360 Starter Games?

Oblivion is pretty amazing. Ninja Gaiden 2 is a beast; don't buy it unless you know what you're getting yourself into. Oh, and GTA is a no-brainer--both singleplayer and multiplayer are a blast.

Oblivion is probably going to give you the best return on your cash. The game is HUGE. Get the Game of the Year Edition.

Oh, and don't forget the offerings available on XBOX Live Arcade; there are some amazing games on there. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (to pick one example) was one of the best titles on the PS1, one of the best side-scrollers ever, and it's on Live for $10.

Elder Scrolls is really long and involved, but still a lot of fun. If you're looking for one game to occupy your time for a *long* time, and still hold your interest, that's the one I'd recommend. Especially since you like RPGs already. Another plus is that it should be quite a bit cheaper than some of the others on your list.

Mass Effect is really good too, and GTA 4 is great.

Oblivion. It's simply massive - most reward for your money (it's easily a budget title now). Brilliance.

Actually, I thought Oblivion was a big damn bore, myself. Yes, it's huge, but not terribly involving, in my opinion. I'd go for GTA4 or Mass Effect.

Quoted for truth.

I don't disagree that it can be boring when compared to GTA4 or Mass Effect, but if Zero hasn't played an RPG since the N64, and likes the genre to begin with, you can't really go wrong with Oblivion. It's beautiful, the gameplay is engaging, and there is a massive amount of content.

That, and you can pick it up used for under $20.

Check out the Ninja Gaiden 2 thread for more details, but basically the game is brutally hard. If you're still interested, you can always download the original, Ninja Gaiden Black, from XBOX Live (it's an XBOX Original, so it's $15); I think it's a better game than 2, it still looks great, and it's a steal at the price.

I can back this up. I hadn't owned a console since Dreamcast and purchased the 360, rather than upgrading my PC, so I could play Oblivion. Worth every damn penny. It's got loads of material but you don't have to play continuously. Lots of stopping points. Frankly, I hated getting to the end, but different classes mean I can come back to it after finishing everything else.

Since the 360 also is partially backwards compatible it was great to be able to play alot of what I'd missed. The KOTORs were fantastic.

OK, there is a massive difference between being an Xbox newbie and a gaming newbie. If you haven't played since the N64 (and mostly like RPGs, which tend to be static) you're almost the latter.

Assassin's, GTA IV, NGII and even Oblivion are all games that require a certain amount of skill with manipulating both your character and the camera and (in some of them) a not inconsiderable set of button combinations. They're not simple games by any means; NGII in particular is very demanding.

Renting a few games is probably a good place to start. Check out Oblivion, which has loads of content but also can seem tremendously unfocused and heavy on repetitive action.

Also try Bioshock, which has a lot of classic RPG spirit combined with more current game design.

Dead Rising is a lot of fun, but very speicific and potentially irritating. I think it's the oldest game on your list, though, so it'll be cheap.

Assassin's is awesome...for the first hour or two. Then totally repetitive. But if you really loved the first hour or two you may like it more.

YES.

My console gaming history has big gaps in it too. Times where I didn't game much at all, or got sucked into PC gaming (the golden era of id: Doom 2 through Quake 3). You're going to love the 360 once you get used to the quirks.

For an old-school RPG fan, the reviews would seem to point you in the direction of Lost Odyssey. People are definitely mixed on it, but it's the most old-school on your list.

I too found Oblivion couldn't hold my interest. I made several attempts to get into it, but unless you regularly have 5+ hour chunks of free time to give the game, I might think twice. On the other hand, it is cheap now, and bursting with content and things to do.

If you liked the Japanese RPGs then Lost Odyssey is definitely a game you want to look into. All the games on your list are pretty good (minus Assassins Creed).

The gameplay is not engaging. That was my point.

There ya' go!

Congrats on the 360 purchase. Unfortunately, by posting that info here, I'm claiming my right of prima nocte.

Just finished Lost Odyssey and being Chud's resident Final Fantasy(/JRPG) apologist, based on your list, you'd love Lost Odyssey. Just beware that it's an easy 70 hours to get through.

But if you own a PS3 or 360 and don't own Bioshock (this is for everyone on the boards), you should have your console taken away.

I'd like to throw in my two cents:
"Dead Rising" is rewarding once you learn to cope with its self imposed limitations, but once you get used to its brutal, somewhat sadistic gameplay rules, it can be very rewarding...but by that point, you'll actually get tired of zombie killing.
Assasin's Creed is beautiful and engaging, but its repetitive gameplay ends up killing its potential.
Mass Effect is the most dynamic and rewarding rpg experience in the 360 so far in my own experience.
Finally, while they aren not on your list, you cant go wrong with Call of Duty 4 or The Orange Box for FPS and multiplayer experience.
I wuld pick GTAIV, Mass Effetc and go with Lost Oddysey, then wait for Tales of Vesperia and Fallout 3 for the RPG fix.

I get the impression that Zeroillusion cannot play FPS games, so I think it's kind of pointless to recommend them to him(and yes Orange Box and CoD4 are amazing). Even though Oblivion is slower paced, that may get to him as well(can you play Oblivion in third-person like Morrowind?).

