I think I sound crazy thinking this, but I kind of miss the earlier days of Xbox 360 when there weren't so many games. At the end of Microsoft's E3 press release they say they'll have a catalog of 300 games on the 360 by the end of 2007. I'm really starting to notice that there's more games out now than I could possibly play (let alone complete) anytime soon. I guess it's a good thing, but in a way it was nice when there were only 20-30 titles and pretty much everyone was playing the same few games.

I think it means there's alot of good games I'm going to miss out on. I just can't go buy ALL the games... I think I'm going to pick and choose 2-3 over the rest of this year. There's a few games releasing next year that I'm highly anticipating as well. Fighting the temptation to buy games is going to be hard throughout next year!

I just can't go buy ALL the games...

I'm going to try... :p

That what summer jobs are for, right? :D

Yeah, being a pretty casual gamer (read that as wife and kid and other things to do) I can fit in about 3 or 4 games a year, so it's really hard to pick and choose what to get. And I really have to make sure those decisions are the most bang for my buck (well, bang for my time really, since time is a bigger issue than money for me).

The only must-haves on my list for the remainder of this year are Ace Combat 6 and Mass Effect. I'm sure I'll pick up a FPS, but I think I might skip Halo 3 (blasphemy!) and wait for Team Fortress 2 instead (or COD4, but I can't remember when that's coming out). I'm not sure...like I said it's really hard to narrow down the list when I just can't play more than a few games.

Maybe I should've got a PS3, and then I wouldn't have this problem (yet anyways).

I agree. The good games have been coming fast and furious the past few months, with no end in sight. I look at it this way: with games coming out way faster than I could possibly play them (I'm a casual gamer, 5 or 6 hours a week) that means I'll be able to buy them after they are discounted. win-win! :)

Either way, it's a good problem to have. We're reaching the mid point of the 360's life cycle, and it's really coming into its own, IMO.

I think I sound crazy thinking this, but I kind of miss the earlier days of Xbox 360 when there weren't so many games. At the end of Microsoft's E3 press release they say they'll have a catalog of 300 games on the 360 by the end of 2007. I'm really starting to notice that there's more games out now than I could possibly play (let alone complete) anytime soon. I guess it's a good thing, but in a way it was nice when there were only 20-30 titles and pretty much everyone was playing the same few games.


300 games? Are they counting Arcade games? And out of those 300 games I liked about 10 of them..

let's just say I'm glad I signed up for gamefly last month. I'll be buying quite a few on release day but there's several others that I'll probably pick up at gamefly's used price if I like them as well.

This Summer has not been slow at all and I'm afraid that it is still just the quiet before the storm. The holiday lineup is killer, with Rock Band and GH3 and I was very impressed with the footage of COD4 from last night's press conference. I play about an hour a night, but with multiplayer some of these games have really long lives. I still can not move past Lost Planet. I have a long list of titles I want to spend some time on: Carcassone, Darkness, Shadowrun, and Dirt, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get to run through these games. I find it funny that reviewers ding games if they are only 6-7 hours long, but those sound great to me (esp. as a rental).

I have had every console, almost, and during my ownership have never owned every title released. My collection hovers around 12 or so games for each. I buy, sell, trade and keep it modest.
That said, I still go and rebuy a console if something good comes around. I now own my second PS2, got rid of the first when the OG Xbox launched. Got the new PS2 for the God of War series and the latest FF.

I think it is a wonderful position to be in. This way I can hold off and wait for price drops and detailed reviews to see if a game is worth playing. I dropped a lot of money on some early 360 games that I probably wouldn't have otherwise (PDZ, Condemned, Quake4), should have waited for a price drop or rented. Now I can cherry pick one or two (probably Bioshock and Mass Effect) and let the others drop in price before I get them. I'm shying away from buying any FPS since they tend to be short and I'm not much of a multiplayer.

300 games? Are they counting Arcade games? And out of those 300 games I liked about 10 of them..

You sure its not a PS3 you have :p

All kidding aside, I have to pick and choose which games I want to buy also. I simply can not afford buying every game I want. For now, its Madden 08, Halo 3, Blacksite Area 51, GTA IV, Mass Effect and possibly, two worlds.

One way to decide on whether to 'own' a game or not is to calculate the cost/hour gameplay (along with fun factor). For example, most shooters may have very short campaign (such as gears of war) but I have spent >100 hours on line. Halo to some may not have the best 'story' but the amount of hours one would spend on line makes the game a 'must have'. On the other hand, some games (RPG's) have long story lines (oblivion) and not on line play and thus cost/hour game play is low. Others will be in between. CoD2, CoD3, and now CoD4, its more of the same, online gets tweeked (GRAW and then GRAW2) thus to some its just an extension of the same game, but the cost/hour doubled with the next 'chapter'. Again, it may be worth it if you play a lot of online, but for the story alone, maybe not. I bought CoD3 at the same time as GoW, but still have not played it, and CoD4 is comming out soon, so likely I will pass on it, even though it looks great. Halo is an Xbox staple, you know that for years the onine will remain active.

