Alright - Im going to buy a 360, what do i need to know?

So after a long time of only having a ps3 (which i still love to death by the way) I've come into a little bit of money in the form of my xmas bonus. 

The thing breaks. A lot. Also, it may shock you from time to time.

Look for a premium with the HDMI port on the back http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9757547-1.html

I'm moving this to General Discussion.

"CitizenKane said:

"I'm moving this to General Discussion."

My mistake sire, wasn't sure as to where it should go ( inb4innuendo)"

Ryan posted a story the other day about a Game of the Year bundle which might be of interest to you. Check it out.

"Ryan posted a story the other day about a Game of the Year bundle which might be of interest to you. Check it out."

"PenguinDust said:

"Look for a premium with the HDMI port on the back http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9757547-1.html"

Ahh so you can get a HDMI model without the elite, nice "

"Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Game of the Year bundle only applies to the Elite model, which is rather pricey (you can get Halo 3 and Fable 2 for very cheap, like £30 for both), and is only available in America."

"OmegaPirate said:

"PenguinDust said:

"Look for a premium with the HDMI port on the back http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9757547-1.html"

Ahh so you can get a HDMI model without the elite, nice "

At this point every new 360 comes with an HDMI port. I'd suggest you get the 60GB Premium model, it should be more than enough space.Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Game of the Year bundle only applies to the Elite model, which is rather pricey (you can get Halo 3 and Fable 2 for very cheap, like £30 for both), and is only available in America.I'd suggest you get this bundle from Gamestation, which comes with Gears of War 1 & 2 and Halo 3, which are great exclusive games. At £199 it's a good dealhttp://gamestation.co.uk/Xbox360/Hardware/HardwareBundle/~r415148/Xbox-360-60GB-Premium-Pack-with-Gears-of-War,-Gears-of-War-2-and-Halo-3-/Hope that helped. If you need any advice on which Arcade games to get, don't be afraid to ask me, because I buy a whole lot of them."

"NickM said:

"Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Game of the Year bundle only applies to the Elite model, which is rather pricey (you can get Halo 3 and Fable 2 for very cheap, like £30 for both), and is only available in America."

In the case that it's available in the UK as well, the GotY bundle is a better deal. Maybe you can save some bucks, sure, but for only a few bucks more you get twice the HDD space."

NEWS UPDATE:

The Game of the Year Bundle is only for the US.

Since you're in the UK, NickM already hooked you up with the GameStation deal. That looks really good. idk how much 199 pounds are in dollars, but you get 3 games and a 60GB HDD. I have a 20GB and it usually only has 6-7 gigs free with 1 game installed *usually the one I play the most at the time*. With 60GB I'm guessing you'd have a good 12GB or so free (after downloading a bunch of Live Arcade games, and maybe a game install or two) probably more since you say you're going to main the PS3. So again, that GameStation deal looks to be the best bet. Only thing that might suck is if you end up disliking Gears of War/2 and/or Halo 3. lol. I don't think you will though. They are incredibly solid action games. Gears will really show you the prettiness of the 360 exclusive *not that the PS3 couldn't do it of course*. I have all 3 systems, but I was in the same boat when I was going to buy a PS3. I main 360 solely because I started out with that one so I had a good library by PS3 buying time.

As with all electronics, make sure that not only is the 360 in a well-ventilated area, but also the power supply. Many people will do the first part, but their power supply ends up buried without proper airflow; which causes it to fail which in turn causes the 360 to fail.

If you plan on playing online look for deals on the 1-year Live gold membership. Might also look into getting some Live points if you're interested in any of the XBLA game or downloadable content (such as Fallout 3). Since you're just now coming into the 360, you should be able to find quite a healthy catalog of games to catch up on on the cheap; might look into those before hitting up more recent games.

Most importantly, just have some fun with it!

The Xbox 360 Elite is black.

"Vinchenzo said:

"NickM said:

"Also, if I'm not mistaken, the Game of the Year bundle only applies to the Elite model, which is rather pricey (you can get Halo 3 and Fable 2 for very cheap, like £30 for both), and is only available in America."

