X-Box Essentials.

[Wools]

For someone who's just getting into Xbox here's my top 5:

Halo
Jet Set Radio Future
Moto GP 2
Shenmue 2
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Vollyball

You cant go wrong with those!

[Lebowski]

dont think anyones mentioned amped, i really enjoied and still am enjoying this, you can get it for about 12 quid theses days to bargin.

[Stroker Ace]

I have a chipped Box on the way.

One question: Can you run MAME-X straight off of a DVD-R if you stick it on there with all the ROMS, or do you have to install it to the hard drive?

[revisedgenocide]

If you liked the cartoon then Robotech Battlecry is worth a go. Like amped it can be picked up pretty cheaply. The best version is the xbox one. How essential it is depends on your liking of the series.

[Vaipon]

You *must* get your xbox chipped. This is the only reason I bought one, they are a really good emulator platform once you've done this. The media player is also superb.

The only game that I ever got into on the xbox was Burnout2. Haven't been able to get excited about anything else on the machine despite trying.

[barrym]

I have a chipped Box on the way.

One question: Can you run MAME-X straight off of a DVD-R if you stick it on there with all the ROMS, or do you have to install it to the hard drive?

Runs fine from DVD, but loads the roms faster from the HD.

[scottcr]

Since I got my Xbox chipped and upgrade the hard drive it's been my console of chioce... there's soooo much flexibility locked up in side it... by shoving a chip in you can unleash the true power of the beast...

streaming mp3s from your PC for a home entertainment box over a wireless network.

emulating old games that you just can't get anymore

eliminating load times by storing your games on hard drive

play any region DVD

it's great...

I still buy Xbox games of course, and to use Xbox live, you need to still play from disc and make sure the chip is disabled (most come with switches now)... however.. it is frustrating that microsoft didn't give us this flexibility from day one.. if they had, it wouldn't have been the "problem" for them that it is today...

having said all that.. I know quite a few folks who've bought an Xbox SPECIFICALLY because it's so flexible as a modding platform. MS can't complain about that can they!?

[Valken]

My recommendations would probably be:

Halo
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
JSRF
Yager
MotoGP2
Midtown Madness 3
Brute Force

With forthcoming cool games being:

Star Wars: KOTOR
Crimson Skies

[Salsa Party Animal]

My top 5 games for XBOX

Halo
Moto GP 2
Amped
Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball
Colin McRae Rally 3

Wanted

Knights of Old Republic,
Halo 2,
Doom III,
Half Life II,
Colin McRae Rally 4

[Geezer]

having said all that.. I know quite a few folks who've bought an Xbox SPECIFICALLY because it's so flexible as a modding platform. MS can't complain about that can they!?

ummmm, yes they can, MS lose money on each machine sold and if the people are buying them to mod for homebrew, media player and emus etc., they're less likely to support MS by buying games for it