Help me decide to/or not to buy a 360.

With the Kinect success, I'm slightly worried MS is focusing all their exclusive efforts into things I'll have zero interest in going forward.     

I was thinking the same thing. I wanted to play dead or alive 4 or other games in the series, but nothing else. I see the 4 gb version on sale and i'm tempted.

You probably shouldn't spend money on a whole new system + the games you have to buy.
Upgrade your PC?

Tough call. I personally think Ms and Sony are pretty even on the exclusive front (my tastes are just more towards the Microsoft stuff) but I don't know if either consoles exclusive offering is really worth a console purchase when there's sooo much good multiplatform stuff out there.

I really can't tell you what you should do, everyone has to calculate the value for themselves. I will say if you do buy one, I would strongly recommend the 250gb system.

If you want one, then get one. Don't let a few small questions stop you from getting a great console. You shouldn't need a community to decide for you. Simply look at games you want, and if the list is long enough and you want it, get it.

Wait till 2012,they are suppossed to have a new one out. Not I'm not bullshitting, Yes i want MS to have another sale.  Well yes I'm bullshitting

Gears of war 3 guy. And X-boxes actually do work for a while these days! Buy the 250 gig and don't hamper yourself. Some ppl. save those i month cards for when they actually want them, sounds like a hassle. But I do not have a gold membership, anyways.

first, sorry about the lightning man.  that's a real bummer.  I hope you had home owners or renters insurance and documentation.

If you're only looking at a 360 for crackdown and gears forget it.  Gears can be pretty fun but it's not worth  buying a console for.  Crackdown is just O.K.  Infamous was just as fun.

But if you do get one, since you mentioned the XBLA exclusives, you should probably get a hard drive version.

I had the opposite dilemma a while back as I had a PC and a 360, but was considering a PS3. I ended up buying the PS3, then returning it because I didn't like it. I'd say stick with your PS3 and just playing the exclusives you really want to try out at a friend's place.

e3 is just around the corner.  it would be smart to wait and see what they have there if your worried they are going to go all Kinect crazy.

You should wait till E3 to see if Microsoft announces good non Kinect exclusives. You already have a PC and PS3 so you have all your multiplatform games covered. Only reason for you to buy a 360 would be for its exclusives. Try take a look at the 360s exclusives now and after E3. If there are games that you really want to play then go for it. I've had a 360 since 2007 and have definitely been disappointed in the exclusives since the Kinect was announced. I bought my PS3 a year ago (already had a decent PC and 360) and it only plays exclusives. Considering how great their exclusives have been recently it was definitely worth it. For Live and MS point cards I definitely recommend ebay or amazon. Can get a year of Live around $20 cheaper from those places.

You shouldn't because you used a slash and or when you shouldn't have.

you should buy it and play the gears of war games and mass effect.

Buy it, and you could renew your xbox live gold membership every month for a single dollar.

"

With the Kinect success, I'm slightly worried MS is focusing all their exclusive efforts into things I'll have zero interest in going forward.     

Well, that hasn't been the case at all thus far.

Go for it if you want one. Oh yeah, and I'd get the 250GB. It's the future, dawg. You need HDD space.

"

Save the money. Even if you get a cheap refurbished 360 for around $100, once you buy the games you are looking at an extra $200-$300, plus you gotta pay to play any of those online. Assuming anyone is even playing them any more. Most of the games you mentioned were only popular because of their multiplayer, and without it they are rather bad, or at least something you would burn through in a couple sittings and be done with. Not really worth spending all that money for maybe a week or two of games.

Dude Gears 3 is about to come out, Reach is an awesome game believe me I love the series 2 and 3 were eh but reach was a real throwback to 1 and I really enjoyed it, awesome multi of course. I hope kinect will bring fruit but that will end up being decided by how good the kinect really is when talent has a hold of it, plus XBLA go play Shadow Complex.

Edit My god im tired wrote that like I was drunk...

If it is exclusives you're after I would recommend a Wii.

