I just recently bought a 4GB 360. Don't have an opinion on it since I haven't played it. So I got a few questions ...

- I don't have Xbox Live yet. I'm planning to get it in a few months. So I ask this simple question. If I get achievements and I don't have Live, what will happen to the achievements once I get Xbox Live ? Will they sync to my Live account ?  

- What games should I buy ? Right now I'm looking for cheap single player games. I'm thinking about getting Alan Wake since it's already $30 in many retailers. Bayonetta and Fable 2 were other games I plan on checking out.
Any suggestions ?

Just realized that Gears of War Triple Pack has just been announced. I'm getting that for sure !

The achievement thing is iffy. When I first connected to Live it made me get a new profile. A friend is just made him change his name...

Viva Pinata
Banjo-Kazooie:N&B
Mass Effect 1&2(if no PC)
Crackdown
Kameo
Earth Defense 2017 

What if I get one month free and then play some games. Will that account be " erased " if I don't renew it once the one free month is over ?

No, it won't be erased. Just downgraded to silver. All you have to do is have a name that can go online. I have my main account under my rl name and my Live gamertag under dsister. It just prompted me to make dsister instead of renaming my main account

I didn't get on live until a few months after I got my 360, and it let me keep all my achievements. To start off, I recommend Lost Odyssey and Tales of Vesperia- two great RPGs that you should get a lot of playtime out of. I enjoyed both of them more than Final Fantasy XIII.

u can keep your achievements no matter what, wether u are online or offline.

get these games :

1. lost odyssey

2. blue dragon

3. tales of vesperia

4. fable 2 and 3

5. gears of war 1 and 2

6. halo 3 and halo reach

7. alan wake

8. condemned : criminal origins

9. halo wars 

10. splinter cell conviction

11. kameo

12. final fantasy 13

13. eternal sonata

14. star ocean : the last hope

15. castlevania

16. shadow complex ( xbla )

17. harms way ( xbla )

18. banjo kazooie 1 and 2

19. banjo kazooie : nuts and bolts

20. phantasy star universe

21. kinect

22. kinect sports

23. dead or alive 4 ( has a female spartan : 458, space port from halo 2 for the fighting stage )

24. metro 2033

25. fallout 3

26. elder scrolls 4 : oblivion

Hmmmm.  You got a new 360, with the wireless built in, right?

IF so, then just connect to xbox live create a Live Silver account; it will verify that the user name is not taken and then any acheivements you create are yours...  YOU only need to pay for Gold, but silver members (they call it something else now I think) have access to the marketplace, etc.

Alan Wake was a fantastic story and I highly (of course) recommend the Gears triple pack.  Fable 2 and 3 are fun, and you might be able to find Halo: Reach used cheap (the campaign was great, IMO).  Don't forget XBOX live arcade!  SHADOW COMPLEX!!!

Welcome to the family, hope you enjoy your stay!

I'd reccommend getting a silver account as welll.  That way you can get some of the free stuff.  Crash Course and Harms way are two free arcade games.  I found Crash Course fun, I'm not so sure about Harms way.  Plus if you are buying older games you can find free add ons for them.

As far as games go, most of my favorite games are multiplat so you'd already have played them if you wanted to.  Halo's are fun (CE, 3, and reach), 2 not so much.  Mass effect 1 could be a good cheap one since you can't play it on ps3 yet.