Evenin' all.

Recently acquired an XBox360.

Currently have Gears of War [been playing that] and already picked up Mass Effec [gotten to the second conversation and put it down for some quick action with GoW =] ).

Any other recommendations (I couldn't see Assassin's Creed? Not sure if it's out yet, didn't think it was).

But yeah, anything else worth playing? as I only know of these 3 titles at current.

Have played Forza Motorsport 2 on someoene elses' xbox and wasn't all that impressed with it.

Are there any good games that don't require as much aiming?

Either way, list em off here, ta =]


Also: f*** I am impressed with the 360.
Looks nice on my HD plasma with surround sound.

Is the darkness out yet? Might want to look into that one.

carcassonne on XBLA is awesome fun for a such a simple game. very addictive. and no shooting :)

if you change your mind and like fps - some titles i can recommend:
prey
quake4 (comes with quake 2!)
halo3

if you want something like GTA, get crackdown.
if you want a kid type fun for a bash game get viva pinata.

some new releases you might be interested in:
mass effect (rpg)
Call of Duty 4 (fps)
Orange Box (fps x 4(5?) half life 2 episode 1 & 2, portal (puzzle fps) and Team Fortress 2)

also, order region free titles off play asiasave f***TONS of money - http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-14-71-fc-49-en.html

first on that list there is assassins creed for US$ 64.90 (~73.24 AUD)

edit: there is also a good trading forum over at http://www.xboxworld.com.au/forum/
good for pre owned games on the cheap.

last edited by d0mino at 21:21:45 18/Nov/07

a few games i would look into if your into these kinda things, although you may want to hire to get a feel for the game first before you commit to buying.


fan of japanese final fantasy style RPGs? get eternal sonata

assassin's creed is said to be like a medeival version of crackdown, which i also enjoyed

skate is a good choice too and of course there is guitar hero 3 too if your into that

The Darkness came out like 5 months ago, and I didn't find it enjoyable at all (though I know some others have).

The Darkness Review:


Can't believe it took this long for BioShock to be recommended. That game is a must-buy.

oh man that review was frigging gold

the darkness is alright, its not great but it was the best thing out during a very slow period of games.
probably the cream of the crop of xbox 360 games goes like this

dead rising.
gears of war
cod3
cod4
mass effect
assassins creed
kane and lynch (its ok, not great)
blacksite area 51 (was actually suprised, quite a fun fps)
crack down
halo 3 (is for some not for others)
eternal sonata (great rpg)
blue dragon (an ok rpg)
skate (best skateboarding game ever.)
tony hawks project 8 (was the best skateboarding game, till skate came out)
viva pinata
graw and graw 2 (excellent stuff)
splinter cell double agent
rainbow six vegas

some of those games are getting abit old now so you should be able to pick them up cheap.

Any other recommendations

These are my top recommendations...

- Assassin's Creed once it is released. Can't go wrong :p
- Guitar Hero II and III.
- Bomberman Live (XBL).
- Carcassonne (XBL).
- Catan (XBL).
- Mass Effect.
- Forza 2.
- PGR4.
- Oblivion.
- Dead Rising (mindless cool killing).

Other than that, there are some great titles on XBox Live which are fun and cheap to get. NHL08 is awesome fun too. Lots of good sports games, but I tend not to play too many sports games. Stuntman Ignition looks kind of cool. I was thinking of trying that. I'd recommend Bioshock, but I can't after the crap they did to PC gamers. I'd rather no one ever handed a cent over to them for that crap. Orange Box...better on PC IMHO.

Ahhh Dead Rising!

Is that the zombie one? I thought that was Xbox, not 360? (im aware its backwards compatible but meh to old graphics :)

I might have to grab it.

Have played Crysis/Orange Box yda yada on PC.
Was looking more at 360/console specific titles.

Gears of War is pretty damn cool, quite impressed with it.

Haven't played Mass Effect yet (as I said, got to second conversation and went for some shootin' of s***).

Plug the box into the intarwebz and grab some demos off xboxlive.

