I want an Xbox 360 and my mom is thinking about getting this Xbox 360 Arcade for Christmas since its cheap... But I have to check a few things first. What exactly is different between the Xbox 360 Arcade and the Xbox 360? I've heard there are hardware differences and such. Does the Xbox 360 play ALL 360 games or just crummy arcade games?? Does it play them as well as a normal 360?

You don't get a hard drive to save downloaded content or as many gave saves to.

Premium gives you 20 gigs
Elite gives you 80 gigs

Those are the major differences. I have a premium.

Currently no games require the hard drive, but I've heard that some do use it to load things into the systems cache for lessened load times.

The best deal is probably the Premium or Pro 360. It comes with Marvel ultimate alliance, a racing game, and the 20 gig hard drive. I believe its 350 bones.

Please do not listen to anyone who likes the wii or ps3, they're logic is flawed. The xbox 360 is the gaming system to own in a console generation of failure. Its like voting for the lesser of evils at this point.

Its also to my understanding that if you buy your xbox before chrismas, you're eligable for a free copy of halo 3.

Again, Microsoft poops all over me. Their loyal consumer base who bought his xbox 360 in april.

I knew I could count on you for a quick response, marine. xD

Unfortunately my mom is quite cheap, and I am quite jobless, so the Arcade is my only option. So do you think I should go for it? And if I do, what else should I get for it, separately? Like an extra controller, cooling system or whatever, extra memory cards... Any advice helps, I really know nothing about these sexy next gen consoles and I want a 360 dearly.

Well, I don't know about cooling systems or extra controllers, but if it doesn't have an internal hard-drive then I definitely recommend getting a memory card.

Inkmonkey
Well, I don't know about cooling systems or extra controllers, but if it doesn't have an internal hard-drive then I definitely recommend getting a memory card.

That's what made the original Xbox so great and easy to use.

The arcade comes with a memory card, but it doesn't hold much. Every game, even movie games, uses save games in one way or another these days. So you're going to need that. The arcade may come with it.

Cooling systems are a hard no. I've read reports of them melting onto the backs of consoles. Several sources made the same claim, so I assume thats probably a bad idea to use those.

Games I'd reccomend that are less than 30 bucks:

Saints Row - Grand Theft Auto with better aiming, less story and humor, but a lot of stuff to do. Its a great game. Even has some online multiplayer modes.

Dead Rising - Zombies in a mall. If something isn't nailed down you can use it to murder zombies.

Oblivion - You could play this game for a hundred hours and still not have seen everything. I've had it for a good two months and gingerly making my way through the game. Plus it has asshole physics. Physics that allow you to be an asshole, you can knock food off of peoples tables and watch as they say hello to you.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance Gold Edition/Platinum Hits - This one includes extra characters not found in other versions, for even more playability. You can play as all the marvel heroes in a baldurs gate-esque rpg beat em up. Hulk, Deadpool, Spider-man, Wolverine, Thor, Captain America, and so many more.

Even cheaper than that:

Hitman Blood Money - You're told to go kill a certain person in a level. You can go in guns blazing or take a stealthy aproach. I like to go in guns blazing. Most stages have lots of different ways to play through them. You could try to poison the target or make their death look like an accident.

Fight Night Round 3 - The video game boxer approves this gem. One of, if not the, best boxing game ever. If you like to beat people up and watch as peoples faces morph from having the living hell beat out of them, Fight Night Round 3 is the one to get.

Extra controllers are only advisable if you play local multilayer. I would advise getting one with the chord, I hate having to buy batteries for my wireless one. Also you can use the chorded one as a PC controller. I belive the arcade version comes with the chorded controller. Its recommended not to buy any of the cheaper controllers that aren't made by microsoft. They're usually junky or built weird and have a high failure rate.

Xbox Live is worth it, if you have something to play online regularly like Halo 3 or Gears of War. Otherwise, don't bother. Premium, Pro, Elite come with a month free for you to try it out. You can also find promo codes to use 48 hour trials. I just wish I could find free microsoft points so I could buy some of these xbox live arcade games.

Also the hard drives are buyable separately, as they can be removed. I would never dare remove mine, but if I had a friend who had an xbox I could take my game saves over to their house. Its nice to have that option.

I just hope you like first person shooters or third person sci fi or pseudo sci fi games. Thats mostly whats on the xbox. A few fantasy games like Oblivion or Conan, but the majority seem to be shooting games. I for one like to shoot things.

Just buy a good PC. You'll get to play all the worthwhile 360 games eventually.

awesome, thanks for that info!! i told my mom to go ahead and get it. i actually have a list of 360 games that are out or are soon to be out that i want, and some of them were the ones you listed. i very much appreciate the advice.

shplane: i did consider that, but it would be a helluva lot more expensive to get something that could play the latest games with really good specs. plus, with all the ridiculous space certain games take up, i would run out of room for other things to do on the computer, like storing pictures and making comics. :P

lolk

Just be sure to get a PS3 as well when you have the money. It's worth it.

I'd really love to have both systems myself, to tell you the truth.

haha, i thought you hated the 360. i guess we all learn something new every day. and if a game that i really want comes out for ps3 but not xbox, i'll probably get one in the long run.

Just be careful when investing in an Xbox. While Microsoft has been extending their warranties, for the most part, their replacement plan is a joke (getting refurbished machines instead of replacement hardware). If possible, convince your mother to put afew extra dollars into an exteded warranty through whatever store she buys it through. It will make things easier in the long run when you get the three red lights of death and have to get your system replaced (it happens quite often and is a problem across the board with every model of the system, my system seems to be on the way out, so I might be getting a replacement soon, as well). Also, make absolutely sure you keep your receipt with any new system you buy these days.

