Getting a Xbox360: worth it or not?

[W0LB0T]

Ive got plenty of money to waste so would an Xbox360 be worthy of my money. also what games should i get and dont say Gears of war or PSU i allredy know they are good.

[SubstanceD]

That all depends. What kind of games are you interested in? Do you own a Wii or a PS3? If not not, then are interested in owning any of them or not. Last but not least, when you say you have plenty of money to waste, does that mean you could potentially afford to buy all 3 Consoles.

I bought I Xbox 360 in November along with Gears of War. I also own PSU ( naturally ) and Lost Planet. I have barely played Gears of War or Lost Planet ( most of my time has been spent playing Twilight Princess on the Wii or PS2 games such as Okami and FFXII ) and I have become board with PSU, so at the moment I am neglecting my 360.

Despite this, I don't really regret buying my 360. Even though I not interested in any of the upcoming games for the 360 there is always Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey to look forward to in the future and I may even give Halo 3 a try even though I loath FPS's.

[Kent]

Guitar Hero II is coming out on April 3rd, for the 360.

Achievements, online leaderboards, 10 new songs over the PS2 version, and "more downloadable content than any Xbox Live game, ever."

Armored Core 4 is coming out next month, if that's your kind of thing. From what I've heard, they're actually ditching the craptacular control scheme from the past billion or so Armored Core games they've churned out, so it might actually be not physically painful to play, and may, by some off-chance, actually be fun.

Dead or Alive 4 is still probably the best 3D fighter out there. Then again, I haven't played Virtua Fighter 5 yet (probably will, when it makes its way to the 360).

From what I can tell of the demo of Crackdown, it's pretty fun. It's like a GTA game, minus the mind-splitting amount of suck. Oh, and you play as a super-powered cop.

Not to mention, Square Enix's next MMO is going to be on the 360 and Vista. Officially a Final Fantasy, and rumored to take place in an existing Final Fantasy world (Ivalice, please~?).

There's also the Xbox Live Arcade... Every game on there has a free demo, and some are actually worth buying. A couple completely awesome upcoming releases are Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Ikaruga.

...However, if you haven't played FFXII (PS2), then you really should. It's easily one of the best RPGs ever made - and RPGs are something the 360 is lacking at the moment. Later this year though, probably around fall, we'll probably see Blue Dragon and the like getting released.

[Hustler_One]

On 2007-02-25 09:45, Kent wrote:




Armored Core 4 is coming out next month, if that's your kind of thing. From what I've heard, they're actually ditching the craptacular control scheme from the past billion or so Armored Core games they've churned out, so it might actually be not physically painful to play, and may, by some off-chance, actually be fun.



Meh, ive yet to see what the real problem with the scheme is, its works fine for me, simple and easy to control. Oh well.

On topic, Dead Rising is fun if you like zombies, DOA 4 is also good if you like fighters, like kent said easily one of the better 3d fighters available. If you havent played FEAR on the pc you can try it on the 360 as well, although I like the PC version better, and Condemned: Criminal Origins is a good play, although its rather short and has a crappy ending.

[-Crokar-]

i have all the systems right now and i play my 360 more than anything. Oblivion is a great game if you like that kinda game. ive had it since it came out and i still play it. theres so much stuff to do in it. and it has a new expantion coming out in a few months that gives even more to do. Crackdown is also another stupidly fun game.i dont have many games for my 360 but i play the heck out of the ones i do.

[Sinue_v2]

Crackdown is like GTA minus the suck? I thought it was more like GTA with the suck level turned to max. In fact, I would wager that the Halo 3 Beta invitation is the only way that game is going to really sell. (though you can still get into the beta by preordering Halo 3 apperantly).

Aside from that - I'm really enjoying my X360. I'm currently playing Call of Duty 2, Oblivion, Lost Planet, Gears of War, PSU, and Dead Rising. All of which I would highly recommend. I'm also playing a lot of Outpost Koalaki X, Bankshot Billiards, and DOOM on the Arcade. If you get one, make sure you get the premium model with the harddrive. Downloading game demos is a godsend so that you don't end up getting stuck with some piece of crap like (imo) Crackdown. Through the marketplace you can also download television episodes, movies, previews, video walkthroughs, as well as expansions. Often times some of this stuff is offered totally free, such as with TV show premiers, extra content, ect. I also really like the ability to track gamerscores and customise your profile. While it's nothing really special - it's still a fun diversion to see how far ahead of your friends you are (or aren't). Ripping/Streaming music from your PC to play in the background is very nice too. Nothing a seperate stereo can't handle - but nice none-the-less.

