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With the upsoming release of Test Drive Unlimited, I think I've run out of excuses for not buying an X360.  The reason I'm posting is to ask some of you more experienced console guys a simple question: When getting setup, what do I need beyond the basic console, a controller, and a couple of games?  I think the last console I purchased was an N64 and things have changed a wee bit since then.

Thanks for the help.   

First, buy the premium package. Also get a warranty if you like.

It comes with an HD cable, but make sure it's the one you need before to pay. You may need a different cable. I personally know jack shit about HD cables.

Then, when you get home, STAND THE UNIT UP. Unless you want the thing to scratch rings into your discs.

Hrm? This came out in the beginning of September.

Anyway, if you're getting a Premium you really don't need anything. You'll have the HD cables, headset, wireless controller, hard drive and a trial for the Gold membership for live. That's really all you need. Unless you want to go Wireless with your 360 and in that case grab the adapter for that ($99). Also, if you're really into HD-DVD, you can pick up the add-on for $199 and I hear it looks damn sexy. You might also want to grab a Play & Charge kit ($20) and extra rechargeable (MS Brand) batteries ($12) for each extra controller you have. Trust me, this'll save you cash on having to buy batteries all the time and it's really inexpensive.

Other than those things, I can't think of anything else.

Edit: Standing the unit up has nothing to do with rings. It has to do with your 360 overheating. Standing up your 360 and moving it while games are spinning causes the scratch rings. Make sure it's in a safe spot, trust me. If I didn't know people who work at EB I wouldn't of been able to replace my NHL after my buddy thought it would be a good idea to move my 360 while we were playing NHL.

As for HD cables, it's just a matter of if you want special ones like Monster. The MS brand ones work with all standard HD TVs.

/shrug

Seems that every time someone comes in with the rings, they had the system laying down. Haven't seen the same problem from anyone who stands the system up and doesn't move it while it's on.

I have had my 360 laying down for about 8 months and I don't have a single scratch on any games.

Nebu: The premium bundle should have everything you need. If you have a receiver for 5.1 surround, you'll want a digital optical cable I would think, but other than that you should be good.

Thanks for the help guys. 

Alternately, stop by the photo/electronics section of a department/discount store and pick up a pack of rechargeable Ni-MH AAs with a charger.  If you're willing to shop around a bit, you can get 4-8 AAs and a charger for $20-30.  As a bonus, you'll be able to toss those same batteries in things like your remotes or whatever else and not just the 360 controllers.

Hell, I got a 2 pack of NI-MH AA's with a travel charger for less than $5 at Wal-Mart. They are currently sitting in my Wiimote.

It's worth the dough to get a decent charging unit with an external transformer, btw. At work we have one with an integrated transformer and it takes forever to charge vs my home unit that charges in 10 minutes or so (4 AA). I use rechargeable nimhs in my cordless mouse, but plain old non-recharging alkaline in the keyboard.

Lithium non-recharge in the camera, those puppies last forever.

Toms Hardware did a cable shootout and the difference between $200 cables and $20 cables is just about nothing. Having both, I tend to agree with this.

my favorite, next to the monster brand power strip (it stops demons from getting in your computer!) is the monster brand optical cable.

High end cables are snake oil.

You're such a retail newbie :D I'm sure Schild can vouch for what I'm about to say:
Every customer will explain how it was caused and make it sound like it wasn't their fault. ALWAYS. They'll never admit they didn't listen and stood it up on a table that people constantly bump into or when it overheats they won't admit they had it laying flat, on carpet and with numerous objects covering it. I had to argue with a guy who killed his 360 when it had carpet fiber all in the side vent holes.

You'll understand in 6 months or a year, if you last in that shit hole job.

Oh, I know customer's are morons, but I've heard this problem from people other than idiot customers.

I'm not sure why it would happen. That's sounds more like a faulty mount in the drive. The only time I've seen it happen is when the system is moved and I've carried out that test with defective discs just to see how likely it is to happen in every day kind of things.

Srazos, obviously you haven't heard it from people other than idiots. The only advice I can think of worse than setting it vertical is "submerge in water while playing for better experience" and "Ya know, shaking it will make it load faster."

That is most certainly possible.

I think you may have nailed it, Strazos.  I've had problems with Madden 2006 and a couple of original XBox games getting some minor scratches on the inner edges of the discs and I sure as hell haven't been moving my 360, it's safely ensconced at the top of my entertainment center.  I've alleviated this problem to a certain extent by not leaving any games in the tray when I shut down.  Unless I do that I'll hear a couple of distinctive clicking sounds on boot up, whereas I hear nothing without a disc inserted.

Anyway, I'm standing the bitch up right now, just in case.

I know, logically, you should be able to lay the system down with no problems...

But this is the video game industry we're talking about.

After some talking with a buddy who still Manages an EB, it's a faulty tray. Some systems have loose spindles (is that the word?) that wobble when booting and shutting down. If it happens, you can try contacting MS to get a replacement, but it's probably not worth it.

Great information here.  A couple more questions.

1) I make my own cables and have for years (I'm an Audiophile geek).  I started doing this when a) I first discovered they do make a significant sound difference  and b) when I worked at best buy and saw the margins on them.  I can get/make what I need here unless something is proprietary.

2) Dumb question: Why do I need the HD?  To decrease load times and save games?

3) I don't have an HDTV.  How much will this suck without one?

4) I have a headset for my PC.  Do I still need one for the X360?

Thanks!

You can do some splicing at the ends (where the connections plug into the TV), but nope, the cable is proprietary.

In theory you don't need it.  If you're at all interested in Live Gold (ie, downloading demos, getting XBox Live Arcade games,etc), pony up for the HD version.  Don't be a cheapass on this one, you'll regret it.