As for accessories, avoid cooling units and fans. Some are known to actually burn out elements of the system. If you send a system back to Microsoft and they see signs that the damage to your system was caused by a cooling unit, they WILL NOT honor your warranty and you're out $300. Your best bet is to keep the system in a well ventilated area and do not block the vents.

Unfortunately for you, the Arcade does come with a wireless controller. While this seems like a good deal, it eans at some point you're going to want to invest in a play and charge kit. Otherwise, you're going to be swapping out AA's quite frequently. Plus, while the system does come with a memory card, downloadable content and the games on Xbox Live are getting larger. You may end up missing out on quite a few things due to the 256MB capacity of your memory card. Most demos may be out of the question, as well.

Also, the Halo 3 deal is only for people who have an original Xbox and an active Live account. You get the game by upgrading your Live service to the 360 gold plan.

Short_Circuiting
haha, i thought you hated the 360.

Nah, I just like the PS3 more.

Best advice I can give is to get the Premium. The 'Arcade' system looks like a joke and the Core 360 makes me want to vomit with it's lack of equipment. You almost need a hard drive, which you get with the Premium but not with the Core. The Premium gives you the Mic, wires and such needed for Xbox Live, which is a total must. Specially since you get to chat with loveavle characters like myself and marine. :D

Also you must get a play n' charge kit, otherwise you will end up wasting so much money on batteries.

I don't know much about the Arcade system, but I guess you could get that and then when you get enough money you could get a Hardrive, live and such later. The memory card is quite gay, because you will never be able to fit demos and game clips on it. I assume you can download demos and videos without gold? Either way, with the Premium I got a month free. Or you can just steal lots of 48 hour trials.

Don't forget to tell us your Gamertag if you ever get live. :P

isukun: yeah, i know that about the batteries. i remember when i saw my cousin's 360, his controller kept saying it was unplugged cuz it was low on batteries. D:

bek: play n charge sounds like a good idea. i hope it isn't much more than $20. lol! and i'll be sure to buy a hard drive when i can. i miss being an up to date gamer. i will spend most of my spare cash on babying an xbox that hopefully won't give me the 3 red rings of death. i don't know if i'll ever get live, because monthly subscriptions aren't really my thing, but if i do i'll let all you guys know. :D

Short_Circuiting
isukun: yeah, i know that about the batteries. i remember when i saw my cousin's 360, his controller kept saying it was unplugged cuz it was low on batteries. D:

bek: play n charge sounds like a good idea. i hope it isn't much more than $20. lol! and i'll be sure to buy a hard drive when i can. i miss being an up to date gamer. i will spend most of my spare cash on babying an xbox that hopefully won't give me the 3 red rings of death. i don't know if i'll ever get live, because monthly subscriptions aren't really my thing, but if i do i'll let all you guys know. :D

The price is pretty damn small per month, so I don't even notice.

And as long as you extend your warranty, you'll be fine. I haven't had the rings yet and I've had my Xbox for like a year now.

And as a side note, Halo 3 tune is on Guitar Hero 3. D:

S_C's new avatar is downright frightening.

Edit: No srsly. It's nightmarishly scary. Ain't no way I'm using that as an avatar.

puff_of_smoke has it too. :D you should joiiiin usssss.

hehehehehehhahahahahahaHAAAAHAAHAA!

on subject- doesn't matter really. it's just got more of what the normal ecks bocks three sicksty has.

Let us all get a 360!

We can be Live companions and laugh the nights away : )

fern
Let us all get a 360!

We can be Live companions and laugh the nights away : )

Meh, I'm not paying for Live when I can play the same online games (All FPS's are the same game, just admit it already) for free on my PS3.

You can enjoy xbox live without the gold subscription, I know I sure do.

I rented Halo 3 when it came out, for three dollars. I got it for the weekend and I had a 48 hour free gold code. I not only beat the game with four random strangers on the hard mode, but I played the living hell out of the multiplayer death match stuff. While I wish it had more capture the flag, I did have a lot of fun. One morning was spent playing 2x2 matches for a few hours on the small maps. It took me the first night to get my bearings on most of the maps, but I could almost draw them now if I had to. Probably some nooks and cranies that I don't know about.

My month free I spent playing Saints Rows death match modes.

Its free to download demos, which is very nice. A good demo I can play over and over, with no chance of actually buying a game. While a bad demo is quickly erased and forgotten. Although there is no forgetting something as awful as 2 Worlds. The other type of demos are the ones that make you want to play the full game. Ones like Overlord, Bioshock and The Darkness really sold me the game. I just haven't spotted them at the cheap rental place. I ended up renting Bioshock from one of the chain rental places, and it was a great game. Especially considering I paid 8 dollars for the experience of it.

marine
You can enjoy xbox live without the gold subscription, I know I sure do.

Oh yes, I'm sure that an online gameplaying service is worthwhile if you can't actually play games with anyone.

hey guys, my mom couldn't get me the arcade cuz they were all sold out. she told me she ended up paying an extra hundred dollars for one, but it wasn't the arcade. which one do you think it could be? one with the hard drive maybe?

If it cost a hundred bucks more than the Arcade than it's probably the Premium system, which comes with a hard drive. Which is good because I greatly dislike mucking around with memory cards.

I would have to concur. Most stores seem to have dropped the core system for the Arcade and the elite runs a little more than a hundred dollars more than the arcade system. She probably picked up the premium. It's odd that they would be out of the arcade version, though. Even with the rush on Black Friday, the stores out here are only sold out of the elite and premium skus, but have plenty of arcade systems in stock.

If she did get you one of the models with the harddrive, though, you're in luck. You won't have to bother with a memory card and space shouldn't be an issue when it comes to downloadable content. If you have a decent internet connection, you can also save yourself some money by downloading game demos to try before you buy.