Buying an XBOX 360

Ganluan

So, with tax returns and such coming soon, I've been considering purchasing a 360 to go with my Wii. Some clarification from people who are more informed than me would be great.

Is the only difference between the Elite and the Pro a bigger hard drive and the HDMI cable? HDMI cables are pretty cheap (I think I already have one actually) so is it really worth another $100 to get a bigger hard drive?

What are some games to consider? I've looked at Mass Effect, Bioshock and Gears of War, but I've heard they're all fairly short games for the $60 price tag. Have I been misled by naysayers? Other than Blue Dragon, are there other good RPGs and/or some good platformers?

If I do get one, what games would you guys recommend (keep in mind I already have COD4 for my PC)? I never owned the original XBOX either, but I honestly can't think of any games from it I'd play using BC.

Cowbomb

I think all 360s are built with HDMI ports now, so the only real benefit is the bigger hard drive.

Dr_Keenbean

The difference between Elites and Premiums is only color and HD space anymore (and the cable, I guess).

Games:

Dead Rising
Mass Effect
Halo 3
Viva Pinata
Geometry Wars

These are must haves.

Also you should try out (rent):

Assassin's Creed
Overlord

And download a copy of Psychonauts.

Caligo

I bought a 360 just for Mass Effect and I wasn't disappointed. My xbox fell over (as I had it vertical) and it wrecked my disc! Now I have to play Guitar Hero 3, but I still want to go back to MA when I find another disc.

Lunker

Yes, the only real difference between the Elite and Pro is hard drive size and an HDMI cable that you can buy for $2 on monoprice.com anyway. Personally I don't think it's worth it; you can always delete/redownload demos and trailers, and while Xbox Originals games are fairly large (2-4 gigs each) you can delete/redownload them too. I have a 20GB with a little bit of everything of it: About 6 CDs of music, a shit-ton of XBLA games, map packs and other DLC for a handful of games, three demos, about 10 trailers/vids and one Xbox Original game (Psychonauts). I still have a few gigs of space left.

What are some games to consider? I've looked at Mass Effect, Bioshock and Gears of War, but I've heard they're all fairly short games for the $60 price tag. Have I been misled by naysayers? Other than Blue Dragon, are there other good RPGs and/or some good platformers?

It depends on your play style; I don't consider games in the 10-15 hour range "short," especially if they're great enough to get me to replay several times. Gears is about 8-10 hours in single-player, but it has online co-op through the entire campaign, which is fantastic. (Plus you can likely find it for cheap used.) BioShock was maybe 12-ish hours for me and was freaking awesome the whole way through. I'm still going through Mass Effect but if you like western RPGs with a light facade of a Gears-ish shooter it's an instabuy.

Other games I'd recommend: Dead Rising, Burnout Revenge (unless you're interested in Paradise instead), Earth Defense Force 2017 and motherfucking ROCK BAND. All of them are cheap except for the one that's $170. You should also give XBLA a good hard look, because I have almost twice as many XBLA games as retail discs -- dangerous shit.

darleysam

Mass Effect took me about 25-30hrs on my first playthrough, and I still missed loads of stuff. It also encourages multiple playthroughs, so I wouldn't call it short.

stratslinger

If you plan on renting/buying (I'm still not sure which it really is) any movies through XBL Marketplace, the bigger hard drive could be VERY beneficial - especially if you want the HD versions. They appear to take up 4-6GB a piece, and while deleting/re-downloading is always an option, just how many times do you want to repeat (and wait for) a 5GB download?

If you don't plan on doing any of the movies, don't worry about the hard drive.

durandal4532

Call of Duty 4 is like any other Call of Duty game except you keep playing it online forever and ever.

It is so dang fun. The only problem is that the setup for online is horrid compared to Halo 3's.

elizabex

Cowbomb wrote: »

I think all 360s are built with HDMI ports now, so the only real benefit is the bigger hard drive.

Right, which is why the OP mentioned that the elite comes with a HDMI cable --- not that it has a port.

