Xbox 360 - Is it worth it?

N90user

Just wondering whats the price for the 360? Im selling a few things around in order to save up for one. Has the price gone down yet or is there any good deals out for it at the moment?

CiDeRmAn

I have one since launch and the honest to goodness answer is....

No.

Thats not easy for me to say,
I have played most titles out for it, finished quite a few, enjoyed them and was impressed by them too, but its all a bit expensive as gaming goes and you don't really get much for the extra premium.

I am playing Oblivion at the mo and it was certainly great for the first 40 hours but I must say its all starting to drag a bit and the little niggles like loading times and stuttering framerate outside together with repetitive voice actors are really getting under my skin, the endless dungeon trawls are also really getting tiring.
Ridge Racer 6 is no better than Ridge Racer 5 on the PS2, not as good as Ridge Racer on the PSP and not a patch on Rage Racer on the PS1.
Most of the big releases are all available on the cheaper formats with a negligible hit on gameplay, for example Tomb Raider and Far Cry are both on the Xbox and just as good, as is Blazing Angels and Gun.
Project Gotham is about the only machine exclusive that rocks but thats like one game so far, one game I donn't play anymore since I am stuck into Need For Speed Most Wanted, admittedly on the 360 but no better overall than the xbox version.
My advice, if you don't already have them, is get a PS2 and an Xbox, bith of which are just as much fun as the 360 with tons of great software, Katamari, Shadow of the Colossus, Dragonquest, Buzz, Halo2, Toca Race Driver 3 to mention just a few.

Here I refer to the offline experiences, if its online you are after there is no finer machine to buy, just don't be too disappointed at a lack of innovative new softaware to take your breathaway.

I reckon I have been spoilt by the DS, so many new ways to play, the home consoles just don't impress anymore.
Looking to the rest of the year, anyone without a DS must get a DSlite, and with the release of the PS3 in November I think we will see a reply of the 360 business, overpriced consoles playing the same old same old with sightly spanglier graphics, also, anyone who defends a format by quoting specs instead of game titles is to be burnt at the FanBoy stake, I'm putting one up in the centre of Swords, Mondays Sony Fanboys, Wednesdays Nintendo and Fridays Xbox fanboys, PC fanboys on fridays too, should be plenty of space. Sega Fanboys are not to be burnt, they've been through enough, simply point and laugh!

Me, I'm buying a Colecovision next, with a copy of Looping, Donkey Kong Jr and the Smurfs.

Then a Ninty Revolution, looking forward to the stake on Wednesday!

lafors

CiDeRmAn wrote:

I have one since launch and the honest to goodness answer is....

No.

Thats not easy for me to say,
I have played most titles out for it, finished quite a few, enjoyed them and was impressed by them too, but its all a bit expensive as gaming goes and you don't really get much for the extra premium.

I am playing Oblivion at the mo and it was certainly great for the first 40 hours but I must say its all starting to drag a bit and the little niggles like loading times and stuttering framerate outside together with repetitive voice actors are really getting under my skin, the endless dungeon trawls are also really getting tiring.
Ridge Racer 6 is no better than Ridge Racer 5 on the PS2, not as good as Ridge Racer on the PSP and not a patch on Rage Racer on the PS1.
Most of the big releases are all available on the cheaper formats with a negligible hit on gameplay, for example Tomb Raider and Far Cry are both on the Xbox and just as good, as is Blazing Angels and Gun.
Project Gotham is about the only machine exclusive that rocks but thats like one game so far, one game I donn't play anymore since I am stuck into Need For Speed Most Wanted, admittedly on the 360 but no better overall than the xbox version.
My advice, if you don't already have them, is get a PS2 and an Xbox, bith of which are just as much fun as the 360 with tons of great software, Katamari, Shadow of the Colossus, Dragonquest, Buzz, Halo2, Toca Race Driver 3 to mention just a few.

Here I refer to the offline experiences, if its online you are after there is no finer machine to buy, just don't be too disappointed at a lack of innovative new softaware to take your breathaway.

