bralph

I jumped on one of the Black Friday Xbox deals (with Kinect), and now I would like some game recommendations. Until now I've only had a Wii, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the Xbox/PS3 titles. I'm more of a "casual gamer" (as you could probably guess), so I'm not sure if things like Skyrim are really for me. I like games I can just pick up and play without a steep learning curve, since I normally can only play 30-60 minutes at a time (closer to 30 most of the time, with 2 small kids at home).

I was looking at reviews on IGN, and was looking at:

Batman: Arkham City
Portal 2
COD: MW3
Forza Motorsport 4
Kinect Disneyland Adventures (more for kids)
Wipeout 2

Bundled with my Xbox and Kinect were: Halo Reach, Fable III, Kinect Adventures, Fruit Ninja and Gunstringer


I appreciate your recommendations! Feel free to recommend older games too, since they would still be new to me (and probably cheaper)...

foxdvd

Batman: Arkham City=NOT a game you can play 30 minutes at a time..

Portal 2=A game you can play 30 minutes a time...get this asap...though I recommended downloading the first game from the market place first..

COD: MW3= Go ahead and get MW1 first....it is cheaper

Forza Motorsport 4= Not a bad choice...though to get a lot out of it you need to spend more than 30 minutes at a time..

Grab MW1 cheap...and dl Portal 1...they will get you started...

MrX

Mass Effect 1 and 2.

Osiris3657

^ terrible recommendation considering the things the OP said.

steebo777

Uncharted3 for sure... oh wait, you bough the wrong system

Obi-Wanma

If you're interested in Arkahm City, definitely start with Arkahm Asylum. There isn't much of a tutorial in Arkahm City, it assumes you've played the first game, so probably a steep learning curve if you haven't. The first game eases you into everything. The second game just drops you in the middle of the city.

Wolf359

Check out Trials HD in the Arcade Market.

Also, its an older title but a lot of fun and perfect for brief play, Crackdown.

wlj

Call of duty games -- are a good choice if you play multiplayer. You can jump on and play a few matches and feel satisfied. however you will probably get addicted to leveling up.

Skyrim/Oblivion/Fallout -- definitely would not be a good idea. You really need longer than 30 minutes to feel like you have accomplished anything.

Ninja Gaiden 2 -- this is a great game that would fit your time frame. however some folks find it too difficult for the casual gamer. you can get this cheap

Gears of War series -- you can do a couple of stages and matches in MP and come away satisfied

Dance Central series -- your kids will love it, plus you can do a few songs and walk away no prob

Kinect Sports -- same thing, kids will love it, play a few rounds of ping pong....

Left 4 Dead 1/2 -- great Live game. you can go on and do a campaign in 30 to 45 minutes tops.

Maxflier

Red Dead Redemption is a must.

hail2dking

some older games:
Red Dead Redemption
Assassin's Creed (I or II)
Burnout Paradise
Borderlands
Gears of War
Bioshock

Then when you are ready, Skyrim is a must have

fumanstan

I vote for Gears of War as well, the single player is a blast and the first one had some fantastic moments that really sold me on the 360.

Liver&Onions

Pinball FX 2

al_bundy

i must be the only person who got bored with GoW

loved ME1 and 2

ordered Dragon Age origins ultimate and medal of honor a few days ago from origin

black ops was pretty good

TimeandTide

Ditto the Gears 1, Bioshock and Call of Duty recommendations. Begin with the first in each series...they're awesome and cheap.

Add Call of Duty 2 to the list. A must-buy IMO.

Also recommend one of the LEGO games. The Star Wars bundle is a favorite in my house, but the Indy and Batman ones are fun too.

Dead Rising is a bit more involved, but it's super fun.

And I haven't played Borderlands yet (I know, I know), but from what I hear, it's one if the system's best.

glassdragon

I just got my 360 and having a ps3 I can tell you the exclusives that I bought it for

Halo series (any of them)
Gears of War (got the triple pack with the first 2 for 7.99 on BF)
Left 4 Dead

All 3 of those series are fantastic and well worth the price of another system

wlj

Borderlands is a bad suggestion based on his criteria. I love Borderlands, but the game is like crack. 30 minutes is nowhere near enough time to play that game. It is a game you will think about almost constantly. I get the "shakes" just thinking about it. It is the most addictive game I have played in 30 years of gaming.

Liver&Onions

Limbo

foxdvd

he said 30 minutes at a time...Since Limbo is like only 5 minutes long...I don't think it counts...

Liver&Onions

But it's still awesome.

Groucho

I guess the pepper spray paid off!

bralph

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. It seems I have a lot of catching up to do! Assuming I start with the games it came with (Halo Reach and Fable 3), what will that tell me about other games? For example, if I don't like Fable 3, then I probably won't like ____ (besides Fable 1+2...)? Or, if I do like it, what games are similar?

It was delivered last night, so tonight will be system setup and game sampling. I'll try to play a bit of each one, if possible.

I'll probably mostly be playing single-player. A couple of my friends have Xbox too, but we all have kids so finding a time to match to play will likely be difficult.

I've played the Lego games on the Wii, and they are pretty good. I like Rayman Origins and the Mario games. Besides those, I've really only played sports games (Tiger Woods, Madden). I haven't played a "shooter" since Doom, Duke Nuke'm, and Descent on my PC ages ago... These new ones look like fun on the commercials though! Actually, I have played Metroid Prime on the Wii, and I liked it quite a bit. I never really came close to finishing it though.

Groucho

Nobody likes Fable 3, even those who liked the previous games. I suggest you sell it and buy Fable 2 instead.

Gideon68

If you're thinking about getting Trials HD or Limbo or both, get them on 3-pack disc with Splosion Man. It'll be cheaper in the end. I've seen on clearance at Target for

Liver&Onions

^Good call.

superdeluxe

Would you consider ME1and2 as casual gaming material? He might get frustrated with only 30 minutes of game play