So after being a Nintendo fanboy for most of my life, I've bought my first console from another company while still in it's current generation and being relevant. What I mean by that is that I bought a Sega Genesis a while after it died down and it was a very cheap clearance price. The other was a Dreamcast also when it was dying down after the PS2 released. And I picked up a TG-16 used as a novelty item.

Ok so back to current times. I was undecided between the PS3 and Xbox 360. After seeing the deal at Target for Black Friday ($60 gift card included with the 60GB model), I decided to get the 360. I haven't gotten to play it yet though because of a busy weekend and watching a football game right now. I'm hoping to get it hooked up later tonight or tomorrow.

I have the 60GB model and just bought GTA 4 today because Best Buy had it on sale for $39.99. I haven't decided on too many current games out now that I want. I like 3rd person shooters/action games so I'm probably going to pick up Gears of War 1&2 and possibly the first Saint's Row since it's cheap. I also like racing games, fighting games, sometimes sports games and I've never been drawn to FPS games but some of the recent titles like Call of Duty 4 have looked really good and I'd consider trying one or two. With that in mind, what games would you recommend?

Also, what accessories should I get? I'd probably get a second controller at some point. The standard price is $50, right? Wal-Mart has one on sale a little under $40 and I believe it is a first party controller. I want to hook it up to online and we have WiFi in our place. I don't want to spend $100 for the device that allows the 360 to be hooked up via WiFi but instead, you can hook it up with a wire to the router. What wire is that, the ethernet? How much do they usually cost and how is the service? Any brand better than another? How do the controllers work? Is it a rechargable battery or does it use regular batteries?

What is the better way to stand the system, vertical or horizontal? With my setup, I might only have room to lay it horizontal instead of vertical. That won't be a problem, will it?

Any other information will be useful and I greatly appeciate it.

It comes with an Ethernet cable, you don't have to worry about buying one. You can leave the system any which way you prefer, there are no repercussions to leaving it vertical instead of, say, horizontal. I myself keep it flat down. There are several different types of rechargeable battery kits you can buy, depending on your style of play (i.e charge-and-play or a regular one that just charges when you finish playing). You don't need any extra accessories except for the charge kit and possibly another controller, if you really want one.

Install games that you're going to be playing alot on your harddrive, your 360 will be silent as a mouse and the disk won't even spin. Load times, etc will be alot faster, too.

So, you mainly like third-person shooters, racing and fighters?

Get Dead Space along with Gears 1/2, Forza 2/Burnout Paradise and check out Dead or Alive 4, Mortal Combat: DC Universe and Soul Calibur 4. Be sure to look out for Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6 next year.

Don't limit yourself to the genres you like, though, because there's TONS of other must-play games on the 360.

oh, and congratulations!

Tales of vesperia is JRPG GOTY, so get that. Fable II, RPG GOTY. Gears 2 is a fantastic shooter. Left 4 Dead is FPS GOTY and has great online.

Those are just to name a few of the great games. Also be sure to get Xbox LIVE.

Crackdown.

congratz...make sure you get call of duty 4 and 5.

Racing games: PGR3 or 4, Forza 2, Dirt, Grid
Fighting games: Soul Caliber, Street Fighter on XBLA
You might ant to try Crackdown since it's similar to GTA/Saints Row style
Get a first party controller, they are cheap at Amazon.com, Wired controllers are cheaper than Wireless ones, If you buy a wireless one make sure you get a play and charge kit which allows to play while charging the battery, they are about $10-$15. Controllers can use regular batteries, i think it's AA maybe AAA. Use the ethernet cable that comes with the 360. Stand the console horizontal, I've heard that discs can get scratched if you have it vertical and don't move the console while the disc is spinning. There are a ton of free demos on XBLA, so try out the games before you buy them. Have fun.

 Thanks for the info and welcoming me to the Xbox 360 family. Haha.

I opened it to check out the system and included items and I was happy to notice it did come with the ethernet cable and also a headset since I didn't know it came with that either. I see it does use traditional batteries so I might get the Nyko charger since I've been happy with the one for the Wii.

On the game front, I was interested in Burnout. I also all over SF4 when it releases along with Resident Evil 5. I'm down with Capcom! I will also look out for reviews on other games and maybe borrow some from a friend or two who have the Xbox 360 already.

Thanks to everyone else for the info.

Crackdown is a cheap one to and it's good... Dead Rising... Splinter Cell DA should be 20 by now and Fable 2 is something you'd probably enjoy.

according to who? Is the year even over yet?

I was shocked to see no fanboyism in first thread, but only to find it right below it.

Get Gears 1. it's cheap, and it's a hella game for the price.

There are quite a few Plug & Play charge kits out there - Be a smart shopper, as they can vary in price quite a bit. Definitely a good thing to get for wireless controller.