I reckon I have been spoilt by the DS, so many new ways to play, the home consoles just don't impress anymore.
Looking to the rest of the year, anyone without a DS must get a DSlite, and with the release of the PS3 in November I think we will see a reply of the 360 business, overpriced consoles playing the same old same old with sightly spanglier graphics, also, anyone who defends a format by quoting specs instead of game titles is to be burnt at the FanBoy stake, I'm putting one up in the centre of Swords, Mondays Sony Fanboys, Wednesdays Nintendo and Fridays Xbox fanboys, PC fanboys on fridays too, should be plenty of space. Sega Fanboys are not to be burnt, they've been through enough, simply point and laugh!

Me, I'm buying a Colecovision next, with a copy of Looping, Donkey Kong Jr and the Smurfs.

Then a Ninty Revolution, looking forward to the stake on Wednesday!

If I had the choice to get one, I 100% would.
Its completely different playing games online, the ease of use, improved graphics (use a monitor or hdtv).

In saying that, I will probably get a PS3 if it proves to be worthy and then sell the one which isn't as good, so maybe you should wait and see when it comes out...if ever

I also have a DS and PSP, and comparing them to the 360 is just silly, they are nothing alike, most people will play the ds/psp on the go, the 360/ps3 is for your house...you know it'll be there when you get home

Games on the 360 so far are very good with better to come.
If the PS3 releases quality instead of the sony philosiphy of quantity then it'll be good.

You've probably noticed I haven't mentioned the Nintendo Revolution or whatever they call it. Well as far as I'm concerened they've revolutionised gaming with the DS so why bother try and do it with a supposed underpowered machine, they need a next gen console not a gimmiky idea (not saying the DS is that...its a piece of genius)

Anyway get one then a ps3 and sell whichever you don't like.

CiDeRmAn

Underpowered, well, there you go with that old chestnut of an arguement, my machines powerful, yours sucks, etc etc.
I guess there were those who may have thought that the analogue stick was a nintendo gimmick til sony bolted 2 of them onto their analog pad, perhaps you will view the Revolution controller a litle kinder when it is released with software to try it on. An Edge report on playing Metroid Prime Echoes with it was glowing so I say bring it on.
Getting back to the comment of the Revolution being underpowered I guess it all depends on what you are going to use that power for.
Not that this is a fanboy rant in favour of all things Ninty.
The 360 and PS3 need all their grunt to put out a HD signal, all those HD visuals take a lot of power while the Revolution eschews this in favour of standard resolution that should mean equally impressive graphics as its competitors all on a standard TV.
Even if this is not the case its impossible to argue that Zelda and Metroid look every bit as good as the 360 stuff, and so I have no fears of disappointment at the Revolutions graphics, as for the important things like Gameplay, the DS has shown that it is possible to do things in a nonconventional manner, providing gaming delights we never imagined before, who knows what the Rev has in store for us.
One things for sure, unlike Sony Ninty are playing down the price of both software and hardware, to us and to developers, pointing out the ease of tranferring from GC to Rev development which will hopefully result in shelves of quality software in the years to come.
The PS3, I will buy one but I fear it will just be more of the same old Gameplay wrapped in flashy graphics and after some 30 years of my 34 playing games its all getting a but jaded.
In the past 2 weeks I have played more Zelda the Minish Cap on GBAmicro and Animal Crossing Wild World on DS than any other game, and loved every minute of it, despite having 30 consoles and tons of games to play as well, the 360 just can't compete yet, nothing stands up and screams buy me, play me. Perhaps Test Drive Unlimited, or Prey, we'll see.

Gonzo

Amazing machine... worth every cent but there could be a price reduction in the Autumn **do not ever purchase the core machine** get the Premium machine with Hard Disc....

When the 360 came out I had no plans on buying one having an Xbox, PS2 & Gamecube already I said whats the point... went to my cousins house saw his 360 and I was blown away.. bought the machine a week later and I havent looked back since...

Best console Ive ever owned. Firstly it allows me to play games in hd... all the games look as good as if they were running on a pc with a geforce 7800GTX without costing you €2000 for the pc.... no more flicker, low textures etc
^^ if you connect an xbox 360 to a CRT monitor using a VGA cable the image quality is teh sex... thats what I do while i route the sound thru my hifi... amazing gaming experience....

You can play some XBox 1 games on your 360 and some of them when upscaled to 720p using the VGA cable just look amazing... SplinterCell Chaos Theory and Halo 2 are perfect examples...Halo2 is still the best online console game and will prolly remain this way for some time to come...