Probably impossible with your current plan though.

Dead Rising is a 360 title. Looks great on a 1080i/p screen :)

Guitar Hero 3
Halo 3
Bioshock

I set my 360 to 720p...
It's capable of doing 1080i (my plasma that is)

However 1080 = interleave (hence the i)

Now... I thought interleave = bad for fast-paced picture (for example like fast sports)... And thus thought it would be bad for gaming?

I couldnt select 1080p (progressive) which made me sad...

Will I notice the 'tearing'/'stepping' effect of interleave display mode in gaming?

Bioshock was great for PC (bought that title when it came out).. dont think i would have liked it/enjoyed it nearly as much on 360.

last edited by J at 00:22:06 19/Nov/07

Call of Duty 4 (fps)

if you have a pc that can play this game, get the pc version off steam.

Fight night 3 is a fun game for the occasional punch up

Oh & skate. Though that is a skateboarding "sim" so that might be an aquired taste

Will I notice the 'tearing'/'stepping' effect of interleave display mode in gaming?

Not that I'm aware of. My friend has a 1080i TV, says its all good. I notice tearing on 1080p in Dead Rising and Dirt, but apparently its to do with the games not the TV.

My only problem with Fight Night is the sore fingers :( Feel like an arthritic old dude after about an hour :)

yeah my thumbs are always f***ed after a good game of fight night round 3

I just got Fight Night Round 3 cheap off seconds table at EB. Started with the training, fark them is some skill required for this game. Still gotta love the art that is boxing.

If you like sports games Table Tennis is fun, as is Tiger Woods golf. I can't bring myself to play FPS on the xbox, I have a PC and know better. Get onto Live and download the demos, my kids love them. There are tons of them there. I've also downloaded a few of the arcade games. Been playing Frogger and Street Fighter II HF.

Gave Mass Effect a long bash this arvo.
Wouldn't expect anything less from bioware.

It's pretty damn awesome,

I've only really sort of starting figuring out how to use the combat properly (It seemed bionics were really overrated, till I realised otherwise).

Squad AI annoys me a little, if that was improved upon (or maybe it's me but I can't seem to get them to quite take up the defensive/cover positions I really want).
It could also be my newbness at aiming with a controller :)

i would prefer to have the combat in third person but also from above, aka the ability to pause the game, change camera to above and give orders. some moments really call for more strats but its all good and its such a small gripe with a nearly perfect game.

word on street is if in mass effect you have a bad dude under your crosshairs and you shoot at him it still does all the rpg dice rolling s*** in the background - so it depends on your skill with that weapon, distance from target etc etc and then does a dice roll and decides wether or not you hit it. so its not all about aiming.

Is an Xbox 360 really worth getting? Or am i better off just upgrading my pc??

Is an Xbox 360 really worth getting? Or am i better off just upgrading my pc??

Difficult call, depends how much 'upgrading' your pc needs and how much gaming you do I guess?

I'd opt to upgrade my PC mainly because you can use it for work/school/uni/games/internet/whatever else you want to do with it.
(And its easier to..... acquire... games if you are that way inclined - less you mod your console).

If you can get both though... I'd say do it, sitting back on the couch and playing on a huge TV with surround sound feels more epic than sitting in front of a monitor.

- for what it's worth, I only have Gears of War and Mass Effect for my 360 atm. But they both easily make the 360 seem like a worthwhile buy.
(I got an 'elite' boxed kit thing for $680 + one game)...

last edited by J at 10:50:40 20/Nov/07

Is an Xbox 360 really worth getting? Or am i better off just upgrading my pc??

If you can afford it, and you like games, I don't see any reason not too. There are more games coming out on consoles nowadays than on PC, but PC is usually where they push the technological envelope. It's good to embrace both PC and consoles, and the 360 is a good place to start.

i would prefer to have the combat in third person but also from above

What do you mean?
Mines all in third person except when 'aiming' with the planetary rover..

When I do 'precision aiming' (left trigger or whatever it is), it just brings the camera right on the characters shoulder (kind of like splinter cell from memory).

