I broke down and got an Xbox recently when I decided I just could not wait any longer for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on the PC.

Excellent purchase. It came with Tetris Worlds and Clone Wars, both of which are decent games. But KOTOR, damn. That is a fun game. I haven't had this much fun with a Star Wars game since... well, ever. I'm playing Galaxies, but its sort of a disappointment so far, hopefully the content will start to improve sometime soon.

Final Fantasy X is 20 bucks now on Sonys Greatest Hits, so I finally got around to that. I guess I haven't missed too much. Its a decent game and all, but I really do yearn for FF games more in the SNES style. Its just too cinematic. The cutscenes are far too frequent. I've spent more time watching the plot unfold than I have playing the game. Whats doubly itrritating is whne a cutscene ends, control is returned to you for about 3 seconds and then another begins. I don't see myself finishing it.

Any suggestions on what Xbox game I should get next? (Don't say Halo)

Are there other Xbox games?

Halo, Splinter Cell, Soul Calibur II (if you like fighting games), TimeSplitters 2, Tony Hawk 3 or 4 (both are $20 now and are insanely fun), Rallisport Challenge (if you like racing games - this one is awesome), MGS2:Substance (it's only like $20 now), Jet Set Radio Future (if that kind of thing is your bag), Dead or Alive 3 & Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (to see the breasts the system is capable of rendering)... I have all of those except Volleyball and they were all worth my money. I'd recommend Splinter Cell or Tony Hawk first though. (3 and 4 are different enough that they're both worth owning; 4 is infinitely harder.)

Additions to the to-buy list, but they were already on it (from last year):

- Super Nintendo
- Sega Saturn

vsp, were you the one that had two game rooms just filled with games? I saw pictures, and I was thinking they were yours, but maybe they're not. I can't remember. If so, wanna post pictures again? :)

I wish I had more space, 'cause I want to set up a sort of retro gaming area on a separate TV. I have to buy a 27" TV for insurance purposes anyway, and I've still got the one from the fire (I think it will work if we take it apart and clean it). Get a system selector switch and put the old PlayStation on it, plus a Saturn, SNES, NES and have the connector for the Nomad... maybe in the bedroom. I don't know. I sure do enjoy playing games though.

Is it a requirement for every male to fantasize about making some sort of uber-gaming center? I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't. Including me, of course.

Though I agree that I match the description of someone who WOULD build such a pleasure den, I currently live in a two-bedroom apartment. When I go house-hunting, a finished basement for gaming purposes will be one of my criteria.

(Ah, who the fuck am I kidding? A box with four walls that keeps the wind and rain out will be all I can afford in Chester County.)

I did pick up a cheap third TV last night, however, which will be going in my current game/computer room and have all sorts of systems hooked to it. Those five-setting switch boxes from Pelican are a gamer's best friend. (Let's see. Living room = GameCube and multicarted Vectrex, bedroom = PS2 and modded PS1, game room = TurboDuo, Dreamcast, Jaguar, NES... and if I get pathological, old school GAME <-> TV slider switchbox run through an RF Modulator so I can swap out my Atari, Intellivision and ColecoVision.)

That "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" guy says that men build CAVES for themselves. Every guy needs a cave to hang out, no women allowed.

But my wife is an avid gamer, and she's a woman. Yes, I've checked thoroughly.

I still want to turn an arcade cabinet into a MAME box someday, but that's on my someday-I'll-get-to-it list. (Ideally, I'd have a menu proggy up front to allow other emulators to run on the same control scheme. Since 99% of console emulators allow joystick input, it'd just be a matter of registering the control panel of the cabinet as a valid Windows joystick/controller, which I believe some preconstructed control sets have already accomplished.)

Man. Paul, yes. When you guys live with us, we will have one. Three GameCubes, 2 PS2's, 2 Xboxes... it'll rule. Oh yes.

Ideally I'd like to have basically two living rooms... one upstairs for movie and TV watching, and then "the den" downstairs for gaming. Two or three TVs (one big one set up with surround sound, of course), a nice big comfy sofa and some big, plush chairs that you could sink into and play your GAME GEAR! all day long.

Then I just need to retire. Yeah.

I see these lots of like 100 Genesis games on eBay for $80 and stuff. I just think "man, if only I had the time"... ah...

Gaming rules.

Oddly, I've never had the urge to sell any of my old-school games on eBay or elsewhere, other than a Vectrex now that I have three of them. I have just about every cartridge-based game I've ever owned on my PC via emulation, and then some, but there's something about digging out the genuine article now and then and remembering, for instance, just how funky the Bally Astrocade's controllers were.

(For the uninitiated -- trigger grip, with a joy-knob on top... that rotated. Joystick and paddles in one unit! Very nice. It would've been perfect for games like Tron or Mad Planets, had the system had the horsepower.)

While I agree that all humans need their space - I think I'm probably the one - not my BF that wants a gaming cave when we finally go house hunting.

Right now we have a 2 bedroom apartment. (Kids come over every weekend) In our living room - desk with 3 computers (one for me, one for the BF, one for the kids). All computers have a view of the television. Hooked up to the TV - PS2 (adults), Gamecube (kids) and DVD (all). In the Kids room - another Ps2 (kingdom hearts) and the Nintendo 64 as well as a VCR. In our bedroom - TV with VCR and PSone. We will be getting an x-box soon I hope, but as we live in Oregon and the BF is unemployed right now due to our state having the highest unemployment rate in the nation - we are a little short on cash. Oh! One thing I forgot to mention - in the living room next to computers right by couch -my small college dorm refrigerator - Yes I have a beer fridge in my living room!!!!

I have a disgusting amount of equipment, and since I am a dumb asshole, I will continue to buy more, instead of saving to buy a house. Who needs a house when you can play all 248 Dreamcast games?

vsp - I know! I've got three or four Atari 2600's that I'll never get rid of, and probably 100 carts for 'em. I couldn't part with 'em. Same with all my other stuff... I don't understand the people that sell their systems. I guess if you never use 'em anymore, but that will never be me. I will always want to play games. :)

Man... does it get better than sitting down and playing a game all freaking day? It does, but not much.

Active Library

--N64
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars Episode 1: Battle For Naboo
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
StarFox 64
GoldenEye 007
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter


--GameCube
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Metroid Prime
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I also had in my lifetime the NES, Genesis, and SNES, with a myriad of games for each, all of which have succumbed to the fate of overuse and now exist only in the world of ROMs and emulators. Rest easy my friends, you shall never be forgotten.

I just, at this moment, cannot justify spending the money for an Xbox when the only games I'd enjoy for it would be Halo and KOTOR. I've played other things on friends' Boxes, and found that either the games are not something I'd pay good money for or could find equal or superior versions on the Cube (Splinter Cell, SC2, Towers).

If the Box comes down to compete with the Cube's price cut, maybe I'll snag one. Beyond that, no dice. Especially with the games ready for Cube over this holiday season - True Crime, XIII, Mario Kart Double Dash, Return of the King, Rebel Strike. Man...I get two of those, and I'll be three weeks late for the start of Spring term. Throw in Rebel Strike, and forget it, I'll make the classes up over the summer.

I dunno, man. KOTOR is more than enough reason to buy an Xbox in my book. :)

As uninterested in Halo as I am, I saw some footage of it on TechTv's X-Play last night, and if i thought I could get my wife to play deathmatch with me, I would probably pick it up.

Dude, you can deathmatch with *me* over the internet. And you don't even have to split the screen! Score!