Oh, I don't know. I was playing Halo on my NES the other day and it was still pretty fun.

Where are the Quake 4 reviews? I guess a review of the PC version would be close to the same thing.

Oh man, I really wanted Quake 4 to rock. Gamespot says otherwise:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/acti...ke4/index.html

http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/004991.php

couple more reviews over at dailygame.net

Gamespot gives Perfect Dark Zero a 9.0
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/acti...ml?sid=6132648

IGN gives Tiger Woods 06 a 6.8.

Best launch ever . A few notables still on the way (although not in time for launch), DOA4, and Oblivion.

My first impressions (20-60 minutes per game):

Madden 06: This does not play as well as the Xbox version. The player graphics are awesome. Now, if I could only enjoy playing the game. If I had rented this first, I might have well passed.

PGR3: Plays just like PGR2. Did you like PGR2?

Kameo: Like a less-sucky Banjo-Kazooie. The jury is still out. A good rental.

CoD2: Wow. Awesome.


Still in the pile: PD0 (I hated perfect dark, so I am scared to play this), Condemned, Tiger (should I take thee back?), Quake 4 (going back to the store), NBA 2K6 (please don't suck!)

Wow, what a difference a week makes.

Last month, the titles I was getting for sure were Madden 06 and Tony Hawk.
Last week, that changed to COD2 and Quake 4.
Now, I've settled on COD2 and Perfect Dark (PGR3 is a long shot)

Madden is coming with my bundle so I'll be doing my best to swap it out for COD2.

Yeah, I keep changing my mind on the games too.

I'll get PGR3 with my costco.com bundle. No problem there, especially after seeing it at Best Buy on a big HD Samsung display. WOW.

Call of Duty 2 is the "I want a 360 for this game" title. Got it at Best Buy on Monday for $11 off (10% off coupon, $5 rewardzone coupon).

I picked up Quake 4 at Gamestop. I went in to change my reservation from CoD2 to Quake. Since they had it in stock, I just went ahead and bought it. Now I'm not so sure about it as the reviews seem to be mixed. IGN liked it (8.4 IIRC), Gamespot says the framerate drops are horrible. I really like the idea of getting Quake 2. Not sure about this one.

Madden - Again, the reviews seem to be mixed. Some people love it, others are saying it kind of sucks. I kind of doubt I would play enough to justify the $60. I'll probably try to rent this one.

Perfect Dark Zero - I wasn't interested in this one initially, having never played the original game. Then there were no early reviews and I got suspicous that it sucked and Rare didn't want anyone to know that before release day. But the reviews that are out now look pretty good. The multi-player might help me justify my Xbox Live account, which I have not used in months.

So I'm not sure if I'll hold onto Quake 4 or trade it for Madden or PDZ. Or I could keep Quake and ask for one of the others for Christmas. Or I could cave and just buy one or both. My wife wants to know the total cost of this stuff so she can make her Christmas list roughly the same.

Updated impressions:


Madden 06: Played a game and a half. Doesn't suck as bad as originally feared. It definitely does not play as tight as the usual Madden, though. Feels like it needed another 3-6 months development. I don't think they left out Madden's commentary b/c they were changing directions...they were NOT done with this game. That being said, it's not bad. Probably a good rental, not a buy.

PGR3: This game is awesome. Might be one of the best racing games ever. Yes, I said that. Most fun I've had w/ a racer since Rallysport 2. Great mix of arcade and simulation. Why do online games always end up like bumper cars? Assholes.

Kameo: I forced myself to play this for a while, and then I asked myself "why?" This game is not fun. If I wanted to play a 3D platformer, I could get out Mario 64 -- it's way better than this.

CoD2: Wow. Awesome. Campaign is fun so far. Haven't played on live yet (might be a good thing).

PD0: Wow, the single player blows. Haven't played on Live yet. Playing against the bots really sucked. Why did I buy this? Oh yeah, the hype.

NBA2K6: Ummm, send me another copy when you're done making this game. Worst in-game presentation I have seen in years. Players look pretty good. Court looks like Kobe Bryant's N64 game.

Still in the pile: Condemned, Tiger (should I take thee back?), Quake 4 (going back to the store???)

Call of Duty 2 -
Loving the single player so far. Haven't played in Live and I'm in no hurry.

PD0 -
The single is indeed shitty. The character models are shitty all around. Thank god it's a FPS where you don't see much of the main character. Live play is better. I had a hell of a time connecting to games so I just set up a game with some bots and eventually my buddy signed on and joined in. I don't care for the level design very much. Too many twists and turns in some maps.....too much open space in other maps.

