f13.net

I think I'm gonna buy an X-Box tomorrow. What are some good games to start out with (Preferably some "Un-PC-Like" ones)?

Ninja Gaiden
Soul Calibur 2
GTAIII double pak
LOTR: Return of the King
Freedom Fighters
Pandora Tomorrow (Splinter Cell 2)
Kotor
Prince of Persia: Sands of time

and

apparently you should get Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay...

Great game if you like fighter.



A must have, great deal. Hail to the king.



Havent played this one.


Again, havent played.


Get it for PC.



Buy this game. Buy it now.


This is why Blockbuster was invented.



I was not impressed with the demo. Pick up Xbox mag, it has the demo.

Make sure you also pick up "Beyond Good & Evil", you can probably get is for $9.99. Dont let the price fool you. Its a great hybrid action RPG-lite, like Zelda.

If you like racing, "Project Gothem Racing II" and "Need for Speed: Underground".
Gothem is a very realistic racing game where as NFS:U is a lot more arcade like.

Enjoy.

*EDIT*

If you only are going to buy one or two games. GTA double pack is probably the best bang for your buck. You can get it on PC, but its one of those game that feels better sitting on your couch. BGE is so cheap, how can you pass it up.

Those are both "Console" games, and not very PC feeling. So is Soul Caliber 2.

DOA: Extreme Beach Volleyball
Madden NFL 2005 (when it comes out)
Fable (when it comes out)

I  agree on the renting of Prince of Persia comment.  There's not enough gameplay to warrant purchase.

Bruce

You recommended a game with boobies and two games he can't buy tomorrow. You just wanted to post, didn't you?

On the other hand, if one learns the sentiment, "Good games will be here for this platform when they get around to releasing them." then they'll have mastered about 75% of the Gamecube or X-Box ownership experience.

I have to admit though...Boobies and Volleyball actually sounds like fun. I also want a crazy ass golf game (like Hot Shots on PS2). Anything as good as that?

Soul Calibur 2 looks like a must. Same with Ninja Gaiden. I'll check out Prince of Persia too. More recommendations like these, please. I want to be a kid again, damnit...I've about fucking had it with RTS's, Sims, MMO's, and the PC in general. Platform-type games look really appealing right now, so would the Game Cube be a better choice? Saves a little money too.

Definitely need a driving game. Gamespot gives Rallysport a 9.3. Is it better than the others mentioned?

I have Kotor on PC (How about Jade Empire? I'm not expecting Kotor-like greatness, but is it fun?).

Played through the GTA's at a friend's, so I've got that covered. Unless it's different on the X-Box.

It's fun for 5 minutes. The boobies are fun for 7 (feel free to make obvious jokes below). I've shown every single one of my friends the opening cutscene though.



No, unfortunately there isn't. This Tuesday I'm picking up Ribbit King for the PS2, but Xbox is lacking in the not-sports sports games. My favorite one is Tony Hawk Underground. It's fantastic. If you want straight golf, Tiger Woods 2004 is supposed to be great. The only other one I might suggest is SSX3 which is rather fun, but it's more like a shallow version of Tony Hawk Underground (but a LOT prettier).



Yes, yes, and yes.



If you get a gamecube expect to get about 5-7 games, and then a new game every 3 months or so. The only things worth buying on that system are the first party games (as always with Nintendo). Soul Caliber on it doesn't compare to the XBox. And Ninja Gaiden is a better platformer than any of the offerings from Nintendo. I've said this to my friends and on here I believe, if the new Zelda doesn't have AT LEAST the control of NInja Gaiden, it will not get played by me.



Playstation 2 has a WEALTH of good games. If it's an option for you, you could immediately pick up a used copy of Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec for like $7.99 at EB and you'll have access to a massive library of fun games. Gran Turismo 4 is on the horizon as well (you can get a demo disc by requesting a Matrix or Prius brochure on the toyota web site). While the XBox is catching up, in my opinion, the installed 300 games or so that came out for the PS2 before Xbox's release gives it the edge. It is also home to two of the best tactics games since FF:T - Disgaea and La Pucelle Tactics. Also Front Mission 4 is coming out if giant robot tactics is your cup of tea. If you want an old school RPG with more depth than just about anything, ever made (as in you NEED the Prima guide to find everything), you've got Dark Cloud 2, which is mighty good fun.



