# X-Box $149--Is it worth the price yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303 "2004-03-30T14:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/21 "2004-03-31T00:29:15Z")
> [@mouthbreather](#): > > I don’t know if Prince of Persia is available on PS2 or GC…but I just played at a friends house for the first time this past weekend…godDAM that game looks good! Fun gameplay, too…that’s probably next on my list to buy. It’s on all three consoles. I’ve seen in played on two (Xbox and PS2) and it didn’t look particularly different on either. I would probably stick with the Xbox version, personally, as I prefer the Xbox controller (the analog sticks, in particular, are far superior to the slippery convex ovoids on the ends of the PS2 sticks). YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Magickly\_Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magickly\_Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magickly_Delicious)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/22 "2004-03-31T03:01:16Z")
I saw an ad for a new game coming out called Fable that’s only on XBox. I’d love to play it, but ot’s not quite motivation enough for me to buy the system, though, since I don’t really spend enough money just to keep myself in PS2 games (I only own a PS2). And plus I know it won’t be that long till they all become obsolete anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/23 "2004-03-31T04:42:07Z")
I’m planning to buy an X-box Some Time Soon, but not for the games - for $150, I can get a pretty decent little Linux box. That’s right, kids, _linux_. No mod chips needed, just some James Bond game or other, a memory card with a certain save file on it, and a burned CD. Then you guy a cheap box that can connect to a standard VGA monitor, run MAME and other emulators, and even run openoffice. Buy an X-Box keyboard, and you’ve spent maybe $200 total to get a small, portable desktop machine that’s decent for Linux gaming or can run X-Box games whenever you want to reboot. That’s what I call _nice_. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/24 "2004-03-31T12:59:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I saw an ad for a new game coming out called Fable that’s only on XBox. I’d love to play it, but ot’s not quite motivation enough for me to buy the system, though, since I don’t really spend enough money just to keep myself in PS2 games (I only own a PS2). And plus I know it won’t be that long till they all become obsolete anyway… It should still be a year or two until the next gens come out. You could also try buying used. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/25 "2004-03-31T13:34:08Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > \*Ninja Gaiden \* is a third-person ‘shooter’ … or ‘slasher’, I guess, and I’m enjoying it despite the extreme difficulty. This game is annoyingly difficult. It’s not like they would have alienated hardcore gamers by having a “pussy” setting. I love fighting the humans but fighting tanks and helicopters is just not ninjaish. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/26 "2004-03-31T13:40:56Z")
I’ve had a PS2 for a few years now, and I’ve never regretted it. The only time I’ve ever thought to myself: “Wow, I wish I had an Xbox,” was when Knights of the Old Republic came out. Then I played Mark of Kri and I felt better. ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/27 "2004-03-31T13:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > If you’re old skool, you can also get every Final Fantasy aside from those released for GameBoy or Cube. Well, Close. The Japanese FF III (not to be confused with the US SNES FF III which I believe is called FF VI in Japan) still isn’t available in any format in the US. However, you can play all the other numerical FFs on the PS2. Anyway, I really love Steel Battalion, but it is $200. There’s an online version out now which I don’t have yet. That’d be $200 for the first game and controller, $50 for the online game, and $70 for one year of Xbox live. Yowza. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/28 "2004-03-31T14:21:34Z")
If you do decide to go Xbox, be sure to know about the DVD drive issues that exist: [http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=17216](http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=17216) it is important to not get a Thompson drive. The Xbox is well worth the bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/29 "2004-03-31T14:33:30Z")