Is it motion sickness or something else?

Well, if you like zombie movies, and don't mind getting your ass kicked for a while before getting the sense of accomplishment as you get better, then DEAD RISING is a real winner. It's still one of the few "next-gen" games that would be completely impossible a generation ago. And as mentioned previously, it should be pretty cheap. It's easily the game I'm most hoping for a sequel to.

On the RPG side, IMO there's MASS EFFECT, and then there's everything else.

I'd go with Mass Effect, GTA IV, and Lost Odyssey myself. Oblivion is good to some people and shit to others, so I'd say it'd be worth it to rent it first and see if you like it. But in spite of being called an "rpg", it's almost diametrically opposed to the kinds of RPGs you say you liked, which are more traditional-for-consoles JRPG affairs. Mass Effect is more of a hybrid between that and the free-form and unfocused exploration gameplay of Oblivion. And GTA IV is (IMHO) better at the free form sandbox than Oblivion is.

Other than that, Ass Creed looks a hell of a lot better than it plays, and ng2... Imagine you're a little girl. NG2 is the fat crazy-looking guy who will bite the head off your pet bunny in front of you and bathe in its blood before he rapes you. It's THAT hard. Extremely rewarding if you master it, but holy hell.

Before you do anything else with your shiny new console I'd recommend getting Geometry Wars for its awesomeness and also to train you in the dual-sticks gameplay any decent Xbox 360 game has. It's like 5 bucks in Live Arcade, so there's no excuse not to.

I bought a Xbox 360 a few montgs ago because of GTA4 and I've been checking out the other games. there are a lot of demo's on Xbox Marketplace, you could check those out and see if there's anything you like. I discovered I really hate FPS games on the Xbox because of the controls and aiming, I'd much rather play those on a PC. But platformers are a blast on consoles, after I completed GTA4 I plan on buying Mass Effect to waste my time with.

I also bought Gears of War (it's cheap) but discovered I hated it. Haven't touched it in weeks.

I just finished Lost Odyssey, and I'd recommend it to any fan of the genre.

Eternal Sonata. You won't regret it. Blue Dragon's pretty good too.

Give Earth Defence Force 2017 a try.It's not as flashy as the games mentioned above but man is it fun.Wicked co-op and if you're willing to beat it on each difficulty level and get all the weapons it will easily last you 80 hours.

And my point is that it *is* engaging...although my intention was to grant that you had a point when looking at it in comparison to GTA4 or Mass Effect. Especially f you have a love of the genre, and the last RPG you played was on the N64. If you wiled away hours and hours playing Zelda on the N64, Oblivion is a very enjoyable jump.

The Dead Rising save system can be a royal bitch, but it adds a lot to the dread of the zombie hordes. You'll find yourself swearing as you're racing for the restrooms after a brutal encounter with the locals, much like my real-life experiences at the food court's ¡Taco Viva! chain.

I recommend you rent all of those games on your list, though.

I started off with GH3, Bioshock, Assassins Creed, Orange Box, and I bought Scene It and Halo 3 for my girlfriend (she's a fan). All of those have been excellent so far.

Rock Band if you like music even a little bit.

Not an RPG, but a lot of fun, Call of Duty 4 is my fave 360 game by a mile. Especially playin on Xbox live.

'We just got our asses kicked'

i hear that far too often.

You'll want it for the 360 because of the DLC.

I don't think it is.

If youre an xbox 360 owner, youve gotta have

oblivion
mass effect
call of duty 4
gta 4
rock band
bioshock
halo 3

other games to look at but have a slight issue

assassin's creed (really repetitive, but fun)
lost odyssey (good jrpg, but still not as good as the westerns and pales in comparison to old school jrpgs)
crackdown (tad repetitive)
bully scholarship edition (few bugs)

You can get Rockaway Beach as a download on the 360, along with a metric ton of other songs. Trust me, you want the 360 version.

Well, that's one opinion, albeit a popular one. I actually love RPG's -- it may be my favorite game genre -- and that's exactly why I didn't like Oblivion. There's no story to speak of, no character development whatsoever, nothing resembling drama or narrative, and no pressure to actually accomplish anything. Just run from place to place and perform random tasks for anybody who'll pay you. That's not roleplaying, it's GTA with swords and magic. And GTA does it better.

edit:
Actually, I misspoke. GTA4 does have plot, character development, and pressure to accomplish things. At least more so than Oblivion. I guess this means that, in my opinion, GTA4 is more of an RPG than Oblivion is.

stop saying what I'm trying to, only better.

If you're looking for some low price points and like RPGs, you might as well snatch up Knights of the Old Republic. It's $10 used at Gamestop or $15 as an Xbox Original download, and it's pretty much the greatest shit evar.

KOTOR is a download now?

Shit, here I go again.

Edit:
I just looked, and it's not. Unless you know something about upcoming releases that I don't. Don't toy with my emotions.

Damn, I could have sworn it was up at some point. I'm insane.