You are however saddled with a one time fee (or crabby, irritable software. Possibly both), needing to manage your account from your PC, and the like.
And you’re stuck with PSN. Ew. 
Honestly, I have a 360 that just collects dust. If you like games like WoW and TF2 it will feel like a huge step down. I only use it for gimmicky stuff like guitar hero and when I feel like playing an especially mindless console game.
The new Forza 3 is looking to be incredibly awesome. (eurogamer gave it 9/10, and they’re tough.) It’s the competition for Gran Turismo, and if you liked that… you’ll love this. Coming out on the 27th.
What if you like games like WoW and TF2 but also <gasp> like… other kinds of games?
Er, no. There are no games on 360 which support keyboard & mouse.
I hate to ask this of a technically apt admin, but… really?! This is pretty much exactly like saying you downloaded a random application on the internet which turned out to have crappy phone support, thus you don’t recommend anyone ever buy a personal computer and risk running any applications ever.
The Xbox 360 is a platform for content - neither it nor its manufacturers have any obligation whatsoever to provide tech support for a piece of software that has been licensed to play on that platform. Unless you misspoke and were actually complaining about the tech support lines for the actual hardware of the 360, this is a horribly misguided point to make against the system. There are many better ones, such as the failure rate (mostly historical) and the premium multiplayer service, but railing against a car manufacturer for the price of gas makes zero sense.
I’m not a tech admin. I am, or was, the admin in charge of biting people. That is, I don’t fix the hardware OR software on this message board. What I do is more along the lines of “check IP addresses, see if they match up to other problem users” and “examine poster X’s post history to see if he’s a constant problem” type admin. I know how to use some of the software tools, but I certainly don’t fix the software, nor do I alter it in any way.
My problem was actually with the hardware for a game. There was a very easy fix for the problem, but the CSRs had no clue as to what to tell me. Partly because they had no clue about the hardware, but mostly because they didn’t understand American English. Their accents were so thick that they were almost impossible to understand…and I see a doctor who was born and raised in India, has a thick Indian accent, and I’m able to understand him. I’m able to understand other Indians as well, in both social and professional circumstances. With one CSR, I would tell him that my console registration was something like “1673”. and he’d repeat “4982”, for instance. This was more than just a case of us not understanding each other, this was a case of the guy wasn’t able to take down the basic information. The CSRs in each case clearly didn’t really understand what I was saying, they were just picking keywords out of my complaints, and were reading scripts which really had nothing to do with my problem. Microsoft just doesn’t have high hiring standards when it comes to at least the first tier of CSRs. Since one of the main reasons I bought the XBox 360 was that I was assured that the tech support was marvelous, I felt that I should report my experiences with the tech support.
This is the second time I’ve read this on here. Is it a USA only thing? Because I regularly play games purchased online on my two Xbox 360 consoles and have never had an issue with it.
I find this ironic. I recently had a red ring of death on a new Xbox 360 and, following the instructions in the manual, decided to call tech support instead of just taking it back to the store for a replacement. The Australian tech support number I rang had me put through to the US where I spoke to an American who was hopeless. He had a thick American accent and was difficult to understand, it was also clear that he found me difficult to understand and I had to clarify a lot of things that would’ve been obvious to a fellow Australian (such as the fact that I’m in Australia and will need a replacement power supply suitable for the Australian hardware.) He was also reading from a script and got me to do all of the things I’d already tried before ringing support. After that abortive effort I took the console back for a replacement the next day and all was right in the world again.
Now why the hell didn’t I get an American, then? I was calling during normal working hours (I’m pretty sure that phone tech support isn’t even available 24 hours), so why was my call transferred to India?
I don’t know, maybe you just had an Indian working in an American call centre.
If you are into flight sim, Ace Combat 6 is a good arcade-lite flight sim with a good campagin.
Most Xbox360 games come out on the PS3 and the PC, but if you like to play fighting games on the controller then defintely get the Xbox 360 version. RPG and RTS for the Xbox360 usually come out on the PC too (Bioshock, Fallout 3 etc.). I think it’s better to play Prototype or DMC3 on the Xbox360 than the PC.
However, some Xbox Arcade games are worth getting, like the forementioned Castle Crushers. Geometry War is also avaliable on Xbox 360, and many other of its kins. The big thing about Xbox 360 is online gaming. Oh yah, there’s also the Street Fighter HD Turbo whatever redux on Arcade.
