For all those wanting, or have a 360 looking to bulk up your library with unknown titles, that are ultra cheap, I present my favorite 10 games I never thought I'd like, but ended up loving.

 Each game is a budget title now, and can be found under $30, or in some cases, $20 or less.

#10 - The Outfit, Under $19.99

The Outfit launched in a myriad of other great games - Oblivion and GRAW, and got totally lost in translation. It quickly went ultra cheap (saw it for $16.99 at Christmas). Despite the price, it's a GREAT 2 player co-op game.

The game is far different from any other, as it begins as a standard 3rd person WW2 shooter. However, the cool thing with the game is, that when you kill enemies and progress through the rather linear levels, you earn points to spend on buying your crew new weapons, vehicles, upgrades, and more troops. The game combines great RTS and strategy elements. Not only that, the 1p campaign is fully playable by 2 real life people. There's also a versus mode that relies VERY heavy on strategy, that reminds me of good old Command & Conquer multi-player games.

#9 - Lord of The Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2, $29.99 (est)

LOTR:BFME2 continues what BFME 1 was....Basically Command & Conquer combined with Warcraft. I was skeptical when I rented this game, because I didn't know how an RTS would handle on the 360. It's a phenominal game. The SP campaign is pretty good, and long for both sides. The controls, for a console RTS, are great. C&C3, in all its glory, owes everything to LOTR, ironically a copy of C&C games.

The game should be rather cheap by now, as it was released last June-July.

#8 - Enchanted Arms, $29.99 (est)

Although far inferior to the great JRPGs we should be getting very shortly in the US, and despite the game falling very short in the sales department (maybe 250k in the US and Japan), the game is a great 30hr JRPG. It's totally worthwhile if you can pick it up cheap, and by now, your looking around $30, hopefully.

The game features random (stupid) battles, but the tactical grid you use to fight with is VERY cool, and is something that really made me like the game. Each attack can do various damage to certain grids (ala FFT and other Isometric RPGS), giving it a pretty fresh take on the genre. Also, you can get almost 100 Golems, that are non-human playable characters. The end-level ones (won at the casino) are SOOOOOOOO sweet. Also, the uber-battle against Omega is pretty cheezy (EMs version of Ultima from FFs), and is easily beaten, but very cool to get. Again, not the greatest game, but definately a gem, as it was the first 360 JRPG.

#7 - Dead or Alive 4, $29.99 (est)

DOA4 was the first, and best, fighter for the 360 thus far. Although VF5 should take the crown, this game is uber-hard. I never fully got through it as much as I wanted to. The graphics are fantastic, and so are the fighting moves. The AI is incredibly tough. 2p battles are pretty sweet, and it does feature very strong online features for the game. If your a fighting fan, definately pick this one up.

#6 - Prey, $29.99 (est)

Prey, like EM, got lost in the Summer Shuffle of 360 releases. A long-awaited shooter that was supposed to be the be-all-end-all shooter from 6 years ago, the game severely lacks in the amazing department. It's basically your plain old shooter, in terms of the actual gameplay. There are some very cool gravity and portal effects, that keep it fresh, however. The real gem of the game though, is the storyline. This game might not be worth buying for some, but it's certainly a must-play for any FPS fan. It has 4p+ online multiplayer, and the levels are pretty sweet.

#5 - Condemned: Criminal Origins, $24.99 (est)

Ah, the first of quite a few launch titles. Condemned was the #5th best-selling game of the launch period in 2005. Despite losing out to Call of Duty 2, PD0, Madden, and even Kameo, the game garnered quite a few awards from IGN. If you have surround sound, this game IS the reason next-gen existed when it came out. Although the fighting is very repetitive and basic, the battles ARE intense, graphic, violent, and the game, for the 15+ hours is just about as scary as you can get. DO NOT PLAY THIS AT NIGHT. Certainly a must-buy at a value price. I paid $60 for it, and it was worth it back then. The graphics are still very current too.

#4 - Kameo: Elements of Power, $19.99 

The second of 2 launch titles. Kameo was a ultra-campy platformer made for launch by Rare. Rarely played by many current gamers, its a must-buy platformer, for any fan of Rare, or old Nintendo games. This IS next-gen Banjo-Kazooie. The game is long (25+hrs), replayable, and is very fun. Better yet, Rare updated the game with 2p co-op online play and new achievements. The best part is, for the price of 1 full priced title, you can pick Kameo, Condemned, and another great game and get tons of gameplay. Everything about this game is great, and under-rated.

#3 - Test Drive Unlimited, Under $39.99

Having really desired another racer after NFS:MW, and RR7, I picked TDU up for a rent, and got something certainly worth a buy. The game is very playable, and clocks in around 50+hrs for every race, and such. I can't say enough about the fact this game was $39 @ launch last year in August. I assume the game is even cheaper than this. There is so much to this game, a fully-explorable Hawaii, online multiplayer and car clubs, offline split screen, tons of cars, motorcycles, and the sweetest race in the world: a litteral drive around Hawaii. 130+ miles, and takes an hour to do against McClarens and such. Next to Forza, the best racer on the 360. And far cheaper too. Certainly a very worthwhile game. Should also be $29.99 or less too.

#2 - Earth Defense Force 2017, $39.99 [b/]

I've been a big proponent of this ill-reviewed, poor-selling game. The game has obvious flaws - horrid AI, B-grade voiceovers, repetitive enemies and levels, and such. Despite this, the game is made of fantastic. This game does suck on single player, but on Multi-Player, like Gears of War, is insanely perfect. Your forced to communicate alot in the harder levels of EDF, as the difficulty curve is one of the largest, most difficult of games in recent history (to this day, only 2 people have beaten the game).

Everything the game lacks for, it fully makes up in. The AI is so weak because it doesn't need to be strong when there are 100 giant ants onscreen, getting blown up. The weapons are pretty varied and cool, the levels are very challenging, expecially when the enmies do so much damage in one hit. The game was $39 at launch, and is awesome at that price. The game fully should take 100hrs between 2 people, including the health increase grinding. Again, not reccomended if your a loner, but with a buddy, this is incredible fun.

Viva Pinata, under $39.99

This game is one of the more highly-recomended games out there, regardless of price. Those that reccomend it are fanatics - why? They've actually played this game. It's cute, cuddly, funny, challening, difficult, easy to learn. It is everything a AAAAA Nintendo DS or Wii game should be, but it's 360-only. Some say Rare's buyout has lessed the quality of Rare, I say they've ever played this game. The game is incredibly long, and difficult. It's not a game for everyone, as it's a true-to-life strong Simulation game, in the vein of a cuddly but mature Sim Farm. No one can really rave enough about this title. Obviously looked-over during the Gears of War craze, had this game been a Nintendo DS title, it would be nearing 5m units. Despite this, it doesn't take away the fact the game is amazing.

Although a standard-priced $49.99 title at launch, it's sold under 250,000 in the US and Japan, forcing the game's price to be lowered into a budget catagory. Certainly a gem of gems, expecially if you like the simulation genre. Kind of like a Nintendogs on crack cocaine, really.

There are tons of other games that recieved poor reviews that are worth looking at, but these are some of the best out there. I tried to balance out game-types, as alot of the non-shootes didn't do incredibly well, as they were pitted against stronger competition.