Does anybody know how to do the one on the citadel - the mission with the slots machine + the 'strange signal to track'?

I f***ed up the guys cheating device and got it confiscated but the stupid side quest is still in my log =[

word on street is if in mass effect you have a bad dude under your crosshairs and you shoot at him it still does all the rpg dice rolling s*** in the background - so it depends on your skill with that weapon, distance from target etc etc and then does a dice roll and decides wether or not you hit it. so its not all about aiming.

Of course it does, its an RPG with real-time combat, not an action game. This is actually starting to really piss me off (not you personally, just this attitude in general), I've seen a couple of bad reviews for Mass Effect where they've marked it down because its not a very good shooter, comparing it to the likes of Halo. I mean seriously, WHAT THE f***! The game is an RPG, a very deep, complex, incredibly awesome RPG.

If people want a shooter go and buy Call of Duty 4 or Gears of War or something, but Mass Effect is not, I repeat IS NOT a shooter. The combat might have some elements of action games, but how good your character is at combat is entirely driven by your skills, your level, your gear, etc. Standard RPG fare. If thats not your cup of tea, fine, nobody is forcing you to play it, but I'm really getting pissed off with these people who play it and then complain because its not a good shooter or the shooting is too basic or its ruined because its governed by your stats. The combat isn't even THAT big of a part of the game, I've clocked up about 16 hours on it so far and maybe 20% of that was actual combat, if that. If you're getting hung up on how the shooting bits don't play like Halo 3 then 80% of the game is completely going over your head, and I feel sorry for you, because you're missing out on one of the best games in years (best console RPG ever? I'm willing to go there).

conslol
do they have a keyboard and mouse for the xbox360 yet?

lol if u wont keybord nad a mows pay a pc ur fukN n000bi3

There are more games coming out on consoles nowadays than on PC

conslol lol

khel - i am really looking forward to playing mass effect, i was just explaining issues some people were having with the combat mechanic. maybe i shouldnt have said 'rpg dice rolling s***' and should have said 'rpg dice rolling stuff' instead.

also - consoles are the way to go if you like playing games. And if you want to play those games on a level platform with a huge local and international online presence and want access to a huge selection of top notch releases without having to worry about system specs then go for the xbox360.

The combat is fine for the player.
It's my squad that pisses me off!
Although I'm getting better at handling their AI..
But telling them to take cover just... they just dont take good cover... or they take cover where they cant even shoot back, they seem to work best if you see enemy on radar and send them straight into cover by manually telling them where to run/go to.

Mine bugged out and refused to follow me for awhile (had to manually move them everywhere).. when I died (drove off the skyway accidently on feros hahaha) it fixed itself.

I still like the action/shooter parts (I was worried about it when I first bought it/started playing it) and being an rpg... But it is actually pretty good. And you can take cover etc. duck out and shoot yada yada so it works well.

khel - i am really looking forward to playing mass effect, i was just explaining issues some people were having with the combat mechanic. maybe i shouldnt have said 'rpg dice rolling s***' and should have said 'rpg dice rolling stuff' instead.

Yeah, I wasn't directly attacking you, your post just reminded me how much some of the crappy Mass Effect reviews have been pissing me off :P

Like this one from the 'Hardcore Gamer Magazine':

As it is, it's merely very good on several different levels, and is more or less a must-play for RPG fans. It will drive shooter fans completely up the wall, though.

Or from Eurogamer:

Where it doesn't quite hit the mark for me is in the action stakes. Although it underpins the game with all sorts of excellent ideas that ought to make it a deeper, more intelligent and immersive experience, the simple truth is that the minute-to-minute combat simply isn't as intense and involving as you'd expect from a game in 2007.

