The General 360 Owners/Buyers FAQ Thread (Updated 1/15/10)

Rock Band

Also good (and relatively cheap):

Crackdown
Bioshock

Someone mentioned Orange Box, but IMO that can be beat pretty quickly. I'd say 2 days for Half Life 2, another day per Episode (I & II), and one more for Portal.
 
Mass Effect is an excellent single player game, takes about 20 hours to beat if you get some of the bonus stuff, but not everything, but has replay value after that.

If your interested in RPG's, hard to ignore Oblivion. It has well over 100 hours of play, long before you reach the expansion pack. People talk about the Orange Box being a great value in gaming (5 games included, and Portal is awesome), but without live, I doubt OB can give you half the gaming that Oblivion will.
 
All of the games you mentioned above I have played and I liked (or loved) all of them. The only thing I might switch out is Forza 2. As fun as it was, those sim racing games just get retarded once all the races are 50 laps and take 2 hours to finish (the earlier portions of the games are much shorter races). If you haven't played Half-Life 2 or Portal then I have to insist that you get the Orange Box. It contains a ton of REALLY good single player content and once you do get that internet connection you'll have TF2 to play as well. It is such an incredible deal for only $29.99 that it makes my brain want to melt just thinking about it.
 
[quote name='will52']Tales of Vesperia
Mass Effect
Lost Odyssey

All can be big time sinks.[/quote]

Like that list

+

Bioshock
Dead Space
Fallout 3

Also, like someone said try buying from the internet. If I'm not mistaken Brazil uses the NTSC system same as the United States so I don't think it should be a problem. The only thing that could be a problem that some places may not ship to Brazil.
 
I have to ask...do you already have a router? or not at all? I mean...instead of going wireless and paying through the nose for the wireless adapter, you could save a ton just by running some cable behind a baseboard or through a wall, and it can be hidden and still look clean, so you can have Live in the room...

I'm sure you've already thought this over, and I'm being an off-topic pain, but I had to ask, in the name of not compromising the gaming experience...
 
[quote name='Ronin317']I have to ask...do you already have a router? or not at all? I mean...instead of going wireless and paying through the nose for the wireless adapter, you could save a ton just by running some cable behind a baseboard or through a wall, and it can be hidden and still look clean, so you can have Live in the room...

I'm sure you've already thought this over, and I'm being an off-topic pain, but I had to ask, in the name of not compromising the gaming experience...[/QUOTE]

Yes I've tried that, but in my home (an apartment) it's difficult to that, because the thing to run the wires are too small, so they really only fit the phone and internet cables. We could hide them under the carpets, but since my mom will buy a laptop soon, we figured having a wireless connection would be better. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

And about importing, yes, we do use NTSC, however, Brazil has some crazy taxes for imported games, which accounts for almost 100% taxes, since many taxes are charged after the first taxes where charged. So, a US 20,00 dollar game is actually a US$ 40,00 dollar game, plus shipping. And the exchange rates are not the best right now, so, really, new games are pretty much off-limits for my budget.

I'm glad that Fallout 3 and Mass Effect seem to be popular choices. I love RPGs, but only Western ones, I don't really enjoy jRPGs. As for Oblivion, the one thing that prevents me from enjoying it is the leveling system. I've played Morrowind and even though the world is fantastic, I just can't enjoy that system, sorry :p

Orange Box is probably great, but I've beaten Half Life 2 and Epispde: One for the PC. I'll get it when I have live though!

And about the long races in Forza 2: is it possible to pause in the long races? I've played Le Mans for the Dreamcast, and played the 24 hour race twice! But you can save everytime you get in the pits.

Now I'll probably buy Fallout 3, Mass Effect and either Bioshock or Call of Duty 4. Now, Bioshock is a good single-player, but CoD4 will be there for when Live finally kicks in!
Thanks a lot for the help!
 
Hey guys, I am sort of tempted by the sale this week at Best Buy to get a $50 GC when you buy an Elite, but haven't seen a whole lot of reports (read: nearly none) about people getting Jasper chipsets... I know it's cheaper to get an Arcade + HD anyway but I kind of like the look of the Elite, has anyone here seen any signs of Elites with Jasper yet? (not sure if it's even worth going to a few BBs and making a fool of myself asking to dig through piles of 360 boxes)

I haven't found much online, (only a couple unconfirmed reports) but don't want to pay MSRP (at this point) so I'd just hold off til another sale on the arcade or something.
 
