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Got the XBox 2 days ago with 4 controllers and 4 games. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Halo, Dead or Alive 3, and Fusion Frenzy. Fun games in there own way. I'm not really liking the controller very much. It's huge and yet the buttons are so damn small, I find myself pressing the wrong button sometimes because the buttons are close to each other. Also since I have small hands my hands start hurting quickly when I play, it's just too big for me. It would have been nice if the logo on the system glowed green or something like that. Also it sucks to have to buy an add-on for DVD playback capability. Atleast it's not like other consoles nowadays that needs memory cards. So far every game I save seems to go to the harddrive.

Halo is pretty kewl. Nice graphics and all. I'm liking it so far. You can pick up dead allies or enemies weapons on the floor. I played the first 2 levels with my friend. First level we were watching each others backs. The second level I was driving the vehicle while he was shooting with the machine gun in the back. I also picked up an ally in the game so that he could sit on the right side and shoot as well. I played the next 2 by myself since my friend always falls asleep when I feel like playing. The third level I was equipped sniper rifle and had a team to back me up. I would go in first taking out what I could and they would come in if I needed help or if it was clear. I love sniping.

Tony Hawk is pretty much the regular part 2 but with better graphics. Nothing much to say. I liked that version and I like this version as well. This game has caused my hands great pain pulling off trick after trick. I'm letting my hands rest. No gameplaying today.

Dead or Alive 3 looks great. Plays just like part 2 which is great as well. A few new interesting characters. Me and my other 3 friends played tag mode for quite a while, countering each other like crazy. The last leader and the stage looks great, I love the way they made it. Ending CGs look great as well. But still I'm dissapointed in this game. It doesn't have much to offer as a single player game. Most fighting games as well as DOA2 has a lot of stuff to unlock but DOA3 seems to not offer much of that. Oh well. Great fighting game though.

Fusion Frenzy is a fun multiplayer party game. There are like 40 mingames and you have to compete with each other. Me and my 3 friends played this game for a while as well. The minigames consist of stuff like fighting with each other to get gems, racing with tanks or water jets, throwing bombs at each other and lots more. It's easy to play and easy for a beginner to pick up so it is a nice party game. It's a really boring single player game though.

if you wanna trade your xbox for my modded ps2 setup.. LMK

Heh, thanks for the offer but I already have a PS2.

The controller works well for me but I do think someone can design a better one. I think it's only a matter of time before one of the third parties will make control pad sooner or later that will be better. Also after it is confirmed to work with the US Xbox you could buy the Japaneese control pad that all the game sites and magazines are saying is better. That being the case you would think they would have put that one in the US box before they made a crap load of them.

Having to buy the DVD remote makes sense from a business standpoint. From what I understand a licensing fee is required for a device that plays DVD. I believe that one of the companies that gets part of this fee is Sony. That is why the PS2 plays DVDs out of the box. MS is already loosing around $100 per Xbox they sell. Not including DVD playback without the remote keeps them from having to pay the fee per Xbox sold. If someone wants DVD playback then the fee is paid when you purchase the remote.

I'll agree with your sumation of the Halo. I also have DOA 3, Gotham Racing, Fusion Frenzy, and Mad Dash Racing but I haven't put much time into them as I have been playing the crap out of Halo even after beating it. At first I was thinking I wish I had a Keyboard and Mouse but after you play it for a while and become acclimated to using the pad it really does control well.

I think the controller is alright now. My hands got used to it. Also it's great that if you yank the cord it just detaches the wire and doesn't pull on the whole system. I remember when my friend was playing resident evil on my old Playstation and he suddenly got scared and yanked the cored. My Playstation flipped over and got busted.

I also think that the controller works very well with Halo. My friends and I are also playing Halo the most. Haven't played multiplayer yet, just cooperative. It's fun helping each other out.

I went through some of the Xbox demos at CrapUSA, and I wasn't really that impressed. I didn't see anything that couldn't be done on a GeForce3 (and remember, the Xbox is essentially rendering at 640x480). I guess it's nice not having to write games targeting Pentium MMXs and 8 MB AGP cards, eh?

