I'm edging towards getting Fable 2 has my first game, possibly Oblivion but I've heard recommendation to buy it immediately and recommendations to rent it first (which means I have to trust that Rogers Home Video again ). I'd have to see what else is out as well (I'm going to the mall tomorrow because I want to pick up the Wii version of Twilight Princess so I can send my mom the NGC one and some wii points, so I can see what is out and I can ask if they have the $300 360 as Acrune suggested).

But yes, the majority of the games are coming out in the next two years, but it's something I can wait for since I generally only ask for money on special occasions (gifts are nice, but chances are, it's not going to be something I use... or like and if it's money, it means it can go towards basic necessities too!).

Xbox 360 by far is superior in accessibility, breadth of game selection. As far as the hardware, Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation) puts it best, "but blinging out your console with such things , creates the unspoken agreement to bling out your games with top of the range graphics, which puts production time and production costs several million dollars on the side of uncomfortable." While that comment is almost a year and half old, it is still largely accurate only displaying slightly higher graphics then the same game on the Xbox 360. The problem here is that there are simply more 360's out there, and with the gremlins largely gone from the 360, more people are buying the 360.

The result is that developers out to make money, especially the the whole DRM fiasco, and bit torrents, etc... making the PC market particularly lose lose (You either ship with DRM and get moaned about until the games no longer sell, or ship without and get pirated until games no longer sell.) developers are looking to console as a safer avenue to make money. Thus they will try to release for as many platforms as possible, and that requires them to work within the restrictions of the technology presented. 360 hardware has become the staple platform due to its popularity, and games are coded (sometimes quite poorly) to take advantage of this hardware.

Again, Yathzee hit it square on the head when he remarked that the PS3 is "largely selling on future potential." This time next year, the 360 may have lost its lead to the PS3 as titles begin to embrace the new hardware... but it is also possible the crumby controllers, overpriced monstrosity, the awkward shape and size, and poor selection of games, and the almost non-existent status of exclusive games may well leave the PS3 in the runner up seat until the next generation.

My personal opinion, the PS3 was to much, to soon, to fast. It is the rich kid who comes in with remote control airplane when everyone else is using paper airplanes. Yeah the RC plane is 'better' but you can do a lot more with less with the paper airplanes.

Should have gone with the 360. More exclusives, and the ones that aren't, generally have exclusive xbox live content that you can't get on PS3 (I think Grand Theft Auto 4 comes to mind, among others) or are a timed exclusive. I just finished playing Dead Space all the way through, it was fun. Also, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is just the original Xbox Ninja Gaiden Black with updated graphics... just get Ninja Gaiden 2 for Xbox 360... Also picking up Fallout 3 tomorrow morning.

Also, Mass Effect was really fun.

An interesting note...

http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/scores/

and

http://www.metacritic.com/games/ps3/scores/

That's the top rated games from both systems, the cross platform games tend to be the best... lots of games shared on both lists. However, many of those shared games were timed exclusives, meaning for an extended period of time it's exclusive to one system, this is intentional... like take Bioshock... it came out like what, a year earlier on the Xbox 360?



It's worth it to note, that quite a few Xbox Live Arcade games make that list, considering they are cheap and quick to download. Just goes to show the quality of some of those games is amazing.

Also, I'm playing Fable 2 right now... who wants to play?

My feelings on Fable 2 are a bit mixed. I like it, but it is somewhat buggy at times like the original. Peter Molyneaux is such a tease.


Also, about Xbox Live Arcade... not counting multiplayer on COD4... I think I've spent more time with the Live Arcade games then other titles. I also own more Xbox Live Arcade titles than real games. Also I tend to rent movies off of Xbox Live from time to time... I can't wait till they combine the service with Netflix coming up.

I'll play Fable 2! Haven't quite finished playing through the story for the first time yet because I'm trying to experience everything and anything in the game. For me, it's more fun to explore, buy real estate, mess with townsfolk, open demon doors, etc. What's your gamertag, Tuek? (You might even be on my friends list already and I just forgot who you are, heh.)

My personal opinion on the Elder Scrolls games (tried Morrowind on original Xbox and borrowed Oblivion later) is that they are truly awful and overpraised. I honestly do NOT see what everyone else seems to love about the games. The maps are too big and too open, to the point where I wander aimlessly for hours just trying to pinpoint some tiny landmark for some pointless quest. The aiming is stiff. The characters are boring, lifeless husks. The potions are tedious beyond belief. Just the worst games I've ever played in my life.

This reminded me of a few Xbox games I really wanted.

Yeah, thats going to be awesome.

Sure, if you subscribe to Netflix.

You forgot to add the stupid levelling system.

I've heard Fable 2 is very casual, short and easy. That true?

