Saw a deal on http://slickdeals.net/ for an xbox360 Pro 60GB model for $250 + tax shipped. Also came with two games - Lego Indy Jones and Kung Fu Panda, neither which excite me (PS - if anyone is interested in these, let me know!).

Anyway, assuming my xbox doesn't get the red ring of death or catch on fire, I figured I'd ask for recommendations on games.

Please read this entire post before making suggestions that aren't my style. :)

What I like:

-Excellent games. I have little time to game, so a "B+" game probably isn't worth my time. I either want to play the best games out or I'd rather not waste my time.

-Games that don't require a long time investment to beat. I pretty much work constantly, so I'd rather not get involved in a game that requires 40+ hours to beat. For instance, the past two Zelda games I've played (Twilight Princess on the Wii and Phantom Hourglass on the DS) have both taken me about a year each to beat. It's really annoying when you're playing one game for that long. I'd prefer something that I can beat in 10-20 hours, since that will likely take me a few months anyway.

-Driving games. I like driving games. Shocking, I know. Bonus points if it has an Evo X in it. :)

-Multiplayer games. And by that I mean the type of multiplayer where someone is sitting next to me (although I like online multiplay as well). I especially like games that are 4 player.

What I don't like:

-First Person Shooters (FPS). Well, ok, it's not that I don't like them, I'm just kind of over them. I was playing high-res FPS games over a high speed network back in my college days, and honestly, I'm kind of over it. Unfortunately, the average gamer only got into them recently, whereas it's kind of old news to me. Don't get me wrong - I had some GREAT times playing FPS games, but they can get old after awhile. And to be honest, if I'm going to play an FPS, I'd REALLY prefer to play it with a mouse and keyboard, not a game controller.

With that said, I'd still be open to trying an occasional FPS on the 360, but it would have to be something drastically different from anything I've ever played before (BioShock comes to mind here).

-Games that are TOO long.

-Games that have "save points" rather than allowing me to save and quit at anytime. Again, I don't have much time to game, and the last thing I want to do is play a game for an extra 30 mins against my will just so I don't lose my progress.

Bonus Points:

-Since I'm new to the system, older great 360 games are fine by me. What's good about these is that many may be attainable at a low price due to a "greatest hits" type of status.

-I have a Nintendo Wii, and some of the titles I own include: Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Zack & Wiki, Mario Kart, and others.

-I plan on keeping my Wii, so if you want to recommend games for that as well, I'm all ears.

-Accessories? I obviously have to pick up extra controllers. Should I stick with MS brand or what? Should I bother with those cooling fan devices? What about chargers and such? Does it include an HDMI cable in the box or will I need to buy one?

Netflix on the new Xbox live makes it even better <3

What do they have, streamable movies?

NFS undergrounds pretty good.(old but good) My xbox is suffering the ring of death so will be in transit to be fixed soon.. good luck.. all new xboxes should be fixed already so you should be fine mate.

If you like driving games, then you should try these:
- Grid (multiplatform, realistic physics with NFS subculture flavor)
- Forza 2 (Xbox exclusive realistic track race simulator with Evo X in it via additional download)
- PGR 3 and 4 (arcade racing game with good graphics which ecourages driving in style)
- Test Drive Unlimited (acrade racing with good graphics and tons of hot cars)
- DiRT (realistic rally game)

All racing games have some sort of carrier mode, but you don't have to complete it to enjoy the game, so it's up to you how long you want to play it.

If you feel like shooters try Gears of War 1 and 2 - good graphics and not that bad with a contoller. Not as long also.
Grand Thieft Auto IV is an interesting game, which a shooter, fighter, driving, role playing alltogether.

well, midnight club has the evo IX and an eclipse gsx, as well buscher racing as available parts to purchase now, and the new need for speed has the evo x as well as grand turismo 5:prolouge

Gears Of War is 3rd Person Shooter- I hate shooters, but like this one.
Fable 2- Just story line play 8 hours, Side quests can take long time.
Rock Band- It it is far superior on 360, Downloadable Content.
Forza 2 and Dirt- Racing Games
Force Unleashed- Some hate it. I like but Im nerdy Star Wars fan. 7hrs
There are lots of other good games, but not very short: Mass Effect (My Favorite 360 game) and Fallout 3,

Forza 2 and PGR 3/4 are good driving games and good multiplayer too, since youre looking for a great game I would only rent NFS Undercover, I like it but the reviews have gone both ways. Like Mojito said Forza does have the X as downloadable content, thats one of the great features of most Xbox games if it doesnt have the car you want or the feature you want there is a chance the developer will add it later.