If this is a discussio about PS3 and Xbox360, then I am not so sure 
Three different ones?
If you’ve already got a Pc, and are ruling out things like shooters and RTS’ on the console due the controls (and I agree with you here 100%), then why waste the money on a 360?
Every game you do get will feel like a step down. Textures will be of lower quality that you’re used to, so will the resolutions and overall level of detail. And get used to Aliasing and blurry textures as a lot of games “Feature” no anti-aliasing of any kind and low or no anisotropic filtering.
A few months ago, I looked on with pity in my heart as I watched a friend play too human on his 360. It was like watching a blind man who can suddenly see, except he can only see a tiny little dpt of light. He was convinced the graphics were awesome, while all I saw was stair-step hell, blurry textures, and since the console was scaling up the resolution to 1080p, it all seemed fuzzy and out of focus like a blown up low-rez jpg. Terrible.
Additionally, there aren’t many worthwhile exclusives on the 360. Even fighting games are coming to the PC and doing quite well. And if you’re into fighting games, you’re probably going to pick up a joypad instead of the standard controller, something you cna do for the PC too.
All in all I’d spend those $400 on more PC games. We got a lot of PC exclusives coming in soon (Star Craft II, Diablo III, Star Wars The Old Republic, Napoleon Total War, command and Conquer 4, guild Wars 2, Start Trek online, expansions for Sims 3, WOW, Age of Conan, Demigod, Dawn of War II and SINS all PC exclusives), as well as some games that that are just better on PC due to technical and design reasons like Dragon Age.
(I hate the 5 minute editing limit!)
Another option available to you is getting a $5 wire and hooking up your PC to your new TV. And that’s it, you got the best of both worlds. And the frosting is the fact that you’re not upscaling sub 720p games to the TV, you’re actually rendering them at full 1080p, or better yet, at whatever native resolution your TV runs at.
(I hate the 5 minute editing limit!)
Another option available to you is getting a $5 wire and hooking up your PC to your new TV. And that’s it, you got the best of both worlds. And the frosting is the fact that you’re not upscaling sub 720p games to the TV, you’re actually rendering them at full 1080p, or better yet, at whatever native resolution your TV runs at.
With DRM issue son the PC going by the wayside and more and more publishers less or no DRM, with the options of getting a box with your game in it, or downloading it (every PC title now offers both possibilities), and with sales online happening every day it’s good to be a PC gamer, and those gaming dollars are bound to go further.
Something’s borked. That was sent in as an edit.
You’ve already said that you were, in fact, calling about a game? Or “hardware for a game”? or something?
It still isn’t entirely clear if you actually called Microsoft?
And uh… Kin? Why are you rehashing the same point that’s already been effectively discarded?
There are more games in the world than come out for the PC. Quite a lot of them in fact. And they are, in fact, even in other genres. 
We understand your PC evangelism and the holiness of the almighty pixel, but seriously. More brown and grey dots per inch is not the end all be all of the gaming experience.
ahh yes, the same argument form the console crowd. Graphics don’t matter! But of course they do, otherwise you’d still be playing PS2 games. In fact, don’t alot of the new games still come out for that platform? why aren’t you playing them instead of the 360 version?
I’d also wager that if the consoles had the better graphics, you guys would be touting it from the rooftops. Which is fine, because it would be a good point
So my thrust here was that there are a lot of cool exclusives on the PC, not many exclusives on the consoles, and none, taking the OP’s likes/dislikes into consideration, that would warrant spending $400 on a console. Halo 3? You could find much better shooters on the PC back in 2000.
Sure we might pay a bit more on the out start as PC gamers (although I believe the difference in money spent is more even a long a stretch of time), but we pay more because the platform is superior.
Actually, nope. There hasn’t been a better shooter than Halo 3. I can say that in confidence, because if you can say the opposite without any basis, then I can say the inverse as well.
I’d guess the Op would agree with me on that point. And outside of Halo fanboys, I’d think you’d find that even console gamers would agree with me on that point as well.
Still, you’re right, it’s up to the Op to decide. Are the few decent exclusives for the XBOX worth shelling out $400 for one? That’s what it comes down to. Every other game will be on PC too and it will look and play better on PC 90% of the time. What else is left to say?