Fable 2 is pretty casual, which makes it more fun, I think. The main story missions can supposedly be done in about eight hours if you just play straight through them and ignore everything else. However, it's the everything else that makes Fable 2 so amazing, so don't skip the good stuff!

I'm getting very mixed reviews from people I know that have played the games, one of my best friends and Tael tell me constantly it's one of the best games out there while the boyfriend tells me it's not worth it.

So, I've just decided I'll rent it first to try it. (Plus, I refuse to give the boyfriend any reason to go "I told you so," that's my job. )

Woah. PS3 graphics are pretty impressive. Unfortunately my TV is apparently way smaller than the devs were expecting so I have to go really close to the screen to even make out letters in the font (Dead Space, other couple games coming in the post tomorrow), much less read it. Guess I'll see how that works out.

I'm going to have to say they are some of the best games I've ever played. I love the huge maps, I love walking to different places and discovering new areas or hidden dungeons along the way (although faster transportation is always available, I never had trouble getting where I wanted to go). The levelling is a little annoying, though...as I max out all of my magic by creating a little cheap spell and just standing somewhere and casting it over and over again. Never thought characters were lifeless, though.

The Elder Scrolls are as good as you make them. They give you the sandbox, you do what you want. I put a ton of hours into Morrowind and never even did the first part of the main quest. The games let you actually role play your character, and let them be who you want them to be. I think in order to have fun with them, you need to understand what type of game you're playing.

I feel like going home and starting up oblivion now!

P.S. Although I had a ton of fun with morrowind on the xbox, it is better on the PC since you can download mods to make the game look 10x better, fix the levelling system, etc.

Elder Scrolls on the console is a waste of time since it does preclude the user made stuff. But because the fan base can make the game better through mods does not mean the game was good, in fact it tells us it was lacking when it hit the market, as quite frankly it should not need the modder community to make it fun, the mods should be there to enhance, not bring it to baseline.

Morrowind was better though, it was more complete, main storyline was more compelling, and contained one of the most interesting unique fantasy settings I have seen in a while. Oblivion is just classic 11th century styled high fantasy.

Whats wrong with the leveling system?

granted, I was a bit frustrated in trying to figure out how to train my sneak and security without going to prison, but at this point in the game I think it works out fine, and its fairly intuitive.

The only changes I would make, is that higher mana spells should improve your skill faster than low mana spells. Oh well.

What mods would you suggest for morrowwind? I problably won't install any untill I finish (is that possible)/ get bored of the main game.

Also, I'm sure if you don't read all the books you find, that the game is much more boring.

Get all of the top rated mods from planter elder scrolls. Can't remember them off the top of my head, but there is a huge retexture pack and a huge face replacer pack, and a "better bodies" thing you'll want to get. Other than that, you can just get things for flavor.

I didn't mind the levelling system (I never bothered to get the mod to 'fix' it), I was only saying that towards people who were complaining about it. Also, as you said, I just stood in one place and cast really cheap spells and leveled up insanely fast. XD

But I mean, that sort of makes IC sense, if you're standing there training.

Bingo? I was always jumping as I ran across the wide open spaces to nowhere special, just to gain acrobatics points. Rather ridiculous, I think. (Made me feel like one of the many Halo/FPS punks who are always crouching or jumping to try and dodge everything.)

:/ Sort of related, but it's amazing how I can only find toslink input selectors on amazon.com rather than say, best buy, microcenter, newegg, etc? What the hell?

Yeah, and if you timed it right, you could actually get a -ton- of jumps in going up stairs, because it would very rapidly do it, and you would hear a lot " th th th th" noises.

Like I said though, I didn't mind it. If you spend -that- much time jumping, realistically, your character should be insanely good at it. Plus, no one forces you to level that way. Or, if you really bothered you, you can always set acrobatics to a minor skill instead of a major, or not even include it at all. It would still increase as you jumped, but you wouldn't level from it. As I said, though, they give you the sand box, it's up to you how to use it.

The main thing that annoyed me about oblivion was how many skills they cut out. I don't know why they removed unarmored. I loved playing a wizard, but I don't want to wear armor.

I'm talking about Oblivion, cause even though I played Morrowind more, I don't remember it that well (and I wasn't modding it at all, I think).

If just the skills were being trained by usage it wouldn't be so completely bad, but attribute modifiers when levelling up are also based on the skill points you gained, which was just impossible to control.
One could say it's more realistic that way, but it's just bad, can't shape your character exactly the way you want.

Of course there are mods for that, you can i.e. disable learning by usage completely and rely solely on training.

I certainly wouldn't say it's one of the worst games I played, you could see the effort put into creating a big world with lots of freedom, but it had many flaws, lack of immersion being probably the biggest one.

And modding it is pure hell when you browse through countless mods and you feel like you wanna half of them, but are not sure which will work together, which will not, and which will work but cause unexpected problems.