I, A Playstation fan won a 360 Core System...

Captain_Brian

I won a XBox360 Core system at work and I'm not sure what to do about it.


I figure I have a four options:

• Keep it and buy all the upgrades needed (HD and stuff)
  What will I need and how much money will I be spending? (I have an HDTV...) Any must have games?
  
• Sell it and get a PS3
  I love Playstation, but I'm still on the fence with the PS3, should I take the plunge? Wait? Any good games for it yet?
  
• Sell it and upgrade my computer
  I love computer games, but the upcomming DX10 and Vista makes me want to wait on upgrading, plus I just spent a fortune last year upgrading it...
  
  Here's my Specs:
  Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (AMD Socket 939)
  Soundcard: None-Onboard Sound
  Graphics: BFG Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX 256mb (PCI-E)
  Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1.8GHz Socket 939 (My bottleneck, I know... It's a single core, slow ass processor...)
  Memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (4 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel
  Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200RPM (Serial ATA)
  
  My system runs F.E.A.R. really well, but for some reason, (probably the processor) it runs Oblivion horribly. Like at 10-15fps no matter the graphics settings. I just gave up on it till later.
  
  What should I upgrade on it? I'm looking forward to Crysis and Quake Wars, but with Socket 939 being discontinued and DX10 games looming I'm tempted to wait for cheaper and better equiptment to come out, but then again it will be a year or so till DX10 cards are affordable and I'd have to replace my motherboard as well to switch to a different socket type, so maybe I should go ahead and make some minor upgrades now?
  
  
  
• Sell it and pocket the money
  Or should I just keep the money and save it till later? How much would I get for one of these anyway? Still in the box, brand spankin new?

I'm not against XBox or anything, I just never would have bought one. I have a lot of PS1&2 games that I'm content with playing and I'm mostly a PC gamer right now just because there hasn't been anything for the consoles that has caught my eye recently...

What should I do?


Edit: Fixed the memory on my specs, I have 2gigs not 1gig...

Mullitt The Wise

What kind of games do you like? Are there any for 360 that interest you?

DietarySupplement

I would highly reccomend this thread, as it's an honest to goodness (and pretty much un-assed-up or as-yet-unmocked) PS3 thead going around here. Most everyone on the board who owns one (by my rough count) has chimed in on it.

That is, if you're interested in obtaining one.

edit: damn, I need to really wake up today...

Accualt

Don't bother upgrading your PC for awhile.
Don't bother getting a PS3 for awhile.
Maybe try and sell it and pocket the money but I don't think you'll get much since anyone can walk into a store and buy a core.

If you keep it there HDD is $100. You don't absolutely need it but the only memory card available is $40 and you need something to save your games. If you aren't going to go online the MC would be fine, if you will be online at all go with the HDD just for Live Arcade and demos. If you join Xbox Live buy the $80 Live Vision kit. It is a freaking steal with 12months of Live, three Arcade games, the cam, some points, and a headset. I'd also recommend a wireless controller but that isn't a big deal.

EDIT: Dead Rising alone is a good enough reason to open it. If you eventually decide you want a PS3 after all you can trade the 360 towards one.

FreddyD

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Slagmire

If the 360 is your first of the new home consoles, I would say keep it.

It has a lot more great titles since it's been out for a year now then the PS3 (GoW, Dead Rising, Oblivion are probably the best examples). A lot of people haven't been too keen on the PS3 yet, and the really good games seem very limited (Resistance being the best there - granted, it's only been a month, not even that). If you're thinking of selling it, I don't think you'd get enough money to make all those upgrades for your computer, but obviously a $300 dent in that bill is always nice.

Accualt

FreddyD wrote:

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Serial numbers tend to make it hard to return systems.

mcdermott

FreddyD wrote:

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Rohaq

Free Xbox? It's a sign! Come to the dark side

Or seriously, you can own more than one console. The 360 is certainly a worthy purchase, and considering you didn't even have to purchase it, all the better

mcdermott

Accualt wrote:

FreddyD wrote:

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Serial numbers tend to make it hard to return systems.

Mayhaps Wal-Mart would take it for store credit, allowing you to spend the extra to get a real one? No employee discount, but with what you save over buying the accessories such as the HDD individually well worth it.

bruin

Right now it's got Dead Rising, Oblivion, and Gears of War.

This and next year it'll have Lost Planet, Crackdown, GTA4, Halo 3, Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, Bioshock, Guitar Hero 2, Alan Wake, Resident Evil 5, Mass Effect, and Assassin's Creed.

Also, Xbox Live.

If that stuff interests you, buy an HDD, maybe a wireless controller, and whatever cables you need.

Rook

What should I do?

The only thing holding back your PC is your processor. A semi decent dual core 939 will be fairly cheap and should make a heck of an improvement to games, especially Oblivion.

Captain_Brian

The only game that has really interested me for the 360 so far is Dead Rising...

I already have Oblivion for the PC and I couldn't play it without mods, and as for Gears of War, I'm not really that interested and am waiting for Quake Wars on the PC...

I just generally perfer to play shooters on the PC, and I'm waiting for the PC versions of GTA4, Bioshock, and Alan Wake...

Crackdown looks freakin awesome though...



As for upgrading my computer, I'd just need about $250 to get a good dual-core socket939 processor and good fan in there. That would boost up my performance quite a bit, and I could always buy a DX10 card later...

StormyWaters

mcdermott wrote:

Accualt wrote:

FreddyD wrote:

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Serial numbers tend to make it hard to return systems.

