Worth getting a 360?

Josey Wales

I'm thinking of getting an Xbox 360. I had one three years ago but traded up for a PS3. Now with the slim version of the 360 and three years of exclusives to catch up on I think it is time to get a new one.

So is the slim console really that much quieter than the launch model? There has been rumours of a PS3 price drop to be announced at Gamescom. Anybody seen any rumours of a 360 drop this year?

I haven't been keeping track of 360 games over the last while. What are the worthwhile exclusive games to get. I don't like Halo so I wouldn't be interested in those. Other than Halo I'm open to most games.

TheMooseInNam

This thread is running dangerously close to a PS3 Vs 360 thread which is against the forum charter.

So here's your answer in a nutshell...

Yes, the new 360 S is much quieter than the older model.

There's already 250Gb 360 S for around €200 out there on the marketplace.

Lots of rumours of Kinect & 360 S bundles getting reduced later in the year but nothing has been confirmed yet, so as of right now, officially no reductions coming.

There's not enough exclusives on either console to sway anyone either way, these days.

The only real noticable difference between PS3 and 360 S is the online side of things. With XBL, you have a paid subscription service that polices the online system. You get virtually no hacking or cheating and a pretty level playing field. With PSN, you get a free online service and all the inherant problems that come with that.

bastados

I would say so esp if your looking at 3 years of less than full price games to catch up on...and not everyone on the 360 plays Halo I can assure you.

Notorious97

I made the switch from PS3 (still a huge fan of it!) to Xbox 250 GB model a month ago and i didn’t think id be too fond of it but i love it. Reason i got it is a few mates play Xbox live so i thought sick of randomers il switch over.

I doubt you will be disappointed, only thing annoying me is trying to get stupid turtle beach headset to work with it and il be sorted!

Con_R

If you're into online play and don't mind paying, then 360 will siut you. Because the console comes with a headset, you get a lot more players communicating online, if that's your kinda thing. Also, if you're a big CoD fan, then 360 gets early releases for DLC, etc.

Sgt Pepper 64

Con_R wrote: »

If you're into online play and don't mind paying, then 360 will siut you. Because the console comes with a headset, you get a lot more players communicating online, if that's your kinda thing. Also, if you're a big CoD fan, then 360 gets early releases for DLC, etc.

what if you hate online? does it still stand up as a games machine?

Con_R

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

what if you hate online? does it still stand up as a games machine?

Yeah I mean it's still good, and I own both consoles so I wouldn't really be biased, but I'd say if you're not into online play, get a PS3. At least then it's a Blu-Ray player, and in my experience, it's also a better media player for casual users.

Online play is really Xbox's selling point, unless you throw Kinect in to the equation.

TheMooseInNam

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

what if you hate online? does it still stand up as a games machine?

Pretty much what Con R said is correct. As a basic games console, there's very little difference between the two.

The ps3 has BlueRay, is decent for media streaming and has free online gaming.

The 360 has the option for Kinect (which is probably worth getting by 2012) and is also a decent WMC media extender (but make sure to install Shark's codecs)or stream with TVersity. It has a paid online service, that is superior to PSN but you pay €40-€60 per year for that privilege.

So, just ask yourself, what's more important to you? Online gaming or BlueRay?

Don't forget you can always rip a backup copy of your BlueRay discs and store them on your PC's HDD and stream them to your Xbox

Sgt Pepper 64

TheMooseInNam wrote: »

Pretty much what Con R said is correct. As a basic games console, there's very little difference between the two.

The ps3 has BlueRay, is decent for media streaming and has free online gaming.

The 360 has the option for Kinect (which is probably worth getting by 2012) and is also a decent WMC media extender (but make sure to install Shark's codecs)or stream with TVersity. It has a paid online service, that is superior to PSN but you pay €40-€60 per year for that privilege.

So, just ask yourself, what's more important to you? Online gaming or BlueRay?

