I just got an Xbox 360 for the first time...

[Ziggy]

I just bought a 360 off eBay today, so I don't actually have it yet. It's a model S with a 250 GB hard drive. It comes with the power supply, wireless controller, and a disc only copy of FIFA 14.

Since the release of the 360, I always thought it was an interesting console. It definitely had that "cool factor" to it, and maybe that's all it was. All of my friends at the time had a 360, but they all had RROD so that scared me away from getting one. I still can't believe what a success this console was even with the huge hardware failure. I had a Wii, and then I got a PS3, and two consoles was enough for one generation LOL. But I still always thought the 360 was kind of neat for some reason.

I had briefly owned an oXbox. I got it from someone here on the forums. It was soft modded when I got it. I messed around with emulators and a few oXbox games, but there was nothing that was making me want to keep it, so I passed it along to someone else here on the forums. My interests have grown since then, though. So there may be games I had no interest in back then that I may like today.

So I'm looking for game recommendations for the 360 but also the original Xbox as well. For reference, here's a list of oXbox games that are compatible on the (unmodded) 360. I'm primarily looking for games that are exclusive to these consoles. But I would also be interested in any games that were some how better on the Xbox.

Here's some cheap games I've already picked up...

Fable II
Fable III
COD Modern Warfare 2
Gears of War

Fable (1) - I had the original release on the PC and really enjoyed it. I remember being upset when I found out that the sequel wasn't getting a PC port. It's been years since I've played the first game. I know that there's Fable Anniversary for the 360, but it doesn't seem especially cheap. I would like to pick it up, but at some point I purchased it on Steam (must have been during a sale). I hate buying the same game twice when I haven't even played it yet LOL, but it sort of feels more at home on the Xbox. No?

Call of Duty Modern Warefare - This game was so insanely popular when it came out, so I eventually picked it up on the PC. But I was getting burnt out on FPS, so I really didn't care about it. This is another game that I purchased on Steam at some point, must have been during a sale. But since it's a $5 360 game, I just couldn't help myself. MW2 was also insanely cheap.

As for the Call of Duty games in general, I know that there's a bajillion of them on the 360. Which ones are worth playing?

As for the Halo games, I have the Master Chief Collection on Steam. But I would still be interested in picking some up for the 360, being that they seem to be dirt cheap anyway. I have yet to play any of the Halo games after the first one, and that was many years ago.

As for the oXbox, I picked up Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2. I would be real interested to hear about any other oXbox exclusives that are playable on the 360.

If anyone has any games they're looking to sell, feel free to let me know.

One thing I've noticed is that you can get most of the popular 360 games for really cheap. But if you want one in good (collectors) condition, you have to sift through a TON of copies in poor condition. For all of the popular games, if you go on eBay and sort BIN lowest price first, you get dozens of disc only copies. Then when you start seeing cases, most of them are in really rough shape and are usually missing the manuals. You can eventually find a CIB copy for cheap, but it takes a while.

[opa]

Welcome to 2008! lol

Call of Duty World at War had a decent campaign (and I believe was the first with the zombie mode).

Unless you're dead-set on CIB, I'd go after the disc-only lots to try and grab deals. I really don't think many of the mainstream games are going to hold much value, loose or complete.

[Ziggy]

Welcome to 2008! lol

Yes, the 360 is now sufficiently old enough for a retro gamer to pick up for the first time.

Call of Duty World at War had a decent campaign (and I believe was the first with the zombie mode).

Ah, right, I tend to forget about this one. I actually picked it up on PC when it was new. But again, I was kind of burnt out on FPS at the time. I don't remember it being a bad game, but I didn't finish the single player campaign. At some point, I purchased it again on Steam. So I think I'll hold off on a 360 copy for now.

Unless you're dead-set on CIB, I'd go after the disc-only lots to try and grab deals. I really don't think many of the mainstream games are going to hold much value, loose or complete.

For a lot of the super popular games, the price difference between disc only and case (with or without the manual) wasn't that much. It was just that there's so many disc only copies for these games that it kind of gives it a little challenge to find a decent CIB copy. That said, I was considering picking up disc only copies of certain games, if the price difference makes a big enough difference. I still have a lot of empty DVD cases, even though they're black and not green, I can easily print out covers for them.




