Conversations on the Xbox 360 and its library.

[Exhuminator]

With the Xbox One going on three years old, and Scorpio on the horizon, it's pretty safe to say the Xbox 360's days have passed. There are still ports being released for 360 even in 2016, but as far as receiving top end support, yeah Microsoft has let that fall by the wayside for quite some time now, understandably. But what a life the 360 had! It was part of the longest console generation ever (thus far). And as such, the 360 has garnered a humongous library, with many exclusives.

Speaking personally, I was unfashionably late to the 360 party, not obtaining the console until December 2014. I went with the model "E", and it has been a trooper so far. Coming so late to the 360 library is daunting though, there are, so, so many games. I've been collecting for the past two years, and currently have over 170 games for the system. I feel live I've only just gotten started.

So what's the point of this thread then you ask? A few points really. I'd like for this thread to act as a conduit for longtime 360 owners to share their thoughts about the console. You know, personal history and experiences both good and bad. When did you get a 360, do you still have it? As well as talking about the games you adored (or loathed) and overall how you feel about the Xbox 360. And if you still play the console or not.

I'd also like to ask some specific questions concerning its library, for anyone who cares to offer me their opinions on the following:

What's your all time favorite 360 game and why?

What's the best open world game on the 360?

What's the best driving/racing game on the 360?

What was your favorite non-shmup shooting game (be it third person / first person / cover)?

What's the goriest FPS on 360?

What 360 game do you think had the very best graphics?

What popular 360 game do you think was just pure crap?

If you can't just pick one game per question, feel free to add a few then.

[Gunstar Green]

The 360's library is indeed immense, both physical and digital libraries. That makes those questions a little daunting but I'll give it a shot. There's probably so many games I like that I'm not even thinking about.

What's your all time favorite 360 game and why?

That's about as hard as asking what my favorite game for any system is.

I do love the Earth Defense Force games (the real Sandlot ones) for their campiness and gameplay purity. Vanquish is an exclusive that I really enjoyed because it was so manic for a third person shooter, a genre I'm not a big fan of. However now I'm reminded of the High Moon Studios Transformers games which I also enjoyed quite a bit.

For fighting games I loved the crap out of King of Fighters XIII and the Mortal Kombat reboot.

Overall I'd maybe go with Dark Souls but I played it on PC first.

What's the best open world game on the 360?

I'm sure the popular choice will be something like Red Dead Redemption, GTA5 or one of the Bethesda games.

I personally got a lot of fun out of the first Crackdown though. I don't know why. The super hero cop thing was probably the closest we'll ever get to something like an open world Robocop game. I just had fun with it the entire time.

What's the best driving/racing game on the 360?

Not my cup of tea but for me it'd probably be Sonic's All-Star Racing: Transformed. Modern racing games are an area where I'm completely ignorant though I know the 360 is loaded with them.

What was your favorite non-shmup shooting game (be it third person / first person / cover)?

Again either the EDF games or Vanquish.

What's the goriest FPS on 360?

I don't know, Bulletstorm maybe?

What 360 game do you think had the very best graphics?

Beats me.

What popular 360 game do you think was just pure crap?

I don't know. I bought Halo REACH and ended up taking it back because I couldn't get into it.

I'm also not that into Bayonetta though I don't think it's crap by a long shot.

[Sarge]

Dang, man, 170? Makin' up for lost time, methinks! I've had mine for... well, a long, long time, and I've still only got just above 100 games for it. Although some of my games are on PS3 that would be there, and once digital gets thrown in, I'm probably close to that number.

There's no question it was my preferred platform last generation. It actually pains me a bit to see the XB1 flounder like it has, but really, Microsoft only has themselves to blame.

Favorite game... hmm... I think I'm going to go with the Mass Effect series. Excellent stuff from BioWare. I actually kinda liked the way the first game handled things, but I have to admit that the cover-shooting was way more solid than I was expecting given BioWare's until-then lack of technical prowess.

Best open-world game... probably the Arkham series. Not much else to say there. I liked the more tightly-designed Asylum, but both City and Origins are excellent.

I'm not even sure I played a racing game much on there. So I'll push on that one. I liked the Burnout games previous gen, and I suspect they're good on there, too. I've played a touch of the PC version of Paradise, and I'm pretty sure it's on 360 as well.

Best shooter... probably still Mass Effect, although I liked the Cybertron Transformers games. Didn't play either of those on 360, though; PC and PS3, respectively.

No idea on goriest FPS, but Ninja Gaiden II and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance are crazy gory. Probably can throw Bayonetta in there as well.

Best graphics is a tough one. There are so many that still look really good. I think I'm going to go with the aforementioned Metal Gear Rising, that game looks absolutely spectacular.

Crap game that's popular? Well, it's not "crap", but it basically killed Prince of Persia, and that's Assassin's Creed. This continues to this day, and it makes me sad.

And one more category: overlooked gems. I absolutely loved Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. It's not the prettiest game in the world, but it's got some 3D Zelda in its DNA. Well worth playing.

[Exhuminator]

I do love the Earth Defense Force games (the real Sandlot ones)

I recently beat EDF 2025 via co-op splitscreen, and I thought it was a good time. Granted it took over 20 hours to beat all 80+ missions! I totally agree on the gameplay being very pure, almost arcade-like. Not a bad thing.

Favorite game... hmm... I think I'm going to go with the Mass Effect series.

Did you mess with the DLC much, or just the core games?

Well, it's not "crap", but it basically killed Prince of Persia, and that's Assassin's Creed.

