The Games!

So about a week ago I put an Xbox 360 on Layby until Christmas. Since my eventual possession of an Xbox is now confirmed I quickly set about deciding what games I would buy to get me going when the day came. After a lot of browsing I came up with four titles that I decided i would like to give a go.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I am first and foremost a fantasy/RPG player. I never feel more at home in a game than when I have a word in my hand or magical energy coursing through my veins. I was first introduced to Oblivion’s awesomeness about two years ago when my girlfriend bought me the PC version for Christmas. I was delighted. Not only in the game but also in that Sarah had overcome her dislike of video games to get me something that she knew I would like (that’s love right there). To my dismay however I would quickly discover out that my computer lacked the capacity to play it and so a sad trip was made to the games store to return it. But with my new Xbox on the horizon I can finally get into the game.

Gears of War

When looking at the Xbox’s flagship titles. The ones that are exclusive to its brand Gears of War was right up there on the top. Magazines and websites are being flooded with news and previews of the highly anticipated Gears of War 3 and it looks amazing. As strong as my love of fantasy is, my love of giant beasties is possibly greater. The Locust Horde that features in GOW will be a nice step away from the hacking and slashing of an RPG. And I do enjoy a good third-person shooter every now and again.

Mass Effect

Another flagship title for the Xbox, Mass Effect appeals for its blending of Sci-Fi elements and RPG gameplay. It’s something that I have never played before and I am eager to launch into a good space opera. Star Wars and Stargate are big favourites of mine and it looks like Mass Effect can deliver in providing me with a good juicy tale.

Fable

Finally, we come to the big one. I loved the look of Fable ever since the first title was released way back in 2004. It will be great to finally get my hands on such a unique and engaging game. I hope it lives up the hype and I’m pretty sure it will. I’m hoping that by the time I am finished with number two Fable 3 will have come down to a sensible price range. Never have I payed more than $50 dollars for a game and I never intend to.

So those are the big draw cards on my list. Thankfully EB Games has recently run a deal that involved Mass Effect, Gears of War and The elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion allowing me to pick up all three titles for just $40 dollars. Thanks EB. So I have my games but not the console to play them on. I shall have to be content with online reviews and reading the instruction booklets until I can finally dive into them.

It is decided!

Over the past few months there has been a grudge match being waged in my head. The limited range of games that I have on my DS and the sad state of my computer’s graphics means that I have not really had my gaming hunger sated in the last two years since my moving out of home. I would spend my days browsing EB Games for titles that would have no chance of running on my poor little laptop and looking enviably over at the Xbox and Playstation shelves. Over there is where I wanted to be, in the big leagues. I wanted a controller in my hands and buttons to mash. I couldn’t stand the pressure anymore and I decided that something had to be done.
But what to buy? This was the beginning of long and arduous debate that would rage in my mind for the following months. Playstation 3 or Xbox 360? That was the question. In the end it came down to simple pros and cons.

On one hand we had the Xbox 360, whose pros included a wide range of games (larger, I think than that afforded by the PS3) and a distinctly lower price tag (the Arcade model of console sells for less than $200). On the other we had the PS3 which boasted a blu-ray player (a large bonus for me as a Cinema Studies major and lover of all things filmic) and a whopping $450 price tag. Not to mention that prior to my move I was the proud owner of a PS2 and had spent many a day (or weekend) fighting my way through the first two God of War titles and before that the original Playstation that introduced me to the joy of Crash Bandicoot.

As I have no intention of playing online, downloading online content or performing any other online action that a console may allow the size of the hard drive was of little to no importance to me. So long as I had room enough to save my games then I would be a happy man. I figured that having a Blu-ray player would just end up costing more money for me in the long run and my TV would hardly do its quality justice anyway the bonus of the blu-ray was lost to the PS3.

So there were my choices: an overpriced PS3 that would cost me no less than $400 or an Xbox 360 Arcade at modest price of $180 (the cheapest around, Thanks Big W). From then on it was a no brainer for me. Yes, I would have to give up God of War, but I would be introduced to so many new and wondrous worlds (Fable and Mass Effect to name a few).

Unfortunately this all came to a point right before Christmas, the holiday that would deny me my gratification for another three weeks. Three agonizing weeks to wait, til I can lay my hands on my new Xbox 360 Arcade, but until then there will be another question boiling over in my mind: what games to buy first?