Once you connect your 360 to the internet you can download all the demos available online for free weather you choose to pay for Xbox Live or not.... your automatic Free Xbox Live Silver account gives you access to all the demos.. it certainly beats heading into town to spend €12 on some crappy biased magazine just to play a demo that you mightent like... least this way you can try everything without costing you a cent. I think the machine also comes with a free 2 month Xbox Live Gold trial but I could be wrong on that one.

Xbox Live Arcade: Ive got 2 words for you> 'Geometry Wars' <-- one of the best games ive ever pld and it only costs like €5..

Games Library: some great titles already such as COD2, PGR3, DOA4, Oblivion, Far Cry Instincts with loads more to come: Dead Rising to come later on ohhhh yessss zombies zombies zombies:D

Gamerpoints: Dunno if sony will copy something similar but this is a great incentive to make you play your games more getting more value from your games purchases.

My only warning:
Hard Disk: make sure you buy your 360 with the hard-drive..if you buy it without the hard-disk you wont be able to play xbox 1 games or download demos, trailers for free on xbox live...you can always buy the hard disc seperate but thats kinda gay.

CiDeRmAn

Sorry, still nothing there that really impresses, the Xbox and now the 360 just looks too much like your Dad trying to be cool dancing at a wedding, Sony and Nintendo make it look so easy but aside from a select bunch of console exclusives like Halo and Halo2 nothing else really sparkles that can't be got on the other formats.
PS3 will trounce the 360, they will be running the same multiformat games from EA, Ubisoft and the rest, only the PS3 will look that bit better plus have the overwhelming support of two key markets, the Japanese and the kids in the school playground, 360 will be consigned to 2nd place again, if its lucky.
Don't get me wrong the 360 is a fine machine but it does at this stage have the whiff of the Dreamcast about it, it's a console you play between Playstations, but without the rich history of Sega to keep the true believers interested.
I do enjoy my 360 but in no way have been blown away, if you are a broadband user get one, if you want to show off your new HD plasma the get one, just be prepared to sell the thing when the PS3 pops its head up.

Gonzo is right about one thing though, The Core system sucks like nothing has ever sucked before, man and there's another MS screwup, to ensure the Core option would be a go'er they made all the games run without using the Harddrive properly, so they screwed us all!, hence why Oblivion stutters around and has tons of loading screens. Bugger!

Alnilam

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Sorry, still nothing there that really impresses, the Xbox and now the 360 just looks too much like your Dad trying to be cool dancing at a wedding, Sony and Nintendo make it look so easy but aside from a select bunch of console exclusives like Halo and Halo2 nothing else really sparkles that can't be got on the other formats.
PS3 will trounce the 360, they will be running the same multiformat games from EA, Ubisoft and the rest, only the PS3 will look that bit better plus have the overwhelming support of two key markets, the Japanese and the kids in the school playground, 360 will be consigned to 2nd place again, if its lucky.
Don't get me wrong the 360 is a fine machine but it does at this stage have the whiff of the Dreamcast about it, it's a console you play between Playstations, but without the rich history of Sega to keep the true believers interested.
I do enjoy my 360 but in no way have been blown away, if you are a broadband user get one, if you want to show off your new HD plasma the get one, just be prepared to sell the thing when the PS3 pops its head up.

Gonzo is right about one thing though, The Core system sucks like nothing has ever sucked before, man and there's another MS screwup, to ensure the Core option would be a go'er they made all the games run without using the Harddrive properly, so they screwed us all!, hence why Oblivion stutters around and has tons of loading screens. Bugger!

If my Da's dancin was as cool as a 360 I'd be well impressed (sorry da but you know its true), as for oblivion I don't know what you've done to it but mine looks fantastic, it does have to load a lot but It's not slow

*edit*
And before anyone decides that I'm an x-box fanboy, I ain't, I've been a very satisfied PS1 & PS2 owner since they launched, I did also for a brief period own one of those N64 things and I gotta say it'll be a cold day in hell before I buy another "Ninty". Innovative product the N64 was, great games, NO, Goldeneye was the exception that proved the rule in my mind.

The only negative thing I can say about my 360 is that it won't play toca 3 but you can't have everything can you

Gonzo

The PS3 might be very good but the OP wants a machine soonish and I fear that when the PS3 does come out around November in short supplys it will be mad expensive... maybe around €600? plus it will have only a few titles at launch and will never have Halo!... by that time the 360 will be into its 3rd and 4th wave of software with plenty of hot titles to choose from. He can always wait 6-8 months into the PS3's Lifecycle before deciding to buy one of those... think thats what Im gonna do.