In the case that it's available in the UK as well, the GotY bundle is a better deal. Maybe you can save some bucks, sure, but for only a few bucks more you get twice the HDD space."

The thing is, its not a few bucks, there's quite a big price difference between the Pro and Elite in the UK (£70=£100). That's about the price of a 120GB hard drive on its own, or two full-priced games."

OmegaPirate-

The number one thing about game maintenance is that you do not ever want to move the 360 with a game in the drive.  It will scratch up the discs pretty easily and make them nearly unplayable.  Beyond that, make sure you give the console plenty of room to breathe and I'd never recommend running any console over 4 hours.

As for your other questions, the Elite bundles are pretty good deals and should provide you with a ton of space.  Downloading full games onto your hard drive can suck up a lot of space very quickly, and it's nice to have the extra room.  I'd say any of the three major consoles are worth purchasing.  The exclusives on each have definitely warranted their purchases, as I own each one and enjoy them equally for different reasons.

Don't forget to buy a Gold membership as well as some MS points.  If demos are available for any game, check them out first, but I'm sure you know that.  Also, keep in mind that if you have a Netflix and Gold account, you can stream many older movies directly to your Xbox, which is a nice little feature.

As far as games go, it really depends on your preferences.  But here are some of my picks, broken down by Live recommendations and general exclusives:

EXCLUSIVES:
Halo 3 - At least give it a rental.  I know not everyone is as big of a fan as I am, but with the possible exception of Resistance 2, it's the most fun I've had in multiplayer FPS's.

Fable 2 - One of my favorite games to date.  It's an excellent action-RPG with a beautiful sense of style.  It's a great introductory game to the 360 as well.  I also recommend it to friends who are old-school and loved games like Quest for Glory 1-5, as it's essentially a spiritual successor to those games.

Forza 2 - The multiplayer community is still strong for this game, and you can find new designs and sweet cars coming up on the auction house all the time.

Dead or Alive 4 - If you can get it on the cheap, this is one hell of a fun brawler.  It should be very budget priced.

LIVE Games -

Puzzle Quest: Warlords - I'm not a fan of its sequel, but the original is cheap and takes a hell of a long time to complete.  It's a blast.

Portal: Still Alive - If you don't already own it on another system or don't have the Orange Box, pick this up.  It's a brilliant puzzler.

Peggle

Black/Pirates!/Longest Journey/Indigo Prophecy  - All are Xbox Originals available for download and well worth it if you haven't played them.

Wait and buy the new bundle that comes with Halo 3 and Fable II. It might be out already, I'm not entirely sure. Either way, it's the one you want. If you don't already have GTAIV on PS3, get it on 360, and slap yourself for stalling and not buying it on PS3 already unless you were being wise and decided to wait until you got a 360 because of the DLC and then don't slap yourself.

The Darkness is a really great game that is easily overlooked. Only $20 new also, so make sure you jump all over that one. I fully recommend Fallout 3. I say pass on Viva Pinata and get Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts instead. If you haven't played Call of Duty 4, it's not too late.

You just made the best decision of your life.

Cheers for the advice guys !!! Especially concerning maintenance, i have no idea bout that stuff!

"

-Portal and peggel i own on pc, but may swing buy again for gamerscore if the mood takes me !

"

"OmegaPirate said:

"

-Portal and peggel i own on pc, but may swing buy again for gamerscore if the mood takes me !

"

You should definitely buy Peggle. However, I'd suggest you buy the entire Orange Box, since It is only £13 for all the five games on Amazon.co.uk and the Live Arcade version of Portal is £7."

For the name, have you tried TheOmegaPirate? Or OmegaPirateUK?

Games wise, Mass Effect and Fallout with DLC are good decisions. On the RPG front again Fable and Lost Odyssey are pretty damn good. Other games you may wanna check out are Ninja Gaiden II, Forza, Halo and Crackdown.