I just want to see these games on a nice big HDTV. Can anyone say Pioneer Elite PRO-1000HD plasma?
I'm looking forward to really getting to play some of these games. So far I've had about 5 minutes on Hitz and 5 on Fever at kiosks. I think I'll have to wait until Christmas for further fun though

JMan

Jim Z, when playing on a big screen tv like I have the games look great. I remember when I tried out the demos at a Toys R Us with the little tv and thought the same thing. Also some games are just better to play on a pc or on a console system and that is more important than graphics.

Another nice feature of the controller cord. My friend was walked over the cords and kicked one out by mistake, the game paused and said to put it back in and then unpause whenever your ready.

Schwartz: The reason why M$ left out DVD playback is that not everyone is going to use the XBox to play DVDs, so why include playback (at extra cost) when people are probably going to spend $30 anyhoo on a remote so they don't have to fumble with the gamepad, like the PS2 made you do.

Halo looks cool, but that and DOA3 are the only games that I've seen great reviews for. I have rented DOA and DOA2 before for 5 days and while the graphics were nice I don't really like the fighting system much. I'm assuming DOA3 has the same system and it really can't compare to some of the great fighting games like Tekken or Soul Caliber.

I played Mad Dash racing at a kiosk and my thumb cramped up bad before the end of one race, so there's no way I can see using the XBox controller for extended gaming. With all the good game scoming down the pipe for the PS@ right now I think I'll be sticking with that for awhile.

The XBox pad does need a bit of getting used to but after that your hands don't get hurt anymore. I remember the first 2 days I played the XBox, my hands were all red and hurt really bad. I let them rest for a day and after that I got used to it.

I play and like DOA, Tekken, and Soul Caliber. Yes, DOA3 has the same fighting system and that is what I like about it. Being able to counter anything and everything. The only difficult the game is how moves are different depending on how hard you tap the buttons but that adds up to more moves.

All those games have there weaknesses and if it I didn't play all 3 games I probably would have stopped playing fighting games all together. They are all fun good fighting games but they all in the end get boring to me. I got bored of Tekken, so if it wasn't for Soul Caliber I would have stopped playing fightings games all together. And if it wasn't for DOA I would have stopped playing SC. Now I go back and forth between these games. Might add Virtual Fighter 4 for PS2 onto that list. Also I hope Namco makes the next Tekken better because 4 wasn't worth it.

As for my PS2 I still play it, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Devil May Cry. And as for computer I play Half-Life, Monopoly Tycoon, The Sims, AOE2, etc. Why play only Xbox games, or just PS2 games, or pc games when you could have a whole variety. I even have a Gameboy Advance just for when I'm out or bored at work and it's not busy.

Well I thought Soul Caliber, the Tekken Series, Virtual Fighter, Bushido Blade 1 and 2, Bloody Roar, and others were all well done and good fun. I just can't really get into the DOA fighting system for some reason. I even like the levels and the chicks are cute.

As far as having a variety is concerned, I'm playing Tony Hawk 3, Madden 2002, and Devil May Cry on the PS2 right now. After that I need to get Metal Gear and Grand Theft Auto, then hopefully Final Fantasy X. I've also got a couple PC games I'm in the middle of. I just see no reason for paying for another console with the number of great games for the PS2 right now. It comes down to Halo for me since I don't like DOA. I guess I'll miss out on Halo until there's a PC port (maybe they'll do the multiplayer better).

You mentioned AOE2, I've probably put for time into AOE2 then just about any other game. Never get tired of it.

Yeah, I never seem to get tired of AOE2 either. Haven't played it much lately because of the new games but it pops up from time to time when my friends come over for a quick LAN game. We seem to be playing Monopoly Tycoon a lot, strangely enough it pretty fun and gets out of hand when there is a lot of people playing. We can only play a max of 4 people since i only have 4 comps in my house but that's good enough. It's not like the old one, there is no more passing go, moving your peice. It's all about building stores and apartments, competing for sales, and stuff like that. Pretty fun game if you have people to play with. Expect a lot of yelling when someone wins an auction for a pproperty when someone else wanted it.

I thought Halo was being released for Xbox AND PC, just XBox 1st.

Darkheart

On the Halo box itself it said an XBox only game. I'm really not sure though. That's the only game I've seen so far that has that on the box.