CiDeRmAn

Yup, PS3 to be silly money, and do you really want to pay out a wad like that to play Killzone2? Given how dung-like Killzone was I don't think so.
I am a self-confessed early adopter, as soon as a machine gets a PAL release these days (used to buy NTSC machines but kids now take precedence, damn them!), but I am fast coming to the conclusion that the best thing to do is wait a good 12 months after inital release to buy, at least then the really good games should be coming on stream, unless its the N64 where nearly all the good games came out in the first 12 months!

As for not buying a Nintendo again, hating a manufacturer is just as fanboy as loving one, the games are what it's all about, never the console powering it.
The Atari Jaguar still gets an outing from me from time to time, because I love Atari, no, because the machine is awesome? No, it's because Tempest 2000 is a superb game, every bit as good as Geometry Wars 2.
Your gaming life should be brand blind, just go for the games that are great and never mind the format.
My GC has the Metroid games, every bit as brilliant as Halo and Halo2 offline, it has Pikmin1/2, MarioSunshine, Zelda, Rogue Squadron2 and Resident Evil, plenty of great games that will soak up your time and you can't play them anywhere else, with the console so cheap right now, why not take a risk free leap and buy one with a couple of the mentioned games, enjoy them for what they are, great regardless of the manufacturers brand on the front of the box under the telly.
The 360 will get better and better, the games will sparkle and some interesting innovations are hopefully ahead, but these are constrained by the vision of the developers, so we are doomed to play more racing games, more FPS, more RTS and more MMORPG, all a little better than the ones that went before but limited by the genres constraints, the genres rulebook of what the player can and can't do. The PS3 will fall into exactly the same hole, and we are doomed to an olympic like erosion of the previous best but never to be truely blown away by something new.

Only changes in how we play will change what we play and hence offer the gamer new ways to be entertained, to be scared, to be immersed in the developers vision.

This is where the analogue stick came in, this is where the mouse pad came in, this is where force feedback came in, this is where use if a realtime clock came in, this is where the widescreen display came in, this is where the touch screen came in and this is where I feel the Revolution controller will come in. It will alter what we expect from our software forever.

Remember how racing game were before Gran Turismo? Remember how the bar was raised afterwards?
Remember MegaDrive and Snes racing games? Remember how the bar was raised with the release of Wipeout on the new PS1?
Remember these times when how we experience games changed our future expectations so fundamentally that games only a few months old then became archaic, anachronistic, old hat, things for nostalgia purposes only.

Perhaps it's an over statement to expect the Revolution to do al these things, perhaps it won't, perhaps the early software will disillusion so many gamers out there that the format will go the way of the VirtualBoy, which, by the way, is a nice piece of hardware and I am lucky enough to have one with a clatter of games, Mario Tennis rocks in proper 3D!
But, at least, we will have something other than the tired genres that are pigeon holing gamers left right and centre.

Lets play something new for a change.

mcgovern

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Gonzo is right about one thing though, The Core system sucks like nothing has ever sucked before, man and there's another MS screwup, to ensure the Core option would be a go'er they made all the games run without using the Harddrive properly, so they screwed us all!, hence why Oblivion stutters around and has tons of loading screens. Bugger!

Oblivion does use the hard drive if you have one, it caches stuff on as I'm sure other games do.
The games just have to be able to run without the hdd, its not that they aren't allowed use it if its there.
I've had 60% of consoles I'd say since I could affoard to buy them myself and a fair few of the ones before that.

XBOX 360 is far and away the best.
Its easy to get online, its got good stuff there when you do.
I think the whole gamerpoints, gamercard, achievements etc was a stroke of genius. Costs next to nothing to implement, but has added hours of extra gaming for me, as I go back and play a game to get that elusive achievement.
Friends list is nice, as is the ability to download content, demos, trailers etc.

I bought a core on launch day as I couldn't get a Premium, I've since bought a hard drive, but to be honest its not a neccessity. I had the memory card anyway so the only thing I can do now that I couldn't before is download Arcade games and Demos. Granted these are fairly significant things but you can live without them.

I find it very hard to turn on the old XBOX/PS2 now and play a game in SD, and I usually can't tell the difference between great/good graphics unless its very obvious!