Not out yet. The day it's out I will be picking it up though...unfortunately the date is December, 7th 2004. If you want some platformer action (which Jade Empire is supposed to have some roots in) go for Metal Slug 3, which is, of course - fantastic - but, still just Metal Slug.



Naw, if you've played it anywhere, you've played it. Don't spend the money on it. However, if you liked the control scheme and some of the erhmm..combat, Red Dead Revolver has some of the playstyle with a much more interesting setting and story (note, I hate westerns - the movies - but this game has a great amount of appeal).

That should cover everything.

As for golf on the X-Box there are 2 good choices.  Tiger Woods Golf and Outlaw Golf.

I would rent them both since the controls are so different, Tiger uses the usual timing of button presses, and Outlaw uses the analog stick for your swing.

Personally I prefer Outlaw Golf for the controls, but the beatdowns help.

I would have said get Madden 2004, but little point since 2005 is coming soon.  And Fable is probably a reason to buy an X-Box even if you don't already have one, just to play it.

I would have listed Jade Empire, too, but my gut tells me it's not going to make it out this year.

Bruce

TW2004 has analog swing if you prefer it. I don't, but hey. It's there. I have the pc version, though.

Really, I only use my xbox for football (ESPN2k5) and fighting games (Soul Calibur2).

Just remember one thing: Madden sucks! Don't believe the hype. (it's that time of year again when teh madden fanbois come out and slam ESPN, so I'm launching a pre-emptive strike in honor of my country's new policy against terrorists like madden!)

Shenmue2 is a pretty good quirky rpg/fighter that you can probably get on the cheap now. I like NFS:Hot Pursuit 2 because it cost me $10 (pc), and it's almost as good as the newest games.

I've skipped Ninja Gaiden because everyone says it's very frustrating, and I hate frustrating games. If I want frustration, that's what women are for :)

Don't listen to Hokers.  Links 2004 is in every single imaginable way superior to Tiger Woods.  Tiger has got NOTHING on links 2004.  Don't even bother renting Tiger.  It is not a bad golf game if you have a ps2, but if you have an xbox Links is superior.  Offline superior in controls and online there is absolutely ZERO comparison.

Don't know much about outlaw golf.  Is is supposed to be a wacky golf game so it may be what you are looking for.  Rent it.  I fully agree with that.

As far as racing games I can't imagine NOT buying Project Gotham 2.  The game is so slick it is sick.  But with racing games much comes down to personal preference.  It is pretty realistic, but they reward so well for driving arcadey it is a BLAST.  I love the mode where your goal is to rack up insane number of kudos by chaining together huge strings of power slides, airials, two wheeled driving, and driving through cone markers.  Some of those tracks are REALLY hard to gold on, but so fucking incredibly rewarding when you do and you have that great replay save to look at whenever you want.  Good way to show off your xbox graphics and your driving skills all at once by showing them some of your greatest replays.  And it is full of content.  Rent it though.  As with ALL racing games unless you know their controls.  If you ever played Metropolis Street Racer for dreamcast and liked that then just outright buy it.  Same company, similar kudos rules, same control.

Nobody here listed Crimson Skies.  Great game.  Fun single player although rather short if you don't get stuck anywhere, but the multiplayer is a blast.  Totally gorgeous as well.  Good showoff game.

If you want sports, the ESPN football series just can't be beat (superior to madden in everything except less micromanagement in franchise mode).  2k4 was just awesome.  Not sure what is coming with 2k5.

