Good for you IEU2D, I hope it works out. If you get an Xbox, you must own Halo. Tony and Night have more knowledge than I do, so I am sure they will have some recommendations too.
If you get online let me know and I will PM my gamertag to you.
Congrats IEUTD, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
As to recommendations, like Barry says Halo 3 is the cream of the first person shooter crop these days. Crackdown, Bioshock, and Ghost Recon 2 are also solid 1st/3rd person shooters. As far as driving games go, I'd suggest Project Gotham 3 for arcade style racing, Forza Motorsport 2 for simulation style racing, or DiRT for off-road racing. If you're into roleplaying games, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is title with tons of things to do. Most of those games have been out for a while and have had their prices reduced.
Let us know what kinds of games you like and I'm sure you'll get some more good feedback.
Also, Microsoft is repackaging their Xbox 360 and including a couple of games - Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance - at no additional cost. So if/when you go to buy, make sure to look to see if the bundle package is available in your area.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
I agree with Tony, but let me add Rainbow Six Vegas to that list, and Gears of War as well. Both excellent shooters.
Also, Tony, did you hear about the Secret Agent Achievement in PGR4? You drive a DBS in front of the Casino Royale in Las Vegas and get an achievement. Cool, huh?
And MSoft still actually owns the PGR name, so maybe they're looking for a new developer who can bring some new aspect to the table?
MS also owns the Halo IP; so regardless of what Bungie and Bizarre do going forward; those titles should remain exclusive to Xbox hardware.
Also, Tony, did you hear about the Secret Agent Achievement in PGR4? You drive a DBS in front of the Casino Royale in Las Vegas and get an achievement. Cool, huh?
My brother actually told me about that one; I still haven't unlocked it but I just bought an Aston Martin package today (you buy some cars in packs rather than individually in PGR4) so I'll hopefully unlock it tomorrow.
Played a little more PGR4 today; it's a lot of fun and the career more is quite a challenge. I also finally started to get to races with more powerful cars. The weather effects - especially rain - also factor in the gameplay as puddles form on the ground and affect your traction. Still, as I said before, it does feel a little like an expansion rather than a brand new game (same feeling I got from GRAW2).
CoD 4 and Unreal Tournament 3 demo's are insanely good...i would write more, but i must go play some more!!!
Shouldn't you be boning up for college or something? :v
Cod4 will be coming out on the 360; I'll probably check out that version as the movies I've seen on Xbox Live look very good.
As for UT3, I've grown very tired of online-centric games and their tiresome, repetitive gameplay. I like a little co-op, but I find that deathmatching and CTF grow old quickly.
Now if you want to try something a little different and maybe a little nostalgic, see if you can locate a copy of the first, original Unreal game for the PC - you should be able to get it for next to nothing and your current rig should easily run it. That game had some really amazing (for the time) visuals and a very strong single player campaign. It was a story-driven game with some nifty weapons and very strong, intelligent enemies. Even though later iterations had more bells and whistles, it remains to this day my favorite Unreal game.
Dont know if you heard this Tony, but UT3 has a story mode single player as well which i am looking forward to...as for college...ive got 1 essay to write and 5 more forms to fill out.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
After just watching the Warriors movie, I'm dying to play the original Xbox game. But it isn't backwards compatible! AAARRGRGHH!!!
Dont know if you heard this Tony, but UT3 has a story mode single player as well which i am looking forward to...as for college...ive got 1 essay to write and 5 more forms to fill out.
I've not been able to find any info whatsoever on this single player mode; I hope it's something a little more meaningful than a bunch of ladder matches against bots although the focus of the Unreal games has been primarily multiplayer for a long time, so I'll wait for some reviews before taking the plunge.
After just watching the Warriors movie, I'm dying to play the original Xbox game. But it isn't backwards compatible! AAARRGRGHH!!!
There should be another BC update pretty soon. The last one was in July and they tend to come along every three months or so; maybe it will show up with the fall dashboard update that's due in November.
BTW, I tried the new Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction demo for the PS3. The thing was 1.6GB large so it took a while to download. But the demo itself was a lot of fun and had probably the best graphics I've seen from a PS3 game to date. Looks like there will actually be another good PS3 game before the end of the year. Hell must have just frozen over.