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A little background, I haven't spent any significant time with a first person SHOOTER since the gays of Wolfenstien 3D. I *did* play Portal and loved it. I also tooled around with the Halo 3 MP beta a couple of years ago, but didnt really get the hang of the controls. I had avoided FPSes because of motion sickness difficulties with the 3D envionments. There was a little twinge with the Halo 3 beta, but, suprisingly, I had no problems with Portal.

In any case, I'm looking for suggestions for what FPS would be simple to get a grasp of the controls as well as getting a good feel of the genre at its current state of the art. I have access to a few games: Orange Box, Bioshock, The Outfit, but would something like one of the Call of Dutys or the Medal of Honor series be more "accessible". I'd prefer to stay away from the Halos just because I have no interest in the lore.
 
[quote name='hostyl1'] since the gays of Wolfenstien 3D.[/quote]

I can't recall that part of Wolfenstien. :lol:

Try either Call of Duty 4 or World at War.

If Portal doesn't make you motion sick, you should be fine.
 
Call of Duty 4, given what you said

Gears of War 1 & 2 are great, but that's a third person shooter. Though it does play a lot like an FPS with a cover system.
 
I recommend to you my good sir Bioshock. You say you can get this easy, and the "easy" setting on this game really is easy. A game like Call of Duty 4, if you are not a FPS guy is not easy. (it does become easy once you get your FPS legs) It IS hard to die in Bioshock on easy though, and it happens to be one of the best games on the system.
 
H...haven't played an FPS since...Wolfstein 3D? Wtf is wrong with you!

Single Player: Bioshock, The Orange Box
Multiplayer: Call of Duty 4
 
Wait, you get motion sickness, but you were okay with Portal? I played a prank on my old roommate using Portal, and the poor kid only lasted 2 minutes... tops.

Anyways, not to sound like a broken record, but CoD4 or CoD World at War is a great place to start. My old roomie didn't have a problem playing the game, so you should be fine.

Also, it's not an FPS, but may I suggest Mass Effect? It's a bit slower-paced so you should be okay with it. Difficulty wasn't that bad, and it has a pretty good story imho.
 
Keep throwing out these FPSs people. I hate third person shooters and I've already beat COD4, COD5 and Portal. (Awesome games, BTW) Anyway, I want more suggestions. I'll be checking out Bioshock and Vegas 2.
 
Im going to agree that both Bioshock and COD4 are really the cream of the crop, even the COD4 single player is epic. Bioshock can be found for SUPER cheap

Orange box is also one that can be found at a great price with TONS of stuff to do. Portal is also an experience you dont want to miss
 
If you have access to the Orange Box then I definitely suggest Half-Life 2 and its subsequent episodes if you have not already played through them.
 
[quote name='rumarudrathas']Wait, you get motion sickness, but you were okay with Portal? I played a prank on my old roommate using Portal, and the poor kid only lasted 2 minutes... tops. [/quote]

Yeah, it was really weird. I used to get motion sick trying to play/watch Quake years ago which is why I stopped playing first person view games. I was hesitant to play portal, but the concept sounded so cool that I had to try it. The fact that I *didnt* get sick, gives me hope that I could approach this genre.

Oh, and I play 3rd person shooters all the time. GTA, Mass Effect, Gears are all in my collection. I'm just looking to drop into the first person perspective. I think I'm going to go ahead and start in on the Half-Life 2 games. If I can handle that, I may be able to jump on the CoD 4 bandwagon.

Thanks all!
 
[quote name='Access_Denied']Keep throwing out these FPSs people. I hate third person shooters .[/QUOTE]

Have you played either of the Gears games? I ask I don't generally like 3rd person shooters either, but the Gears games really play like FPS games where you just happen to see your character since you spend most of the time behind cover and aiming.
 
I just replayed through Bioshock. That game is pure awesome coated in win. The controls are top notch and it's very forgiving to mistakes. On hard difficulty it isn't too bad. On medium I didn't even die. So if you play through on easy you can laugh as you mow down the baddies. I cannot recommend bioshock enough.
 
Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and the Orange Box are the best of the best. F.E.A.R., Condemned, The Darkness, and Prey are a just a step below. All of them can be found super cheap.
 
cod4 definitely the best FPS I've played. Though a friend of mine who owns a copy can't play cod4 because he gets motion sickness.

You might want to give gears of war a try too. I wasn't too big on Third person shooters, but I've grown accustomed to them and I like them as much as FPS.
 
