So I got myself an XBox 360 Arcade and a used 60GB hard drive....

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Let's get this out of the way. I am absolutely not into FPS games on a console. I'm mainly looking to pick up some exclusives to the system and will concentrate on RPGs for the most part. However, I am interested in all genres of games, so any and all recommendations outside of FPS titles are very welcome. I will also probably not buy anything that's available multi-platform, as I already have plastic guitars, nice 6/8 button joysticks for fighters, etc for the PS3.

Really, I mainly bought this 360 because it was pretty cheap ($75 off with Amazon.com trade in I did awhile back), it came with Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts for free (ends July 11th if you're interested), I'm pretty much guaranteed to get a Jasper console with the 512MB Arcade unit, I will most likely start up a Netflix account in the near future, and I have had a few occasions where really good sales on multi-platform titles came about, but the good sale was only for XBox 360 games (having a 360 will help with those Gamestop B2G1 free sales for multi-platform stuff most likely too, as the selection for used 360 games seems to be better). I suppose it's possibly to complete the trifecta of current generation consoles too, as I have had a Wii and PS3 for awhile now.


Here's what I've got on the PS3 to give you a taste of what I like.

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction
Overlord: Raising Hell
Metal Gear Solid 4
Lego Batman
Lego Star Wars
Heavenly Sword
Folklore
Devil May Cry 4
Little Big Planet
Guitar Hero III
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (I like killing people with lightning)
InFamous (ditto!)
Motorstorm
Street Fighter IV
Warhawk
Conan
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection


On the PSN:

Final Fantasy VII (own on disc as well)
Castlevania SOTN (own on disc as well)
Wipeout HD
Blast Factor
Rag Doll Kung Fu
Everyday Shooter
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Lost Odyssey and Tales of Vesperia sound pretty neat. I'll probably get Mass Effect also, as I never really got to play it on the PC due to DRM issues.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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The games Dave mentions plus:

Crackdown (if you like inFamous you should like this)
Braid (XBLA)
Worms 2: Armageddon (XBLA)
Mass Effect
Geometry Wars 1 or 2 (XBLA)
Fable II
Peggle (XBLA)
Dead Rising
N+ (on sale for $5 this week - XBLA)
Viva Pinata 1 or 2
Castle Crashers (XBLA)
Halo Wars (try the demo)
Uno (XBLA)
Catan (XBLA)
Carcassone (XBLA)
Magic the Gathering (XBLA)
Outrun Online Arcade (XBLA)
Blue Dragon
Marble Blast Ultra (XBLA)
Assault Heroes 1 or 2 (XBLA)
Banjo-Kazooie (XBLA)
Banjo-Twooie (XBLA)
Penny Arcade Adventures Episodes 1 & 2 (XBLA)
The Maw (XBLA)
Sam & Max Save the World (XBLA)
Scene It
1 vs 100 (free with Live Gold membership)


 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
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Other games not already mentioned:

Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Test Drive Unlimited
Forza Motorsport 2
Project Gotham Racing 3
Project Gotham Racing 4
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Raiden Fighters Aces
Too Human
Rocket Riot (XBLA)
Alien Hominid HD (XBLA)
Ikaruga (XBLA)
Rez HD (XBLA)

And I have to second Mass Effect because it is my favorite 360 game.
 

Thraxen

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2001
4,683
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You really should have Super Stardust HD on PSN. I know that's not a 360 recommendation, but I had to throw that out there. Also, if you like pinball games consider Pinball FX on XBLA and Zen Pinball on PSN. They're by the same developer, but all the boards are unique for each system. You should be able to demo the game on XBLA.

Did you enjoy Overlord? If so, Overlord II launched on both systems last week. If you like the one you have now you would likely enjoy the new one. And I'll second Queasy's Crackdown recommendation.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
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FYI, Crackdown was $10 at Newegg last time I checked.

GoGamer has Live Gold cards for $40 instead of $50 if you can't find a better deal.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
FYI, Crackdown was $10 at Newegg last time I checked.

GoGamer has Live Gold cards for $40 instead of $50 if you can't find a better deal.

http://www.slickdeals.net/perm...-promotional-credit-56

I figured for $56 this was worth getting.