Dont know if you heard this Tony, but UT3 has a story mode single player as well which i am looking forward to...as for college...ive got 1 essay to write and 5 more forms to fill out.
I've not been able to find any info whatsoever on this single player mode; I hope it's something a little more meaningful than a bunch of ladder matches against bots although the focus of the Unreal games has been primarily multiplayer for a long time, so I'll wait for some reviews before taking the plunge.
After just watching the Warriors movie, I'm dying to play the original Xbox game. But it isn't backwards compatible! AAARRGRGHH!!!
There should be another BC update pretty soon. The last one was in July and they tend to come along every three months or so; maybe it will show up with the fall dashboard update that's due in November.
BTW, I tried the new Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction demo for the PS3. The thing was 1.6GB large so it took a while to download. But the demo itself was a lot of fun and had probably the best graphics I've seen from a PS3 game to date. Looks like there will actually be another good PS3 game before the end of the year. Hell must have just frozen over.
So much for the naysayers and Sony/Nintendo fanboys who were positive only existing 360 owners would buy Halo 3. Looks like the game managed to push about a quarter million consoles into homes during September. Not too shabby.
As for the Wii, I've read several articles recently about third party developers becoming very leery about supporting the console. While sales of the hardware remain strong, it appears that software sales are lagging and the console's attach rate is very low. Hardly surprising; Nintendo's strategy is to appeal to casual gamers and those who would not ordinarily buy videogames. But it's turning out that for many of these people the Wii Sports pack-in is all they really want or need; so sales of other titles suffer badly. In the end Nintendo may end up outsmarting themselves with their strategy since software sales are where the real money is.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Got PGR4 yesterday, it seems pretty good, although I haven't put much time into it. I have to say, though, that the weather effects were much needed in PGR3, and I'm GLAD to have them back.
Interested in your views on pgr4. I'm thinking of getting it and starting to use my 360 a bit more.
I've had it for a couple of weeks. It's basically an expanded version of PGR3 - same gameplay, very skewed towards an arcadey driving model and a heavy emphasis on getting kudos (points for driving with style and doing tricks). PGR4 has improved graphics (the buildings look almost photo-realistic at times) and adds variable weather (fog, rain, snow), more tracks in additional cities, and the ability to race motorcycles as well as cars.
If you've played PGR3 extensively, you may be a little disappointed since the games are so similar. But if you haven't done a lot with PGR3 and like a more arcadey style of racing game, then PGR4 would probably be a good buy.
On the next to last level of Halo 3, wow that's a lot of flood!
Ah, the infamous flood level. Try to hug the right wall, look for little acloves to hide in, and keep an eye out for cloaking devices on the floor. Good luck Spartan!
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
I'm really enjoying PGR4. The weather effects really seem like a huge change from PGR3, and much more than just an expansion. The Career mode is a great addition. Also, while many reviewers have complained about jaggies, for me there aren't many, which is huge improvement over PGR3, where the top of the car was not a smooth curve.
Beat Halo on normal level, for me the toughest part was getting up that tower in the last level. I was using the flamethrower, maybe not the best weapon for the run up the tower.
Interesting storyline as we had a few casualties. I wonder how many gamers turned the game off before the end of the credits and missed the little video at the end of the credits. If they missed it, they missed a key part of the story. I think Master Chief will be back!
Congrats on finishing the game Barry; that tower level was a bit of a challenge for me too as I was really low on ammo when I got there and the checkpoints were really stretched out.
Congrats on finishing the game Barry; that tower level was a bit of a challenge for me too as I was really low on ammo when I got there and the checkpoints were really stretched out.
So, what's next on the videogame front for you?
Not sure, I have to squeeze gaming in between my other things so something that does not require my deep attention. I like driving games because you can play for a little while and then put it away, not as intense as some of the shooter games. I wish the NASCAR game was better.
Not sure, I have to squeeze gaming in between my other things so something that does not require my deep attention. I like driving games because you can play for a little while and then put it away, not as intense as some of the shooter games. I wish the NASCAR game was better.
