Would a xbox360 be a good purchase?

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My birthday is coming up and xbox has been around for a really long time but I've never gotten one. I always think to myself that any day now they are going to stop making games for xbox and move onto the greatest and next big thing. That hasn't happened precisely and I'm really tempted to ask for one for my birthday. It's just so fancy and cool there's also the fact that majority of any good game comes out for that system.

So should I get it or just ask for something else?
Note I'm not the best gamer in the world and I only get my gaming done threw a Wii and DC Universe Online.

xBox is awesome.

The next generation seems to be a ways off. The Xbox live online experience is fantastic. Refurbished Xbox 360's can be had pretty cheap and the new ones are said to be very reliable. Get one with a hard drive.

Xbox live I have a problem with I went threw a aspie rage moment and well I broke both my USB ports. I can ask my brother if he'd like to share mine and we can share the live or I could use my mom's laptop.

I apologize but you need to plug it into the computer for it to be live right?

You could plug it into a computer with an ethernet cable and use internet connection sharing but most people plug the Xbox straight into their router or connect wirelessly with a wireless adapter. The newer Xbox 360's have wireless built in.

I'm on my 2nd 360 console. 1st one died from RROD and got fixed under warranty. This one is doing fine (knock on wood).

If it went, I'd probably go and buy another 360 and not worry. I honestly figured the 360 would have been replaced by now...it's really outdated tech by modern standards, but here's why I think neither the PS or Xbox is pushing to make another "next gen" console.

1. Limits of TV technology. HDTV does not compare to what monitors can do. Better video performance is possible with newer hardware standards, but would most owners be able to appreciate it? Maybe, maybe not.

2. Some elements of the consoles were before their time. Xbox 360 has 3 cores working in parallel. That was envisioned before dual and quad-core CPUs hit the market. This resulted in faster performance at lower temperatures and lower power consumption levels. What could a new console offer but better capacity CPUs?

3. The bane of the console is HEAT. 360 was plagued with horrible heat management (still is IMHO), and unless they make the consoles much bigger so hefty heatsinks and fans can be employed, upping the CPU power and video card capability will only be a disaster. My i7 quad-core has a monster of a heatsink mounted to it to keep it nice and cool and QUIET. There is no way they want to put that into a console. They might work around it with stovepipe technology and a metal conductive case to wick tons of heat away from the board, but that will increase the cost.

I'm sure they're working on the next generation, but if it's not significantly better, it won't be worth the retooling of the assembly line to make it. In my opinion, they probably know what kind of hardware they want to use....they just don't know how to get around issues of heat and power consumption.

I went through the same decision last year.
I don't even use live (currently, at least) and I love love love my 360 just because of the HUGE game selection.

I say go for it, no question.

I haven't had any issues so far (oh dear god, please... Knock on wood I never do.) I have had (multiple) nightmares about the RROD though. Scary stuff.

Last edited by Jaejoongfangirl on 26 Mar 2011, 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I tend to wait until demand for a product has decreased enough that the price is at most a quarter of its original mark up. However, if it's your birthday you should be pestering. (Ok, with the caveat that I have no clue of your family's politics and if you press them they may throw you out an airlock.)

Sorry to derail the thread, but

zer0netgain: if you're not averse to voiding the warranty, perhaps you could modify the console with a superior cooling system.

I'm also hoping to get an Xbox 360 for my upcoming birthday. The old console (the giant white bricks) were a complete flop, however the games for it are awesome. The newest 360 should be much, much better.

The new ones are great, quiet, have wifi, and the large hard drive is great.

Well, the 360 cools adequately if you leave it horizontal and don't obstruct the right side of the unit (which is the primary air intake). Keep it someplace with good air flow and you should have no overheat issues, but if you see a pic of one opened up, it's a massive heat sink relying on two little fans in the back to pull enough air over it to keep things cool.

Again, this is why I don't see new console designs coming out. The incorporation of WiFi and going to a standard HDD design, as well as adding in the Kinect device has added a bit of upgrade to the original design, but without addressing the heat dissipation issue, there is no way to make a gaming console more powerful with the current designs they are inclined to use.

Liquid cooling could be an answer, but the tech has to be foolproof, and it's not to that point yet.

just throwing in some xbox360 vs ps3 comparison stuffs...

Buying:
Xbox 360: cheap at first, but gets expensive in the long run if you play online.
PS3: More expensive at first, but cheaper in the long run (free online multiplayer being a plus), games are, however, a tad more expensive unless you usually rummage through the budget and pre-played shelves as I do

Hardware:
Xbox 360: Newer models are quite alot more reliable than the older revisions, and the slim version is quite silent. The older (white) one suffers from a quite noisy dvd drive, and extra harddrives for the old version are incredibly overpriced.
PS3: A bit more powerful hardware, you get a blu-ray player and harddrives can be upgraded with off-the-shelf laptop harddrives up to 500 gigs afaik (I upgraded my 40 gb to 160 gb just recently). In the "phat" version, the fans get a bit noisy if you use the console in a warm environment,

Controller:
Xbox 360: The 360 controller is quite brilliant for FPS games actually (having grown up on WASD and mouse myself), for racing games, it does a very good job as well. However, it's quite flawed and far too sensitive once you try playing 3rd person games and sidescrollers.
PS3: I find that the PS3 controller sucks for FPS games, but for the rest, it does a keen job

Online (monetary system);
Xbox 360: You must exchange your money for MS's toy money and it's hard getting your credit card deleted from the MS servers once they're entered (at least in some regions). Buy point and live gold cards, as they are usually cheaper in stores and on the internet.
PS3: Everything is listed in dollars and cents (at least here), and you can easily sign up with multiple accounts for different regions.

Online (game store)
Xbox 360: MS are quite restrictive on some factors of arcade games, even though many are quite fun. There are tonnes of games to choose from, and the store is easy to navigate. You can also watch ingame videos and see ingame screenshots for every single one of them. Also, there's only ONE special offer per week, and it's usually either for a sh***y arcade game or a Gold subscription.
PS3: While the amount of games on here are quite few (The PS3 is harder to develop for because of more complicated hardware), there are also fewer limitations on what you're allowed to sell. Some games (Wipeout HD and Fatal Inertia both being good examples) could easily be passed off at store-sold games. They also have multiple weekly offers on a few games (some of which you can get for free if you have a PSN plus subscription). The store interface does, however, take some getting used to.

Online (ingame)
Xbox 360: Beware of some of the larger games (halo 3, CoD), as their lobbies are most probably overrun by n00bs, less popular games tend to "die" online and you'll have noone to play with... It's very frustrating if you're a budget bin gamer like myself.
PS3: multiplayer in games doesn't die out as fast on PSN, maybe it's got something to do with the fact that Sony doesn't charge a penny for online multiplayer I haven't encountered any of the more prevalent types of n00bs yet (mic screamers, idiot 12-yr-olds etc.)

buying tips:
Xbox 360: Get the slim version with a harddrive. If you want Kinect, go for a bundle
PS3: In this case, i'd say go for an older model, at best the 20 gig or 60 gig model. Those two models have the plus of being able to provide 100% hardware emulation of the PS2, meaning you can also play PS2 games on them

May I suggest buying your consoles very cheaply via Craigslist?

Just make sure to meet up with the seller in-front of a public library; in active hours.