I guess I’m in third place, then.
I should be online this weekend. If anyone fancies teh haloes just drop me a message if you see me. Don’t worry if i appear to be playing a different game - i normally only switch to halo once someone i “know” is playing and play other games until then.
We may or may not cross paths this week, then.
I wasn’t intending to create a platform debate really. I’ve tried the original Halo on the XBox and found it extremely awkward and irritating to control. I’m told some games integrate an auto-aim component to smooth this out and that’s strongly unappealing to me. I get the impression too that the PC multiplayer community is more mature - plenty of idiots and kids, of course, but the horror stories I hear about XBox Live make it sound pretty irritating.
Gamepad control certainly has its advantages - playing Madden or Tony Hawk on a keyboard and mouse is probably as much or more irritating (for me) as playing an FPS on a gamepad. You can get a gamepad for the PC, though, and it doesn’t work the other way around.
But besides that, my computer is way more technically advanced than an XBox. Any game that I have a choice where to play it I’ll play it on the PC and it’ll be faster and look better.
My idea of what makes a good console is more in line with the Wii - focus on the casual gaming, something you can sit with in front of your couch with friends, lots of party games, etc. It’s complimentary to a PC. Whereas the “serious” consoles with their FPS games attempt to replace PCs and do a poor job. If it wasn’t for Rock Band, I probably wouldn’t be getting a console - and similarly, if Rock Band Wii didn’t suck, I’d probably get a Wii. But I may get a few more games that work well with consoles - racing games, sports games maybe.
I can’t decide how to get an XBox. Rumor is that Microsoft will announce a new mid-range XBox model at E3 - replaces the premium system, with a 60gb instead of 20gb drive, cooler running components with higher reliability, and a retail price of $320-330, and that it’ll ship in august. If I don’t want to wait, I’ve been thinking of buying one used - but it’s a gamble with the reliability problems.
I’m also not trying to turn this into a debate, I’m just saying that a controller works just fine for FPS. Besides, there are enough console-only titles to justify jumping into it.
I’m on my first Xbox, for what that’s worth.
Besides Halo 3, what are the worthwhile exclusives?
Blue Dragon, Gears of War, GTA IV (for a while), Halo Wars, yadda yadda yadda. There’s a list on Wikipedia.
To be honest SenorBeef, four or five years ago i was you. These days i don’t even own a PC capable of high-end gaming. Don’t be afraid to give it a try - you’ll find a lot of very rewarding games out there. Its not like its an either/or situation - the Counter-Strike Police have yet to bust down my door and arrest me for crimes against PC Gaming, and its been a good five years now. 
Console FPS and PC FPS are very different beasts, both good in their own ways. As long as you accept both on their own terms you’re fine.
Xbox Live is the same - it has its fair share of red-necks, homophobes and screaming kiddies, but then it doesn’t suffer from the Script Kiddies, code-exploiters and hardcore tweakers that used to ruin my online PC Gaming days, so it all balances out in my mind.
Certainly when it comes to Halo, i find that if you avoid the dreaded “Social” zone (where games don’t contribute to your public skill level and therefore there is less incentive to play “properly”) then the experience is adult enough for me. Doubly so as i choose who i play with carefully to make sure its an enjoyable social experience as well as a gaming one.
The other night, for example, i ended up playing Halo with a Swedish guy I had played with before and a couple of his mates. Much to the missus’ amusement (i play with the voice-on-tv option enabled so she gets both sides of the conversation) they were trying to teach me how to play Halo in Swedish:
Depends what your tastes run to. FPS-wise Halo and Gears of War are probably the biggies. Chuck in other genres and you’ve got a helluvah lot of other stuff available as well - not to mention the ability to catch up on the original XBox’s exclusives via download.
Like Least Original User Name Ever I’m not trying to turn this into a debate - its just that as someone who came from a PC Gaming background and resisted the Microsoft console machines for a long time, i hate to see a fellow Gamer miss out on some quality shit. 
Either that or maybe i just want to pull someone else down into console-adultery with me i suppose 
Also, if you want to get away from the kids that play on Live, I know of a community that has only pople that are 25 and older playing on it. It’s rather active.
Gears of War is available for the PC and GTA IV is heading there. I wonder if Halo 3 will be some day. If I was getting an Xbox anyway, and there was a great worthwhile Xbox game, I’d get it. I may grab Halo 3, although I don’t think I’d like it.
For what it’s worth, I own a PS2 and Xbox. I rarely ended up playing them… when I did, it was almost entirely extreme sports games (Tony Hawk, etc) and football games. Aside from short periods here and there, the PCs I’ve built have always been way ahead of their contemporary consoles.
Is that the “2old2play” bunch? I’m in the “CurmudgenGrudge” clan there. They play Halo most Mondays and some Thursdays (although Rainbow Six Vegas 2 got a lot of play time when it first came out).
You are correct, kind sir. Good website.
By the way, our Gamertag is at 25 members. It’s a quarter full. There’s tons of room for people that want to come in and play with Dopers.
I added to the friends list a few days ago. Rabbbilfool.
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do it, but friend request sent.
I’ll check up on it when I get home tonight (assuming I don’t get bombarded with a dozen game invites the second I hop on for Halo 3.)
I finally got around to getting an Xbox. The name is SenorBeef0. I tried using SenorBeef but it says that the account is associated with another live account (which is mine), and then asked me for the e-mail address and password. So I enter it, and it says… account not associated with a gamer tag. Well duh - that’s what I’m trying to do now. I don’t know what I wanted, so I just added the 0 and made a new account.
I only have Rock Band so far. I’m not sure what else I’m going to get yet… maybe Madden 09 but I played the demo and it’s remarkably ugly. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I seem to recall the 2k NFL games on my dreamcast looking better.
I’ll re-update it again tonight when I get home.
I sent my request last night too. I’m JAM626.
Bump?