Gonzo

Agree with you there, Ive hardly touched my Xbox since i got my 360 and I havent touched my PS2 since I got my Gamecube 3 years ago!
I play my 360 all the time and my Gamecube occassionaly.

projectmayhem

i got a 360 at launch (a day before actually *cough* so you're all n00bs to meh! ) and it's a nice piece of kit. you'll never get such a high spec machine for €400 again... but right now, the games aren't great. sure, there's oblivion, quake4, cod2 etc.... but i spent much more then €400 upgrading my PC to play games like this.

if you want one asap, sure, go get it. games like GRAW are fun, as is xbox live. but if you're willing to hold out, see what nintendo and sony have first, and make an educated decision later. buy a new graphics card or something

GrumPy

projectmayhem wrote:

if you want one asap, sure, go get it. games like GRAW are fun, as is xbox live.

What's your tag man?

Gonzo

€400 for an xbox 360 premium is pretty good value when you consider that getting a ****hot graphics card for yer pc can set you back between €350 and €600 depending on how much graphics power u want! Also your PSU would have to be around the 400+ Watt mark to be able to take a great gfx card and many pc's that are bought from Dell or shops dont have these good PSU's at all, meaning a new psu to be installed pain in the arse really. You can't really go wrong with a 360 unless your landed with a dodgy machine but I think most of those are now gone, the new 360s currently onsale are meant to be more stable than the ones that were in the shops at launch.

BUT if you've got more money than u know what to do with spend about €2500 on a ninjafied PC (AMD64 X2 4800+, 2gigs of RAM, Radion X1900XTX 512mb GFX Card, Fatility Sound Card, 10,000rph RAPTOR drive + 7200 SATA2 Drive, dual layer DVD-RW) then that I would think would be the best gaming system you can buy right now....

CiDeRmAn

projectmayhem wrote:

i got a 360 at launch (a day before actually *cough* so you're all n00bs to meh! ) QUOTE]
Yeah, you and half the country who "know" people, I git it a day or two ahead of that and a couple of mates got it before then too, they were shipped to the warehouses a week before release but were forbidden to release them til launch day, prompting much begging and promises to hand over first born to lay ones hands on the thing ahead of time.

But I think I did say that if one has a broadband connection there is no better console but aside from that one should wait, see what the other firms bring out, there are so many quality titles out there on the current gen formats that I have little time to devote to the 360 anymore, I mean I just picked up Far Cry Predator but know it'll be a while before I get to it, along with Gun as I have Katamari, Zelda and Shadow of the Colossus to finish, not to mention a pesky boss in Metroid Prime to polish off.

I have seen the current glaze eye'd wonder at every new consoles launch, looking first at the E3 footage and then 9/12 months later playing those games in my own living room, while they dazzle for a while they always become humdrum very quickly.
This is the way with consoles, todays blockbuster is tomorrows 2 for €30 deal, everything ages, nothing more than the early releases for most existing consoles, I mean aside from the 1st year of N64 releases, Pilotwings64, Mario64, Waverace etc and Wipeout on the PS how many of the initial years games do you still play? Maybe Halo?, not likely post Halo2, on the PS2? Only Fantavision makes me boot up the launch games there, perhaps a spot of Gotham on the Xbox? Nope not with PGR2, yet I prefer MSR on the DC to those two, the 360 is to be no different, 6 months time the launch games will seem very weak and very old, GRAW? Too bloody easy and short, not to mention a bunch of morons as your squad, for €75 I should expect perfection, it just goes on and on.
I am lucky enough to have the space for pretty much every console you care to mention, a couple of holes there, Neo Geo or Wonderswan, but aside from that pretty complete and if there is one thing a prospective buyer of consoles should learn from me is that if you don't own a PS2 yet go and buy one, there are some amazing games out there for it, God of War is better than anything I have yet played on the 360, I finished it a couple of months ago and was blown away, a fantastic piece of story telling, I play the PS2 more at home than any other format, the Xbox has been consigned to a back shelf in my games room, just switched on to play MAME or FinalBurn.

The console I play most of all is the DS, amazing games, not just a clatter of crappy PS2 ports, the only game I will buy another PSP for is GTmobile, now that GTALCS is coming to the PS2, just got Trauma Centre on the DS, fantastic stuff, thats what gaming is all about.