NFS undergrounds pretty good.(old but good)

I had those on the PC many moons ago. Almost beat 1 and 2, but ultimately the bullshit factor prevented me from doing so.

My xbox is suffering the ring of death so will be in transit to be fixed soon.. good luck.. all new xboxes should be fixed already so you should be fine mate.

I hope so. How old is yours?

If you like driving games, then you should try these:
- Grid (multiplatform, realistic physics with NFS subculture flavor)

Never heard of it, but looks solid. The only thing I don't like is the lack of a way to "tune" your car. I really like the "flashback" feature too.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driving/racedriverone/video/6192102/grid-video-review

- Forza 2 (Xbox exclusive realistic track race simulator with Evo X in it via additional download)

Haven't played this, but I've always wanted to give it a go. Hopefully it's better than (puts on flamesuit) the Gran Turismo series. For some reason, I could never make it around a turn in that game.

- PGR 3 and 4 (arcade racing game with good graphics which ecourages driving in style)

When the 360 first came out, I spent an hour or two playing PGR(3?) at a friend's house. I was able to beat some levels on the highest difficulty level, and I really liked the look and feel of it.

- Test Drive Unlimited (acrade racing with good graphics and tons of hot cars)

Ratings just look "good" on this one, but I'm looking for "oustanding"

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driving/testdriveunlimited/index.html?tag=result;title;1


- DiRT (realistic rally game)

Seem ok.
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driving/cmr07/video/6172782/dirt-video-review?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;watch-review

If you feel like shooters try Gears of War 1 and 2 - good graphics and not that bad with a contoller. Not as long also.

I watched someone play that and the "bouncing" when he walked made me nauseous.

Grand Thieft Auto IV is an interesting game, which a shooter, fighter, driving, role playing alltogether.

I might give that a whirl, but how long is it? I hear it's a huge game. Also, does it get old? I played Vice City on the PC for awhile, and about halfway through the game I lost interest.

Gears Of War is 3rd Person Shooter- I hate shooters, but like this one.
Fable 2- Just story line play 8 hours, Side quests can take long time.

That might work.

Rock Band- It it is far superior on 360, Downloadable Content.

Yeah, but on the Wii I can buy song pack discs in the store. That's good enough for me. I'd rather not buy a $200 game twice.

Forza 2 and Dirt- Racing Games

Yeah, I think Forza 2 has a strong chance of making it's way into my library.

Force Unleashed- Some hate it. I like but Im nerdy Star Wars fan. 7hrs
There are lots of other good games, but not very short: Mass Effect (My Favorite 360 game) and Fallout 3,

I'm not a star wars nerd, but I can appreciate the series. Rated a 7.5 on Gamespot. Seems to fall into the "Good" but not "outstanding" games.

I can tell you Forza 2 is a lot of fun with the Xbox360 wheel if you have a place to mount it properly. For some reason I can drive better with a wheel :rock:. I just can't play a racing simulator like GT5 or Forza without one. The bad part is that it seems only Forza 2 was built for the wheel. The other racing games have arcade handling which I end up playing with the gamepad instead.

How old is yours?

3 years

I can tell you Forza 2 is a lot of fun with the Xbox360 wheel if you have a place to mount it properly. For some reason I can drive better with a wheel :rock:.

I can't blame you.

Question - in my closet I have a nice USB Microsoft Sidwinder wheel w/ pedals. Can i use this with the 360?

I just can't play a racing simulator like GT5 or Forza without one. The bad part is that it seems only Forza 2 was built for the wheel. The other racing games have arcade handling which I end up playing with the gamepad instead.

Understood.

3 years

Ah, so it's an original.