Don't forget you can always rip a backup copy of your BlueRay discs and store them on your PC's HDD and stream them to your Xbox

online or bluray? Neither! I really want a replacement for my original xbox with xbmc.
Stream films to the telly and a few good looking games for the kids.
And cheap!
A new xbox 360 250gb is 205 less 10% at currys price match.
Cheapest ps3 I found is an unwanted 2nd hand one at game for 260

Maybe I should wait until nearer xmas for the price cuts.
I have a PC for games anyway

TheMooseInNam

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

online or bluray? Neither! I really want a replacement for my original xbox with xbmc.
Stream films to the telly and a few good looking games for the kids.
And cheap!
A new xbox 360 250gb is 205 less 10% at currys price match.
Cheapest ps3 I found is an unwanted 2nd hand one at game for 260

Maybe I should wait until nearer xmas for the price cuts.
I have a PC for games anyway

If you don't want to play online or have BlueRay then just get a 360 4Gb model. If you have a PC with Windows Media Player on it, then install Shark's Codec pack and you'll be able to stream all your content from your PC to the console. Just make sure to download the media update and have your free account signed into Xbox Live so it can download the codecs it needs to play certain files. It doesn't require a paid membership subscription. Alternatively, install TVersity (it's free) on your PC and it'll pretty much set everything up for you. It's easy to use but isn't quite as glossy as WMC.

If your circumstances change in the future, you can always buy a larger HDD or Kinect for the kids if they really get into it. I believe you can pick up a 4Gb model very cheap now.

Andrew 83

I'm also thinking about getting a 360 so this has been a useful thread - thanks!

I was just wondering though about the 4GB one. Is this enough space? I don't really want to buy one and then wish I'd paid a bit more for the amount of space I need. I wouldn't be anticipating playing games online but I'd like to be able to download any good classic games or whatever that they have on their online store (I presume this works like the Wii Virtual Console but with newer games?). How much space would you need for that kind of thing from the point of view of a casual gamer?

Also do you need much space for installing games or is it all off the discs? I would mainly be playing games like Pro Evo and GTA etc.

DjFlin

If your interested in the 360's Exclusives, you've got:

Gears of War 1/2/3
The Halo games obviously
Fable 2/3 (Highly recommend 2, 3 is kinda hit & miss)
Alan Wake
Left 4 Dead 1/2
Crackdown 1/2


Plus you've got a heap of great Xbox Live Arcade Games, including Super Meat Boy and Castle Crashers (Although I think Castle Crashers finally came out on PS3)


There are a lot more obviously, those are just my favorites

Andrew 83 wrote: »

I was just wondering though about the 4GB one. Is this enough space? I don't really want to buy one and then wish I'd paid a bit more for the amount of space I need. I wouldn't be anticipating playing games online but I'd like to be able to download any good classic games or whatever that they have on their online store (I presume this works like the Wii Virtual Console but with newer games?). How much space would you need for that kind of thing from the point of view of a casual gamer?

Also do you need much space for installing games or is it all off the discs? I would mainly be playing games like Pro Evo and GTA etc.

You dont need to install any games, its always optional. If you do install, the sizes vary from 4GB-6GB

I'd recommend getting the 250GB version, especially if you want to download games. The 4GB console is really only good for saved games.

Keith186

Andrew 83 wrote: »

I'm also thinking about getting a 360 so this has been a useful thread - thanks!

I was just wondering though about the 4GB one. Is this enough space? I don't really want to buy one and then wish I'd paid a bit more for the amount of space I need. I wouldn't be anticipating playing games online but I'd like to be able to download any good classic games or whatever that they have on their online store (I presume this works like the Wii Virtual Console but with newer games?). How much space would you need for that kind of thing from the point of view of a casual gamer?

Also do you need much space for installing games or is it all off the discs? I would mainly be playing games like Pro Evo and GTA etc.

If your downloading xbox classics games then get the bigger HD, 4GB wouldn't cover some games.
GTA would have downloadable add-ons of 1GB each approx (that's if you don't have the full version on disc with add ons).

Con_R

Andrew 83 wrote: »

I'm also thinking about getting a 360 so this has been a useful thread - thanks!

I was just wondering though about the 4GB one. Is this enough space? I don't really want to buy one and then wish I'd paid a bit more for the amount of space I need. I wouldn't be anticipating playing games online but I'd like to be able to download any good classic games or whatever that they have on their online store (I presume this works like the Wii Virtual Console but with newer games?). How much space would you need for that kind of thing from the point of view of a casual gamer?

Also do you need much space for installing games or is it all off the discs? I would mainly be playing games like Pro Evo and GTA etc.

Regardless of storage space, a lot of the original Xbox games that you can download require an actual hard drive as they're not compatible with the 4GB memory unit. I'd highly recommend just getting the 250GB model, since the cost difference between the 4GB and 250GB consoles is less than the cost of buying the hard drive separately down the line.

Andrew 83

Thanks all, was having a look around the shops at lunchtime today and you can get the 250GB for 189 in HMV so I think I'll go for that.