I purchased an X-Box on 5 May 2002.

Below is a list of games currently in my X-Box library and my thoughts/review upon them.

Further below are those games that I've purchased, played and sold on... gotta love E-Bay!

And finally there  is my current Wants list.


 

An excellent driving game with 4 cities, San Francisco, New York, Tokyo and London to race around. Each city has an incredible number of tracks so you certainly can't get bored on that score. The game also has numerous unlockable cars to keep you pushing just that little bit further.

Without cheating I believe I have unlocked about 75% of the game but some of the challenges now have become too hard for me! However, certainly this is a game I intend to keep in my collection as the replay value is pretty much unlimited and, if you're in the mood for it, you can play one single track for an hour just trying to set new record times etc.

Yes, I purchased two driving games initially with the X-Box! They are not however that comparable as the Rally style racing is very unlike the city racing of Project Gotham.

I have fully unlocked this game and again, like Project Gotham, this game remains in my collection purely because of the fun replay value. It is also a better multiplayer game in my opinion than Project Gotham. And also, it has SPEED! Although both racing games are excellent in their own right, Rallisport makes Project Gotham seem like a snail pace if you play it directly afterwards.

And also a big thumbs up for the controller vibrations from this game... very well done!

I love this game! What great imagination... beautifully presented story with excellent cut scenes and with a fun gameplay allowing you to swap between the two characters each with their own strengths and weaknesses. A bit like a modern day Head Over Heels for those who remember that game!

I've played this game through in it's entirety but have no intention of trading the game in as I'm sure I'll come back and play it through again some time (and hopefully do it better and save more critters next time...)

A mandatory game for all X-Box owners to have. Everybody tends to agree this is the most amazing game released on any game system and although there is a lot of hype surrounding this game, it does, for the most part, manage to live up to it.

I must admit the first level disappointed me somewhat and I wondered what the hype was about. However, as the story draws you further into the game and you start riding around in numerous vehicles with a bunch of bad ass marines you begin to understand why people rave about this game so much! I must admit though I tend to like around missions 2 to 6 or so... not so impressed with the Flood nor some repetitive levels such as the Library.

People also rave about the multiplayer co-operative and deathmatch game although I have to confess I have not really fully played these and, for deathmatch, I've always thought split screen never works. I hate being able to sneak a peak at where the other players are!

Anyway... although some of the above may sound negative, Halo is still an essential game to own.

I've always loved the skiing game in the arcade and was always a little envious of the snowboarding game on the Nintendo 64 as there was not really any PC equivalent.

It is mainly for these reasons that I purchased Amped on the X-Box... I needed to feel that whoosh of board on snow and was always a sucker for looking at a pretty mountain covered in snow but without having to get physically frozen myself!

The game itself has a lot to it and my attempts at unlocking the various mountains etc has been rather pitiful due to me finding the game very hard to play. This is a bit frustrating but I keep hold of the game in the belief that one day I'll come back and master it!

Also have to make a mention of the excellent indie bands soundtrack. Very cool!

Excellent bike racing game with a great sense of speed and a clever use of screen blurring when you are going at top speed.

There may now be Moto GP 2 but, having seen that in action, I really don't believe there is enough extra to warrant changing from this version.

Like I seem to say with all racing games, the replay value usually always results in me keeping these games in my permanent collection. I also must say I like the ability to split the screen vertically or horizontally in the multiplayer options. I'm also keeping this game to test out on X-Box Live.

Although not usually my favourite genre of games I felt the urge to have at least one beat em up style game in my permanent collection and this game certainly satisfies.

Great graphics and some cool characters to fight against each other with. Plenty of different options and arenas but I have to say this is really a 2 player game. Gets a bit boring going through the single player 'story' fighting against the X-Box.

Due to the purchase of Splinter Cell a few days later I sometimes feel I have not played this game as much as I should have. It is also somewhat a pity that this game was not available back when the World Cup was on too.

However, saying that, the game is excellent and undoubtedly the best soccer game around. Probably more fun with multiplayer than against the X-Box.

I may not be the biggest soccer fan and only tend to watch the real life game when the World Cup is on. However, I do feel that soccer has always made a good console game and I am therefore happy to have this in my permanent collection.

When released this was a must have game due to the slinky graphics and use of lighting. And it is fair to say this is a spectacular looking game to show off your X-Box graphics with.

I've played this game about 50% through I think and although enjoyable I must say a few levels are frustrating... especially those where triggering an alarm means the mission is over... when I trigger an alarm I prefer the opportunity to shoot my way out of trouble!

This is a game I intend to come back to one day and play from the beginning all the way through hence the reason it stays in my permanent collection.

Sega GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio Future on 1 single disc was distributed with the X-Box console for a while. Not long afterwards, a few of these discs started turning up in second hand shops which is where I purchased my copy from.

I really purchased it for Sega GT 2002 as I was feeling in the mood for another racing game however, I ended up spending most of my time playing Jet Set Radio Future which, although initially not liking, I persevered due to good reviews I read and discovered it was a very cool, hip and fun game which is also very long!

Due as always to the replay value of racing games I believe this will stay in my collection.

 

Although I'd played partly through this on the PC a year or so before, I couldn't resist buying this on the X-Box when found in a cheap second hand shop.

I have now successfully completed the game and I'm not sure yet as to whether there will be much replay value... but at the moment I think it might be a game I may like to play through again in a year or so time hence why I have not sold it on yet.

As for the game itself, if you love John Woo films, this game is for you! Excellent gun toting action from start to finish marred only by two chapters where you are in dream sequences that are very frustrating.

Yet another game I'd played about 70% through on the PC and again, I couldn't resist buying it second hand to experience it on the X-Box.

Several additional levels at the start which are not on the PC version, and my discovery that I had not, as I had believed, nearly finished the game on the PC, meant a very enjoyable play through of this game on single player... in fact, I couldn't believe how long it lasted!

I'm now holding the game to experience X-Box Live later this year on it and I'd also like to play split screen co-operative through the game if I can find someone who also feels so inclined to do so with me!

Well this game was a surprise! I'm not really into golf but, seeing it so cheap in a shop I had to buy it, initially with the intention of having a little go and then selling it on EBay to make a bit of money.

Oops! I didn't part with it! What an excellent fun game! My wife and I have played several rounds on it... it seems to take the two of us about an hour to go through 9 holes.

The characters are excellent, the commentary funny and the whole game plays very nicely. The only annoying feature seems to be a lack of a save feature during a multiplayer game.


 

Purchased cheaply with the original intention of buying, playing, and then selling on EBay, this little game has managed to sneak into my permanent collection for the time being.

I'd always quite liked the look of a similar game I saw playing on the Nintendo 64 a long time ago hence why I was willing to give this game a chance on the X-Box. I have to say it proved much more addictive than I originally expected it to.

A nice difficultly level. Great water effects and some great tracks to race around ensured value for money. Not so keen on the stadium tracks in Korea though.


 

I'd always liked the look of the original Burnout but, with plenty of other racing games in my collection I held off buying it. Therefore I figured, when wanting a new racing game I'd be eager to take the sequel Burnout 2 for a spin.

My findings... a VERY addictive game! Love the crash mode... it really is very much a "just another go" type mode in wanting to cause as much mayhem in a traffic accident as possible... The race modes are equally as good with plenty of unlockables although, at the time of writing this, I have got to a stage where I am getting frustrated in trying to win all golds in certain events to open up new modes. However, for a quick adrenaline rush the game is great to come back to now and then. Two player mode is also good fun.