;)

COD5

dont buy a cooling fan/intercooler all it does is re-circulates hot air in and out it gives you the red-ring faster.

dont buy a cooling fan/intercooler all it does is re-circulates hot air in and out it gives you the red-ring faster.


orly?

Forza 2 and PGR4 all the way (A lot better than PGR 3). I have Dirt, it is OK but they fucked up the cars physics badly, it just doesn't feel right. Feels like the cars are only on two axis, something about it. It doesn't hold a candle to the old Rallisport Challenges.

Wierdly enough Sega Rally is super unrealistic, but tons of fun! GTA is fun but time consuming, I have had it since it came out and haven't gotten very far because it just eats up lots of time.

orly?

yeah, and some leave a mark and xbox will void your warranty, so they suck.

As stated, Gears of War is awesome, the first one. The second one broke my xbox (or i should say gave me the red ring of death trying to play. So never tried the storyline yet, but I bet it's just as fun) But start with the first.

I'm sure then new call of duty is good (and will buy it soon as i get my fixed xbox back). However, COD4's storyline was my favorite FPS to date. But, that is probably because it is the only FPS game I have ever had trouble beating on insane mode. Half life series for instance have always been some of my favorite games, however to challenge myself i would play the storyline and do every part untill i beat the entire game without getting hurt!!! But if you beat COD4 on insane then you are definetly awesome at FPS.

Ok... I know you said no FPS, but it's just that those were my 2 favorite 360 games to date and I'm also not a big fan of FPS. As you, I played those religiously in college.

Games besides FPS. I want soo badly to play Mirrors Edge. i thought the demo for that was awesome. But when you get your 360 download the demo and try it for yourself. Alot of games have demos so you can try them before you buy them. Which is awesome.

Assassins Creed. I never played it but i watched my gf's bro play a bunch and I've been meaning to get the game. He loved it and i really enjoyed watching. Seems like a great game overal.


And as to the netflix. if you have the $9/month subscription then you can stream unlimited movies over the xbox now. But again, my xbox is broke so can't tell you how the quality is. I know it's not HD. However xbox marketplace has a selection of movies to rent and you can get them in hd.

And oh yeah! check out the "arcade games" their are some pretty fun ones. I loved Marble Ultra Blast. Still can't beat the last lvl on that though. frustrating as hell. I also have bomberman which is fun to play with other peopl when your drinking or whatnot. And i got an old school TMNT game from liek regular nintendo.

Mass Effect, good story, fairly quick.

^^I loved this game

Rated "Outstanding" but IGN (9.4)

http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/718/718963.html

now thats kool dino :rock:

Forza 2 and PGR4 all the way (A lot better than PGR 3).

Yeah? I liked 3, so if 4 is even better, it's all good for me.

I have Dirt, it is OK but they fucked up the cars physics badly, it just doesn't feel right. Feels like the cars are only on two axis, something about it. It doesn't hold a candle to the old Rallisport Challenges.

Gotcha.

Wierdly enough Sega Rally is super unrealistic, but tons of fun!

Some unrealistic racers are the most fun.

Wipeout, anyone?

GTA is fun but time consuming, I have had it since it came out and haven't gotten very far because it just eats up lots of time.

Yeah, I'll probably have to avoid GTA for that reason.

yeah, and some leave a mark and xbox will void your warranty, so they suck.

WOW.

As stated, Gears of War is awesome, the first one. The second one broke my xbox (or i should say gave me the red ring of death trying to play. So never tried the storyline yet, but I bet it's just as fun) But start with the first.

Like I said, nausea. :( I couldn't watch that game for more than 5 mins without wanting to lose dinner. The "bounciness" of the characters walk is what did it for me.

I'm sure then new call of duty is good (and will buy it soon as i get my fixed xbox back). However, COD4's storyline was my favorite FPS to date. But, that is probably because it is the only FPS game I have ever had trouble beating on insane mode. Half life series for instance have always been some of my favorite games, however to challenge myself i would play the storyline and do every part untill i beat the entire game without getting hurt!!! But if you beat COD4 on insane then you are definetly awesome at FPS.

When I played FPS the right way (on a PC) I was good, but nothing to write home about. I used to go to LAN parties, and I'd usually end up in the middle of the pack in tournaments.