If you can find it cheap used, grab the FIRST buffy the vampire slayer game.  That game kicked ass.  Literally.  Even if you HATE buffy, the game was great.  Very well done combat engine and the vampires actually responded like vampires.  You had to stake them as you were fighting them or in some levels you could also throw them into sunlight to kill them.  The second game was apparently also good, but not as good as the first.  I have not played it yet.  The second one is called Chaos bleeds, so get the other if you see it.  I don't think the first one had any subtitle.

I also strongly second:
Beyond good and evil
Rental of prince of persia (kick ass game but short)
Soul calibur 2 (if you are even MILDLY interested in fighter games buy it)
Ninja Gaiden (you may want to rent if first, as some have issues with the camera)
Two Towers and/or Return of the King.  Both very good brawlers.
rental of Riddick
Kotor and Splinter cell2 (but you may prefer pc versions)

Games to keep an eye on that are not out yet:
Jade Empire (by makers of Kotor, action rpg, cool looking fighting system)
Fable (preliminary reports are that it was really fun at E3)
MechAssault 2 (looks like an awesome combined arms multiplayer game)
Driv3r (gorgeous, hopefully it plays as good as it looks)
Halo 2 (looks like it will be GREAT multiplayer.  Think UT2k4 onslaught mode but better)
Other stuff I forget.
Doom 3 if your computer won't run it.

If you really want to feel like a kid again, just mod your xbox and get a light gun off of ebay.

BTW, why would I want to switch to ESPN from Madden?  Sell me here because I'm ready for something new.  Does the ESPN line also include a college football version?  Dynasty mode included?

I know that NCAA 2005 is supposed to have some pretty cool changes, on paper at least, so I've really been looking forward to its release.

If your looking for mindless play, similar to the golden days of the arcade;

I would reccomend:

1) Fusion Frenzy
2) Gauntlet

Don't forget Full Spectrum Warrior. I'm pondering getting an Xbox mainly because of this one. Well, also because of the Bioware things coming out too.

Anyone advocating a golf game other than Links needs serious help. Links, in addition to being a superior golf game, has much better XBL options.  I mean, why pick up a golf game you can't even play a foursome in.   Beautiful challenging courses, a swing system that FEELS LIKE GOLF, and a pretty decent progression in difficulty make this one a must buy

Also, if you like your non standard sports, get TopSpin.  It's the best tennis game ever made.  It's faithful to the genre, fun, and has a great career mode.  Online play is very fun.  It's off in some aspects of tennis (I average maybe 1 unforced error a tournament) but really, no one's going to buy a tennis game where you randomly dump shots in the net because you got tense.

Also, I just picked up Gladius.  This is a fun little game if you're a fan of the turned based tactical RPGs.  You basically run your own gladitorial school and go out and win tournaments.  It gets a little repetitive and takes some button mashing skills, but overall it's worth a buy at 30 bucks.  It also appears to be VERY LONG.  This is good and bad. I'll get a lot of bang for my buck, but at the expense of slow leveling and character progression.   One day I'd like to do a comprehensive review of this genre, but unfortunately I don't have a PS2.

Ohh, and Crimson Skies is very fun. Both single player and online.

I picked up Links as it seemed to be the golf game of choice amongst the crowd here.  I have to say though that the only thing I've noticed in its favor over TW is that I can play it on XBL.  To me, the swing feels exactly the same, and there just isn't as much to do in a single player aspect.

I'd definately say that if you were choosing between the two and knew you would never be on XBL that you'd definately be better served with TW.

But hey, that's why I now have both.

/agree

Links kicks a lot of ass. Crimson Skies is also really damned fun. I am one of the unwashed few who hated Halo (mostly because aiming with a thumbstick is for Ritalin-deficient 8 year olds).

Damn it Rasix- you got me all fired up for Links again- I moved last month and haven't set my X-Box up yet. Time to rectify that when I get home! Probably time to get off my ass and get XBL set up too so you all  can kick my n00b ass at Links and Crimson Skies.

I too, hated Halo. It's just another FPS. I have it on the computer, and still don't know what the appeal was, especially in DM mode. Give me ut2k4 any day of the week.

