Topic: The everything Xbox thread

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@ReaderRagfish Yeah, I did get a bit carried away there, with the Dreamcast, huh?
But I'll be damned if I won't give that excellent console all the attention that it deserves...

As for the Xbox 360: I thought about it perhaps being best to wait until you're sure that the ones you now own are actually in working order, but I'll give (my version of) a top 10 anyways. I'll try to put some variation in there, since you didn't mention any preference and/or dislikes.

Oh, and the genres are in no particular order. Personally, I think it's rather strange to make top of anything lists, where you compare genres against each other, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, here goes:

Far as I'm concerned, every Xbox 360 owner should have a Forza game. Get Forza Motorsport if you're more into simulation, get Forza Horizon if you're more into arcade-like racers. Or get both... And get the latest installments of them, which means Forza Motorsport 4 and Forza Horizon 2.

Then of course, there's Halo, the console's primary mascot series, and a must have if you like fps games with a good story, and are sick and tired of yet another COD or Medal of Honor game...
Because it's a series with a story line, it would make sense to start with the first game, obviously, but there's also two spin-offs, namely Halo Reach and Halo ODST, which are basically standalone prequels/background stories to the main series. And besides those, there's also two Halo Wars games, which are RTS games, so if you like games like Command & Conquer and so on, then you might like these as well.

Next up, for third person shooters, give the Gears of War series a try. Here as well, I'm not going to mention just one game, since the series is connected, so just start at the first game, see if you like it, and go from there.

And I see you've mentioned Viva Piñata, which is actually also a series, albeit discontinued, but there's two games, and both are fun to play, both on your own, or with the kids, if you have any. It's basically a combination of a fantasy-life sim and a gardening game, and it can be very relaxing and enjoyable in short bursts.

I'll try to shorten the descriptions from here on out...

For RPG's get either The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion if you're into more realistic ones, or Blue Dragon if you want a more friendly looking, anime-type RPG. Another good choice is the Dragon Age series.

Of course, I have to mention Red Dead Redemption. Great game if you're into the whole "GTA" thing, except now taking place in the wild, wild West...

I already mentioned racing games, but I forgot the brilliantly entertaining arcade racer Split/Second, so there. It's a great game, with some wonderful trick mechanics, enabling you to change and destroy environments, to wipe out opponents. So much fun, especially with a friend...

Do you like 3D puzzlers, as in first person perspective? Get Portal 2, you'll like that as well.
(and if it's still available in your area, get The Orange Box, it contains 5 complete games: Portal 1, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Team Fortress)

Another personal favorite of mine is the Bioshock series. Imagine a crazy millionaire with a hermit complex designing a 60's city on the bottom of the ocean, people going crazy, weird, steampunk environments and inventions, and putting yourself in the midst of that decades later, and you'll get the idea. Not for the faint of heart or for a nice co-op experience with the kids...

Another one in the not for kids genre is the Xbox exclusive Left 4 Dead series. A squad based zombie fighter, in which you can either do single player, or play with friends (it's either 4 player co-op or 8 players in online multiplayer, and in single player, the other characters are AI controlled)

On a side note: I didn't mention any real sports games, because I'm not really into those: all I own is soccer and realistic fighting games, but there's of course plenty to find, and for American Football, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Baseball and so on, just go for the official games (NHL, NFL, NBA and so on)

I know it's cheating to add another game when you've already finished the list, but talking about fighting games, reminds me that I simply HAVE to mention the Dead Or Alive series. It's one of the best fighters ever made. Don't be fooled by the bouncy boob mechanics going on in the female characters, because the gameplay is solid.

One last thing to mention: since the Xbox 360 is also backward compatible with almost 300 original Xbox titles, you might also want to check out what that has to offer you. And there are definitely also some good games to be found among those.

I could (obviously) mention quite a few more, but I'll stop here. Also forgot to ask if you also own a PS3, because in that case, there's some multi-platform games in my list, that you might already know or own.

Anyway, hope you find something you like in my list, and if you have any questions about any particular game, you know where to find me...