Mayhaps Wal-Mart would take it for store credit, allowing you to spend the extra to get a real one? No employee discount, but with what you save over buying the accessories such as the HDD individually well worth it.

As I understand Wal-Mart's policy (I've never returned anything), you have to return electronics within 15 days of purchase. How they know when you bought it is beyond me, but I figure they have a way.

Threepio

I'd weigh in on exchanging it for a Premium. It's a tasty system.

Kewop Decam

StormyWaters wrote:

mcdermott wrote:

Accualt wrote:

FreddyD wrote:

Return the core for $300 and use your employee discount to get a real XBox 360.

Serial numbers tend to make it hard to return systems.

Mayhaps Wal-Mart would take it for store credit, allowing you to spend the extra to get a real one? No employee discount, but with what you save over buying the accessories such as the HDD individually well worth it.

As I understand Wal-Mart's policy (I've never returned anything), you have to return electronics within 15 days of purchase. How they know when you bought it is beyond me, but I figure they have a way.

Christmas just passed... they are VERY lenient around this time.

Sheep

Well, youre going to have to upgrade to a "next gen" system sooner or later, and considering that the 360 is free, versus paying 600 bucks for a PS3, well... stick with the Xbox. Unless you absolutely positively have to play Final Fantasy XIII, I dont imagine that the PS3 has many exclusive "must have" titles.

Ranced

Sell it for something else.

Samphis

I wasn't a huge fan of the XBox until I ended up with one. It has awesome games for just about every genre, and you'd be able to play XBox 1 games that you missed out on if you get a hard drive.

The 360 really is an amazing system with a lot of cool games.

The Playstation 3 is an awesome system with potential to have a lot of cool games, but it isn't quite there yet.

I'd imagine that you've already decided that you want a Playstation 3. Go for it if that's what you want. I don't have one, and probably won't for a while, but I plan on getting one a few years down the road. I mean, I certainly would use one if I had it.

I think you might be pleasantly surprised with the XBox 360.

Cokomon

Did anyone tell him he should keep it for Geometry Wars yet? Cause he should keep it for Geometry Wars :winky: .

electricpirate

Also, if you end up keeping it, you'll want to buy the component cable, which is another 30-40 smackers.

What Genre's of games do you enjoy, and did you have any experience with some of the great Xbox games out there?

if you haven't had a chance to dig into...

Jade empire
Ninja Gaiden Black
Fable
Halo 1 + 2
Stubbs the Zombie (listening to the soundtrack right now...)
Psychonauts
Indigo Prophecy
(all of those are BC, theres a couple other greats not BC yet)

On the 360, Dead Rising, Gears (it really is fairly different from other shooters and should be played by everyone), kameo, R*'s Table Tennis, Saints Row, Viva Pinata, and a whole smattering of XBLA greats.

So my vote, trade it in for the Premium, If you have any interest in those games. You'll end up dropping at least 140 to get a new HDD and component cables and a headset otherwise. If you don't give a crap about any of those games, just pocket the cash for now.

Char

Mai-Kero

Don't get a PS3 whatever you do. You'd be paying $600 for maybe one good exclusive game every year and a half, and a bunch of ports that have worse framerates than the 360 versions.

When deciding between the 360 and the PS3, keep these things in mind:

360 has, by all accounts, a fantastic controller in terms of ergonomics, and it's solid fact that the battery life is far longer than the PS3s if you get the wireless version.

360 reads discs at a faster rate than the PS3, meaning you A. Don't have to install every game you get onto the harddrive and B. Will encounter far shorter load times.

If you care about HD movies, the 360 has an HD-DVD external drive, which again reads faster than Blu-Ray, has more support behind it, and is way more scratch resistant.

360 has way, way more games out that are good than the PS3, even if you factor in all exclusives for the PS3.

The PS3's exclusive titles will probably not be exclusive for long, since developers aren't in a huge hurry to go the fuck out of business. They'd have to sell 500,000 copies of the average game to make a profit when developing for the PS3, compared to around 75,000 for the 360 or Wii. This added to the fact that the PS3 has a game attach rate of below one, and the fact that there have been less than 700,000 PS3s sold total, means it's virtually impossible to turn a profit on any PS3 game.

360 has a fantastic online system. Background downloading, tons of arcade games that are sweeeeeeeet, and WAY faster speeds. The PS3's online system is laggy, has server queues, and charges developers for putting up demos, meaning you'll see way less content. Not to mention you can't do anything else with your PS3 while you're downloading.

RonnieWooWoo!

Whatever you do, don't keep that piece of crap. If you decide you'd rather have a 360 than an Ps3, drop a little extra cash and get the full-blown premium system. Core systems make baby Jesus cry.

mcdermott

Mai-Kero wrote:

snip

Well, at least you're not biased.

Seriously though, even for a diehard Sony fan the choice among the two gaming machines right now is pretty easy. Xbox 360 will probably be the better system to play games on for months, if not for a whole 'nother year. And since you already have one sitting in front of you, I'd say it's a no-brainer.

But seriously, figure out a way to trade it up for a real one. It's worth the extra, and will save you money in the long (hell, even in the short) run.

Sheep

Stubbs the Zombie (listening to the soundtrack right now...)

Dont eat my brrrraaaaaainnnnnsssss.

CZroe

I've stumbled across enough stuff for 360 to skip the Premium if I ever got a Core somehow. I've already got the proper cables, Wireless controllers (PC), etc. Even a few faceplates that were on clearance. I'm "ready" for it either way.