You’ve seen my lineups for Games and Accessories already.  Hopefully they helped you sort through all the hottest titles and accessories to make your holiday shopping easier.  Now it’s time for another round of my Starting Lineup and this time it’s about the hottest stories that got the community in a frenzy this year.

What were we all talking about?  What made the biggest splash in the headlines this year?  Are you ready for my Starting Lineup?

X06 - What didn’t come out of this show that wasn’t worth headlines?  You can start with the Peter Jackson partnership to the announcement of Halo Wars.  There was so much heading out of this event that it was hard to count.  The next installment in the Splinter Cell series is exclusive to Xbox 360.  X06 brought the noise!

TGS (Tokyo Game Show) - There was more good news prior to X06 at TGS.  1080p!  Many will argue about how it can be done and that’s exactly why it was another of the top stories this year.  HD enthusiasts were divided on whether or not it was possible but the fact remains, the Xbox 360 was about to be 1080p enabled!

Xbox 360 System Update (Spring) - When the Xbox 360 launched, there were some noticeable improvements that could be made.   The biggest of which was addressed in the Spring system update…Active Downloading! 

Gears of War Emergence Day - I can’t recall in the brief history of both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 if there was ever a release date that created more buzz than the announcement of the Gears of War release date and subsequent plans for Emergence Day.  It hit like a meteor across the community and is still being talked about due to how hard core the game turned out to be.

E3 2006 Halo 3 - This year’s E3 brought one thing that I’m sure no one will soon forget…the unveiling of Halo 3.  What’s so fascinating about the trailer that debuted at E3 was the fact that it was IN GAME.  It wasn’t some computer generated cinematic.  The visuals you saw in the Halo 3 trailer were the same you’ll see in the game.  When the trailer hit the internet and the Xbox Live Marketplace, there were massive downloads! 

There you have it.  The top stories of 2006 that made it into my starting lineup.  And as always, every starting 5 needs a solid bench to make the rotation strong.  Getting some quality minutes off the bench are the stories on the Xbox Live Vision Camera, E3 2006 Grand Theft Auto IV announcement, Bringing It Home E3 2006, and Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays.