Thinking of buying a 360...

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:59 pm

Well Everyone says they are so great, and I would have to agree. I played my friends over at his house and I had a blast with it. With Bioshock that makes me want one even more. But anyways I have some questions...
1)Are all of the good games (other than Oblivion) fps games?
2)Is there a cheaper alternative to the $100 wifi adapter?
3)What are your top 5 games for the system?
I would really appreciate it if you guys would answer these questions.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:23 pm

Okay, I'm going to flat out say my top 5 games in no apparent order.

1.Bioshock
2.Halo 3 (even though it hasn't came out yet pre-order it)
3.Gears Of War
4.Oblivion
5.Viva Pinata (highly underestimated game)

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:39 pm

Is Viva Pinata really that good?

nbox360 · Post by **nbox360** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:47 pm

An xbox 360 is a good investment. It plays your games and is also a media center and you can stream your music and videos from your computer to your t.v. My top 5 are:
1.Gears of War
2.Halo3(have not played yet but It looks good.)
3.Smackdown vs Raw 2007
4.Need For Speed Most Wanted
5.Halo 2(not xbox 360 but only own top 3 games)

Post by **Black Six** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:52 pm

My Fave 360 Games:

Gears of War
Guitar Hero 2
Bioshock

This fall I'm of course looking forward to Halo 3 and Mass Effect, and I still play some Xbox games on my 360, mainly Halo 1 and 2, along with KOTOR 1 & 2 and Stubbs the Zombie.

Twisted Warthog · Post by **Twisted Warthog** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:27 pm

Yes Viva Pinata is really that good in my opinion.

It brings a entirely new type of game play thats highly addictive and fun. Not to mention the graphics are crazy good. If your into simulation/god games its pure awesomeness.

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:05 am

Well it seems that everyone said Gears of War is one of their favorites, so if I get one that will be the first game I buy. Bioshock looks awesome too. God this is a hard decision!

jones · Post by **jones** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:34 pm

I would agree with Twisted that Viva Pinata is an excellent game. Not quite Top 5 caliber, but definitely Top 10.

My Top 5 would probably be...

1. Oblivion
2. BioShock (Don't listen to the naysayers. It is even better than advertised.)
3. Forza Motorsport 2
4. Guitar Hero 2
5. Lost Planet

Then there is Marvel:Ultimate Alliance, Lego Star Wars 2, Viva Pinata, GRAW 1 and 2, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Test Drive Unlimited, Dead Rising, Gears of War, etc.

I would have to say that Gears of War is pretty overrated. The campaign is great and is a blast in co-op either offline or online, but I have found the multiplayer to be sorely lacking with it. Nowhere near as much fun as Lost Planet's multiplayer. It all comes down to taste though.

Make sure you save some money for all the great stuff coming out this fall!

As far as the Wi-fi is concerned, I think the only reasonable/cheap alternative is a really long ethernet cable...

Post by **bicostp** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:28 pm

Sorry about hijacking the thread but I was thinking of getting a 360 this winter or next spring, and have a couple questions.

How is Forza 2 compared to Gran Turismo 4? Do you need a credit card for Xbox Live Gold, or can you use prepaid cards from the store? (Assuming you can't play games online with the basic free account.)

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:33 pm

@Twisted
I might get that game because its only $20, what have I got to lose?

@Jones
I like your list. I found it very helpful. I take it that Lost Planet is similar to Gears of War in terms of gameplay? I've heard bad things about GoW's online and I am a big fan of the online...so if Lost Planet has better online I might have to get that instead.

I have narrowed down some of the games that I would like to get.
* Oblivion
* Gears of War
* Lost Planet
* Viva Pinata
* Halo series (I would like to play them in order so no Halo 3 for me yet)
* Bioshock
* Dead Rising
* Mass Effect (once I get some more funds

)
* Call Of Duty-I can get Call of Duty 2 for $20 but is 3 better?

I would still like to know if anyone has a solution to the $100 wifi adapter. I don't think I can get an ethernet cable to reach all the way across my house.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:51 pm

jedi knight wrote:I would still like to know if anyone has a solution to the $100 wifi adapter. I don't think I can get an ethernet cable to reach all the way across my house.

Measure how far it is, its really not a bad idea, plus wires are more reliable. I think 100' is about the limit for ethernet cable length, we have a 50' that was less than $10 shipped from Newegg.

THON · Post by **THON** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:33 pm

jedi knight wrote:@Twisted
I might get that game because its only $20, what have I got to lose?

@Jones
I like your list. I found it very helpful. I take it that Lost Planet is similar to Gears of War in terms of gameplay? I've heard bad things about GoW's online and I am a big fan of the online...so if Lost Planet has better online I might have to get that instead.

I have narrowed down some of the games that I would like to get.
* Oblivion
* Gears of War
* Lost Planet
* Viva Pinata
* Halo series (I would like to play them in order so no Halo 3 for me yet)
* Bioshock
* Dead Rising
* Mass Effect (once I get some more funds )
* Call Of Duty-I can get Call of Duty 2 for $20 but is 3 better?

I would still like to know if anyone has a solution to the $100 wifi adapter. I don't think I can get an ethernet cable to reach all the way across my house.

BEST. GAME. EVER.

Well, like 3rd best.

I love Dead Rising. I'd say it's my favorite 360 game out there, and probably always will be (depending on how GTA IV turns out.. which I won't know for months now. thanks PS3! )

jones · Post by **jones** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:44 pm

@bic

About the only gripe I have with Forza is that the track selection is limited. They do have a fair enough amount of variation in the multiple configurations of each track to make it passable, but it is the one area where GT4 bests it.

Otherwise the game is exceptional. The physics are great. You can definitely tell the difference between wrestling a 67 Vette around the track compared to the current model Z06. The cars actually take damage which makes you race for real instead of bouncing the car of the walls like many people do in the GT series. There is an online component to Forza 2 whereas GT4 never had it to begin with. In addition, I didn't think it was possible to go beyond GT4 in upgrading your car, but Forza 2 manages it. You can completely customize the paint job of the car, do engine swaps (like dropping an LS7 into a Pontiac Solstice - Nice!), and all the usual transmission, exhaust, etc. upgrades.

Basically if you like sim-racing games you will love Forza 2. Plus, by the time you get a 360 you should be able to find a cheap. Even better!

As far as live goes. You can use the store bought card for it and the MS points. You never have to enter a credit card unless you want to (I do because I'm lazy

). And yes, the main benefit of Gold is that it allows you to take part in multiplayer gaming.

@jedi knight

Glad the list could be useful.

The gameplay of the 2 is quite different. In LP you have a grappling hook that lets you scale buildings and rock formations which adds an interesting element to the gameplay. Also, you it's a frozen world so you need to collect T-ENG to stay alive. If you run out you eventually freeze to death. Gears is pretty much a straightforward third-person shooter with a chainsaw attached to a machine gun. The one edge Gears has is that you can play the campaign co-op. In LP it is strictly single player.

In multiplayer, LP allows for up to 16 combatants, whereas Gears only offers support for 8 player matches. From first hand experience the LP multiplayer matches involve more strategy. Gears is pretty much run around, blow everything up, and match is over in a minute or two. In LP matches can last 10 minutes (or longer) without issue depending on gametype. There is actually communication between teammates and attempts to organize which is actually a lot of fun. So if you're more into strategy than run-and-gun then LP is probably the ticket for you.

I actually liked CoD2 better than 3, but the online is better in CoD3. You can have up to 24 players on a map. It gets pretty crazy sometimes!

I'm looking forward to Mass Effect as well. I was thinking that was going to be the killer app this fall for me, but BioShock may have taken that title already...

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:34 pm

@THON
Thats good because its only $30 at Gamestop.

@Vskid
Well, that 50' cable isn't long enough

@Jones
Okay, so LP has more strategy involved that GoW? In that case, I'm sold on LP. And Mass Effect has to be awesome because it is made by BioWare.
edit:I didn't catch your CoD opinion. I like online so I'll probably get 3.

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:14 pm

I like CoD2 significantly better than CoD3, although I haven't tried online play in either game.