If you were to ask me if I thought you should get an Xbox 360, I don’t think I could say “yes” and feel good about it. Right now, outside of a couple games, there’s nothing compelling on the console. In fact, if I hadn’t got mine at such a deep discount, I’d be having some serious buyer’s remorse right now.
I’m with Tom over at G-Pinions:
There are only two X360 games I am interested in for the rest of the year – Viva Pinata and Gears of War. That is disgraceful. There are twice as many NDS games (Elite Beat Agents, Castlevania, Kirby and Yoshi’s Island). There are twice as many PS3 games (Resistance, flOW, Criminal Crackdown and Blast Factor). Hell, there are even more Wii games coming out this year (Red Steel, Zelda, Excite Truck, and Trauma Center) that I actually want. MS has a year head start and some great games coming out in the future, but this first year has been a complete disgrace.
I’m not even sure I want Viva Pinata. So as it stands now, Gears of War will probably be the only game I purchase for the Xbox 360 in the forseeable future. I plan on getting Forza 2 and Halo 3, but nothing else has grabbed me. The Xbox Live Arcade and Marketplace have been a great success, but again, I’m just not pulled in that direction. I’m really hoping games like Lost Planet and Assassin’s Creed turn out to be great games and at some point I’d like to get around to playing the new Splinter Cell but right now, the 360 isn’t my console of choice.
Now that the Just Cause rental has been returned, I’m back to almost exclusively playing games on my DS. I’m still working through the campaigns on Age of Empires, finally getting some actual game time with Trauma Center and my order for Ouendan has been placed and will hopefully show up before the end of the week. That’s on top of quick gaming sessions of Meteos, Metroid Prime Pinball and occasionally checking in on my Animal Crossing Town. That’s a lot of gaming goodness from that little machine.
With the Wii right around the corner, I fear my 360 won’t see much love. I’ll eventually get a chance with Oblivion and some other games, but I’m currently in the throes of some serious Nintendo love. I hope it’ll last.
Will says
The 360 has had a disgraceful first year? Disgraceful? Is he kidding? There is little point in listing out games that I think are great, since my list will likely be shot down one-by-one with piss-poor reasoning. I will say that the 360 has had several great games in its first year to keep many kinds of gamers entertained.
Moving on to your feelings on the 360, I remember you being on the fence about getting a 360, and you finally got it when you got all those discounts. You’ve always had reservations about it, but you got one anyway, and it seems like your reservations were well-founded. It sucks that you had to spend any money at all to find out that the 360 just isn’t your kind of console.
I have my Wii reserved and I am getting hyped for it in a big way, but the truth is there are very few games for it that I am interested in. I’m looking at Zelda, Rayman (kinda) and Trauma Center (even though its a DS rehash).
virtuadept says
I’m having a blast with the 360, I still have not finished all the great games that were released during this year and I have Gears of War to look forward to and I’m sure we’ll see some stuff in late Nov-Dec that isn’t really on the radar yet. I find at least one good 360 game to buy every month, and that’s plenty for me.
If the 360 was my only outlet for gaming I might care more but I also have a ton of great PS2 and PC games to play with. The only console that is getting no lovin’ from me right now is GCN which Nintendo has shamefully just flat out abandoned. I also have PSP and DS games to enjoy.
But recently I have gotten:
Dead Rising – really cool game, yeah it’s somewhat repetitve but imho that’s not that big a deal because the gameplay itself is so innovative and full of surprises.
Saint’s Row – fantastic game, superb interface and controls, this is just great mindless fun, and good humor.
Test Drive Unlimited – the fact that you can seamlessly drive around on the entire island of Oahu mapped down to the street lights is worth the price of admission alone. I have just been having a blast doing nothing but driving to different dealerships and taking all the cars on test drives.
Next month I’ll get Gears of War.
So no, I don’t think the 360 is a bad investment, I think it’s great. And while everyone was afraid of $60 games, so far the most money I’ve spent on any game is $55 for Saint’s Row. I’m sure my first $60 purchase will be Gears if I don’t get it as as b-day gift, but that’s not bad. And there are a number of ways to get titles in the $20-30 range if you’re a frugal shopper.
And this is coming from a PC gamer, who has many of the more popular Xbox 360 titles for the PC instead, like Oblivion, COD2, Quake4, Prey, LOTRBFME2, etc. I was worried that the 360 would be a waste for someone with a PC but so far it’s been an okay platform without too much duplication although there is some, certainly. I’m even thinking of getting the 360 version of Prey and COD2 when they drop in price so I can play them on my big TV. 🙂
Jason Preston says
I will, with all my heart, and without any reservation, tell you to immediately purchase Lego Star Wars II. And play it in HD.
Tony says
Will – Disgraceful may be a strong word, I agree. But I still think the 360 will be a good console for me. There are a lot of games I won’t be able to get elsewhere, so it will still be a good investment. Same with the Wii. Just as it stands now, I’m a tad disappointed.
virtuadept – Saints Row isn’t my cup of tea, but I’m intrigued with TDU. I heard that there were online issues. Is that still the case?
Jason – Ahh, yess, Lego Star Wars II. I’ve heard great things about it. I will get around to that one sometime. Problem is, since I’m playing on an SDTV, I have no motivation to pick this up on the 360 when I can get it for the Gamecube. There can’t be that many differences, right?
I guess there’s always the achievements!