Xbox starter

3 best games:
The Orange Box
Halo Reach
Fallout New Vegas/Batman Arkham Asylum/Battlefield Bad Company 2

You need a microphone

 

BFBC 2. Thats a game which forced me to buy a console (PS3).

(also, thats still the only console game I have, so I am not really the best guy to recommend it over others, still its a pretty good game.)

 

Reach if you have friends who play it, otherwise it sucks.
CoD BO sucks.
Mass Effect 2. One is pretty good, too.
Fallout 3, idk about New Vegas.
Castle Crashers (Arcade game)
BF:BC 2
Red Dead Redemption.

 

I'm so glad you chose that over a CoD game

 

Get Mass Effect 1&2 (both for $40), Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption. Enjoy some of the best gaming of all time with that.

 

I'm about to buy one too how important is the hard drive space? Thinking of getting an 8 gig that should be enough for dlc and game saves right. And can you hook any external hard drive to it? I have a 320 gig I don't use but it's formated to osx wondering if xbox will formate for me or if I need to get a friend to formate to windows, or does it even matter?

 

Upgrade your PC instead of buying a 360.

 

Unless you want to install full games (around 6GB per game) and download tons of Arcade games, you should be ok with the 4GB console. You can plug in a usb memory and have an extra 16GB if you want too.

 

I've had a 360 for 5 years now and still have the 20gig hard drive that it came with and space has never been an issue. I honestly don't understand why you need a 250gig drive for an XBox. Maybe some people love installing games to the HD but I have plenty of DLC for games like ME2 and Fallout 3, along with some Arcade titles like Battlefield 1943, Shadow Complex, and Castle Crashers and space isn't an issue. So I'd recommend that you save some cash by getting whatever the lowest end HD space is now.

As far as games go, here are the best of the best:

Mass Effect 1 and 2 (RPG): Seriously, play through them both. And then play through them again. There is no other series like it.

Dragon Age (RPG): Basically, you can't go wrong with Bioware games

Fallout 3 (RPG/FPS): Great action RPG set in one of the best game environments to date. What's not to like about blasting through mutants in a nuked Washington D.C.? Also be sure to get the Broken Steel add-on along with Point Lookout. The others aren't that great.

Honorable mentions:

Halo: Reach (FPS): Great multiplayer game to play with friends

Assassin's Creed 2 (Stealth/Adventure): Really great stealth game set in Renaissance Italy

Gears of War 1 and 2 (TPS): One of the console's best franchises

Bioshock (FPS): Very different kind of game set in a bizarre world with some RPG elements

Shadow Complex (Sidescroller): The best XBox Live Arcade game

I haven't played through some of the newer popular games yet like Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake, or Fallout:NV yet so I can't offer any opinions there.

 

The Orange Box Basically the best gaming deal of all time. 5 of the best games ever created for $20 Half-Life is the best singleplayer fps ever created, Team Fortress 2 is an amazing online game, and Portal...well it just has to be played to be appreciated.

I personally don't like Halo, its a game with a mediocre campaign and a mediocre online multiplayer. COD Black Ops is actually a lot of fun, especially if your friends play it.

Also check out Bioshock, Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 3.

 

Am I the only person that found Mass Effect INCREDIBLY boring?

I played through the first game for about 2 and a half hours and the game was so SLOW and didn't get me interested enough in the story to want to keep playing that I gave up, sold it on eBay, and never gave the 2nd game a chance.

 

Worst mistake of your life bro. The first 2-3 hours of ME 1 are definitely slow, but the game picks up right after you are given the option to explore 3 worlds at your own pace.

 

Amen to that.

Definitely should give it a second chance. Truly is one of the best gaming experiences there is. I found the second one to be better than the first as it is certainly more fast-paced but the first is still incredible. Omega is right in saying that it really picks up once it drops you out in space and gives you the option of going where ever the heck you wanna go.

 

Nah I was bored out of my mind too. Exploring endless grey planets? Fun!

@TC: If you're badass you'll get Ninja Gaiden 2. The Orange Box was a great recommendation, as was BFBC2. RDR is pretty good or open world gaming along with Assassin's Creed 2/Brotherhood and Just Cause 2. Burnout Paradise or GRID for epic racing, Fallout 3 and/or FFXIII for RPG, Resident Evil 5 for quashing the zombie (sorta) urge and Rock Band for endlessly fun party gaming.

 

If that's his worst mistake he's lucky Mass Effect is a great series but I found the second to be a lot better. I won't bother getting Dragon Age on consoles, don't get me wrong it's a fantastic game but plays oh so much better on PC.

BC2 is great and all but I never really was hooked onto it, got to lvl 20 or so and kinda stopped. If you like racing games I'd recommend the new NFS, Paradise doesn't have a lot of people on nowadays. You should also get RDR as mentioned.

AC Brohood is not to shabby as well and like Midian suggested, just cause 2 which is just for fun and blowing crap up.

 

The first one, while it had a great story to tell, sucked. The controls and cover system was so meh it hurt my head. The second however was a huge impovement. Though I never addmittedly finished either.

 

There are no endless grey planets in ME2.

 

Cheap must gets:

Orange box
Oblivion
Fallout 3
Bioshock

Newer games:
Mass effect 2
Halo reach
Maybe new vegas I haven't played it

Sports:
FIFA 11
NHL 10/11
Forza
Burnout paradise

Arcade:
Castle crashers
Shadow complex