I hear you; between work and family obligations I've fast become a weekend gamer. I was playing a little Forza 2 the other day; that game still holds up nicely for me. There's also new Tomb Raider game (Tomb Raider Anniversary) which looks pretty good, and at an MSRP of $30 the price seems right too. NASCAR 08 however is pretty much irredeemable for me; the graphics and shoddy AI are just unbearable.
Yesterday I picked up the new Simpson's 360 video game. It will be a Christmas present for my older son who is a big Simpson fan. In the past the only good Simpson game was the Road Rage game which my kids played on the PS2. I hope this game is good.
Yesterday I picked up the new Simpson's 360 video game. It will be a Christmas present for my older son who is a big Simpson fan. In the past the only good Simpson game was the Road Rage game which my kids played on the PS2. I hope this game is good.
I haven't tried the demo to this one yet but it has gotten some good reviews and the consensus is that it's the best Simpsons videogame yet. Make sure to let us know what they think - or you could always sneak a quick session in when they're not around, just to, you know, make sure the DVD works.
I'm thinking about picking up something this weekend: Tomb Raider Anniversary (3rd person action), Ace Combat 6 (top gun flight combat) or Timeshift (first person shooter). Still a little undecided as to what direction to go.
Ok, guys. I'm probably asking a biased audience, but...
I'm seriously considering upgrading my gaming system in the next few months. I'm currently a Nintendo GameCube owner, and have been a proponent for Nintendo, as they had a tendency to promote more family-friendly games.
But since the Wii is simply not available, and I have been consistently impressed with Xbox graphics, I'm thinking of going the Microsoft route.
Can any experienced users give me some honest pros and cons about the system? Any input would be helpful!
As somebody who's owned a 360, PS3 and even a Wii, I hope I can be a little unbiased here:
PROS
- Large and varied library of games; no matter what genre you like I'm sure I can rattle off a few games the 360 has that youd be interested in.
- Amazing graphics; the 360's ability to put out high-def widescreen images has led to some visually striking games.
- Xbox Live; if you have an high-speed internet connection you can get yourself a free silver account. This will let you download game demos, videos, images, music and a lot more to your console. That way, you can try most games before you buy.
CONS
- The biggest gotcha with the 360 right now is that the reliability of the hardware can be suspect. I had one console die on me after about a year. MS has extended the warranty on all 360s to 3 years and the newer models have a heat sink and a new chipset so they should run cooler and be more reliable but there is a certain amount of caveat emptor here.
- Lots of different models; there are now three different SKUs of 360 out there: the Arcade, which is a bare bones system; the Premium which comes with a hard drive and hi-def cables; and the Elite, which comes with a really big (120GB) hard drive. With all those versions and sub-variations things can get a bit confusing. Stick with either the Premium (20GB hard drive means you'll never have to buy a memory card) or Elite (if you plan on doing A LOT of downloading) and you'll be OK.
- No built-in WIFI. You can run an ethernet cable from the back of the 360 to your router; but if you want to go wireless you'll need to buy a separate wireless internet adapter. You can fork over $100 for Microsoft's adapter (which feeds off the 360's power supply) or buy a 3rd party add-on, most of which will work.
- Most new games debut at $60 and that can get expensive if you do a lot of gaming (by comparison, most new PS3 games also debut at $60; most new Wii games sell for $50).
That's about it off the top of my head. Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, ask away.
One more thing; if you're dead set on owning a Wii, you may want to check out the Best Buy stores in your area. The BB's around where I live have had a pretty consistent stock of Wii's for the past few weeks.
I've only been hitting the Targets and Walmarts in my area periodically and have seen no new Nintendos available.
Are there any 'hidden' costs on getting an Xbox? Like controllers, adaptors, cards or anything like that that is not included, but necessary, for the Microsoft system?
I've only been hitting the Targets and Walmarts in my area periodically and have seen no new Nintendos available.
Are there any 'hidden' costs on getting an Xbox? Like controllers, adaptors, cards or anything like that that is not included, but necessary, for the Microsoft system?
My pleasure Darenhat.
Assuming you get a Premium (MSRP $350) or Elite (MSRP $450) you'll have everything you need to star gaming right in the box. Both come with the console, a hard drive (which you'll be able to use to save games and download stuff), a wireless control pad (you supply the batteries), a headset, and the necessary cables to connect it to either a standard or hi-def TV. As mentioned before, if you want to connect the 360 to the internet and don't mind running a wire, it also comes with an ethernet cable. As such you won't need to get anything else to play on day 1.
The Arcade edition (MSRP $280) doesn't include the hard drive, hi-def cables, headset or ethernet cable. Instead, it throws in a 512mb memory card, an a/v cable that will only work with a regular TV and 5 Xbox Live Arcade games (which are more simplistic and bare-bones titles). In my opinion the Arcade edition isn't that great of a value since for $70 more you get a lot more hardware, all of which you will use. In particular the hard drive really makes things more convenient and also makes many games run better since they can cache information there as well.
Of course every system has accessories to entice and the 360 is no exeption. There's the wireless internet adapter, rechargable battery packs, memory cards, play 'n charge kits, remote controls, the HD-DVD add-on, etc. But that's all secondary stuff and not required to get you gaming.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Yay for Xbox 360!
Darenhat, I just wanted to make sure you understand: The 360 (like the PS3 and Wii) only comes with 1 controller, so if you have a family (you said you like family-oriented games) and you would all like to play at the same time, you'll need three more controllers, which are $50 each for wireless and I think $40 for wired, but you can find them cheaper at some places and certainly on eBay.
As for family related games, the Viva Pinata series is great, and the new party game in the series has gotten some pretty good reviews.
Hope I didn't just tell you something you already knew.
Thanks, Night. Really it's only me and the wife playing. We don't have any kids, but sometimes kids come over and I like to make sure that the games are appropriate. Of course, I can simply be cognizant of which games I purchase to solve that problem.
Nintendo used to a put a 'seal' on their games, but I don't think they do that anymore, anyway.
The bottom line is that all the 'cool' titles seem to be for Xbox. Nintendo just ain't keeping up.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Guys - I've got a request. I've been wanting to play some Gears of War multiplayer since I never got into it and it is probably quite good - but I don't want to play against people who have been playing for however long the game has been out. So who ever has it - want to play a few games with me?
Comments
Good for you IEU2D, I hope it works out. If you get an Xbox, you must own Halo. Tony and Night have more knowledge than I do, so I am sure they will have some recommendations too.
If you get online let me know and I will PM my gamertag to you.
Congrats IEUTD, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
As to recommendations, like Barry says Halo 3 is the cream of the first person shooter crop these days. Crackdown, Bioshock, and Ghost Recon 2 are also solid 1st/3rd person shooters. As far as driving games go, I'd suggest Project Gotham 3 for arcade style racing, Forza Motorsport 2 for simulation style racing, or DiRT for off-road racing. If you're into roleplaying games, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is title with tons of things to do. Most of those games have been out for a while and have had their prices reduced.
Let us know what kinds of games you like and I'm sure you'll get some more good feedback.
Also, Microsoft is repackaging their Xbox 360 and including a couple of games - Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance - at no additional cost. So if/when you go to buy, make sure to look to see if the bundle package is available in your area.
Also, Tony, did you hear about the Secret Agent Achievement in PGR4? You drive a DBS in front of the Casino Royale in Las Vegas and get an achievement. Cool, huh?
I will hopefully get PGR4 this week.
MS also owns the Halo IP; so regardless of what Bungie and Bizarre do going forward; those titles should remain exclusive to Xbox hardware.
My brother actually told me about that one; I still haven't unlocked it but I just bought an Aston Martin package today (you buy some cars in packs rather than individually in PGR4) so I'll hopefully unlock it tomorrow.
Played a little more PGR4 today; it's a lot of fun and the career more is quite a challenge. I also finally started to get to races with more powerful cars. The weather effects - especially rain - also factor in the gameplay as puddles form on the ground and affect your traction. Still, as I said before, it does feel a little like an expansion rather than a brand new game (same feeling I got from GRAW2).
Shouldn't you be boning up for college or something? :v
Cod4 will be coming out on the 360; I'll probably check out that version as the movies I've seen on Xbox Live look very good.