A really underrated FPS is Battlefield Bad Company. The single player had a pretty cool, if simple story, but the voice acting was great. It's a really fun game with good controls, good multiplayer, and free DLC.
 
Okay... lemme see about other FPSs...

These are some oldie-but-goodie suggestions, but the Chronicles of Riddick game, Thief 3, and maybe even Black from the original XBOX lineup were awesome games, and could be picked up for under 30 bucks for all (shop around).

I know they are remaking the Riddick game, so that's something that I'm personally looking forward too.

Battlefield Bad Company was an okay game, but the multiplayer never held my attention and I didn't follow the singleplayer at all (well, outside of the demo).

Also, I heard Perfect Dark Zero was a pretty okay game, for a console launch title.
 
Mmm I'd just get Halo 3 even if you don't care for the story. I personally could care less about any of it...but the game itself is just fun to play. I had a blast playing legendary coop.
 
i am trying to find a way to connect my laptop to my tv via my 360. i want to be able to watch high def video from the internet on the tv, or listen to music, or even rip to the 360. i cannot find a way to do it. of course, i may just be overlooking something very simple. my tv does not have any usb ports, but is does have at least 2 hdmi inputs. it is a plasma that is only about 1 year old. i have wireless internet to my laptop, however my 360 is connected with an ethernet cable to a motorola gateway. everything i could find elsewhere only told how to connect everything to use the laptop as a router. my tv does not have a vga connection either.

i would like to be able to use the tv basically as an external monitor for the laptop, and if there is any way, maybe save something to the 360's hard drive if i so desire.

i know that some one out there is probably on the geek squad or has a ton more knowledge than me. could you please help...
 
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What exactly do you want to do on your laptop? With media center you could probably watch movies, but not surf the internet. I would suggest you just buy a vga cable for your compter...that is if you tv has vga input, if not get converters to convert vga to something that can connect to your tv
 
If you're trying to connect your laptop to your TV to watch stuff, you have no need to use the 360. Just get a VGA cable or HDMI cable, depending on what the laptop can output, and connect that to the TV.
 
This has probably been asked before, but I am confused about what cables I need to 5.1 surround sound with my 360, my question are:
1) do the composite cables do it, dolby prologic is supposed to encode and decode stereo signals to 5.1 surround right? This is what I am doing now and it sounds pretty good.

2) Does an HDMI cable do it

3) Do I need an optical cable?

if anyone has a surround sound set up that is working, what do you have and what mode did you select on your receiver?

HDMI and optical will allow for dolby digital and discrete 5 speakers? , is that worth the money for the cables?
 
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kinda off topic, but how are plasmas when it comes to hooking a computer up to them, I have my computer hooked up to my lcd and it works great, that is one of the reasons I wanted an lcd (that and the weight)
 
If I'm not mistaken, doesn't your receiver have to be able to process HDMI sound in order to get the 5.1 sound using just an HDMI cable? Otherwise, the receiver just passes the sound through to the TV unprocessed. I know that usually only the more expensive receivers have the ability to process sound via HDMI.

Otherwise, if your receiver doesn't process HDMI sound, you'll have to use an optical cable. There are two ways that I know of to do this:

1.) buy MS's official HDMI kit ... Here. $41.99. Comes with an HDMI cable and also with the part you really need, a connector that plugs into the other port of the Xbox 360, which allows you to then hook up either RCA or Optical audio connections to your receiver.

2.) DIY method. Cheaper. Basically, the kit above provides you with a dongle that can fit in the Xbox 360 port at the same time the HDMI is in the port. However, if you have the Component cables for the Xbox 360 (should have come with it), you'll see that there's a optical output on it. The only thing preventing you from using this is that the adapter is too fat and blocks the HDMI port when plugged in. So, in order to use the HDMI port and the component cables at the same time, you'll have to remove the casing on the adapter. Only takes a flathead screw driver to do this. Here's a tutorial: HERE

So, if you need some optical cables, you can get some cheap at [url="http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?spcDB=10229&spcWord=Audio+Cables+-+Optical+Toslink&keyword=TOSlink]Monoprice.com[/url]. I think I saw a 3ft one for $1.50 + shipping. Also if you need some HDMI cables, they are cheap on the same site as well.
 
You can't use the 360 as a laptop-to-tv DVR. Won't work. I don't understand why you are trying to rip anything to your 360 when you can just stream it from your laptop.
 
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