X-2: Microsoft’s X-Games

It’s a month away from the Ferrari of home console hardware, the Xbox, launching into the U.S. market.

30 days until we all can run into the stores, pick up our black beauties, run home, hook ‘em up and get down to some seriously incredible gaming. Feel the excitement building, gaming brothers. X-Man does.

Only a short time will tell if the Xbox makes the gaming public reach into its collective wallet and pull out what is a small fortune to some to be an owner of one of the most anticipated consoles ever to grace retail shelves.

X-Man looked back over the most recent video game console launches and one thing stands out: Early success or failure can almost always be attributed to one key element. The PlayStation had it. Sega's Saturn did not. The Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast had it. PS2 didn't. What is that key element? Having a quality crop of launch and early titles to support a system.

PS2 has recovered to churn out a bunch of top-notch titles since its inception and continue its reign atop the console marketplace. And the Dreamcast has failed in spite of the A+ titles available during its launch. But the fact remains; a system can start out its lifeline in great shape with high-quality titles ready for gamers to buy.

Considering that the GameCube release is 3 days after the Xbox AND Sony will probably lower the price on the PS2 right around the middle of November, it’s easy to see why this will be one of the biggest weeks in console videogaming history up until now.

Sony holds the majority of the market and Nintendo has the young gamers locked up coupled with a successful game-selling history on its side. That means more than ever that Microsoft has to have a HUGE and glitch-free launch, and as the X-Man already said, a lot of that’s all gonna depend on how good the early batch of Xbox games are.

Here’s X-Man’s take on the 15 games you should buy or bundle together when you pick up your Xbox and 15 you should rent first before deciding if it’s worth purchasing. Hey, when you’re shelling out $500 bucks for an Xbox bundle, you want to bring home the best games your hard-earned moolah can buy and skip the rest.

1. Dead or Alive 3: Will easily be THE best fighting game of all-time. X-Man says put it in the bank. Being an Xbox exclusive title, this could be the system-selling game that Microsoft needs to pull itself into serious console contention with Sony and Nintendo.

2. NFL2K2: Sega’s great gridiron title comes to the Xbox. X-Man always has preferred this to Madden, but both titles are equally impressive. Can’t go wrong with either title. Football fans have plenty of reasons to be happy with the Xbox’s many superb choices for pigskin action.

3. Madden NFL 2002: The Madden series has reached its ultimate pinnacle of quality this year with NFL 2002. PS2 version is great, so X-Man expects a lot from this game.

4. Project Gotham Racing: Microsoft’s attempt at slaying the mighty car racing beast known as Gran Turisimo 3. X-Man has seen this game: It DEFINITELY has a good chance of leaping past GT3 as console racing’s best title.

5. Halo: Every Xbox bundle seems to include this game, which makes it a safe bet to be the early top-selling Xbox game. If standard space marines-versus-space aliens storyline doesn’t enthrall you to buy this, graphics and fast-paced gameplay will.

6. Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee: A great lineage gives this adventure title a very promising outlook. Play as the character Munch, the last of the Gabbit species, who battles the Glukkon oppressors of his world in this darkly comic adventure game. Many, many hours of oddball Oddworld exploring should give Xbox one of its A+ franchises.

7. NASCAR Heat 2002: Gamers, start your engines. NASCAR is the hottest spectator sport around today, so you knew there would be a NASCAR racing title for the Xbox. EA also has a NASCAR title coming out, but Infogrames’ NASCAR Heat looks better so far.

8. NBA2K2: Sega has another sports winner here, too. NBA2K1 was great on the soon-to-be-departed Dreamcast, so there is high expectations for this year’s rendition.

9. UFC: Tapout: Work your way up the ultimate fighting ladder to challenge for the world championship in this impressive-looking fighting game. Incredible graphics and usual UFC fluid gameplay has everybody who has seen it shouting its praise.

10. Batman: Vengeance: Based on the long-running Batman cartoon, this action game is shaping up to be the best Batman console title ever. Graphics look like you are watching the cartoon itself. X-Man is really impressed with the Caped Crusader’s Xbox entry.

11. NHL 2002: Looks to be the best choice for your hockey needs. NHL 2002 for the PS2 is simply the best hockey game ever. Yeah, X-Man said it: EVER. EA knows hockey. It’s really quite simple: If you like the puck action of NHL hockey, you shouldn’t think twice about buying this game.

12. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X: Yeah, X-Man knows this game is just the original THPS and THPS2 combined in one package with some extra additions to the stages and graphic upgrades. But this is THPS, the title that has defined skateboarding videogames. You gotta grab this for some ultimate skating fun until THPS3 comes out on the Xbox.

13. Blood Omen 2: This may turn not turn out to be one of the Xbox’s best games, but it sure will be the bloodiest. The fourth game in the Soul Reaver series, it again stars everybody’s favorite adventuring vampire, Kain, and a large sanguine river flowing throughout.

14. WWF: Raw is War: What’s a system without a wrestling title? One word: Boring. Frenzied action following in the footsteps of Smackdown 2 will give WWF wrestling fans tons of body-slamming fun.

15. SSX Tricky: Best snowboarding game around. It tops Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding as the game to get. Great trick system, great visuals, and great soundtrack. Want another reason to buy it? Lucy Liu is voicing one of the characters.

X-Man’s 15 Games to Rent First:

1. NFL Fever 2002: Based on the early buzz, this should be an impressive entry into the highly competitive sports gaming world for Microsoft. Visually stunning, plenty of football games have looked good in the past only to have lousy gameplay. Safer bet is sticking with the veteran series (Madden, NFL2K) first.

2. NBA 2002: This EA entry should be considered the Karl Malone to NBA2K2 being the Michael Jordan of hoops games: Great in its own right, but just destined to be the second-best.

3. Shrek: The visuals here are impressive for this Mario 64-ish adventure game, but X-Man is always skeptical of the quality of games based on movies. Quick, name X-Man 5 great games based on movies. Think of any yet? How ‘bout now? Still thinking? Thought so. (Goldeneye! – Omni)

4. Arctic Thunder: PS2 version of this snowmobile racing/battle game was a total disaster. May turn out to be one of the Xbox’s weakest titles.

5. Azurik: Rise of the Perathia: Third-person action/adventure title has you blue in the face—literally. Control the azure-skinned mage Azurik in his quest to defend his home turf from the bad guys. Although eye-candy is sweet, too similar to Tomb Raider, Soul Reaver and other third-person adventure titles to offer gamers anything they haven’t already seen before.

6. NHL Hitz 2002: X-Man says that the arcade-style sports games are dead: Blitz, Jam, and now Hitz. Although it might be a good title in its overall quality, is there really still a market out there for these types of sports games? X-Man doesn’t think so.

7. Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding: This actually looks good, but if you have to get a snowboarding title, go with SSX Tricky first.

8. NightCaster: X-Man thinks this Diablo wannabe could have taken better advantage of the graphic capabilities of the Xbox. I was disappointed in what I saw of this game.

9. The Simpsons Road Rage: Doh! X-Man hates to place this game on the Rent First list, seeing how The Simpsons is X-Man’s all-time favorite TV show. While visually in-line with the cartoon, Crazy Taxi-meets-The Simpsons gameplay looks a little shoddy so far with a lot of pop-up in the graphical presentation. Not looking too smooth.

10. Cel Damage: While the graphics impressed X-Man, appears to be a less dark, cartoony Twisted Metal clone. Haven’t heard much positive press surrounding this title.

11. Fusion Frenzy: Nintendo’s Mario Party series is the evident inspiration for this bizarre-looking game. Will it be as good as its muse, or more like the total flop of Sega’s lame attempt at copycatting the Party, Sonic Shuffle? X-Man says Sonic.

12. Mad Dash Racing: Obvious Crash Bandicoot rip-off looks mediocre at best. Soundtrack is best feature, which isn’t a glowing testament for the universal quality of this game.

13. Dark Summit: Mission-based snowboarding action game? This doesn’t look too bad visually but sounds a little strange for X-Man’s taste.

14. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2: Got some pretty decent reviews for the PS2 version, but X-Man’s waiting for Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX to cycle onto the Xbox.

15. Kabuki Warriors: Ever want to be the leader of a troop of Kabuki warriors? Me neither. That’s the storyline behind this visually weak fighting game. Not even close to DOA3. If you want a fighting game, stay with DOA3 and avoid this.

These are all games that are expected on store shelves at or within 30 days of the Xbox’s launch, but there is always the dreaded and inevitable release delay for some titles. The Xbox is supposed to be easy for developers to program for, so X-Man expects most of these titles to stick to their intended release dates.

What’s X-Man gonna get? Well, I want these three games in MY bundle: Dead or Alive 3, Halo, and Project Gotham Racing. If you want YOUR Xbox gaming dollar to reach its maximum potential, take X-Man’s advice on these 30 games above. You’ll thank me later.

By Lee Cieniawa