As for UT3, I've grown very tired of online-centric games and their tiresome, repetitive gameplay. I like a little co-op, but I find that deathmatching and CTF grow old quickly.
Now if you want to try something a little different and maybe a little nostalgic, see if you can locate a copy of the first, original Unreal game for the PC - you should be able to get it for next to nothing and your current rig should easily run it. That game had some really amazing (for the time) visuals and a very strong single player campaign. It was a story-driven game with some nifty weapons and very strong, intelligent enemies. Even though later iterations had more bells and whistles, it remains to this day my favorite Unreal game.
I've not been able to find any info whatsoever on this single player mode; I hope it's something a little more meaningful than a bunch of ladder matches against bots although the focus of the Unreal games has been primarily multiplayer for a long time, so I'll wait for some reviews before taking the plunge.
There should be another BC update pretty soon. The last one was in July and they tend to come along every three months or so; maybe it will show up with the fall dashboard update that's due in November.
BTW, I tried the new Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction demo for the PS3. The thing was 1.6GB large so it took a while to download. But the demo itself was a lot of fun and had probably the best graphics I've seen from a PS3 game to date. Looks like there will actually be another good PS3 game before the end of the year. Hell must have just frozen over.
ROFL...i got a nice laugh out of the last part...
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/video-game-sales-soar-sept/story.aspx?guid=%7B4542A78A%2DC3D5%2D47B8%2D9EEE%2DC3A057436ED6%7D
So much for the naysayers and Sony/Nintendo fanboys who were positive only existing 360 owners would buy Halo 3. Looks like the game managed to push about a quarter million consoles into homes during September. Not too shabby.
As for the Wii, I've read several articles recently about third party developers becoming very leery about supporting the console. While sales of the hardware remain strong, it appears that software sales are lagging and the console's attach rate is very low. Hardly surprising; Nintendo's strategy is to appeal to casual gamers and those who would not ordinarily buy videogames. But it's turning out that for many of these people the Wii Sports pack-in is all they really want or need; so sales of other titles suffer badly. In the end Nintendo may end up outsmarting themselves with their strategy since software sales are where the real money is.
I've had it for a couple of weeks. It's basically an expanded version of PGR3 - same gameplay, very skewed towards an arcadey driving model and a heavy emphasis on getting kudos (points for driving with style and doing tricks). PGR4 has improved graphics (the buildings look almost photo-realistic at times) and adds variable weather (fog, rain, snow), more tracks in additional cities, and the ability to race motorcycles as well as cars.
If you've played PGR3 extensively, you may be a little disappointed since the games are so similar. But if you haven't done a lot with PGR3 and like a more arcadey style of racing game, then PGR4 would probably be a good buy.
Ah, the infamous flood level. Try to hug the right wall, look for little acloves to hide in, and keep an eye out for cloaking devices on the floor. Good luck Spartan!
Interesting storyline as we had a few casualties. I wonder how many gamers turned the game off before the end of the credits and missed the little video at the end of the credits. If they missed it, they missed a key part of the story. I think Master Chief will be back!
So, what's next on the videogame front for you?
Not sure, I have to squeeze gaming in between my other things so something that does not require my deep attention. I like driving games because you can play for a little while and then put it away, not as intense as some of the shooter games. I wish the NASCAR game was better.
I hear you; between work and family obligations I've fast become a weekend gamer. I was playing a little Forza 2 the other day; that game still holds up nicely for me. There's also new Tomb Raider game (Tomb Raider Anniversary) which looks pretty good, and at an MSRP of $30 the price seems right too. NASCAR 08 however is pretty much irredeemable for me; the graphics and shoddy AI are just unbearable.
I haven't tried the demo to this one yet but it has gotten some good reviews and the consensus is that it's the best Simpsons videogame yet. Make sure to let us know what they think - or you could always sneak a quick session in when they're not around, just to, you know, make sure the DVD works.
I'm thinking about picking up something this weekend: Tomb Raider Anniversary (3rd person action), Ace Combat 6 (top gun flight combat) or Timeshift (first person shooter). Still a little undecided as to what direction to go.
I'm seriously considering upgrading my gaming system in the next few months. I'm currently a Nintendo GameCube owner, and have been a proponent for Nintendo, as they had a tendency to promote more family-friendly games.
But since the Wii is simply not available, and I have been consistently impressed with Xbox graphics, I'm thinking of going the Microsoft route.
Can any experienced users give me some honest pros and cons about the system? Any input would be helpful!
PROS
- Large and varied library of games; no matter what genre you like I'm sure I can rattle off a few games the 360 has that youd be interested in.
- Amazing graphics; the 360's ability to put out high-def widescreen images has led to some visually striking games.
- Xbox Live; if you have an high-speed internet connection you can get yourself a free silver account. This will let you download game demos, videos, images, music and a lot more to your console. That way, you can try most games before you buy.
CONS
- The biggest gotcha with the 360 right now is that the reliability of the hardware can be suspect. I had one console die on me after about a year. MS has extended the warranty on all 360s to 3 years and the newer models have a heat sink and a new chipset so they should run cooler and be more reliable but there is a certain amount of caveat emptor here.
- Lots of different models; there are now three different SKUs of 360 out there: the Arcade, which is a bare bones system; the Premium which comes with a hard drive and hi-def cables; and the Elite, which comes with a really big (120GB) hard drive. With all those versions and sub-variations things can get a bit confusing. Stick with either the Premium (20GB hard drive means you'll never have to buy a memory card) or Elite (if you plan on doing A LOT of downloading) and you'll be OK.
- No built-in WIFI. You can run an ethernet cable from the back of the 360 to your router; but if you want to go wireless you'll need to buy a separate wireless internet adapter. You can fork over $100 for Microsoft's adapter (which feeds off the 360's power supply) or buy a 3rd party add-on, most of which will work.
- Most new games debut at $60 and that can get expensive if you do a lot of gaming (by comparison, most new PS3 games also debut at $60; most new Wii games sell for $50).
That's about it off the top of my head. Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, ask away.
One more thing; if you're dead set on owning a Wii, you may want to check out the Best Buy stores in your area. The BB's around where I live have had a pretty consistent stock of Wii's for the past few weeks.
I've only been hitting the Targets and Walmarts in my area periodically and have seen no new Nintendos available.
Are there any 'hidden' costs on getting an Xbox? Like controllers, adaptors, cards or anything like that that is not included, but necessary, for the Microsoft system?
My pleasure Darenhat.
Assuming you get a Premium (MSRP $350) or Elite (MSRP $450) you'll have everything you need to star gaming right in the box. Both come with the console, a hard drive (which you'll be able to use to save games and download stuff), a wireless control pad (you supply the batteries), a headset, and the necessary cables to connect it to either a standard or hi-def TV. As mentioned before, if you want to connect the 360 to the internet and don't mind running a wire, it also comes with an ethernet cable. As such you won't need to get anything else to play on day 1.
The Arcade edition (MSRP $280) doesn't include the hard drive, hi-def cables, headset or ethernet cable. Instead, it throws in a 512mb memory card, an a/v cable that will only work with a regular TV and 5 Xbox Live Arcade games (which are more simplistic and bare-bones titles). In my opinion the Arcade edition isn't that great of a value since for $70 more you get a lot more hardware, all of which you will use. In particular the hard drive really makes things more convenient and also makes many games run better since they can cache information there as well.
Of course every system has accessories to entice and the 360 is no exeption. There's the wireless internet adapter, rechargable battery packs, memory cards, play 'n charge kits, remote controls, the HD-DVD add-on, etc. But that's all secondary stuff and not required to get you gaming.
Darenhat, I just wanted to make sure you understand: The 360 (like the PS3 and Wii) only comes with 1 controller, so if you have a family (you said you like family-oriented games) and you would all like to play at the same time, you'll need three more controllers, which are $50 each for wireless and I think $40 for wired, but you can find them cheaper at some places and certainly on eBay.
As for family related games, the Viva Pinata series is great, and the new party game in the series has gotten some pretty good reviews.
Hope I didn't just tell you something you already knew.
Nintendo used to a put a 'seal' on their games, but I don't think they do that anymore, anyway.
The bottom line is that all the 'cool' titles seem to be for Xbox. Nintendo just ain't keeping up.