* 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Subscription
* Project Gotham Racing 4 Game
* Chat Pad
* Wired Headset

Will probably get Ikaruga with my $10 promo credit at Amazon.com.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Originally posted by: Thraxen
You really should have Super Stardust HD on PSN. I know that's not a 360 recommendation, but I had to throw that out there. Also, if you like pinball games consider Pinball FX on XBLA and Zen Pinball on PSN. They're by the same developer, but all the boards are unique for each system. You should be able to demo the game on XBLA.

Did you enjoy Overlord? If so, Overlord II launched on both systems last week. If you like the one you have now you would likely enjoy the new one. And I'll second Queasy's Crackdown recommendation.

I'm not really finished with Overlord, so I'll probably wait for a deal to come around on Overlord II. Not really into virtual pinball, but I'll look up some reviews on Super Stardust HD.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Originally posted by: R Nilla
Other games not already mentioned:

Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Test Drive Unlimited
Forza Motorsport 2
Project Gotham Racing 3
Project Gotham Racing 4
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Bully: Scholarship Edition
Raiden Fighters Aces
Too Human
Rocket Riot (XBLA)
Alien Hominid HD (XBLA)
Ikaruga (XBLA)
Rez HD (XBLA)

And I have to second Mass Effect because it is my favorite 360 game.


Glad to see these since I'm getting one for free and the other as part of a bundle I just purchased.

Project Gotham Racing 4
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

I Raiden really good? I have Raiden 3 on PS2 and my son and I love playing it through.
 

R Nilla

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2006
3,835
1
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Originally posted by: Golgatha
I Raiden really good? I have Raiden 3 on PS2 and my son and I love playing it through.

It's only $19.99 and is a compilation of all three Raiden Fighters games: Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive, and Raiden Fighters Jet.

I haven't played it actually, but thought I'd throw a shoot'em up into the mix. If you enjoy Raiden III so much I don't see how you could go wrong with this compilation.
 

artemicion

Golden Member
Jun 9, 2004
1,006
1
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Not sure you're into shooters, but I would say that Gears 2 is the #1 game I enjoy. My taste is probably more on the casual side, so I like the fact you can pop the game in for 30 minutes to an hour, get my frag on, and move on to other things in life.

Other good games:
Bioshock
Fallout 3 (and Oblivion, which you can probably find for really cheap)
- Both are games I really enjoyed. Probably not as much as others, I don't consider them to be legendary-level games, but solid games nonetheless.

Well-reviewed games that I didn't like (or games that will probably be recommended but I offer words of caution for):
Fable 2 - played through the entire game, thought combat gameplay was terrible, story was uninteresting, the only redeeming qualities of the game are the type of things you'd do in a Sims game (buying a house, getting married, having children, running a store)

Mass Effect - admittedly I didn't give it a fair shake. I only played maybe 5 hours worth of gameplay. Also, my experience was also soured from the fact that I tried to develop an outside-the-box set of skills that made the game harder and more unpleasant than maybe it should've been. But at the same time I didn't think the story was compelling enough to slog through the gameplay on easy-mode.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Originally posted by: artemicion
Not sure you're into shooters, but I would say that Gears 2 is the #1 game I enjoy. My taste is probably more on the casual side, so I like the fact you can pop the game in for 30 minutes to an hour, get my frag on, and move on to other things in life.

Other good games:
Bioshock
Fallout 3 (and Oblivion, which you can probably find for really cheap)
- Both are games I really enjoyed. Probably not as much as others, I don't consider them to be legendary-level games, but solid games nonetheless.

Well-reviewed games that I didn't like (or games that will probably be recommended but I offer words of caution for):
Fable 2 - played through the entire game, thought combat gameplay was terrible, story was uninteresting, the only redeeming qualities of the game are the type of things you'd do in a Sims game (buying a house, getting married, having children, running a store)

Mass Effect - admittedly I didn't give it a fair shake. I only played maybe 5 hours worth of gameplay. Also, my experience was also soured from the fact that I tried to develop an outside-the-box set of skills that made the game harder and more unpleasant than maybe it should've been. But at the same time I didn't think the story was compelling enough to slog through the gameplay on easy-mode.

