use voice recognized commands to control A.I. partners in the campaign. This holiday blockbuster is slated for release next month.

Less visually spectacular but perhaps more innovative was Shadowrun, a first-person shooter with cross-platform capabilities—meaning Xbox 360 players will be able to go head-to-head against PC players online. The concern with cross-platform gaming has always been that PC gamers using mouse-and-keyboard controls would have an unfair advantage over console players wielding a traditional controller. However, Shadowrun's developers claim that after months of trials they have yet to hear a single console tester complain of losing due to a discernable advantage held by a PC player. Sounds groovy, but we'll withhold our judgment until we see a final version of the game running live in a public environment, where the very best PC shooters can take on the best console players.

Perhaps even more interesting than Shadowrun's cross-platform compatibility is its premise, which hinges on the idea that when the Mayan calendar renews itself in 2012, the world will revert back to a state of magic and humans will gain strange new powers. The upside of a magical future? People can use advanced technology (to see through a concrete wall, for example) while at the same time lay down fantastical spells (to teleport through said concrete wall, for example). Neat idea, but unfinished as of yet, so it's still a wonder if they'll pull it off.

Another Microsoft-published game that caught our eye was the racing simulator Forza Motorsport 2. Attendees were provided the opportunity to test the game in conjunction with Microsoft's new first-party racing wheel, a deluxe, wireless, $200 peripheral with authentic gear-shifting paddles and strong force feedback. By combining Forza 2's beautiful vehicles, advanced car handling, and improved "sweet line" system with what is arguably the best console racing wheel on the market, Microsoft has given racing fans a reason to start saving their cash for the first quarter of next year.

Surprisingly, the Xbox 360's game downloading service Xbox Live Arcade had a muted presence at the show, with only a scant few already-released Arcade titles on display. Instead, Microsoft turned the spotlight on XNA, the company's free game development platform that now allows anyone who fancies him or herself a game designer to create their very own Xbox 360 game and share it with the rest of the world.

Two XNA tools were demonstrated. The simpler of the pair, a non-Microsoft application called Torque Game Builder, lets players just drag and drop existing objects—such as environmental backgrounds, items and characters with distinctive behaviors—created by more experienced developers onto a play field to create a game in mere minutes. More complex games can be designed in the second application, Game Studio Express, which lets users actually author original game code, though Microsoft recommends users have a programming background before tackling this tool.

Once your game is finished, you can upload it to an Xbox 360 console to play or share with friends. We were told XNA software that facilitates the process of uploading and sharing games over the Xbox Live network will soon be released via the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Microsoft believes this novel enterprise could eventually become the YouTube of the gaming industry—a way for people to easily share original game creations.

While X06 may have proved that Microsoft is devoting considerable resources and energy to exclusive Xbox 360 development projects, it didn't instill much confidence that the rest of the industry is doing likewise. There were dozens of third-party titles on display, but the vast majority (including Guitar Hero II, Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six Vegas, Splinter Cell: Double Agent ...the list goes on) were essentially just stock titles slated to be released on multiple platforms with nothing particularly unique-to-Xbox about them.

But at least the Xbox 360 will be the first system to play host to many of these games, one of the most notable of which is The Darkness from developer Starbreeze AB, the same team that gave us the Xbox-exclusive sleeper hit The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

This dark and terrifying looking title puts players in the shoes of a mafia hitman who suddenly gains incredible new powers, like the ability to summon intelligent little Darkling demons and sick them on enemies. The game plays out from a first-person perspective, but compartmentalizing it as a first-person shooter would do it a disservice—there is also a strong role-playing element, hand-to-hand combat, and plenty of puzzles to solve. The Xbox 360 version of The Darkness will be released early next year, beating the PlayStation3 version to store shelves by several months.

But having first dibs on a title isn't the same thing as having an exclusive title. The lack of third-party exclusives is mildly alarming for a console entering its second year. Should either Sony or Nintendo get off to a quick start delivering fresh content for PS3 and Wii, Microsoft may well see its much-touted 12-month lead in the new console war amount to naught.