I did pick up a bunch more cheap games last night. Here's an updated list of what I have so far...

Xbox 360
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2
Fable II
Fable III
Forza Motorsport 3
Gears of War
Halo Wars
Ninja Gaiden II
Outfit, The
Perfect Dark Zero

Original Xbox
Halo 2
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II




Call of Duty 3, I always forget about this one. I briefly owned it on the Wii, but IIRC it kind of sucked on that console. But it didn't have a PC port and the Wii was the only next gen console I had at the time. I ended up trading it away. So I'm fairly interested to check it out on the 360. COD4, as I said, I have on Steam already. But it was super cheap for the 360 so I figured why not.

Ninja Gaiden II - When I briefly owned an original Xbox, Ninja Gaiden Black was the only game I spent any time with. So it just seemed sort of fitting for me to pick up the sequel on the sequel console.

The Outfit - I just learned of this game yesterday. It looks like it might be a lot of fun, and it was super cheap. I'm excited to try this one.

Halo 2 - As I said, I have the Master Chief Collection on Steam. But this one was super cheap, so I figured why not.

Panzer Dragoon Orta - I haven't picked this one up yet because it's not super cheap. But I'm thinking about it. I think I would enjoy this one.

[Nemoide]

Congrats! The 360 is one of my favorite consoles but my perspective is a bit warped because I'll think of certain multiplatform games as being 360 games.
One console exclusive you should track down is Akai Katana, an excellent Cave shooter that's more affordable than most of the other STGs on the platform. Guwange's on XBLA and is another Cave game a lot folks love with no other console ports but I wasn't as wild about it.

It seems that 360 games have been getting more expensive over time and a number of XBLA games have been delisted (including all indie games), so I'm not sure how easy a time you'll have breaking into the library, but there are gems to be found!

[Jagosaurus]

Can we acknowledge how cool it is 360 achievements still work

I'd recommend all the Halo titles! Okay... you have MCC lol. Something about playing the OG CE & H2 on the 360 is nice to me. Maybe the HDMI output and upscale. The last mission on CE has some frame drops but is definitely still playable. Also, H2 may have an issue with ghosting after FMVs. I actually had it skip a whole cutscene once. I played H2 steadily on the 360 until they killed OG XBL in 2010.

If you've never played Kameo by Rare, I recommend it. Also interesting history that it moved across multiple consoles & finally came out. IIRC... N64 concept > GCN builds shown > OGX > finally moved to 360 as a launch title

Not sure what you have on PC. The Wolf Among Us was amazing to me. TWAU2 teaser trailer finally just recently dropped.

Lots more I can recommend later when I have some time to reflect

[prfsnl_gmr]

360 is a pretty great console. NGII is a must-have title since the original version of that game is the best version and only the downgraded Sigma version is available elsewhere. Glad you picked that up.

There are a few collection discs worth having. Konami released a few collections, one of which contains SOTN. There’s also a collection with Rez HD, and another with a selection of DC games. Finally, there are a few collections of XBLA games worth owning since they are the only way to get those games in a physical format.

[marurun]

There are a few collection discs worth having. Konami released a few collections, one of which contains SOTN. There’s also a collection with Rez HD, and another with a selection of DC games. Finally, there are a few collections of XBLA games worth owning since they are the only way to get those games in a physical format.

Dammit! Are you telling me I have to get a 360? Balls... OK, what's the most reliable model?

[Jagosaurus]

360E was released at same time as XB One (or at least announced close). They'll have the least mileage on them. Most people forget that model exist mine has been a workhorse with no issues.

[prfsnl_gmr]

360E was released at same time as XB One (or at least announced close). They'll have the least mileage on them. Most people forget that model exist mine has been a workhorse with no issues.

That’s what I have. It’s easily the best model.

Also, @marurun, here is a Wikipedia page with information on the various 360 compilation discs:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Li ... _Unplugged

It has information on the discs published by MicroSoft, and the “future releases” section has links to information on various third-party collections.

[Ziggy]

Awesome, thanks everyone for the replies. Keep em coming!