Biggest advanatage of having so many games is that in 1 year the price becomes significantly cheaper. Recently I have bought Kameo, Lego Star Wars, Table Tennis and they are all great games especially when they are less than $25. Games that I miss this holidays will be cheap next year, good for me. (well maybe not, as there is not enough time to play them).

thing is, by the time the price drops... you're already looking forward to the next upcoming games! You'll always want to play the current games everyone else is playing and talking about.

thing is, by the time the price drops... you're already looking forward to the next upcoming games! You'll always want to play the current games everyone else is playing and talking about.

It's almost like they have a plan or something.

I've been thinking the same thing. There are just sooo many quality games out now. I cannot give even one of them the time and attention they are worth. Its so hard to keep up on all the must play games. It seems like not that long ago you played so-so games waiting for the new awesome game to come out and it was a breath of fresh air when it did.

300 games? Are they counting Arcade games? And out of those 300 games I liked about 10 of them..

I think they are probably counting arcade games and maybe even the backwards comaptible games too, but still it's a lot.

BC games are not included, but I think arcade is most likely included and there will be 100 of those by year end. I can easily believe that 200 retail games will be available by the end of the year.

I am also looking forward to some games:

Madden 08
Mass effect
Bioshock
Area 51 blacksite
Undertow
ace combat 6
cod4
halo 3
crimson skies 2


but I want a new SSX the most of all.

I am also looking forward to some games:

Madden 08
Mass effect
Bioshock
Area 51 blacksite
Undertow
ace combat 6
cod4
halo 3
crimson skies 2


but I want a new SSX the most of all.



COD 4
Ace Combat 6

Are buys for me..

I can't wait for CoD4, Bioshock, and PGR4 for my cat & mouse needs. Kane & Lynch looks cool too. I'll pick up Halo 3 but mostly for single player.

I fear november.
Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey are scary enough by themselves but you start adding in the other releases (COD4, PGR4, Assassin's Creed--though I expect that one to slip; it *needs* to slip) and its not just our pocketbooks that are going to hurt. Some deserving games are going to undersell...
So many (premium) games, so little time...

BC games are not included, but I think arcade is most likely included and there will be 100 of those by year end. I can easily believe that 200 retail games will be available by the end of the year.

Gamefly has 215 games listed for Xbox 360--includes current, future, and TBO's.


Wow!

August - Bioshock, Medal of Honor: Airborne, etc.

September - Timeshift, Fatal Inertia, Halo 3

Octobor - Half-Life 2:Orange Box, Conan (maybe), Mercenaries 2, etc.

November - Need for Speed: Prostreet, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect,

I'm glad Haze and UTIII aren't coming out until early 2008.

I think I sound crazy thinking this, but I kind of miss the earlier days of Xbox 360 when there weren't so many games. At the end of Microsoft's E3 press release they say they'll have a catalog of 300 games on the 360 by the end of 2007. I'm really starting to notice that there's more games out now than I could possibly play (let alone complete) anytime soon. I guess it's a good thing, but in a way it was nice when there were only 20-30 titles and pretty much everyone was playing the same few games.

You are crazy!

(I'm joking, of course.)

The phrase "too many games" is a great thing. Period. As far as I know, every gaming genre is represented on the 360. Things are looking very bright on the software side as MS continues to wheel and deal (i.e. GTA exclusive content). I just hope they can get the hardware issues resolved.

not buying cod4. Now they are on the one a year schedule. Not a fan of that strategy...

It isn't really "they". IW didn't do COD3.

After all of those games it's going to be hard to find players who want to play Hearts on live! lol Every game in the end gets more fragmented online, but what can you do?

not buying cod4. Now they are on the one a year schedule. Not a fan of that strategy...
Really it's a 2 year schedule since a different team built COD3. COD4 should be along the same lines as COD 1 & 2 in terms of quality. The same thing was done between COD1 and COD2 when they released COD:UO by the secondary development group.

After all of those games it's going to be hard to find players who want to play Hearts on live! lol Every game in the end gets more fragmented online, but what can you do?

That's exactly what I'm saying. The number of games is growing much faster than the number of new Xbox Live gamers. My friends list is almost full (many people's are full). It used to be that those 100 or so friends would be split between maybe 3-4 of your favorite games. Now that there are so many good games out, those same 100 or so friends are split over say 15-20 different games. What I'm finding is that it's harder and harder to log onto Live on any given night and play a particular game with a full room of people from your friends list.

I think the explosion of quality games is great for SP gamers and potentially mixed for gamers who play primarily MP. MP gamers are always trying to 'catch up' and be playing the same game most other people on Live are playing at the time.

^That is an issue with MMO's on the PC to. They keep adding more content, instances etc but what it does is it means there are less people to play with in any given instance and you have to wait. Guild Wars at least came up with a very nice hench/hero system to get you by. But you get the point, same thing happening with 360.