The Xbox 360 manages to distinguish itself from other players on several fronts, not the least of which is the new Kinect motion-sensor that makes the whole kit and caboodle a hands-free game system - but only with games made specifically for Kinect.

Fortunately, Xbox 360 is also home to several titles you won't find on any other system. Here's a look at five Xbox hotties worth buying, which are also good reasons to buy the console itself if you haven't already.


Halo Reach (Xbox 360, $60)

Halo Reach is the culmination of the consummate console shooter of two generations, doling out more fan-servicing fun than any previous iteration yet. As a single player game, it offers a meaty if somewhat perplexing romp through a precursor tale of trademarked aliens bent on galactic domination. But the game's online multiplayer component is far and away the most enduring legacy of the entire franchise, utterly stupefying in its depth and breadth with customizable configurations delivering more variations on multiplayer mayhem than you'll know what to do with. Be warned: people who have been playing Halo games since jump street will, in fact, know what to do with it - namely, owning you. Rated Mature (17+)



Fable III (Xbox 360, $60)

Third out for the acclaiming role-playing game series, Fable III continues with the game's ability to index the player's actions and inactions in order to affect the way the story unfolds, the way characters met react to your presence depending on your chosen level of benevolence of malevolence and, ultimately, how the game plays out to its conclusion. To the lament of enthusiasts, Fable III has been "dumbed down" somewhat, but it still delivers a long-playing, deep and stirring adventure. And for those new to the series, while this is perhaps the last version, it's also the most straightforward but deep, long-playing and fun. Rated Mature (17+)


Kinect for Xbox 360 with Kinect Adventures (Xbox 360, $150)

Kinect for Xbox 360 and its bundled game, Kinect Adventure, offers a true evolution in motion controlled games. A stereoscopic camera tracks the motions of one or two players standing in front of it to affect movement of an in-game character. The games of Kinect Adventures have you standing to steer a river raft, running and jumping on the spot, flailing around to pop bubbles and generally making a kinetic fool of yourself, as advertised. It can be argued that Kinect is merely a body-waggle device to one-up Nintendo's waggle and twitch of the wrist, but as a technology in its infancy, Kinect nevertheless offers great potential for a brave new world of "off the couch" games. Rated Everyone (6+)


Dance Central (Xbox 360 w/Kinect, $50)
While there are about two dozen games made for the Xbox 360's new Kinect body-motion sensor - games that require the device, in fact - the very of the best of them right now is, perhaps surprisingly, Dance Central. A game that requires you to quash your inner wallflower and check your pride at the door, Dance Central offers much more than mere move-matching to a beat for points and prizes. It will, in fact, teach you to dance. It's as patient or as challenging as the player's skill level indicates, coaching or demanding an arm positioned just so on just that beat, a head bob, a thrust and a pose to the point that a diligent player will be able to take it to a club and totally showboat... or so one can hope. More than that, Dance Central is a serious workout, major cardio. If you're considering a new motion controlled game system to double as a fitness regimen, look no further than Dance Central for Kinect. Rated Teen (13+)



Super Meat Boy (Xbox 360, $10)

Proof positive that Xbox 360 has a wealth of games suited to nearly every taste, Super Meat Boy is sure to endear gamers with a penchant for surrealism, gross-out humor, classic gaming, PETA defiance and, of course, meat. And that's pretty much everyone, isn't it? Regardless, Super Meat Boy, exclusive to Xbox/Windows Live Arcade, is an old school, side-scrolling, platform-hopping, puzzle-solving, baddie-bopping romp that happens to feature a brick of animal tissue as its main character. Yes, you read that right. The worst of the puzzle-laden pitfalls: meat grinders. The girlfriend you are trying to rescue: a Band Aid. Are we surreal yet, mommy?

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