Congrats! The 360 is one of my favorite consoles but my perspective is a bit warped because I'll think of certain multiplatform games as being 360 games.
One console exclusive you should track down is Akai Katana, an excellent Cave shooter that's more affordable than most of the other STGs on the platform. Guwange's on XBLA and is another Cave game a lot folks love with no other console ports but I wasn't as wild about it.

It seems that 360 games have been getting more expensive over time and a number of XBLA games have been delisted (including all indie games), so I'm not sure how easy a time you'll have breaking into the library, but there are gems to be found!

Akai Katana actually already popped up on my radar. Of the shmups available on the 360, this actually seems to be the cheapest. But it's still a tad pricey for me, at least for right now. It looks awesome though!

Can we acknowledge how cool it is 360 achievements still work

I'd recommend all the Halo titles! Okay... you have MCC lol. Something about playing the OG CE & H2 on the 360 is nice to me. Maybe the HDMI output and upscale. The last mission on CE has some frame drops but is definitely still playable. Also, H2 may have an issue with ghosting after FMVs. I actually had it skip a whole cutscene once. I played H2 steadily on the 360 until they killed OG XBL in 2010.

If you've never played Kameo by Rare, I recommend it. Also interesting history that it moved across multiple consoles & finally came out. IIRC... N64 concept > GCN builds shown > OGX > finally moved to 360 as a launch title

Not sure what you have on PC. The Wolf Among Us was amazing to me. TWAU2 teaser trailer finally just recently dropped.

Lots more I can recommend later when I have some time to reflect

So I bought CE for PC way back when, and I had a group of friends at the time that I played online together with. I had a blast with it. I picked up Halo 2 for PC, but it was for Vista only, and I had XP at the time. There were hacks to get it working in XP, but it would still be buggy. So I gave up on it. By the time I got Windows 7, I had lost interest. So I'm kind of excited to pick up where I left off with the Halo series! Even though I have the Master Chief Collection, I'm still considering picking them up for 360. At least, if I can get the cheap enough I will. It just feels like the correct way to play them lol.

I gotta look up videos of your other suggestions. Definitely looking forward to your other suggestions!

There are a few collection discs worth having. Konami released a few collections, one of which contains SOTN. There’s also a collection with Rez HD, and another with a selection of DC games. Finally, there are a few collections of XBLA games worth owning since they are the only way to get those games in a physical format.

Yes! I saw the Konami collections. I would love to get them, but they're a tad pricey. Not too expensive in the grand scheme of things, but more than the $5-10 common games cost. And I already own SOTN several times LOL. Volume 2 is a little cheaper than 1, but it's also a little less interesting to me. I'm gonna stick a pin in them though.

Dammit! Are you telling me I have to get a 360? Balls... OK, what's the most reliable model?

360E was released at same time as XB One (or at least announced close). They'll have the least mileage on them. Most people forget that model exist mine has been a workhorse with no issues.

My first instinct was to get the E, for those reasons, but I ended up getting the S. Here's a quick rundown of what I've learned.

The original phat models are plagued by the RROD. Even if they're repaired, stay away. However, there was a board revision in late phat models that's said to be safe from RROD. This is apparently a good model to get as far as how easily it can be modified. Next up is the S or "slim" models. Then came the E models, which look more like the Xbox One. Apparently the S models are easier to mod than the E, and there's a late model E that's said to be the hardest to mod. Personally, I'm not looking to mod mine. But I figured I'd get an S in case I want to mod it down the road. There's different revisions within the phat, S and E models. And there's ways to tell them apart. So personally, I went with the S because it's apparently a little easier to mod than the E, but I've also noticed that the E goes for a bit more than the S on the used market. But I don't think you could go wrong with either model.

People cite that the E removed a few things, but I don't see how those things matter. They removed the big AV port, but they instead have a 3.5mm AV jack (really only matters if you want analog video). They removed the optical audio out. And they removed a single USB port, which is no big deal really. People also cite the change from touch controls to physical buttons for the power and eject as being a bad thing, but I think it's more reliable that way. Apparently the earlier E's used the same motherboard as the S, so they're essentially the same thing anyway. Then later E's had a board revision.