XBox 360 Questions

[sheemone00]

Ok so I've been out of the console gaming scene for about 7 years, but my girlfriend just got me an XBox360 Elite for Christmas.

So I have some general questions:

List of some good games (old and new)?

Can it be modded to play backed up games? (I read about a dvd drive firmware hack somewhere)

Where are some cheap places to buy games?

How is XBox Live? Fun or just a waste of time?

Is it better to leave the system horizontally or vertically?

Sorry for the general questions, but I've been primarily PC gaming and I haven't even looked at console gaming in the longest time.

Thx in advance.

 

[Xavier434]

1. XBOX Live is a must.
2. Don't mod your 360.
3. Games: Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Call of Duty 4 to name a few.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: sheemone00
Ok so I've been out of the console gaming scene for about 7 years, but my girlfriend just got me an XBox360 Elite for Christmas.

So I have some general questions:

List of some good games (old and new)?

Holy crap, too many to list. What kind of games do you like?

Can it be modded to play backed up games? (I read about a dvd drive firmware hack somewhere)

Yes, as far as I know, but if you hook it up to Live, you'll eventually be caught, and your console will be banned for life from Live.

Where are some cheap places to buy games?

eBay, or sort through the used games at a local Gamestop or Play-n-Trade.

How is XBox Live? Fun or just a waste of time?

If you will spend any amount of time online, it's great and worth the money. Voice chat is standard, friends list is standard, cross-game invites, private voice/video chat, etc etc. Well worth the money if you like to play online.

Is it better to leave the system horizontally or vertically?

It honestly doesn't matter. Just don't move it while you have a disc in the tray, it may be scratched. This may not be an issue anymore, but I don't know, so just don't do it .

Sorry for the general questions, but I've been primarily PC gaming and I haven't even looked at console gaming in the longest time.

Good times are ahead!

Thx in advance.

My answer in bold.

 

[warcrow]

Is this post form the future? :laugh: For some great game lists, go here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2131856&enterthread=y
and here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2132390&enterthread=y

Also, I should add that I personally think that putting the 360 on it's belly (horizontal) is probably the best way to store it. Call me paranoid, but I want my X360 to get the best cooling it can. Laying it on its belly allows some nice air flow into the system as well as out. If you put it on end, there is a chance that it *might* resrict some of the air flow. Granted, the amount might be ever-so-slight, the X360s arnt know for having great heat dissipation. Just my 2 cents.

 

[sheemone00]

I like all kinds of games: FPS, Sports, adventure, RPG.

There seems to be a lot of great FPS games for the XBox360.

Out of these which one should I try first?

Gears of War
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Halo 3

 

[Xavier434]

Halo 3 is the talk of the town right now, but if you would prefer something less sci-fi then I would go with Call of Duty 4.

 

[warcrow]

Originally posted by: sheemone00
I like all kinds of games: FPS, Sports, adventure, RPG.

There seems to be a lot of great FPS games for the XBox360.

Out of these which one should I try first?

Gears of War
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Halo 3

I would personally go with CoD4 and BioShock. If you're also in to RPG and Adventure, I would check out Oblivion and Mass Effect.

 

[blackdogdeek]

i'd go with cod4 and a shiny new xbox live gold account. i can't get enough of that game online.

 

[beat mania]

I just got a 360 too and don't think Live is worth it.

I tried Forza 2 online and everyone smoked me while I was driving my stock Mini. The game can't even find someone with cars of similar power to race me? I have to go through the whole game to get some really fast cars so that I can race other people who only race really fast cars?

What's the point.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: beat mania
I just got a 360 too and don't think Live is worth it.

I tried Forza 2 online and everyone smoked me while I was driving my stock Mini. The game can't even find someone with cars of similar power to race me? I have to go through the whole game to get some really fast cars so that I can race other people who only race really fast cars?

What's the point.

lol, thats a great reason not to get live, cause you are getting owned.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: sheemone00
I like all kinds of games: FPS, Sports, adventure, RPG.

There seems to be a lot of great FPS games for the XBox360.

Out of these which one should I try first?

Gears of War
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Halo 3

If you don't have Xbox Live gold, I'd go with Bioshock. If you do have Xbox Live Gold, I'd go with Halo 3 or CoD 4. I personally prefer Halo 3, but haven't played CoD 4 enough to judge it well.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: sheemone00
I like all kinds of games: FPS, Sports, adventure, RPG.