Interesting to hear that. I've only beaten one Assassin's Creed game (the Vita one), but I wouldn't have equated its gameplay to PoP. I mean, do any AssCreed games have trap laden dungeons?

And one more category: overlooked gems.

That is a good category to add, yes. Also, I have a sealed copy of Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom on my 360 shelf, specifically because of your praise of the game a little while back.

---

Granted I haven't played very much of my current 360 library, but I'll add my own answers to the questions I asked in a later post. I wanted to respond to you guys to help bump the thread as it hasn't gotten many replies yet. Maybe the 360 isn't as popular around here as I assumed.

[CD AGES]

I wanted to respond to you guys to help bump the thread as it hasn't gotten many replies yet. Maybe the 360 isn't as popular around here as I assumed.

Personally I love my 360. As a matter of fact it's the most current console I own and I play it frequently to this day. The 360 to me really feels like the PS2 of its generation, moreso than the PS3 (if that makes sense) especially in the longrun in respects to its varied library of games and having the hardware as well as games being fairly cheap and easy to find.

When did I purchase it?
Around 2007 i believe. I was working QA on a 360 title for a local publisher of all things. Anywho, a co-worker had just won a new 360 console (20GB model) via a radio station contest and she was looking to sell it since she already had one. I got a decent deal on it and I was fairly excited to get one since the system had received its own version of VF5 and with online play to boot. My first games were VF5, DoA4 and Burnout Revenge. It eventually crapped out on me in two years though MS took responsibility through their revised warranty at the time and got me a working unit at no cost whatsoever. Still going strong thankfully.

Favorite game?
That's hard to answer. Physical releases have to include: Raiden Fighter Aces, VF5, Tekken Tag 2, Ultimate Genesis Collection and Espgaluda 2.
Digital Release: SF III 3S OE, MVC Origins, DSR, SF II HF, KOF 2k2 UM and Garou MoW.

Best Open world game?
GTA San Andreas port on 360 was fun.

Best racer?
I put a lot of hours in Burnout Revenge! I'm currently playing the 360 port of Forza Horizon 2. I'm liking it so far. Grid was fun also.

Favorite Shooter?
Vanquish and Binary Domain, the latter being excellent.

Most gory FPS?
I dunno...

Best 360 Graphics?
Revengence has been mentioned and I agree. I also thought Bayonetta looked and ran amazingly on 360. I also thought KOF XIII look so damn good! Beautiful 2D eye candy.

[Erik_Twice]

Honest question: If you have a PC and little to no interest in big mainstream titles, is there any reason to own an Xbox 360?

[digimonfreak]

Honest question: If you have a PC and little to no interest in big mainstream titles, is there any reason to own an Xbox 360?

Yeah, those earlier Japanese titles aren't anywhere else.

[dsheinem]

Honest question: If you have a PC and little to no interest in big mainstream titles, is there any reason to own an Xbox 360?

The primary reason to own a 360 has always been, for me, the amazing shmup library. As far as I'm concerned, there are far fewer exclusives of interest for the 360 compared to the PS3, but it kills the competition in this particular genre.

That said, most cross-platform games ran better on the 360 than the PS3 (and, depending on optimization, sometimes better on the 360 than the PC), so for that reason it is a good machine to keep around.

[ElkinFencer10]

I've had a 360 since the end of 2012, and my library is still relatively small compared to yalls (around 75 games). The thing that really made the 360 stand out last gen for me was Xbox Live, both how well the online system worked as well as the amazing selection of indie games, both legitimately good and so-bad-it's-good (for example, "Zombie Stripers Stole My Heart Then Ate My Brains").

What's your all time favorite 360 game and why?
Fallout 3, for sure, but if we're talking exclusives, then I'd probably say Halo Wars. I'm a huge RTS buff (even if I suck at them), and Halo Wars is one of the few that I've played that actually works quite well on console.

What's the best open world game on the 360?
Fallout 3! I don't know of any open-world exclusives off the top of my head.

What's the best driving/racing game on the 360?
Forza 4, for sure.

What was your favorite non-shmup shooting game (be it third person / first person / cover)?
This one's tough. It's a tie between Halo Reach and Gears of War 3.

What's the goriest FPS on 360?
From what I've played, probably one of the Fallout games (assuming you play it in first person), but from what I've heard, Prey is pretty gory.

What 360 game do you think had the very best graphics?
Definitely Halo 4. When I first played it, I legitimately though the opening cut scene was live action at first. It took me a good 20 or 30 seconds to realize that it was CGI.

What popular 360 game do you think was just pure crap?
State of Decay. Admittedly, I haven't played much of the game, but I was not at all impressed with what I did play.

I'd like to add a question that I think is worth discussing.

What widely panned 360 game did you really enjoy?
Perfect Dark Zero. This game got a lot of flak for failing to live up to the original (which is fair) and the voice acting (no, seriously, they fucked that up; Joanna Dark went from being a sexy British chick to some dumbfuck American valley girl), but I, personally, found the gameplay to be a lot of fun, and there was some great local multiplayer to be had (something that would become increasingly rare that generation).

[Exhuminator]

Honest question: If you have a PC and little to no interest in big mainstream titles, is there any reason to own an Xbox 360?

As I explained in my original post of this thread, the 360 has many exclusives. Over 200 exclusives actually. If you care about even one of those exclusives, than that's reason enough to own a 360.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... only_games

http://gematsu.com/exclusives/xbox-360

For example, I find stuff like Otomedius Excellent, Chromehounds, Rumble Roses XX, Culdcept Saga, and Bullet Witch to be intriguing and worth own a 360 for. And none of those are "big mainstream titles".