Ok... I know you said no FPS, but it's just that those were my 2 favorite 360 games to date and I'm also not a big fan of FPS. As you, I played those religiously in college.

Games besides FPS. I want soo badly to play Mirrors Edge. i thought the demo for that was awesome.

Yeah, I've been watching that game for awhile. Looks unique...I'd really like to give it a whirl.

But when you get your 360 download the demo and try it for yourself. Alot of games have demos so you can try them before you buy them. Which is awesome.

I agree. I'll be WAY more likely to buy a game if I can try it first.

Assassins Creed. I never played it but i watched my gf's bro play a bunch and I've been meaning to get the game. He loved it and i really enjoyed watching. Seems like a great game overal.

Supposed to be good, but has it's downsides, and actually has some REALLY weird bugs as well.

And as to the netflix. if you have the $9/month subscription then you can stream unlimited movies over the xbox now.

Unlimited? REALLY? Even new releases?

I thought the $2 per movie on my TiVo was a good deal...

But again, my xbox is broke so can't tell you how the quality is. I know it's not HD. However xbox marketplace has a selection of movies to rent and you can get them in hd.

Awesome.

And oh yeah! check out the "arcade games" their are some pretty fun ones. I loved Marble Ultra Blast. Still can't beat the last lvl on that though. frustrating as hell. I also have bomberman which is fun to play with other peopl when your drinking or whatnot.

Bomberman FTW. I have "Bomberman Generations" for the Gamecube (which I can play on the Wii). AWESOME for multiplayer with some friends.

And i got an old school TMNT game from liek regular nintendo.

Hopefully they bound the A+B combo attack to a single button on the xbox.

Mass Effect, good story, fairly quick.

Got a good review. Reminds me of Metriod Prime 3 a bit. On the downside (for me) he said it was a 40 hour game. :/

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect/video/6183137/mass-effect-video-review?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;watch-review

Ok, so my buddy just randomly called me up and asked me to google something for him. He's in Best Buy looking to replace his broken original xbox360.

He asked me to google "xbox 360 tmem" and here's what I found:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081106232416AA2xdqm

Basically, there's some kind of label on the system that lets you know what hardware revision you have. Does anyone have more details about this?

The current version that is out is called the Falcon. The new ones everyone is looking for is called Jasper. The Jasper contains the die shrunk 65nm video GPU and CPU chips where as the Falcon contains a 65nm CPU chip while the GPU video chip is still 80nm i believe according to some websites with beefed up cooling on the inside. It suppose to run cooler and quieter with each die shrink which will also require less power. No one knows what the magic number is for the Jaspers yet and the latest Falcons shouldn't fail as easily as the earlier Xboxes. I am one of those that replaced my old one because I know the newer ones are more reliable. If you wait, you might be waiting until next year since they still have to clear the old stock. The newest Xboxes with the latest manufacture dates and serial numbers are the Arcade and 60GB ones, the Elites are the oldest ones. I can tell that the latest Falcons are already running much quieter and cooler than before.

wow~ awesome good to know. So the older xboxes that are being repaired are being 'upgraded' to the latest goodies?

Yes, they are updating them with bigger heatsinks and updated motherboard designs when they go in for repairs which depends on the version of Xbox you have. You can join the Jasper hunt here http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/147899.asp

They have a break down of all versions of the current Xboxes and the comments with the latest manufacture dates and eventually Jasper sightings around the world. :thumbup:

Got a good review. Reminds me of Metriod Prime 3 a bit. On the downside (for me) he said it was a 40 hour game. :/

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect/video/6183137/mass-effect-video-review?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;watch-review

40? Not a chance. Maybe if you explore every planet or something crazy. Fallout is a 40+ game. Mass Effect took maybe 10-20 (closer to 10).

get midnight club it has evox and buschur racing upgrades, as well as seibon cf hoods, its an amazing game and check the forsale thread i am selling it new .