I've got Bioshock, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 on the PC.
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
Braid, Mass Effect, Fable 2, the two Crash Bandicoot games were also fun. And if you didn't play Dead Space, get that one too - it's a really fun game.

Too Human, once you get used to the controls, is also decent fun :)
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
800
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Originally posted by: chuckywang
BRAID IS A MUST HAVE!!!

A good buddy of mine recommended this too, so I decided to get it and see what all the fuss is about. Haven't even had time to setup my system yet though because the wife let me buy a new receiver and I got a Harmony 890 to program now too. Such "problems" to have ;).

So far I have Braid, Blue Dragon, PGR4, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to start out my XBox 360 experience. Picked up an extra refurbished wireless 360 controller from Microcenter for $20 today too.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
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Ok, I like the XBox 360 so far except for one thing. Good Lord that DVD drive is a loud SOB!

I do like the updated resolution support. No problem running it at 1680x1050 through a VGA connector to my Samsung 22in TV downstairs. I decided it was time to have a game console all to myself downstairs, so I don't have to fight for the screen upstairs.
 

UpgradeFailure

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
1,672
0
0
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Ok, I like the XBox 360 so far except for one thing. Good Lord that DVD drive is a loud SOB!

Install the current games you are playing to the hard drive. It's so much better
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
800
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Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Ok, I like the XBox 360 so far except for one thing. Good Lord that DVD drive is a loud SOB!

Install the current games you are playing to the hard drive. It's so much better

Just did. :thumbsup:

Much much much much much much much much better.

Man I wish my Playstation 3 had this feature. Hard drive space is cheap and plentiful (only using around 70GB of my 320GB upgraded HDD) on that console.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
2
76
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Ok, I like the XBox 360 so far except for one thing. Good Lord that DVD drive is a loud SOB!

Install the current games you are playing to the hard drive. It's so much better

Just did. :thumbsup:

Much much much much much much much much better.

Man I wish my Playstation 3 had this feature. Hard drive space is cheap and plentiful (only using around 70GB of my 320GB upgraded HDD) on that console.

Most games already install on the PS3 HDD for you. :p It's called "Blu-ray is too slow".
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
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Originally posted by: hans030390
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure
Originally posted by: Golgatha
Ok, I like the XBox 360 so far except for one thing. Good Lord that DVD drive is a loud SOB!

Install the current games you are playing to the hard drive. It's so much better

Just did. :thumbsup:

Much much much much much much much much better.

Man I wish my Playstation 3 had this feature. Hard drive space is cheap and plentiful (only using around 70GB of my 320GB upgraded HDD) on that console.

Most games already install on the PS3 HDD for you. :p It's called "Blu-ray is too slow".

Compared to a HDD, both DVD and Blu-ray are slow as cold molasses. I'm glad the PS3 has HDD installs for most of the games. It's not like any version of the PS3 doesn't have a HDD and upgrading them is dirt cheap.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
800
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Thanks everyone for the ideas.

So far I have Gears of War, Lost Odyssey, Raiden: Fighters Aces, Blue Dragon, Call of Duty 4 (had it on PC, but most of my buddies play it on XBox 360...time to get good with a controller), PGR4, Ikaruga, Braid, and Uno.

I'm looking forward to getting the remade Turtles in Time and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with my remaining 2400 MS points (I still can't believe I paid $10 for a freaking map pack for CoD4). I was quite happy to get Ikaruga for 400pts and Braid for $5 with my $10 off digital download rebate from Amazon.com. Not too bad for right at $100 total game purchase cost.

On a side note, I waited to get both the PS3 and XBox 360 around 2-3 years into their lifecycle. I think I'm going to continue this trend because I've gotten a lot of value for the dollar by doing this. I still don't regret going hog wild with getting a Wii though. I'm still finding lots of games for it and it still gets regular playtime by me and my boys.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
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Originally posted by: Golgatha
On a side note, I waited to get both the PS3 and XBox 360 around 2-3 years into their lifecycle. I think I'm going to continue this trend because I've gotten a lot of value for the dollar by doing this.

No doubt. I also waited about 2 years to get a 360 and a PS3, and by that time there were tons of cheap used games available for the 360.