Actually the Eurogamer review is especially s***, its like he only played the first hour of the game or something, the guy complained that the AI was too easy to beat, and what did he base this on? The very first mission that is introducing you to combat. Read and be amused

http://www.xfps360pro.com/

Found this, anyone used these before?

casa - google some reviews. apparently it sucks balls - but i do have a guy on my friends list that swears by it.

but as if you'd want to sit on your couch with a kb and mouse?

khel - but... if they are going to throw in an action combat part to the game, it better be good right? is it good? or is it not? (i havn't played it)

but... if they are going to throw in an action combat part to the game, it better be good right? is it good? or is it not? (i havn't played it)

It is good, but if you go into it expecting it to be like Gears of War, you'd probably think it was crap. The accuracy of your weapons is determined by your training in them and how good the weapon is, so you can use an Assault Rifle if you're not trained in it sure, but you won't be able to hit anything. The combat is sort of the end result of the choices you make while you're levelling up your character, its where you get to see the payoff from putting those extra points in First Aid or from giving one of your squad mates the Throw ability. Its where all the modifications you've made to your armour and weapons come into play. Its not like its some standalone part of the game like "Heres the RPG sections, and now we're playing a shooter section", the two are inextricably linked.

The combat is much more tactical than your average shooter too, theres a lot more micromanaging your squad and stopping to give orders. Your squad can ocasionally do some dumb things, but I find so long as I keep an eye on whats going on and give them orders and stuff they're fine. They'll automatically use any defensive powers you give them, but they wont use any offensive powers like Sabotage, Overload, Throw, etc unless you actually activate them, so the combat is as much about using the right abilities at the right time to enable victory as it is about shooting guys. Personally I find the combat really satisfying, its great the ways the different abilities work together. I usually take a tech chick with me and she can sabotage the enemy's weapons and overload their shields, and I have a soldier/biotic with me as well who can put people into stasis locks or throw them to the ground and then open up with his assault rifle to finish them off, and then I'm wading in there as a soldier with my pimpin' shotty smashing faces and using my Overload ability to give anyone who's giving me a bit of trouble a face full of explosive shot.

So I guess, what I'm saying, is don't go in expecting fps style action, because thats not what its about.

It took me a bit of time to get used to the combat, not because I was expecting it to be like a shooter, mainly just because it's been a while since I've played an RPG. I kept forgetting to tell my squad to do things.

But I must say that I kind of disagree with the comments about the squad AI. I've found them to be really useful. Last night, I was in some huge battle, and there were enemies coming from all over the place, and just as I was about to get owned, one of my squadmates just used lift. All of the enemies flew up helplessly into the air, which gave be enough time to heal the squad and blast all the baddies before they plummeted back down to the floor. I didn't tell him to do it, but he probably saw that we'd die of he did nothing. Either that or it was dumb luck. In the end, little things like that have made me pretty happy with the way the squad AI performs. It's not amazing, but it's good enough to be pretty helpful.

I'm more afraid of playing console and getting used to it, and going back to my mad micro and it making me suck

whats a mad micro?

something which casa thinks he has but really lacks.

transition from kb/mouse to controller to kb/mouse again is nothing to fear, its like riding a bike then driving a car only a noob would be intimidated that they would lack skill in the one or another.

also i started the game again in mass effect after completeing feros, when playing in the citidel i found a f***cload of quests i missed the first time around. so i downloaded teh eguide from primva and now im not missing a beat. ill probably play through the game again once i finish though just to do everything as a tough ass to see different missions and s***.

(I got an 'elite' boxed kit thing for $680 + one game)...

Ohhh, where did you get that?
I looked around and found the elite for $749 :( no game.

Keen on the Elite cause of the HDMI output. I'm out of component inputs :(

Juiced 2 is looking pretty good.
If you're into the arcade racer type game.
Mostly eye candy and anyone can get into it. A f***en monkey could drift in that game :|

Rising Dead for senseless killing and violence! How much fun is it sticking a shower head into someone's skull?!

RAWR.

premiums and Core's here should now have HDMIs too, you might want to check the lot numbers on the box, from memory in the US it was lot 724+, but the box will also indicate if it has HDMI output.

Mate just bought a 360 today, and it has HDMI. You don't need to check the numbers on the box, it's actually listed in the specs whether or not is has HDMI afaik.