Dont use XxX, MLG, iTz, alternating caps, "sniper", "pro", or any of those in your gamertag

OK, not knowing exactly what's available in the UK, I'll still give you my best recomenndations as far as the hardware goes at least.
1.) Get the Jasper chip set first and foremost.  It's easily found in the arcade version in the US....don't know about the UK.
2.) Get a big harddrive; the 120gb HDD is worth every penny imo, because the system is so much quieter, runs cooler, no diskread errors, better FR, quicker load times etc., and also less worry of the RROD failures when you load yur games to the HDD.
3.) Buy the play and charge kit...invaluable for yur controller(s) w/recharge batt pak.
4.) XBL is a must....you'll love the Marketplace, and mp on Live is one of the highlights of being a 360 owner.
BTW, an Arcade w/ the Jasper set, and a 120HDD is about $350(less than $300 if you go w/the 60 gbHDD), and XBL runs around $50 a year in the US. 

"OK, not knowing exactly what's available in the UK, I'll still give you my best recomenndations as far as the hardware goes at least.1.) Get the Jasper chip set first and foremost.  It's easily found in the arcade version in the US....don't know about the UK.2.) Get a big harddrive; the 120gb HDD is worth every penny imo, because the system is so much quieter, runs cooler, no diskread errors, better FR, quicker load times etc., and also less worry of the RROD failures when you load yur games to the HDD.3.) Buy the play and charge kit...invaluable for yur controller(s) w/recharge batt pak.4.) XBL is a must....you'll love the Marketplace, and mp on Live is one of the highlights of being a 360 owner.BTW, an Arcade w/ the Jasper set, and a 120HDD is about $350(less than $300 if you go w/the 60 gbHDD), and XBL runs around $50 a year in the US.  "

"You just made the best decision of your life."

"PenguinDust said:

"Look for a premium with the HDMI port on the back http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9757547-1.html"

Ahh so you can get a HDMI model without the elite, nice "

"The thing breaks. A lot. Also, it may shock you from time to time."

Cheers guys :) honestly i'd be lost if i just walked into the store not knowing what i was doing xD

I'd just like to add that you should try to avoid installing Mass Effect to the hdd.It tends to get really choppy when installed.

On that note then - sorry to bother you guys

Here's a couple of sites that have made charts regarding HDD game installation sizes and loading times (on some games):

NeoGAF
Binge Gamer

Fable II intstallation is a must! Past that what games have you picked up?

Does this mean I finally get a window to catch up with your inane trophy count?

haha :) yeah i guess it does :) even more so next months payday when i finally pick up a wii -ill probably be posting a similar thread to this one up there - i honestly have never had any desire to own a wii at all - but the silent  hill and dead space games on it are seriously tickling me -in a good way.

Keep customer service on speed dial.

"Arkthemaniac said:

"The thing breaks. A lot. Also, it may shock you from time to time."

Really?!? Why haven't I heard of this?"

I wouldn't say it breaks a lot, I've had mine over a year now and it's just fine... the first one only lasted a week though.

I guess reliability is the 360's bigger shortcoming, but it's gotten much better. The d-pad sucks, but you'll hardly ever use it. Uhm, like someone said earlier, you shouldn't move it while the system is on, with a game inside the tray. I lost Oblivion that way. You have to pay to play online, but I'm guess you already knew that. It's about £49 a year, I'd guess. I don't know if it's just my region, but goldmembers get it cheaper if they buy through xbox live... doesn't seem very logical, but okay I guess.

As for games that haven't been mentioned yet. PGR is appearently very popular, if you're into racing. If you don't mind going back a few years you can get Saints Row 1, Amped 3 and Dead Rising for the price of one new game. My personal favorite is Mass Effect, of the 360 exclusives, should be one of the first games you pick up.

As for arcade, just download the trial version first and play through it before you decide. Castle Crashers and Braid are the only arcade games that come to mind.

Thanks for all the help guys :) ive taken the plunge and picked up a 360 :D  - i have posted the results here :- http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/omegapirate/new-arrival-to-the-family/30-25465/