I'm not either. I hop online with friends but that is about it. I could care less about playing strangers. I'm more of a single player guy. That being said, Kameo is an excellent game especially for the price. Think of it as Zelda-lite.

Other great single player games are what I mentioned above. Condemned(10 hour), Dead Rising(many, many hours) & Tomb Raider(10 hours). Kameo is about a 14-16 hour single player game. I'm enjoying Splinter Cell, but like mentioned the game apparently is a joke next to its previous gen counterparts. Oblivion and Saints Row fit into this category as well.

Haven't played Kameo, but DOA4 is damn sweet. Super fluid motion and LOTS of eye candy (if you know what I mean). Don't expect to win too many matches by button-mashing though. It doesn't work on this game (I tried). Liquid metal chick boss is ridiculously hard. Ended up getting the book so I could have the moves lists and do some work then!

Here's my list, I'll get at least a few of these right away, maybe most all of them:

-Saint's Row ($60)
-Kameo ($30)
-Burnout Revenge ($30)
-GRAW ($40)
-Elder Scrolls ($60)
-Call of Duty 2 ($40)
-Maybe NHL 2K7 ($60)

Anybody know of better prices on any of those, of the top of your head?

I've got BB coupons and gift cards burning a hole in my pocket.

Personally i didn't like GRAW at all and thought it was even worse online.

CoD2 is a good deal of fun but remember the third one comes out next week and there will be a bunch of us playing that online. We have a pretty good group from this site (except for Martini of course) and have good matches without the childish yelling, team killing etc. you get in random games. Plus as the night goes on several of the gamers get a bit tipsier and either get better or worse depending on how many milanos they had!

Madden '07
Lego Star Wars II

-Saint's Row ($42)
-GRAW ($30)
-Elder Scrolls ($40 w/ book)


that's how much I'm selling mine for

Sure. Half.com. Doesn't help with the gift cards, but you are pissing away half of their worth paying full price on older games:

-Saint's Row ($34)
-Kameo ($18)
-Burnout Revenge ($23)
-GRAW ($25)
-Elder Scrolls ($34)
-Call of Duty 2 ($23)
-Maybe NHL 2K7 ($42)

Those are all based on "like new" condition. $320 vs. $174. Saves you $146 to use on newer titles or more older ones.

For $146 more you can get:
Condemned ($25)
Tomb Raider ($25)
Dead Rising ($36)
Table Tennis ($23)
Prey ($27)

Or you can sub in some of these for the original Xbox:
Halo ($7)
Halo 2 ($15)
Ninja Gaiden ($10)
Fable ($15)
SW: Kotor ($5)
SW: Battlefront II ($12)
Chonicles of Riddick ($7)

Thanks Michael. Obviously I haven't done much video game shopping online before.

A lot of these games have collector's editions or game of the year editions - what is typically the difference between those and the "normal" version? I'm assuming at the same price the GOTY and collector's editions would be best, but are they worth a few bucks more? (particulary buying slightly used)

I would make sure you get Condemned and not COD2 (only because COD3 is coming out soon). Unless of course you dont like scary games, or dont want to pay full price for COD3.

How is the single player campaign in CoD2?

...and I'm not sure I like scary games - I despise scary movies - though I played FEAR on PC last year and enjoyed it.

Do I want that or Ninja Gaiden Black? What's the difference?

Depends why you dont like scary stuff, Condemned is realistic scary (events in the game arent too far fetched). My friends who dont like scary stuff because it seems so impossible to them like condemned.

COD2 is great single player--lots of variety, challenging and of course stunning graphics. I think COD3 is more limited in the single player because it sounds like its only in one battlefield environment. COD2 had you in the desert, the snow, the forrest, the D-Day beach so it may have more variety.

Ninja Gaiden Black is one of the hardest games of all freakin time.

The Single player in COD2 is awesome. And the added Stuff in the GOTY edition is all of the map packs that are available on XBL for free. I suggest getting it but COD3 is only 5 days away so it's a judgment call. If you're interested in online gaming then maybe you should wait as our entire group plays COD and we'll all have COD3 (for the most part) on Tuesday.

Just so the OP knows, this kaki fellow is the Martini was talking about earlier.

I'll also echo what he said... NG Black was freaking impossible and made me smash things in my living room at times because of its difficulty.

Ninja Gaiden isn't that hard on normal mode. Personally, I hate overly difficult games (like some NES games), but I managed to beat it without too much trouble.

The key to beating Ninja Gaiden is to learn defense. Always be blocking and playing defensively. Learn how to time counter attacks. An aggressive player and/or a button masher will get killed very quickly.

Ninja Gaiden Black adds the following things:

1. A few new weapons (the lunar staff and smoke bombs)
2. Two new difficulty modes (ninja dog and master ninja). Ninja dog is basically easy mode. Master ninja mode is INSANELY difficult. Unless you are an absolute glutton for punishment, do not try it.
3. A new "mission mode". I am not exactly sure what it is, as I never bothered to play it, but it looks like just random battle scenarios that are meant to test your ninja skills (ie stuff like fight 100 enemies in a row without stopping)
4. Some new cutscenes
5. New costumes

Game of the Year editions are usually nothing more than a sticker, label or new header on the package just indicating it sold a lot of copies, like Halo. COD2 on the other hand comes with new maps if I'm not mistaken.

Special editions are generally not worth the extra dough unless you are a collector. Most come in metal tins with an extra DVD with a featurette about the making of the game. Watch it once, if that, type stuff. I'd be wary of buying the limiteds with metal cases used as you might get one that is scratched all to hell. Then again, you may get lucky, not all people treat their games like shit. I just put my Halo 2 tin up and it is immaculate. So those are definitely a case-by case basis.

My first game was NBA2K7. I absolutely love basketball and had to have it. The game is great, the graphics are beautiful. I also recommend Tomb Raider Legend. I've had quite bit of a fun playing it, even though I've had to have a few sneak peeks at guides online cause I've gotten stuck. Saints Row and Dead Rising are both great. The graphics in Dead Rising are amazing, though saving in the game kinda sucks. I downloaded a demo for Hitman and didn't much care for it. The game was alright but I didn't like the controls. I would recommend downloading some demos before getting tied up with some games. Also, buy used!