Splinter Cell (the original is cheap, but get either one)
ESPN NFL 2k4 (fuck Madden in his stupid ass)
Links 2004 (I think that's the one that's out... supposed to be the best golf game EVAR)
Mechassault (pretty fun, should be cheap)
Top Spin (if you like tennis)
Project Gotham Racing (1 or 2, both great games)
GTA Double Pack

Games I haven't played but have heard about
Soul Caliber 2
Ninja Gaiden

I'm a bit out of the loop, since I haven't played my X-Box since getting CoH.

Anytime, Way.  I move in like 3 weeks so I'll have some minimal downtime. (YAY NEW HOUSE, MY FIRST) But luckily, I get my cable/internet installed the day after I move in.

I never said I was good though. I imagine us playing each other in any game will resemble two extremely obese people fighting each other over the last egg mcmuffin.  It might be entertaining, but it'll be far from pretty. I haven't played either in about a month, but I should dust them off (too much Gladius, CoH, Mafia and other games).  I imagine it'll take me a little work until I can get to the point where I can turn off the swing meters again.

I have played actual golf about 6 times since I last played Links...wonder how realistic the swing will still feel? Hopefully it helps my RL swing, which currently resembles a 90 year old man trying to put out a brush fire with a rake.

sounds fun, caniwatch?

Rent Baulder's Gate: Dark Alliance. Only if you have someone to play it co-op with though.

I feel...ashamed. I think I had a little too much caffiene when I said that. Still true though.

Anyways, just bought the X-Box, Ninja Gaiden, Soul Calibur 2, and Fight Night (Couldn't resist, I'm a boxing freak. Hope it's as good as some reviewers say). $252...Went with a used system, but that's a great price I think. Thanks for the suggestions, guys..I'll be gettin' around to them. It appears that I had to feel a need for fighting games.

Apparently the fanbois state that the AI is vastly superior to other FPS and the ability to take control of most of the vehicles that were in game.

I agree with you about Halo not being that great, but it could be due to the fact that I have always sucked at FPS games, lol!!!

I liked halo but it deffinatly had some issues with needlessly prolonging certain sections to increase the length of the game. The whole flood thing in the library thingy that was basically the same corridor or a mirror of it prolonged to about 2 hours of constant fighting in this same looking area got tedious. The outdoor stuff didn't bother me as much as the indoor stuff did.

Kaid

I had to quote it by itself for added effect.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Fight Night.  There is no way you will be disappointed with that purchase.

Man, I am glad someone else noticed this. I'm scared.

How does Fight Night stack up against Rocky (I got Rocky real cheap used). Rocky is ok, no crazy super powahs, just boxing, and a decent control scheme. My only gripe is that the guys look a bit like clay.

Add me to the list of those who didn't care much for Halo. The best part was the marines, but as all stupid AI npcs do, they die off way to early for them to be around for a lot of commentary. This is why I won't be buying Full Spectrum Warrior (or R6, or Ghost Recon, or...), I don't like to nanny crappy AI. And all AI is crappy imo. The Flood? Horrid idea, throw out the decent AI they were using (for the covenant) and just zerg the player. It felt like Doom. I hated Doom, too.

Crap, I forgot about Fight Night! It is pretty damned cool, but it is a thumb raper extraordinaire. Tip- practice a LOT before you start your own boxer- I started my first guy right off the bat and was 0-12 before I knew it! I felt like Glass Joe =(

Only problem with it is no XBL support. Maybe next year.

Fun Games but are desperately lacking online experience:

Fight Night
SOUL CALIBER 2

I hope to the sweet Christ that SC3 has online support.

I've been really digging the xbox Sonic game, Sonic Heroes. It's great if you're into fast, twitch style stuff.

Also on a whim I rented this game, Sega Soccer Slam, and I love it. It reminds me of NBA Jam, back on the SNES. Just real fun, arcady not-sports sports. With super powers.

... I wonder how sega REALLY feels about having to make games for other peoples' machines.

