Xbox 360 essentials

[wild]

So I'm turning into a consolefag now, with a PS2 and a modded Wii currently gracing my TV. I've been tossing up between getting a PS3 or Xbox 360 for a while now, and finally settled on the 360 for its excellent media playback -- DivX/XviD support? Shit yes! -- and online capabilities. I understand from the gamertags that there's a few 360 fags around here. The version I've ordered is the Forza 2 bundle, which I'm pretty sure I'll thoroughly enjoy (I like my racing sims). There are a few other games I plan on getting which I've heard are excellent (Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect). I may also get Halo 3, though I'm not a huge fan of the series.

What other games should I be getting while I'm at it? I'll be wanting a bit of online play, since I've got plenty of stuff on the Wii and already plan on getting the two aforementioned single player games.

Also, I've noticed a lot of games list 720p, 1080i, etc as supported resolutions, but what about if I want to hook em up to an older CRT TV? Do they still support 480i/576i output? I'll most likely use a VGA monitor, but I've got a LG flat CRT with component inputs that only supports 480i/576i, I just want to know if I've got that option.

[jonsey32]

The Xbox will scale resolutions down for your TV, so you don't need to worry about HD games not showing properly.

I played Halo 3 online for a bit but lost interest pretty quickly, though that is less a fault of the game and more to do with the online playerbase. I had a lot of fun in Call of Duty 4 though, both online and off and was really well done as far as console shooters go. Gears of War is also a good bit of fun. I played through with a mate from start to finish in one sitting and had a grand time. If you like Swords and Sorcery, Conan is great fun as well, and does a great job of capturing the feeling and atmosphere of the Conan stories (at least until the ending). Finally, if you liked System Shock, Bioshock is very similar which better graphics and steampunk where System Shock was cyberpunk. From what I've played Eternal Sonata isn't bad, but I got distracted after I started it and have yet to come back to it.

[wild]

Bioshock's never really looked interesting to me, and I can always "obtain" the PC version, so I might give it a miss for now.

I might have to take a look at Gears of War, Conan and Eternal Sonata though.

[Jaymz]

Viva Pinata. I shit you not, for a G rated game, it's one of the most disturbing, Freudian, fucked up things you'll ever come across.

Gears of War is better than the PC version, and lots of fun to play either coop or versus online as well. Dead Rising is a must. Also, if you absolutely positively have to follow mine and NegativeZero's path of shame, get DOAX2 and at least one swimsuit achievement.

[wild]

Haha, I guess I'll have to get Viva Pinata then. Funnily enough, there's a sequel coming out soon.. on the DS of all platforms. Yes, Microsoft is technically making a game for a Nintendo console.

Gears of War I'll definitely be getting too. The review scores put it up there with COD4 and Halo 3, so it must be pretty good.

And lol, every time I think of Dead Rising, I think back to this.

[wild]

Just got the console, it's a November '06 model - no HDMI, and therefore almost certainly pre-Falcon.

See how it goes I guess.

Edit: set it up at lunch, love it already. Gamer tag is PantsOfPie.

[wild]

360 gets a new GOTY edition of COD4 next month, which will apparently include the latest map pack (normally 800 points on the marketplace). I might wait until then before I get COD4 for the 360.

In the meantime, I'll most likely get Mass Effect and the 12 month gold subscription + headset tomorrow.

[NegativeZero]

Gears of War is overrated as a single player game. It's okay, but not that special.

Where it absolutely shines better than any other game on the platform, IMO, is in two-player co-op. Even Halo 3's 4-player co-op doesn't hit the same level as consistently as Gears does. In fact the whole game was designed around co-op and the single player is just tacked on. I guess if Dom's AI was less retarded it might be better. Regardless, I suggest if you're not really seeing what the fuss is about that you find someone to play it with, it's a whole different experience.

[wild]

I picked up Call of Duty 4 and a points card for the variety map pack today. If the Xbox ever stops dropping its connection to Xbox Live every 5 minutes, I might just get the map pack downloaded and take the new Carentan for a spin tonight.