Tiger Woods 06 -
I can't tell if I suck at this game because of all the different controls or if I suck because my attributes are so low. I wish they would of just taken the menus and such from the older games and added better graphics to the courses.

My friend is going to bring over his copy of Need For Speed soon and I have rental copies of Condemned, Gun, Tony Hawk and Ridge Racer on the way.

With launch titles like these I am very glad I am switching over to renting most titles.

Thanks Duster... I am going to cancel my PD0 order and get PGR3

Wow, PD0 is getting some negative impressions counter to what Gamespot hails as "Perfect Dark Zero is finally here and it's amazing." Looks like I will have to play this myself to see what is going on here.

My quick impressions:

-Madden 06: Not really sure yet, I played one game and I thought the graphics were great. It seems a little more clunky than the XBOX version, but it's still good. I think I was SO used to the XBOX version, that now I'm just gettings used to the 360 controls. I played over 5 seasons in my XBOX franchise, now I'll just have to break a few habits. Next year will be much better, but this is good.

-Tiger Woods 06: I'm enjoying this. I played one round with the PLAY NOW option (gives you TW to golf with). I never played Tiger (at least not in a few years). It was nice and easy to pick up and play....I got a Hole in One also! I still have to get used to using both analog sticks on some shots.

-Call of Duty 2: WOW! Graphics, sound, gameplay is GREAT. Single player is fun. I played one quick multiplayer map...seemed pretty good. Then it lagged out, someone had a bad connection (hopefully it wasn't me)

I also have Condmened, Quake4 and PD0 (GameRush did not have PD0 yet, so hopefully today I'll pick that up).

I'm impressed so far. I cannot wait to tear into Condemned. I'm curious about PD0 also....a lot of negative feedback, but reviews seem to like it...so, who knows.

Now you guys are talking me out of PD0!

The Quake4 review on Gamespot was pretty telling. When he mentioned the rail part, when you can actually hear the machine gun sound slow down with the frame rate, I said, hmmmmm.

Now it looks like COD2 and PGR3.

I loved PGR2 but don't see enough in 3 to warrant another purchase. It looks like PGR2 with better graphics.

I popped in King Kong for a few minutes yesterday and Im confused because I couldn't get it to present in widescreen. I have my 360 settings @ 720p and widescreen mode... however, I get Kong only displaying in 4:3 mode. wtf??

Did you flip the switch on the A/V cable? If you look closely, there is a switch that says HDTV and SDTV (I think)

I know if I hit INFO on my TV, it says what mode I'm in (1080i)

Hey guys, I'm just one person, so you may like PD0. I am just letting you know that it isn't my cup of tea. Then again, I didn't like PD on N64 (loved Goldeneye). You may like it, but I sure didn't. I am also biased b/c I think Halo2 on Live is the most amazing game ever, and this just is not nearly as intuitive.

I made the same mistake!?!?!? before I realize that I had it on default SDTV.

So any (personal) reviews on NBA Live?

I picked up NBA2K the other day, but didn't realize it was a 60 dollar game (for some reason, I thought it was only 50). Haven't opened it or Perfect Dark (non LE) yet. I already have NBA2K for the Xbox, and I'm pretty satisfied with that... if the 360 version isn't that great, I might just skip it and try out Live.

You can D/L the DEMO for LIVE over the XBOX LIVE Marketplace for FREE. I tried it and I don't really like it. The camera's are just not that great. I guess I like the sideline appraoch (or something similiar to 2K6). I will get 2K6 for the 360, but I only rented it on XBOX. Not sure how much difference there REALLY is. I would pass on LIVE though....or, D/L the demo.

Call of Duty should be on everybody's buy list. All I can say is WOW.
PDZ, good so far, nothing spectacular.
Kameo, will play tonight.

Co-signed.

Sure, if by "everybody" you mean "everybody without a decent PC". I honestly don't see what all the fuss is with COD2, I played both the demo and the full version (on the pc) and to me, it just seemed like more of the same COD but with better graphics. I've seen COD2 on the Xbox 360 and graphically the only thing it seemed to have over the PC version was slightly sharper graphics, the textures still looked pretty low resolution.

That said, everyone has different tastes, and not everyone plays games on PC's anymore. I could see how if you haven't played COD 1 or 2 on the PC how it could be a pretty amazing experience, especially if the only FPS you have played recently is Halo.