Save your pennies, wait for at least 6 months, price drops, decent game range, and some choice among next gen machines will make your purchase far more interesting, not to mention Halo3 sometime in November! Fingers crossed!

4Xcut

Just if you get one you may want to get games here:www.playasia.com.

Literally half the price.

Limerick Dude

4Xcut wrote:

Just if you get one you may want to get games here:www.playasia.com.

Literally half the price.

but would they work on our 360's?

Ciaran500

Only some games will.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-00-3-xbox360_compatibility_guide-49-en.html

Gonzo

only the region free titles

Timmy

Xbox 360 on live rocks, average otherwise.

FYI Quote - Nintendo has shocked the video games industry with the name for its next-generation console, changing it from the codename Revolution to the official launch name of Wii. Pronounced "we", the name is meant to emphasise that the "console is for everyone", said Nintendo. The company was expected to save revealing details of the console until next month's E3 video games exposition in Los Angeles.

CiDeRmAn

Or rather its pronounced wee, if you listen close you can just about hear the bells tolling for the passing of all if Nintendos school yard cred, and thats what sells the things at christmas, bugger, the fools, I think I will still introduce it to my mates as the revolution, a bit like the real fans still calling the PS1 the PSX up to a couple of years ago, the sad gits.

N90user

Ive decided im gona buy one Thanks guys nd keep them mini review coming

steviec

I'll soon be on my third 360, my second one is on its way back to Microsoft right now. However, despite horrible reliability I'm still very happy with the purchase.

Oblivion alone makes it worthwhile, while the demos on Marketplace could keep you going for a long time without ever buying a game. And thats not to mention Live Arcade which features some absolutely fantastic games. Marble Blast and Mutant Storm are my favourites, with Hexic HD being a nice relaxing slow paced puzzler to take in from time to time. The media centre extender is a great feature also, one I've made much use of even though I'd never even thought about it before buying the console. That's not to mention online integration and even wireless controllers are something you realise you've become very attached to when you go back to a PS2 game. All in all, for features its by far the biggest step forward I've ever experienced with a console.

Its not without its downsides, as I said I'll soon be on my third one which doesn't exactly inspire confidence but at least I know I have the safety net of very helpful tech support to replace it when it goes wrong. The noise of the console gets on my nerves at times too and there's not much can be done about it. And as of right now the games library (apart from Oblivion, which by itself could keep you busy for months) isn't stellar, but its very very good compared to a typical console's library at this stage in its lifespan and the console gives you so many things to do without a disc in the drive to make up for it. Not to mention online integration and stuff like music streaming and downloadable content can lift otherwise average games compared to other consoles.

3.16

PLEASE let me know if i made a bad choice. i got an xbox 360 but only have a regular tv. if it is only good with HD , is there any way i can made up for this

3.16

also what is Oblivion?????

GrumPy

3.16 wrote:

also what is Oblivion?????

A 360 rpg developed by bethesda.

projectmayhem

Irish GrumPy wrote:

A 360 rpg developed by bethesda.

*cough*there's a pc version too... it's not a 360 or microsoft game at all!

Gonzo

3.16 wrote:

PLEASE let me know if i made a bad choice. i got an xbox 360 but only have a regular tv. if it is only good with HD , is there any way i can made up for this

The 360 still looks great on a normal television, its the same graphics just not as sharp and slightly more flickery. Basically on a normal television it looks like a pc game running at 640x480 and when you use a high def tv or monitor it looks similar to a pc title running at 1280x720 and higher on a good monitor with good graphics card.

3.16

can it also work if i bought a flat screen moniter

mcgovern

3.16 wrote:

can it also work if i bought a flat screen moniter

Yes, but unless it has component input, you'll need the VGA cable.

gamer

if you are ,into online gaming ,and like graw ,cod2, perfect dark quake 4 etc, and have broadband installed, its worth every cent,DO NOT get core 360,otherwise wait 6months, i dont think the price will go down cos it costs ms 500e to make a 360.If you just wanna play games ,theres loadsa good games on the xbox ,ps2,if you dont have broadband,wait, theres only like 10 games on release at present,it will take sony at least 2 years to build a network as good as xbox live.When theres like 50 games out and i have broadband ,then ,ill buy a 360 with built in hardrive.Without online acess,its basically an xbox with very good hidef graphics.It depends on your budget,you can buy any xbox1 game for 25e or less preowned.360 GAMES START AT 60euro as far as i can see ,in game etc.

hshortt

I bought into the 360 too, it's very expensive in my opinion. But it's early days, watch out for the PS3 launch date, I'd expect the 360 to get it's first discount around this time.