It has most games you won't find elsewhere, many are quality.
Cheap, specially used.
VC has a tons of old classics that should keep you busy, Wiiware has some gems too.
Wiis are solid consoles that don't break easily.
Free online.

I bought a 360 first  then a PS3 and last year I got a Wii.

Get one

" I was thinking the same thing. I wanted to play dead or alive 4 or other games in the series, but nothing else. I see the 4 gb version on sale and i'm tempted. "

" @HitmanAgent47 said:

" I was thinking the same thing. I wanted to play dead or alive 4 or other games in the series, but nothing else. I see the 4 gb version on sale and i'm tempted. "

I hate you and you do not deserve to live. "

Get one, you can't miss out on Alan Wake, Halo and Gears of War, you just can't.

I just bought another Xbox from Amazon on Thursday.  They're giving a $50 credit on the 4GB and the HDD is on sale for like $95, so I bought the xbox and then the HDD after they put the credit into my account.

We are very much in the area in which I would be very hesitant to buy a console without the fear of said console getting replaced. I expect a new Xbox within the next two years or so, and prices of the 360 should drop by a bit around then.

Wait til after E3 for any possible price drops. 

Thanks for all the input. I think I'm going to get one, but now I'll wait until after E3 to see if anything changes. After seeing the games mentioned and thinking about it a bit more there is definitly enough stuff I cant play elsewhere that justifies it even if they dont come out with many new exclusives this year.

Shadow Complex is pretty good, you should play that.

I love how curated the Xbox experience is: from the Marketplace to Xbox Live to the controller to installing games to your hard drive.  If most of your real-life friends have Xbox 360s, and at least some of the exclusive franchises appeal to you, then the choice is obvious.

Lol so after I decided I'd wait, my wife is like 'you want it, why dont you just get one'. So, order placed. 4gb 360+ 250gb hdd + $50 amazon credit for $290 shipped. 

It's worth it. The exclusives are quite good and XBLA has some amazing games.

How to decide if you want a console

1) Does it have games i like?
2) Are these games not available on any systems i own?
3) Is there a critical mass of games that fall into category 1 and 2 that make me want to buy the console?
4) If yes to 3, buy console. If No, do not buy the console.
5) Do you still really really want it anyway?
6) Just buy it.

Additional information: Do not buy the smallest model.

I really enjoy all the platforms, I think just for the exclusives alone between them it's worth it to have them all. If you really feel like you want to play those games on 360 you can't on the other platforms, the price on the 4gb is more then reasonable. Just lacks a lot if you wanna do online stuff.

Don't get one.  It's good as a primary platform but since you already have one, I wouldn't worry about it.  I bought the PS3 for a handful of games and kinda regret it.

Do it.

Definitely grab the HDD & I know that there's occasional sales on XBL for the gold account memberships but most places have those prices pretty well set. Between the PS3 & 360, I just prefer the weight & feel of the 360 controller, the ps3 controller just feels like it's built of styrofoam & had a few of them break on me while the 360 controllers might be chipped but functional.  I think between PSN & XBL, Xbox Live is a lot easier to navigate on seeing what's new plus the earlier 360 & xbox titles are always popping up on the digital space of XBL to pick up. That being said I had an Xbox360 one year after launch & that one died, since then with the replacement that came before the sleek/silent one came out, the only thing I have had to upgrade was going from the stock 20GB HDD to the larger one without hassle. Only technical issue I've had with the 360 is that the recharge batteries, esp. the 3rd party ones (believe it's Nyko) don't last but you can leave it plugged in & works fine.

I still think a PS and Wii would be a better combo.
But it is up to you I suppose.

" @Kjellm87: already have 2 ps3's both are being repaired. I sold my wii a couple months after I bought it in 2007 because I can't stand how bad it looks on an HDTV, will buy the games i missed when they re-release on the next Nintendo. "

Dont buy one.. Its a waste. Gears is not that great of a game, halo is over rated and crackdown... never played and never will. And xbla is not worth it as alot of XBLA games are also on the ps3 or PC. And from what others have been saying about Mass effect and crap, its already on ps3 and pc so why buy a third gaming system? no point.