There was a thread floating around the boards recently that listed out great 360 games that cost $25 or less ---- there's pleny, PLENTY of room to get your feet wet.

What are some games to consider? I've looked at Mass Effect, Bioshock and Gears of War, but I've heard they're all fairly short games for the $60 price tag. Have I been misled by naysayers? Other than Blue Dragon, are there other good RPGs and/or some good platformers?

Tomb Raider Legend is a pretty fun, platform-esque title for the 360 --- I played through it and loved it (and I was never interested in the Tomb Raider series --- I just tried it out b/c it was cheap). Mass Effect was great, great RPG fun ---- it felt pretty long and, even more important, I started a second playthrough the moment my first ended, just to see how the game was going to be different as a mean, snarky, female protagonist. I'm playing through Eternal Sonata right now as well --- and it's a pretty fun, typical, RPG.

Gears is a great game ---- I thought I wouldn't be into it either, but I've since played through it several times. Bioshock was the reason I bought my 360 in the first place (long-time System Shock fan), and it was a blast as well.

Oblivion is, of course, also available for the 360. It wasn't quite up my alley, but one should probably list it as a spawling RPG for the console.

Vash108

Games to consider:
1: Psychonauts, this game really kicks ass.
2: Dead Rising
3: Rainbow 6 Vegas, very fun online.
4: BioShock
5: Gears of War

corin7

I probably logged over a thousand hours into Gears easily. For some reason the multiplayer really clicked with me. Certainly an awesome value for what it costs to pick up now. Mass Effect has replayability out the ass so don't worry about that one either. Bioshock, is the only questionable one. It is a good game but I didn't find it quite as awesome as most people did and the replayability is kind of weak. Like I always do I am going to give a shout out to The Darkness which was my goty for 2007. I enjoyed it way more than Bioshock and it can usually be found pretty cheap these days.

Vash108

^^I had forgot to mention The Darkness, it is a fun game and as you progress you really feel like you are the predator and everyone else is the prey.

Dr_Keenbean

When last I was in a Gamestop buying my PS3 I noticed a little sign on the counter saying: Buy Bioshock and get The Darkness free!

You may want to look into that. That's some seriously good single-player narrative in that little bundle.

Bill Nye

If you don't have a pc that can hang, def. pick up the Orange Box for all that is holy.

Daedalus

See if you can find one of the Christmas bundles that came with Forza 2 and MUA for free. They stopped stocking them Jan 1st, but there still might be a few floating around in the less-frequented stores.

If you can't find it, you should be able to pick up the double pack containing both games for cheap, since for a while everyone with a 360 had those games. At least try and find Forza 2; MUA is missable (unless you really loved X-men Legends, I guess).

durandal4532

Bill Nye wrote: »

If you don't have a pc that can hang, def. pick up the Orange Box for all that is holy.

Oh man, I didn't even think of this. I got it for PC because I wanted the cheap pre-order deal and can run HL2 at full settings. If you cannot run HL2, grab this for the 360. Portal alone is almost worth the price of admission.

urahonky

Don't buy Mass Effect. It has full digital nudity and sex scenes.

Dr_Keenbean

urahonky wrote: »

Buy Mass Effect. It has virtual orgasmic rape over the intertubes.

Fixed.

Knob

stratslinger wrote: »

If you plan on renting/buying (I'm still not sure which it really is) any movies through XBL Marketplace, the bigger hard drive could be VERY beneficial - especially if you want the HD versions. They appear to take up 4-6GB a piece, and while deleting/re-downloading is always an option, just how many times do you want to repeat (and wait for) a 5GB download?

If you don't plan on doing any of the movies, don't worry about the hard drive.

renting, and the liscenses only last 24 hours so you don't have to worry about them eating space since a day after you watch it, the film is useless and needs to be deleted

edit: and i don't recall ever downloading a 4-6 gig movie. they seem to be 1-2 gigs. unless you're getting them in hd, i suppose.

Kor

I actually just bought a 360 2 weeks agos, figured it was about that time, and I'm a sucker for Turok for some damn reason.