I got five games when I bought the 360 but I've been playing just one, Need for Speed Most wanted, this looks, sounds, plays suberb and this alone with the enjoyment I'm getting from it has made my purchase worthwhile. I'm not a 'gamer' as such taking no more than an hour or so a day to play but I do enjoy it. I'm playing on a High Def plasma too and run the 360 at 1080i which does look stunning.

I've not yet tried the online, preferring to get my skills up first I'll try it out when I have the time and the patience to set up Internet connection sharing, or I break down and buy the wireless adapter (crazy at 90 euro!).

There'll be more and better games, but at the moment it seems like first person shooters are the top ones and there are already more than a few of them.

I've also an original xbox and I have not made up my mind on selling it yet, my son loves playing some of the games we have on it Star Wars Lego, Madagascar etc, there isn't a 'family friendly' game on the 360 yet.

I do wish that the 360 upscaled DVDs, it's certainly capable but I can't complain as I have MCE doing that for me anyway.

Cheers
Howard

3.16

i was lucky . i got mine off ebay for €250 , very happy with that ..... any1 lookin for one thats works perfect and cheap .... ebays the way to gop

GrumPy

projectmayhem wrote:

*cough*there's a pc version too... it's not a 360 or microsoft game at all!

I know, but he doesnt need to know that if he asked what it was in a 360 forum, regarding the game, and he seems to wanna get a console, ffs, nit-picking.

GrumPy

hshortt wrote:

or I break down and buy the wireless adapter (crazy at 90 euro!).

just pick up a wireless ethernet bridge, much cheaper, and do the same job.

CiDeRmAn

The 360 as an ofline machine leaves an awful lot to be desired, I am also playing Oblivion and after 40 hours am having trouble keeping my eyes open to tell the truth, Burnout is lovely to look at but ultimately no different to its xbox cousin, as is the case with most of the gaming content, its replicated on the other consoles and the PC as publishers squeeze every franchise for all its worth.
If you have a HD set it looks even better and probably is a good buy as it is if you have broadband.
The thing is that the folk on this forum are not representitive of most gamers out there, most of us have broadband and do not wait for the popular media to hype up a game before we take it up as a new obsession.
Its fair to say that most gamers are not using broadband, they do not play games online at all, it's a niche market when compared to the offline only population who own 360s. They also don't own a HD tv, which leaves us with a powerful machine whose big 2 selling points are not used bby most of the consumers out there.
The games as they stand are not worth the asking price, from 65 to 80 notes in the various shops around Dublin, not enough differences between the 360 titles and their other console bretheren.
Pergaps in 6 months we will see things change, with some developers creating games with the 360 and PS3 in mind, but til then it'll be same'ol same'ol on the shop shelves for the next while.
Pity really, I guess there isn't really any other way it could have played out, but a few more console exclusives that folk would actually want, Kameo sucks, should have been available, it had a very weak launch lineup, and I should know I bought most of them.

Roll on November, lets see if Sony can make as big a hash of it.

4Xcut

GTa III was a revoulutionary game for the ps2 that broke the molde and set new standards. Is there anything like that coming out for the XBOX 360?

Also, a question. If you buy an XBOX 360, can you use it online with standard WIRED broadband without buying any adapters, etc? i.e. just plug in an ethernet cable and play.

danbhala

4Xcut wrote:

GTa III was a revoulutionary game for the ps2 that broke the molde and set new standards. Is there anything like that coming out for the XBOX 360?

Yes, there is a game called Saints Row.

Check here for some info about it: http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/747/747896.html

And for some youtube footage check this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJgU72w8qg&search=saints%20row

looks fairly good, but still is a blatent rip off game style wise.. but then again almost every game other there is!

4Xcut wrote:

Also, a question. If you buy an XBOX 360, can you use it online with standard WIRED broadband without buying any adapters, etc? i.e. just plug in an ethernet cable and play.

Yes, you can just plug it straight into your router. The 360 has an ethernet port.

3.16

please desperate 2 know if i can hook my surround sound up to xbox 360 , if so is does it make a huge difference

Julez

Yes and YES!