Also just to second some of the more obsucure stuff:
Crimson Skies
Jet Grind Radio Future
XIII

Sega probably feels more profitable. Not that that's saying much...

The screwing they took over Nintendo's bungled launch of Phantasy Star Online for the GCN also probably left them feeling more than a little nostalgic for the Dreamcast.

I still think the DC was the best little box no-one ever bought. I still play mine on occasion. PSOv2.0, Soul Calibur, Record of the Lodoss War...all bring me back to the hefty little white box.

One point on Halo; if you weren't a Mac gamer (yes, yes, it wasn't always an oxymoron) and didn't play the Marathon games, you've missed out on much of the background of what Halo is and where it's going. Halo is a continuation of the Marathon saga, albeit in the usual twisted Bungee way. Personally, I wait all a-flutter over the revelations of Halo2. Did Cortana really go rampant in the Halo's core? What of the Forerunners? Really humans? And the Flood; biblical references abound (almost as bad as Evangelion in this regard).

Bungee still sells a CD with all the Marathon games AND Pathways in Darkness. Run out and buy an old PowerPC Mac now! You can't afford not to!! You simply don't know what you're missing.

Actually, they've released a port for Marathon (and it's sequal Durandal, I believe?) for the PC as well.

Though I've played it on the mac and the implementation feels a lot better there.   By the time Marathon made it to the PC, we already had Duke Nukem 3D to compare it to.

Any one tried Psi-Ops yet?

I was thinking of picking this up today. Only problem is, its one of those games that would be so much better with Mouse/Keyboard, but I think it is X-Box exclusive.

I played the Xbox Magazine demo of it.  It had potential.  As always the demo was too short to really tell.  2 snippets from 2 levels and a training room to play with the physics.

Physics were decent.  Far better than Thief 3, but not as good as farcry or what HL2 looks to be bringing.  I would put it slightly below Max Payne 2 maybe.  In that ballpark.

The demo let you use all the abilities while the full game will 'unlock' them as you progress in the game.

The shooting bits of the game were pretty weak.  If they take too long to give the powers out the beginning will suck ass.

The powers themselves are pretty much gimmicks.  Gimmicks CAN carry a game if it is well made.  I think it will come down to level design as the powers are only as good as the obstacles you have to use them with.  It is fun once to jump on a pallete and levitate it and you across a chasm, but the second time it is old hat.  They will be hard pressed to keep coming up with unique options for your powers.   I found I didn't like the demo when I could not use my powers to kill everyone.  Once I started to pull the trigger on the guns my interest went down.  The gunplay is average at best.

Without actually playing the full game I can't give a thumbs up or thumbs down.  Level design and pacing will be critical.  I will probably rent it and be done with it that way.  The demo was creative enough to make me want to rent it.  If they give the powers out real slow I will probably give up on it early and regrest wasting $5 though.

Same here. I was wondering about the full version. Gamespy gave it a pretty good review (BIT YOUR TONGUE NOW) and their reviews have been at least passable lately. In fact a lot of their reviews have mirrored what has been said here. Maybe Gamespy is getting the idea.

I heard it was using the Havoc physics engine. So that should put it up pretty high.

I think I will take one for the team and try and pick this up tonight.

As far as I know, only Marathon 2: Durandal ever made it to the PC. It's better than Duke. Way better.

There was a project to bring a version of Marathon to the Dreamcast. I believe it was called...mmm...can't remember. Ahh, Aleph, I think. Or something similar. I believe it was in the alpha stage last time I checked.

You know, I play my DC more than my Xbox. Not sure what that says, but it's not good for M$. Mine has been relegated to movies and waiting for Fable and/or Halo2.

If I played my consoles more, I'd play the Dreamcast more than the XBox. Shit, the dreamcast is still my favorite system (compared to the PS2, XBox, and Gamecube) and by far has the best 1st party controller. Ever.