I know this is an awkward question but;

Do you know anyone in the Military, or anyone that can get on a Military Base?

I ask because, its nice not paying tax on some things. Like a 350$ console. :P

I bought my 360 with Katamari (love the crap out of it), and my coworkers are letting me borrow Halo3, Mass effect, and Gears of War.

I wasn't really won over by anything until I actually started playing Halo online. I miss multiplaying games from my childhood, and its probably the closest I'll ever get.

ThrustinJ

Gears. For single player/co-op.

Online is a nasty bastard. It's fun. But get ready for glitches, hit detection and host advantage. And blowing people to pieces with the Boomshot.

RainbowDespair

stryker116 wrote: »

Is the only difference between the Elite and the Pro a bigger hard drive and the HDMI cable?

Also the color.

What are some games to consider? I've looked at Mass Effect, Bioshock and Gears of War, but I've heard they're all fairly short games for the $60 price tag.

Mass Effect isn't particularly short plus it has a ton of replay value with multiple paths and optional stuff. Gears of War is short, but it's been out for over a year so you should be able to find it for $30 or less these days, plus it too has good replay value and a strong online mode. The only odd one out is Bioshock: I loved it, but it's only like 15 hours or so and towards the end I was starting to get bored. Definitely at least rent it though.

Other than Blue Dragon, are there other good RPGs and/or some good platformers?

Lost Odyssey comes out next month and it looks awesome. It's the second XBox 360 RPG by Mistwalker (the Blue Dragon guys), but it has much more of a Final Fantasy vibe than Blue Dragon. Operation Darkness (a Strategy/RPG involving a fantasy version of WW2 complete with werewolves and zombies) is being released by Atlus sometime early 2008 and it looks promising.

As for platformers, Kameo was decent and it's a launch title so you should be able to get it for under $20 these days. Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Anniversary are also a lot of fun (a lot better than previous Tomb Raider games) and inexpensive.

Also I'd recommend setting aside $50-$100 right off the bat just for downloading stuff off of XBox Live Arcade as there are so many fantastic games for $5-$10 there. All XBLA games have free demos so you can try them out before purchasing. Definitely check out Pac-Man: Championship Edition (in many people's top 10 best games of 2007 lists), Heavy Weapon (great shmup that's even better when played 4 player co-op online), Bomberman Live (fantastic multiplayer game), Omega Five (short but oh so sweet), GripShift (fun puzzle/racing game hybrid), Puzzle Quest (fun puzzle/RPG hybrid), Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (a classic PS1 Action/RPG), and Geometry Wars (well worth the $5 it costs). Also, Rez HD comes out next Wednesday and is supposed to be incredible.

Cowbomb

elizabex wrote: »

Cowbomb wrote: »

I think all 360s are built with HDMI ports now, so the only real benefit is the bigger hard drive.

Right, which is why the OP mentioned that the elite comes with a HDMI cable --- not that it has a port.

Whoops, my bad.

I'll just heartily suggest picking up Deathrow then, since it's BC and awesome.

urahonky

Gamefly is your friend, btw. I am almost always leary of buying a 360 game, so I never really got into a bunch of games. But now, for $15 a month, I can get every 360 game I missed out on. It's pretty sweet.

Though the shipping is slower than Netflix Which annoys me.

mugginns

Games I recommend -

Mass Effect
Rock Band
PGR4
Forza 2
Rainbow 6 - Vegas
Dead Rising
All-Pro Football 2k8
GH3
COD4
Halo 3
Bioshock
Crackdown

XBLA:
Castlevania XBLA
Undertow XBLA (FREE RIGHT NOW!)
Gripshift XBLA

reddog

Daedalus wrote: »

See if you can find one of the Christmas bundles that came with Forza 2 and MUA for free. They stopped stocking them Jan 1st, but there still might be a few floating around in the less-frequented stores.

Absolutely. I got mine at a Shop Rite supermarket by my mom's house. And they had it on sale for $320 with the ShopRite card!

If you can't find it, definitely pick up Marvel Ultimate Alliance. IMO i liked it a lot better than the Xmen Legend games.