The current version that is out is called the Falcon. The new ones everyone is looking for is called Jasper. The Jasper contains the die shrunk 65nm video GPU and CPU chips where as the Falcon contains a 65nm CPU chip while the GPU video chip is still 80nm i believe according to some websites with beefed up cooling on the inside. It suppose to run cooler and quieter with each die shrink which will also require less power. No one knows what the magic number is for the Jaspers yet and the latest Falcons shouldn't fail as easily as the earlier Xboxes. I am one of those that replaced my old one because I know the newer ones are more reliable. If you wait, you might be waiting until next year since they still have to clear the old stock. The newest Xboxes with the latest manufacture dates and serial numbers are the Arcade and 60GB ones, the Elites are the oldest ones. I can tell that the latest Falcons are already running much quieter and cooler than before.


Thank you!

Could you tell me more about how to find out the production date on mine when I get it?

Yes, they are updating them with bigger heatsinks and updated motherboard designs when they go in for repairs which depends on the version of Xbox you have. You can join the Jasper hunt here http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/147899.asp

They have a break down of all versions of the current Xboxes and the comments with the latest manufacture dates and eventually Jasper sightings around the world. :thumbup:



Read the article...but OMG...there's a gig worth of comments!

40? Not a chance. Maybe if you explore every planet or something crazy. Fallout is a 40+ game. Mass Effect took maybe 10-20 (closer to 10).

yeah? So you beat it in a few sittings?

Dino call me later on so we can manchat about the 360.

Netflix on the new Xbox live makes it even better <3

Tivo has this too.

yeah? So you beat it in a few sittings?

It was over a couple of weeks, whenever I had a chance to sit down and play.

Found this this morning for those interested.....

http://bfads.net/Xbox-360-Arcade-Console-w-Guitar-Hero-III-and-Wireless-Guitar-at-WalMart

Thank you!

Could you tell me more about how to find out the production date on mine when I get it?

Check the little tab that you can peek through on the box at your store. If you look you can see the production date in the upper right and look out for the last five digits of the serial number. Mine was 83505 and manufactured on 8/30/08 which came with two free games, I think the latest ones are 837xx and up at the moment. I just picked the newest one out of the batch at my local Best Buys. They had ones from May and June still in stock and only a few had the 8/30 date. FYI, the new ones won't guarantee a problem free system, you just have a better chance at not getting the infamous RROD in the long run.

Good Luck!

Found this this morning for those interested.....

http://bfads.net/Xbox-360-Arcade-Console-w-Guitar-Hero-III-and-Wireless-Guitar-at-WalMart


Nice!

Check the little tab that you can peek through on the box at your store. If you look you can see the production date in the upper right and look out for the last five digits of the serial number. Mine was 83505 and manufactured on 8/30/08 which came with two free games, I think the latest ones are 837xx and up at the moment. I just picked the newest one out of the batch at my local Best Buys. They had ones from May and June still in stock and only a few had the 8/30 date. FYI, the new ones won't guarantee a problem free system, you just have a better chance at not getting the infamous RROD in the long run.

Good Luck!

How did you learn taht 83505 = 8/30/08? Or did it say that on the box as well?

So today at GameStop I picked up a couple of used games.

Forza 2 - $13
The Orange box - $18 (Portal is a short game and worth the money).

Forza 2 is great! I still play that.

I also like Project Gotham 4 at well.

So today at GameStop I picked up a couple of used games.

Forza 2 - $13
The Orange box - $18 (Portal is a short game and worth the money).

Good deal. Forza is fun.

Have fun with the 360. It's about time. I know you don't really like FPS or long games, but Fallout 3 might be worth breaking your rules.

Just got the goods...production date was 9/11/08. LOL.

I'll give it a whirl tonight.

So my gamer Live tag is Kooldino (shocker). Played a lot of Forza 2 tonight and downloaded the Evo X from DLC.

Yeah Forza 2 is addicting.... game takes forever to get all the way through though >.<

So my gamer Live tag is Kooldino (shocker). Played a lot of Forza 2 tonight and downloaded the Evo X from DLC.

Your forza didn't come with a second disc? It should have all those cars on it. My favorite car is the game is a my 800hp eclispe gsx.

Your forza didn't come with a second disc? It should have all those cars on it. My favorite car is the game is a my 800hp eclispe gsx.

He bought his copy used.

He bought his copy used.

Fail. The 7 extra bucks is worth it.