Having the Havok or Havok2 engine in your game does not mean anything though.  Just like you can make a shit ugly game with the doom3 engine if you don't have talented modelers, animators, and texture artists.  Thief3, Max Payne 2, and Farcry ALL use the Havok engine.  I think Thief3 even has the more advanced Havok2.  But all it is is a set of instructions.  MP2 was far better than Thief 3 in terms of physics and Farcry is better than them both.

The ragdolls in Thief3 are among the worst I have ever seen.  It is just a poor implementation of the physics (not setting the constraints correctly on the skeletal models, and fucking up the internal joint frictions totally).  Max Payne 2 was pretty good, but for my liking they put the friction coefficients and weights too low.  Things moved TOO easily.  I think the reason for this was gameplay so that you would never get trapped behind objects blasted around by the physics system.  It made sense, but was also not too realistic.  Farcry made the movable objects destroyable so they didn't have to worry about that as much.  There is also less object clutter in that game.

I just wanted to add NBA Ballers to the recommended list.  If you haven't played this game then you're definately missing out.  It's strictly one on one basketball (although I think there's some alternate modes like 1vs1vs1) and it's the most fun arcade-style basketball I've played since the original NBA Jam.

The key mode is a Rags-to-Riches 'Reality Show' (I hate Reality TV..) where you are an up and coming basketball player who is being followed around as you compete in different tournaments.  You play people from random no-names to Lebron James, Rasheed Wallace, Walt Frazier, etc.  You can also customize your look, a la Tiger Woods, gather a following, sport a 'fro, and on and on.

It's definately worth a rental.  I'm not sure how much value it would have as a purchase if you're only going to play single player.

Can I sport a pick in my 'fro? If so, I'm renting it tonight.

I like NBA Street Vol.2, but none of my friends like baskaball, so it's collected dust for the most part. It's basically the EA BIG tricks formula put into sports, with combos and stuff.

Rented Red Dead Revolver last night (on Schild's recommendation). Fucking cool game, much better than I thought it was gonna be. Already completed it though. Has anyone played it online? Seems like it could be fun, but I don't have XBL yet.

Someone explain to me the online multifragger aspects of Red Dead - as I understand it (or dont) its a capture-the-cards poker game where get a card when you kill someone and winner is the one with the best hand....or something?

it sounds 1 part cool and 2 parts WHU?

Actually, I just read that it isn't XBL aware, so that sucks (the only thing you can do is chat or something through it). So I guess the story mode is the only thing worth playing.

As far as normal multi-play goes, it's just a "best of" out of set number of matches. There's also a mode where players can compete at playing different missions, and another one where you just duel each other (best of).

I think the cards are actually power-ups (I'm not sure what a good hand gives you, but even one card will give you something). The card drops at the spot of the dead player. If you want something good, you have to get it at the right time, because the card spins and doesn't always remain the same. The maps are really small, so it's not a good idea to wait too long (sometimes your opponent could spawn right behind you).

Okay, I just unlocked the pick w/ 'fro that I didn't think existed.

Okay, how about RPG's...I have KoToR and Morrowind on the PC, but what about Gladius or Arx Fatalis?

I want to know also, I"m beginning to yern for an RPG.

Is Arx Fatalis any good?

I have Arx Fatilis for PC, it came free with my graphics card.

*cough*sucks*cough*

Gladius is ok, but WAY too slow paced. Since I'm not really using my xbox anymore because it looks like garbage on a real tv, I set Gladius aside pretty early.

Arx Fatalis I liked. As has been said 400 times, it's basically Ultima Underworld 3. If you liked UU, you'll probably dig Arx.

Don't get Ninja Gaiden.  If you value your soul avoid this game at all costs.  I've never played a game that made me want to kill the developers more than this game.  That includes all mmog's.  The camera pisses me off so bad.

What is it about games like this that continue to draw us back?  I want to break my xbox right now and do bodily harm to the nearest human being due to this game, but I know that I'll be playing it again tomorrow night....

BTW, I'm sure those of you who have played the game will want to know which part is pissing me off.  Well, I'm in Chapter 9 and am trying to beat the helicopter.  Thanks to the two tanks I only have one great spirit elixir and about 1/4 of life to begin with.  I can't believe they didn't put a vendor in this entire chapter.