There seems to be a lot of great FPS games for the XBox360.

Out of these which one should I try first?

Gears of War
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Halo 3

If you don't have Xbox Live gold, I'd go with Bioshock. If you do have Xbox Live Gold, I'd go with Halo 3 or CoD 4. I personally prefer Halo 3, but haven't played CoD 4 enough to judge it well.

If you're choosing between Halo 3 and CoD4, you won't go wrong with either game's single and multiplayer components. However, if you haven't played other Halo games, you might just want to start with CoD4, since you won't have a clue as to what's going on in Halo 3.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: sheemone00
I like all kinds of games: FPS, Sports, adventure, RPG.

There seems to be a lot of great FPS games for the XBox360.

Out of these which one should I try first?

Gears of War
Call of Duty 4
BioShock
Halo 3

If you don't have Xbox Live gold, I'd go with Bioshock. If you do have Xbox Live Gold, I'd go with Halo 3 or CoD 4. I personally prefer Halo 3, but haven't played CoD 4 enough to judge it well.

If you're choosing between Halo 3 and CoD4, you won't go wrong with either game's single and multiplayer components. However, if you haven't played other Halo games, you might just want to start with CoD4, since you won't have a clue as to what's going on in Halo 3.

I never played Halo 1 or 2 but I found this to be pretty useful--mainly the cut scene compilations linked to at the bottom of the first post.

 

[sheemone00]

So from what I've read so far I have to get Xbox Live Gold to play any games online.

I was very interested in playing Madden, Virtual Fighter 5, and <insert FPS game of choice probably between Halo3 and CoD4> online, but I need to pay $50 eh?

Mass Effect looks really interesting also.

 

[beat mania]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: beat mania
I just got a 360 too and don't think Live is worth it.

I tried Forza 2 online and everyone smoked me while I was driving my stock Mini. The game can't even find someone with cars of similar power to race me? I have to go through the whole game to get some really fast cars so that I can race other people who only race really fast cars?

What's the point.

lol, thats a great reason not to get live, cause you are getting owned.

Well yeah, what's the point of not even getting a chance to compete?
Mini vs Lambos etc, do I even need to play?

 

[JoPh]

if you want cheap xbox live, i think buy.com has it on sale for 38.99 plus u can get 10 off with google check out brining to to 28.99 free shipping and no tax.

thats what i did. i still think its around.



----edit... looks like they are sold out..

 

[WraithETC]

Rent crackdown and Dead Rising great stuff.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: JoPh
if you want cheap xbox live, i think buy.com has it on sale for 38.99 plus u can get 10 off with google check out brining to to 28.99 free shipping and no tax.

thats what i did. i still think its around.



----edit... looks like they are sold out..

They were sold out when I ordered too, but it shipped 2 days later.

 

[flexy]

yes you can mod your xbox, but it is pretty involved. I dont condone modding nor playing "backups", so this all at your own risk. It depends what you do with the mod, of course. So..this is for informational purposes ONLY !!!

The mod is called ixtreme1.4 and what it does it mods the firmware of the drive so you can play "backups", in addition it has something built in so MS doesnt detect you on Live playing "backups".

The mod does NOT change region-code...the region-code is actually encoded into the XBox Kernel.

The mod works by opening the 360 (which is the hardest part and using a PC, connecting the PC over the SATA cable right to the DVD drive and flash the drive from the PC. Otherwise no soldering etc. is needed. OF COURSE mod voids your warranty !

Horizontal/Vertical: Work finve vertical here although it sucks because all of the DVDs always fall down

Recent games i recommend:

Halo3, Mass Effect, Gears of War

There are some great forums/sites out there, eg. xbins.org and xbox-scene.com

"Burning" and "Ripping" XBOX games: AGAIN..only for informational purposes!

You need a vey good DVD burner capable of burning DVD+R DL, mainly Pioneer. Pioneer 112D and 212D or 212 and high quality media like DVD+R DL VERBATIM.

Ripping/Backup iis another story since this is not possible by default, here also you need a special drive with special firmware to read XBOX DVDd. On ebay o scene forums you can see people selling DVD drives with the "Kreon" firmware which is what makes them able to readXBox originals.

Anyway..have fun with your Xbox! We just got one also a two weeks ago!

ANY MOD is at your own risk and it might be illegal to use the mods in illegalo ways, it might get you banned from Live, damage your PC AND Xbox etc....

G.