[DLShAdOw]

Xbox 360 is currently the best system out IMO and will be even better when they give it a browser!!!

Best games are GoW, PSU, Oblivion, Test Drive Unlimited and ...uhhhh Halo 2!!!!

But seriously, If you like racing games then test Drive is like THE ULTIMATE RACING GAME.

Basically it is a free roam racing game that is always online, so you can be driving along, and all the sudden someone else online will just drive up next to you and falsh his lights to initiate a challenge. Then you just make up a race track from the map (which is the hawaiian island of Oahu) and start racing!!!!!

[W0LB0T]

there is a deal going on now which has a premium console and comes with PGR3 and DoA4. all for the low price of $649 Aud.

I own a Wii (I was smart enough to preorder it)

[Skett]

Go with the 360. It truly is doing great. Good games available now are Breakdown, Call of Duty 2, Oblivion (incredible game), Rainbow Six Vegas, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Condemned, and FEAR.

Honestly, I'm more exciting for some of the future games, like Halo 3, GTAIV, BioShock, Mass Effect, Guitar Hero 2, Assassin's Creed, Command & Conquer, Halo Wars, Eternal Sonata, Half-Life 2: Orange, Resident Evil 5.

Those are the games that sound good, with BioShock probably up the top of my list.

[omegapirate2k]

I have all 3 of the next gen consoles, and I'll admit the 360 is getting the most playtime of all of them, mostly because of PSU, but gears of war, dead or alive 4, lost planet, rainbow six vegas, dead rising, ghost recon advanced warfare, all of them are good games I own as well.

But I'm looking forward to upcoming wii titles the most, mario galaxy and metroid prime 3 among others. I'm going to be off the map for a while once those come out.

[Sinue_v2]

Or how about putting it another way....

Go ahead and get a 360. By the time the PS3 gets some really noteworthy games, and by the time you can find a Wii for sale, you'll probably have enough money saved up again to buy them.

[Tweengo]

Just some advice. I don't own a 360, but I've read many a letter on Teletext (You'll know what I mean if you live in the UK) about 360s going but a few days after the guarantee. And letters from people saying that after reading the said letters about 360s going bust just after the warranty, theirs going bust too. I say don't get one.

[Kent]

On 2007-02-26 08:11, Tweengo wrote:
Just some advice. I don't own a 360, but I've read many a letter on Teletext (You'll know what I mean if you live in the UK) about 360s going but a few days after the guarantee. And letters from people saying that after reading the said letters about 360s going bust just after the warranty, theirs going bust too. I say don't get one.



...Try weighing the percentage of people who have 360s that break and post about it, against the percentage of people whose don't break, and don't post about it.

This thing about 360s going bad is blown way out of proportion - it's very rare, just someone's more likely to say "ZOMG MY 360 BROKE" when theirs does break, than they are to say "ZOMG MY 360 WORKS" when it functions perfectly.

The chance of someone picking up an actual defective 360, is negligable, at most. A lot of such incidents are mostly due to people being idiots with the system. :/ Don't think that there's some severe, outstanding manufacturing flaw, or something - there isn't one, people are just prone to intense over-exaggeration.

[Sinue_v2]

The thing with the 360 is that it generates a lot of heat, and (IMO) isn't adequately ventalated. Although you will probably do just fine without any sort of enhancement - I would still recommend buying an intercooler or additional exhaust option. Most importantly, once your warrante is up - open your system and clean the dust out. This should be standard practice for anyone who cares for their electronics - but it's expecially important for the X360. (Expecially if you DO have additional cooling fans pulling more air - and dust - into the system).

Later this year Microsoft will be releasing a new version X360 with a slightly redesigned processor to help cut down on the heating issue.