I paid just under that for mine awhile back (it was used). I haven’t been disappointed and I’m not even a hard-core gamer. I am, however, a Buffy fanatic and have both games (only finished the first one so far) and I thought they were brilliant. I also have the GTAIII and Vice City combo, which I love. I have a few other games that I play also, but even if it was just the two Buffy games and the two GTA games, I’d have considered it money well spent. I’m thinking about getting the Prince of Persia game (I’ve heard nothing but good) - is it too hard for a casual gamer such as myself? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/30 "2004-03-31T15:16:58Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > The first Buffy the Vampire Slayer game isn’t bad either, and may be available in a bargain bin near you. I haven’t played the second game in that series. It’s good, but made by a different company. The fighting system is slightly different, you don’t learn new moves like in the old one (they’re all available at the beginning) and the timing is _much_ less forgiving for pulling off longer combos. The neat twist is that you’re not always Buffy–sometimes you’re Willow using magic, sometimes Xander using the ol’ fisticuffs. Sometimes you’re Spike kickin’ non-human ass. For bargain bin price, if you’re a fan of the first game, expect more of the goodness and try it out. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/31 "2004-03-31T15:39:49Z")
While the MP3 interaction with the games sounds good, I don’t know that I care about having “50,000+” save files available. I have like 6 games. I have rented more, but I’m frugal (ok, really cheap!) and I only buy used games and rarely spend more than $10 thanks to Movie Trading Company. I’ll have to try out the new controller. I really like having a trigger button, but the old ones were just too big I think. I have pretty big hands, but I found myself searching for buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/32 "2004-03-31T20:23:16Z")
> [@My Darn Snake Legs](#): > > While the MP3 interaction with the games sounds good, I don’t know that I care about having “50,000+” save files available. I have like 6 games. I have rented more, but I’m frugal (ok, really cheap!) and I only buy used games and rarely spend more than $10 thanks to Movie Trading Company. I don’t buy games often, either, but I find that you never really notice just how annoying memory cards are until you don’t have to use them anymore. Like I said, I have 70+ save files for a single character on Knights of the Old Republic, essentially allowing me to replay any part of the game I want. That figure doesn’t include the 60-ish save files I have for my dark side Jedi character in the same game, and the 20-30 Halo profiles I have (8-player Halo games over the network are common at my dorm). The hard drive is also really useful for games in which you unlock special features (characters, maps, new modes, etc.), as you can work your way halfway through a rented copy, return it, rent it again a year later, and pick up right where you left off. It was nice to rent Dead or Alive 3 and instantly have access to all of the characters and constumes I had previously unlocked. I recently played a rental copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee on my friend’s Gamecube, and was extremely frustrated by having to re-unlock every damn character and level, because he had wiped his old Smash Bros. files several months previously in order to make room for other saved games. That sort of thing just isn’t an issue when you have a hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/33 "2004-03-31T21:24:08Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > The neat twist is that you’re not always Buffy–sometimes you’re Willow using magic, sometimes Xander using the ol’ fisticuffs. Sometimes you’re Spike kickin’ non-human ass. For bargain bin price, if you’re a fan of the first game, expect more of the goodness and try it out. I find the fake Willow voice highly annoying, and the character graphics look weird somehow. They kept the same fake Buffy voice at least - still not Sarah Michelle Gellar, but she does a pretty good job. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/34 "2004-03-31T22:29:42Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > I find the fake Willow voice highly annoying, and the character graphics look weird somehow. They kept the same fake Buffy voice at least - still not Sarah Michelle Gellar, but she does a pretty good job. I completely agree. The voice-actress they got for Buffy for both games is remarkable. I barely even notice that it’s not SMG; she does a good job with, not only the sound of SMG’s voice, but the way she talks as well. However the chick they got doing Willow’s voice in the second game is highly distracting because it’s so not Willow. But, still, the game is good enough that I got over it. The only other thing I don’t like about the 2nd game is the lack of save spots. When the boards are as long as they are, it’s a real bitch to have to go back to the beginning if you crap out fighting the boss at the end. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303/35 "2004-04-01T23:04:55Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > This game is annoyingly difficult. It’s not like they would have alienated hardcore gamers by having a “pussy” setting. I love fighting the humans but fighting tanks and helicopters is just not ninjaish. I dunno. I think it fits the Ninja Gaiden universe … and honestly, the most troublesome thing I’ve run into so far have been the ninja with exploding shuriken… and the big cyborg boss guy on the blimp, too. But an ‘Easy’ setting would’ve been nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-box-149-is-it-worth-the-price-yet/237303.md?page=1)