Also, when you get your 360, just go and download some demos of games that you're thinking of buying. That's what i've been doing lately...saved me money from running out and buying Conan.

Children

Mass Effect, a million times Mass effect.

Check out skate. The demo is great.

The thing about the 360 is, there are SO many quality shooting games, you want to pick the ones you want from the start. Lucky for you, next gen has shitloads of downloadable demos that you can play.

Halo 3 if you like Halo.

Orange box is an excelent value.

call of duty is pretty good.

there are also a few good games that are pretty cheap by now:

Dead Rising is a fun game, and has 28,000 ways to kill zombies, but it's not for everyone. the Timed main mission pisses me off a bit.

Fight night round 3 is about $25, and it is a blast to play with freinds. Lots of depth, great learning curve.
Online are a bunch of cheesy bastards though.

The_Scarab

CATAN

Dodge Aspen

I just got my 360 as well, and I haven't really played much other than Pac-Man CE so far (I am far too involved in Chibi Robo Park Patrol this week) but I plan on getting Dead Rising, Gears of War, and possibly Viva Pinata. I waited this long to get the system, so I figure I can wait a little longer for all these huge recent games, and get into the cheaper stuff I missed out on. Also planning on grabbing Castlevania SOTN, Geometry Wars, and Rez HD next week.

Ganluan

Great info guys, thanks a lot. Definitely more games to consider than I had previously thought!

Ganluan

One other question: They just recently reworked the architecture to reduce heat and defects, right? How can I be sure I buy one with those recent changes?

NativityInBlack

Yes there's a new 360 model, codiname Falcon here's a full article about it:

http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3152

I just got one of those and it still warm so I can't imagine how hot should be the older models, and theres a really fast way to spot a Falcon model, just look for a 175W Xbox, it's right on the sticker on the box.

While there are 203W Falcons, a box with 175W is a 100% falcon.

Also watch out, that "TEAM FDOU" the article mentions is not always true, I got one from Target that HAD a sticker right like this one but it was remarked, it was actually a March old model with a FDOU sticker on it, and I had to replace it with the real thing.

(...and go get Rock Band it's awesome even with only the mic or a single GH guitar and Mass Effect that will replace your need for porn.) O_o

HarshLanguage

Buy Crackdown.

And follow NativityinBlack's advice on getting a Falcon - look for a sticker that has "175W" at the end of the powersupply info.

TVs_Frank

Rock Band is expensive, but well worth it. Even in Solo Career mode, which is what I've been playing since I'm a big noob to the music games.

Bioshock is your average length for a shooter. Plus, you'll most likely want to play it more than once anyway. I think it's worth $60.

Speed Racer

Buy BioShock.

Buy it one million times.

DeathPrawn

TVs_Frank wrote: »

Rock Band is expensive, but well worth it. Even in Solo Career mode, which is what I've been playing since I'm a big noob to the music games.

It's a full-length Guitar Hero game, although the songs aren't quite as fun as GH2 (beats the pants off GH3).
It's a full-length Karaoke Revolution game.
It's a full-length drum game, which is a BLAST.

On top of that, it's got what I'd say is some of the best multiplayer I've ever seen, both at parties with non-gamers and with your gamer friends (BWT is awesome. Endless setlist? Amazing). And online play. And consistently awesome DLC every week.

Warder45

This seems like a good place. Can someone break down the difference between Sliver and Gold Live accounts? I noticed that now that my gold trial has ended it won't even let me download demos and such.

Children

You should still be able to download demos....

stratslinger

I thought that Gold got earlier access to new demos than silver, but silver should eventually get access to everything gold can download. Friends and chat are available in silver, as is all the XBL Marketplace stuff, but you need gold to play anything online.

acidlacedpenguin

the only tangible difference is gold can play online.

wunderbar

it's a 90% chance you'll get an xbox with HDMI right now, but, I picked up the holiday bundle boxing day, and got a 360 without hdmi.

That also means it'll probably RRoD within a year or so, and then I can get hdmi, but until then,