jw2299

I had no desire to ever own the original XBox, and the only game I really wanted to play on it was Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. But, after playing GTA4 on my friend's machine, it bit the bullet and jumped on board. I really want to play BioShock and Halo 3, even though I'm not really an FPS fan - the backstories intrigue me greatly.

So I bought the "pro" model with GTA4, and I also picked up the original Halo (I like to play game series' in order). I know I want the above mentioned games, and Ace Combat 6.

What else can I pick up on the cheap for the 360, or Xbox that's backwards compatible? What did I miss out on in the PS2 years?

Spiderbite

Congrats! Now go buy COD4: Modern Warfare right now.

Since you were a KOTOR fan, I know many would recommend picking up Mass Effect. Haven't played it yet but it is made by the same people I believe and it's play style is similar from what I have read. It's on my list that never seems to decrease.

jimmaxmed

Backwards compatability depends on the particular system you purchased, right ??? The "arcade" version is almost none to none. The $349.99 version is half or so. And the "Elite" is virtually all of them, right ???

Groucho

No. All 360's are backwards compatible with the same games. (This is not true for the PS3, however).

jimmaxmed

That's not what is implied by what is printed right on the Elite's box. If I remember correctly, they state how much backwards compatability each system has..........Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, and if so I'm sorry to confuse things, I just think I remember reading that.

tonyc3742

The 360 has BC on each model--I think you need a hard drive store the BC emulation software. However, not every Xbox game is included in the backward compatibility list. Here's the list
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/back...ygameslist.htm
correction: you need the hard drive.

"Original Xbox game support requires a hard disk drive (HDD) accessory on your Xbox 360 console."

I think the basic "Arcade" model of 360 does not come with hard drive (though of course they'll be glad to sell you one) hence why BC isn't mentioned on its box. I think the Pro comes with a 20gb hd?

If you have a hard drive, and you download the BC software (if you're on Live that can be a relatively painless affair), you can play any of the BC games.
I never had an Xbox, and I was originally interested in BC, but I bought Halo, played for half an hour, then traded it in--there's enough great stuff for the 360, even older/cheaper, that I wanted to play.

Cheaper, good 360 games that I've played include
Crackdown, Blue Dragon (Japanese style turn based RPG), of course Bioshock, Halo 3. As a non-FPS fan, Bioshock impressed me more than Halo 3, the story was much more immersive and novel. Slightly more expensive--GTAIV, Oblivion (American PC style RPG), Rock Band or Guitar Hero, Eternal Sonata (another JRPG style game).

chaz k

Congrats on your new purchase. Now go out and buy Call of Duty 4!!!!!!!!!!!!

jw2299

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm not so big on war games and FPS's, which is the main reason I held off on the original Xbox. Although I love flight/arial shooters. I do like Japanese style RPGs, action / adventure games like Tomb Raider and so forth.

I remember reading about Blue Dragon. That's one for me to look for.

By the by, mine is the "pro" version with the 20gig drive. I was disappointed to see that straight out of the box, it only had 9 gigs free. Looks like I might need to upgrade if I get into the downloadable games and content.

FalconH10

Just FYI most of that space is occupied by the trailers,demos, etc that Microsoft puts on the hard drive. You can get it back to 16-17GB I think. I have had mine since release and have had no issues with space. Considering I have 20-30 music videos, several expansions (including Oblivion) and about 70 Xbox Live Arcade games I wouldn't worry too much. I have had to manage it some, especially when I download a lot of demos but its not a huge deal.

Having said that go out and buy Viva Pinata, Mass Effect, and Overlord. Blue Dragon is a good choice but I had much more fun with Lost Odyssey.

Congrats on the purchase!

The Bus

Go out and buy:

Oblivion
Crackdown
Condemned

These games are some of the best experiences the system has to offer and they should be easy to find at $20 or below.

edstein

Dead Rising is good. Also I recommend Gears of War, it's third person. Oblivion has been the best RPG to come out in the last couple of years. Bioshock is awesome but, it's FPS. Forza 2 is good if you like sim racing but, if you like arcade style better go for Project Gotham 4. And finally, if your going to play an FPS game, there really is nothing better than COD4.

TimeandTide

To add to everyone else's excellent recommendations (especially COD4 and Oblivion):

Lego Star Wars: Original Trilogy (easily found for about $20)
Call of Duty 2 (on clearance at Target for about $12)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Moopher

Seriously, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Also...check out the arcade, download bomberman live, it's the best!

The Bus

XBLA arcade wise:

Bomberman
Carcassone
Catan
Geometry Wars
Pacman CE
Mutant Storm Reloaded
UNO

All are good. I'm sure I'm mising a lot.

dom56

Definetly get Mass Effect. Circuit City has it now for $31.99 which I bought yesterday.

slop101

If you liked GTA4, you should love Crackdown.

And CoD4 is so good that it's even loved by those that don't particularly care for the genre.

I'd skip Blue Dragon if I were you though - both Mass Effect and Oblivion are far better, and if you want a Japanese RPG, Eternal Sonata is way better than Blue Dragon.

matome

If you liked the Tomb Raider series, you definitely need to pick up Tomb Raider: Legend.

pinata242

If you're thinking of getting Mass Effect check Target TODAY!!! (because the $10 coupons expire today) If any of the below games interest you, I'd recommend this approach. I used 2 $10 360 game coupons and a $5 off $25 toy coupon and got NG2, Scene It, and ME for $85 + tax. If you only want ME, then getting it by itself at CC sounds more sane.

SmackDaddy

You didn't mention whether or not you got an extended warranty. Not sure if you can pick one up after the fact, but Microsoft's 3 year warranty covers ALL defects for the first year, but only RROD for the remaining two years.

Although I got rid of mine (four failures in less than a year) It is a fun system with a lot of great games. As far as last gen, why not pick up Kotor 1 and 2? If you are a Star Wars fan it's a no brainer.

jw2299

I did get the extended warranty through Best Buy, and I live less than a mile from one, so that should be OK.

Looks like I'm going to be picking up Ace Combat 6 soon, and perhaps Call of Duty 4. I also forgot about the Live arcade games. I definitely want PacMan CE.

rabbit77

very good choice with Pac Man CE.

sergtv

i'm looking to pick up an xbox, how much was the extended warranty? just waiting for that stimulus check to come in

Superman07

I just purchased one myself (finally), but haven't used it much (still finish up class). The $50 GC deal was very tempting and the reason that pushed me over.

I'm still not fully sure what programs and capabilities the system has with regard to streaming and accessing media. Does anybody have links?

BioShock and H3 are also on my short list. I may use the gamefly trial my friend sent me too. Otherwise I may look for Oblivion and PGR4.

EDIT: Forgot GoW. I hear it's perhaps the best game for the system.

jw2299

I think it was $60 for 3 years. I figured it was worth it. For the price of a new game I could have 3 years' RROD peace of mind.

metalhead212

Must have games for the 360:

(Of course some may disagree, but you'll have that)

Halo 3
Call of Duty 4
The Orange Box
Bioshock
Dead Rising
Gears of War
Mass Effect
GTA 4
Oblivion
Rock Band / GHII / GHIII (if you enjoy that sort of thing and have the money to spend on the peripherals)

Must play (Games you should rent)
Assassins Creed (Fun but extremely repetitive and very little replay value)
Army of Two (Fun, but not 60$ fun)
Bioshock (falls into this category as well due to length and replayability)
Condemned (sleeper hit)
Condemned 2 (If you like the first one)