Two games that fully engrossed me in the past 2 years had this exact same effect:

1) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 - Starting out as a new golfer is the hardest part of the game. Your stats suck ass, so you have to play as well as you can to even stay competitive...and even then you still get some random fuckups, and it exaggerates your mistakes. To it's credit, starting out in TW2004 is a lot like starting out with RL golf. You play like shit for a few holes, want to smash your controller, and then you hit a great shot, or nail an eagle. As your stats improve, the tolerance for fuckups goes down fast....but it gets easier overall.

2) WWE Smackdown : Shut Your Mouth -Any kind of fighting game can be frustrating if you are playing poorly. Again, much tougher if you are first getting started, because you have to unlock better moves and a 30 point (i.e. 20%) stat boost. Once it's unlocked, its unlocked for all future characters. Once I got going, the story mode and create-a-character features absolutely drew me in.

I think ultimately, the rage comes not from hating the game, it comes from getting pissed at your own mistakes. It's knowing that the game is good enough that you want to play it well, and being annoyed that you haven't quite made it yet.

Ultimately for me, if I don't get pissed when I'm playing like shit, it means I should never ever buy the game. If you can fuck up repeatedly and not get annoyed, it means the game hasn't engaged you enough, IMO....if you curse the controller, chances are you've made an emotional investment in the game. And that's a good thing, because playing well becomes immensely rewarding.

Now, my love/hate relationship is with RL golf...let's just say I hope my theory holds true on this game as well.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.................

I'm only in Chapter 5, but thanks for the heads up. Not having any vendors in a lvl is a raw deal, but that's why I do multiple saves, experimenting with the next chapter, until I'm absolutely positive it's safe to overwrite the main one. A little paranoia is a good thing.

I don't mind a game that makes me want to hurl my controller at the TV. If it's still fun enough to keep comin' back for more, it's a great game. Still, compared to some old games, Ninja Gaiden doesn't seem that hard: From what I can tell so far, I think I can finish it. If I want "really hard" there's still quite a few NES games I've never beaten, nor have I seen anyone beat them (Fester's Quest).

As long as there's more than one way to complete a lvl or beat a boss, I'm fine. I don't want too many options either, because then I can just breeze through without much thought. Timed missions tend to piss me off the most, because usually they're made where's there only one way to beat them (I think I read somewhere that Ninja Gaiden has a few timed missions later on. If they require an exact sequence of things in order to beat them, I'll probably quit...or just cheat).

It took long enough (~1 month) but I finally finished Ninja Gaiden on normal mode.  That has to be the hardest game I've played since some of the unbeatable NES games.

Now, it's time to play some BG&E and then attempt Hard mode I guess.  Has anyone even attempted Hard?  Hardest?

Hard is not that much worse than normal.  By the time you finish normal you have a lot more skill with the game though.

Very hard is supposed to be fucking brutal though.  I have never played it.

Shot a 59 in a tourney last night on Links 2k4 (13 under par). Still haven't managed an eagle on a par 4 or a hole in one yet...anyone have any luck with that? My 'character' only has about 60% of the maximum points available (if that); I would guess that a fully advanced character would be frightening.

I hate to say this, but maybe you're just too darn old! ;p  My nephew has been staying with me for 3 days now, helping me move.  I gave him Ninja Gaiden to play during the evenings and he's on chapter 12 already.  I gave up after about an hour because of that stupid camera and all the angle problems.  He swears at it, now and then, but doesn't seem to have many problems.  I think I'm pretty good at overcoming loopy gameplay but Ninja Gaiden is just too hard for me!

Hah, well age is definately a factor because I just don't have the time I used to have.  I got to a point where I set a goal for myself to finish one chapter per day, but at around chapter 9 I decided to start Chrono Trigger and ended up playing it for a couple of weeks.

Gotta love a modded Xbox.

Spidey 2, is good. See my mini review.