Aside from that, there was a rather embarassing issue with Thompson drives Microsoft had been putting in the X360. They tend to grind excessively when seeking and have a tendancy to go out. Microsoft has extended the warranty on earlier X360 models to help cover the issue. Any new X360 you buy now will not have the Thompson drive, and should hopefully not have the same problems.

Considering Sony's previous problems with hardware - and their "user fault" policy - I feel much more confident in Microsoft's hardware and customer service should a problem arise. (Though if you want really sturdy hardware - I would suggest the Wii hands-down. The NGC was like a tank in a cute little purple box, and I expect the Wii to follow suit.)

[Tomeeboy]

As for the 360s going bad, Microsoft did increase the factory warranty from 90 days to a full year, and most problems were from older units from what I've read.

With that said, I haven't had any regrets about buying my 360, it has been a nice system. This is pretty much a complete flip from when I was playing the original Xbox and PS2, as I almost never used the Xbox and it was kind of the outcast of my gaming arsenol. There were occassionally Xbox exclusive games that really made me glad that I had it, though... Crimson Skies, KOTOR, etc..

Right now, I'd say the 360 is the console to beat in the gaming market, with the Wii coming in a close second. I own both, and I'd recommend buying both before even considering a Playstation 3. You'll cover a wide variety of games, and there's just no reason to get a PS3 for such ridiculous prices when most of the big upcoming games are going to hit 360 as well.

The lack of RPGs for the 360 was mentioned, and I'd have to agree that this is one area where the system is really lacking right now. There are some RPGs coming down the road, though, including Mass Effect (which is done by the makers of Jade Empire and Knights of the Old Republic). Shooters and sports games are the big craze right now, so I think those titles are always going to be the dominate genre on a system like 360, especially considering how they can easily be turned into multiplayer games over Xbox Live. Right now, the RPG lineup consists of four games: Oblivion, Enchanted Arms, Phantasy Star Universe and Marvel Ultimate Alliance (this one is almost stretching it IMO).

One last note... If you have a girlfriend/wife/etc., or just want to play games with family and friends who aren't big gamers, then you really might want to consider a Wii. That system is much more appealing to the typical non-gamer, so it is a good solution for somebody who needs to entertain other people while they are gaming http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[UnderscoreX]

Buying any console is worth it, even the 360.

[W0LB0T]

I went ahead and bought one. its a pretty good machine but i haven't played it enough to pass my final judgment. i purchased the premium pack and it came with 2 free games! PGR3 and DOA4.

one thing that surprised me was the size of the power pack. its more like an electrical substation and the cord is very thick almost like a 1500 volt power cable. i wonder how much power it uses? and its very noisy. the volume of the tv has to be right up to drown out the noise it makes. defiantly not a good idea playing when people are trying to sleep.

Heres a pic of it overshadowing the wii.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p106/W0LB0T/18-02-07_0549.jpg
sorry for the bad quality it was taken with my phone camera.

[Skett]

Looks nice (and plain. I'm too used to see a faceplate on the front). If you can get it online, you should go through the game demos in Marketplace and sample games that sound interesting. You only need a (free) Silver membership too.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

On 2007-02-26 23:46, Skett wrote:
Looks nice (and plain. I'm too used to see a faceplate on the front). If you can get it online, you should go through the game demos in Marketplace and sample games that sound interesting. You only need a (free) Silver membership too.


More games are starting to require a Gold membership though, for whatever reason.

[Kent]

On 2007-02-26 22:13, W0LB0T wrote:
I went ahead and bought one. its a pretty good machine but i haven't played it enough to pass my final judgment. i purchased the premium pack and it came with 2 free games! PGR3 and DOA4.

one thing that surprised me was the size of the power pack. its more like an electrical substation and the cord is very thick almost like a 1500 volt power cable. i wonder how much power it uses? and its very noisy. the volume of the tv has to be right up to drown out the noise it makes. defiantly not a good idea playing when people are trying to sleep.

Heres a pic of it overshadowing the wii.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p106/W0LB0T/18-02-07_0549.jpg
sorry for the bad quality it was taken with my phone camera.



The system is a monster. The power consumption (http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-2.htm) of the 360 during gameplay, averages at around 185.1 watts. The Wii, though? About 17.8. Like, less than 10% of that of the 360.