# Decode the XBox 360 differences for me **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494 "2008-11-06T18:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/21 "2008-11-08T07:37:42Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > 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. The Arcade/Core model made sense from an Obi Wan Kenobi-like “certain point of view”. Microsoft needed to fight two fronts, the cheaper Wii and the more expensive PS3. By touting the cheaper Arcade/Core price in both cases they appeared to have price parity with the Wii’s only configuration and were able to look a lot more affordable than the PS3’s most expensive configuration. This is where the from a certain point of view comes in because the 360 Arcade/Core did not compare well features-wise to either of these systems. A more realistic comparison would have been the more expensive Pro model, which would have made the 360 look weaker than both. From a game development stance, it was a total blunder. But I can’t really fault it’s effect on the 360’s lineup, it’s rock solid from top to bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/22 "2008-11-08T08:33:28Z")
Might be a stupid question, but when they say hard drive is this a proprietary component to the X-box 360, or since it is based around standard IBM chipsets can I use an IDE or SCSI hard drive? I have plenty of hard drives lying around that I don’t use in my PC anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/23 "2008-11-08T08:47:56Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > Might be a stupid question, but when they say hard drive is this a proprietary component to the X-box 360, or since it is based around standard IBM chipsets can I use an IDE or SCSI hard drive? I have plenty of hard drives lying around that I don’t use in my PC anymore. It must be an Xbox 360-branded hard drive. The PS3, however, can use any hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/24 "2008-11-09T01:24:51Z")
> [@Belrix](#): > > 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? > > … > > FWIW, I still have an old style, regular resolution, TV and don’t think HD is in my near future, either. I’m cheap. Since most of the up-front answers have been hidden in pretty long posts: \*\* The $199 version has NO hard drive at all. You need a hard drive.\*\* (You don’t NEED a hard drive, but you’ll really want one. Even the 20gb is fine - check eBay to see if there’s one for cheaper than $100.) And keep those HD component cables - they’ll be very useful when you do update. It’s very much worth it. (And keep an eye out for games that get very poor ratings on a standard set, like NCAA Football '07 or Dead Rising - you can’t read any text at all.) ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/25 "2008-11-09T01:54:48Z")
I bought the Arcade, Fallout 3, and Oblivion GOTY version last weekend. It was only when I got home that I noticed that to play the GOTY content you had to have a hard drive. I could have saved myself some money buying the regular Oblivion. The problem is I can’t get too many more games because I won’t be able to save as much. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/26 "2008-11-09T02:23:39Z")
> [@Ataraxy](#): > > I bought the Arcade, Fallout 3, and Oblivion GOTY version last weekend. It was only when I got home that I noticed that to play the GOTY content you had to have a hard drive. I could have saved myself some money buying the regular Oblivion. The problem is I can’t get too many more games because I won’t be able to save as much. Have you considered rentals? Gamefly does wonders for the budget and is great for all except the newest titles (which tend to be unable to meet demand). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/27 "2008-11-09T02:50:47Z")
> [@404 Clue Not Found](#): > > Have you considered rentals? Gamefly does wonders for the budget and is great for all except the newest titles (which tend to be unable to meet demand). I think he meant “save” as in “save my game” rather than “need the cash”. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/28 "2008-11-09T03:03:26Z")
Another thing the hard drive is good for (I get to find all these things out firsthand since I have an Arcade system ☹ ) : NCAA rosters. I don’t have any player names on my NCAA '09 football game because you need a hard drive to transfer them to. I very much regret getting the cheapo 360, and plan to get a hard drive soon. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/29 "2008-11-09T03:55:18Z")
A quick ebay search is telling me that $35 is going to get you 20gb HD, which includes shipping. No reason to pop for the 60 or 120gb unless you really want to have a lot of pictures/videos at your fingertips. If you delete a game you’ve downloaded, you can download it again for free, right? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/30 "2008-11-09T12:14:35Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think he meant “save” as in “save my game” rather than “need the cash”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/31 "2008-11-09T17:15:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think he meant “save” as in “save my game” rather than “need the cash”. You are correct. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494/32 "2008-11-16T12:57:20Z")
> [@404 Clue Not Found](#): > > 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. This may not be a good idea. Certain things are tied to the unit’s internal ID number, one of which is a prohibition against online activity if your unit has been deemed to have been tampered with (e.g. by putting in a workaround chip that allows you to play region-locked games/DVDs out of region). Microsoft’s not big on listening to appeals on this sort of thing, and a number of consoled were recently banned. Many of these are likely to be making their way to eBay over the next few weeks. 360s also have a tendency to overheat and Microsoft won’t repair them under warranty if you’re not the registered owner of the console. I wouldn’t buy a second-hand 360, unless I could see it work online first and it was incredibly cheap (cheap enough that I could wear replacing it in six months). YMMV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decode-the-xbox-360-differences-for-me/471494.md?page=1)