The price on the XBox 360 “Arcade” version has dropped to $199 - it’s low enough that it’s probably time to push the button and get it.
The difference that I can see between this and the $299 version is a bigger hard drive. Is that it? Just how important is that?
I can see it’s primary use being game play from the DVD - not downloading the many arcade games and not becoming the hub for my Netflix stuff. I’m not sure if I’ll not ever download games - don’t know what they offer - but I suspect, if it costs extra, I won’t do it frequently.
Is the $199 suitable for this purpose or should I consider the higher-dollar ones?
I’m big into first person shooters, driving games, and have a fond-ness for the old side-scrolling arcade games (Mario for example).
FWIW, I still have an old style, regular resolution, TV and don’t think HD is in my near future, either. I’m cheap.
I asked the very same question in my recent search before I decided to get a used one. Wikipedia says the differences are:
Hard drive (instead of memory unit)
XBox Live Headset
Ethernet cable
Component AV adapter (for HDTVs)
The biggest difference for you would be the hard drive. It’s kind of important because it allows you to save a lot more often than the 256 MB memory unit. It also lets you download game updates and demos, and also lets you play original XBox games.
If price is the only factor, you might consider a used unit on eBay. You can get 20 GB models with the latest internal chipsets (they’re quiter and run cooler) for about $130 refurbished using the Microsoft 25% cash back offer.
Can you play “original” X-Box games on the 360 Arcade version? I thought this feature was crippled in the cheaper X-Box 360s, and that you had to buy the pricier 360 in order to play your older games.
Nope. This was, and still is, true for PS3 models, but not Xbox.
The only differences between the different 360 systems is what you get right out of the box - any configuration can be upgraded to any other configuration for about the same cost difference as just buying the more expensive one outright…so it really comes down to how much you want to spend up front.
If you like old-style side-scrolling games, you may end up getting a lot of games off XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade). XBLA is the marketplace for downloadable games, some whole, some demos of retail games. There are lots of really good ones; the side-scroller Braid recently won a lot of praise, for example.
Anyway, if you’re going to download XBLA games, you need a hard drive, and as with computers, in general bigger is better, because you can end up running out of space faster than you think (incidentally, I have a 120 GB drive on my Xbox, and I still have 80 GB free, despite downloading tons of arcade games, high-definition movie trailers, and the full Xbox version of “Stubbs the Zombie”, so even I haven’t run out of space yet). I’d rather have the space and not need it, than need it and not have it, ya know?
The $100 difference in price is the cost of buying the 60 GB hard drive later and adding it yourself. If you don’t care about the other extras (the headset, ethernet cable, component video), then there’s really no difference to you. Another $50 on top of that would get you double the drive space (the 120 GB drive retails for $150; yes, we all know it’s steep). So, with all that in mind, it’s really up to you.
As far as chipsets go: to ensure that you’re getting the Falcon chipset, the quick ‘n’ dirty way is to read the label on the external power supply. Falcon boxes use a 175W power supply. Older, hotter models (the Zephyr boards) required more power and produced more heat, which was the console-killer for that batch. A Zephyr Xbox can’t run with a 175W power supply. In general, systems manufactured after September '07 will be Falcon. Don’t buy any box that lacks an HDMI port; such systems are older builds.
I got the 10 or 20 GB harddrive when I got my 360 a couple years ago, and thanks to Rockband/Guitar Hero and their downloadable content just had to upgrade to the 120. You can transfer data once, but only from a small to a bigger drive, and the process is pretty painless with the included transfer cable (the microsoft harddrives, the only ones you can use with the 360, are criminally expensive for what you get though, just a word of warning). If you buy used after the fact, make sure the transfer cable is included. I’d probably just buy the bigger harddrive out the gate though…the “elite.” I think it also includes a wireless internet adapter (like $80 separate) and maybe a wireless headset. Not really a bad deal…better than going piecemeal like I did…
Nitpick your nitpick. Sony took PS2 backwards compatibility out of the PS3 a long time ago. If you want it, you have to buy used and be sure the model you’re buying has BC.
I was just looking at this myself today. Amazon has a nice table that tells you what’s up. Also, backwards compatibility for original XBox games does require a hard drive. See here.
I HIGHLY recommend you buy a unit with a hard drive. Not only does this allow you to save lots of games and download updates and XBLA games as well as movies and TV shows, but the new Dashboard (basically the User Interface) comes out soon.
The new Dashboard will let you load games directly onto your hard drive so (to my understanding) you won’t need the disk any more. figure the average X360 game is around 6.6-7.6 gigs, so you can load a couple even on to the small (20 gig) HD. Oh yea, and it also brings Netflix into the picture, so you can rent and download a movie to your HD then watch it right from there (you could already do that, but now it’s the entirety of the Netflix Library)
You still have to put the disk in to play the game even after loading it onto the hard drive. Ooh, an excuse to link to my favorite game site…a kinda long videotour of the new XBox menus.
Can you not use an external hard drive for the Xbox360? I’d assumed from the way you can select a hard drive to load a game from that the option is there to have a hard drive plugged into one of the USB ports, that might be cheaper than buying an Xbox with a hard drive.
There are tons of little casual games on Live that you can download and try. Many of them are about $10 to buy. I thought I wouldn’t pay for anything like that but I’ve gotten at least three in the last year; there’s some great stuff on Live Arcade.
Backwards compatibility requires it because of the emulation and other resources needed to run. Often, upgraded graphics are bundled with this download too.
You can download full versions of some older games, like Psychonauts and Fable, for about the price they’re going for used, assuming you can find a copy. And you get to play it almost immediately. (This is less of a bonus for me, since the Japanese region Live doesn’t have most of these games. You lucky bastards.)
Updates, add-on content, etc. all need a hard drive.
Save files take up space. If you play a few different games, or play role playing games where you maintain several different saves, you’ll probably fill a memory card in short order. Memory cards run at least $25 a pop, usually around $40 for a 512 MB unit. The 20 GB hard drive retails for about $50; you do the math.
Personally, I think that the false economy of the “Arcade” version was one of the dumber moves from the gaming division of Microsoft. As I’ve pointed out before, the only section of Microsoft that seems capable of making stuff that doesn’t suck is the gaming division, and I would bet that corporate central was behind most of the more boneheaded marketing and pricing decisions, like this one.