It won't until you see your friends playing it on their HDTV's.

You have to get an adapter for a PC headset, because those split audio in (mic) and audio out (sound) into two seperate channels.  The XBoxes headset is a one pronger.  On the upside, a headset is included with the premium version.

Just like Gulp said, it's worth it to spend the extra money. It's a shame you missed the Dell deal today on the 360. Pretty damn nice.

The 360 headset isn't too bad either. Good audio and does some decent noise canceling.

What deal on the 360?

Must be a Canadian thing. Can't find it anywhere on the US site. Every so often Dell does "Dell Days" where for almost 2 weeks they give us some crazy deals which change every day. It was $449 for the current premium bundle (GRAW + XBLA) with GoW. Normally it's $499 just for the bundle itself. Not a bad deal.

Real money, or Canadian?

I've been holding off on buying a 360 figuring that there would be a price drop soon, but after watching that X06 video of Mass Effect, I'm really hoping the price drops sooner rather than later (at least if Mass Effect comes out early next year).

I wouldn't expect a price drop until At Least after E3, and even then I only give it a 30% chance of actually happening.

I don't know if price drops will coincide with E3 anymore, but if Sony manages to start producing PS3 at a more rapid pace I wouldn't be surprised to see a price drop during the first half of the year.

You might want to consider a wireless network adaptor. Xbox 360 is much better if online.

Forgive me, I'm new to this whole Xbox 360 thing...

I went to GameStop to see what used/new 360 games I could get. Is it just me, or is there really nothing that exciting? Are there any "must have" games that I'm missing?

The only ones I was even remotely interested in were DOA4, Gears of War, and Final Fantasy VI(?) - but not quite interested enough to pay $40-$60 for one.

Yeah, I dropped $700 on a new 360, games, cables and etc.. and now I feel like I've shot my wad and have to wait for something interesting to come out.

Hey, Schild, how was 99 Nights?  Was it a good stand in for Dynasty Warriors?  Or should I wait for the real thing?

Hehe, that's a good way to describe it. I'm *almost* tempted to take my 360 back and wait to get a Wii instead - at least it'd be novel for a bit. The 360 is really same ol' same ol' except the online support is pretty good (but I have a PC for that).

Gears of War
Dead Rising
Rainbow 6: Las Vegas
NHL 2k7

The following I would put at maybe:

Oblivion (if not for PC)
Chromehounds (/shrug, does anyone still play it online?)
Call of Duty 3
Also, Prey or FEAR (If not for PC)

Also, Dynasty Warriors 5 is already out as I remember.

Also 2x, remember that Mass Effect is on its way, Blue Dragon as well....

EDIT: Feel free to chip in, Schild.  :-)

Tony Hawk: Project 8
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Splinter Cell: Double Agent

"Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires" or just "Dynasty Warriors 5"?

I'm a little tired of the Splinter Cell games, is it that great? I haven't gotten Gears of War because I'm still playing R6:Vegas as my shooter right now - I can only handle one at a time!

NHL 2k7 might be a good one though. (I got Tony Hawk Project 8 for my nephew on his Xbox, so we'll see how that is this Christmas).

/slap

Honestly, GoW isn't really a 'shooter' the way R6:V is - ok fuck, it kind of is. But if you have a 360 and you don't have GoW you're missing the most visceral, engaging and breathtaking game on the 360. I like R6:V but GoW completely took my breath away. It's not revolutionary but it's stellar looking, approachable, fast paced and FUN! You must get it. Period. (.)

Is that last one a boob?

It is now heh. (.)(.)
                       *
                       v


heh, i really am still 14 yrs old...sad. entertaining. but sad.

Depends on what you like. I've played both.

I liked the controls of Vegas better than those of Gears.



In all honesty, while it's a very good game, I don't see what everyone is frothing over. Perhaps I'm just somewhat burned-out on FPSs? Maybe I didn't play enough (played about the same amount of time for both games)? I don't know, I just don't get the sort of "instant classic" vibe I got from, say....Deus Ex. Or Unreal Tournament.

Meh. Coulda been $900 on a new PS3, that great Bluray player that also kinda plays games. :P

Marvel Utlimate Alliance - fun stuff. Not deep, just button mashing madness with lotsa marvel heroes and villans.

Project Gotham Racing 3 - people always forget about this because it was a launch title. It's really good if you want a challenging semi-sim racer.

GoW - duh.

Dead Rising - I have it and just haven't had time to play it much but what I have played has been grin inducing zombie chopping fun.

Tiger Woods 06/07 - What? It's a good golf game. 07 has some new swing improvements but it's not greatly improved beyond 06 which you can get cheap.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Tuner racer boyz dawg! Cheap now that NFS: Carbon is out and it's pretty fun. (same engine, same graphics, save your dosh and get NFS:MW)

FIFA 07 - Yeah, EA sucks. They really do. It's a crippled game in terms of teams and leagues but the actual soccer action is really good.

DoA 4 - you mentioned it and it's worth owning. Excellent beer and pretzel fighting game for when your ADD buddies are over. Nice boobs too.

(http://www.razorfield.com/Images/1126890145.jpg)


I agree - the cover system in Vegas is really cool and i prefer the hit modelling and overall character control as well. But that's why I was tempted to say GoW isn't really a shooter in the same way Vegas is - GoW is almost an adventure game in some ways. It's just fun and good looking and a really decent romp. I prefer the shooter aspects of Vegas, but I 'm also having a hell of a good time playing GoW.

EDIT: And if you have a decent HDTV - GoW has some environments that are just fucking crazy in terms of visuals. Seriously. I've died quite a few times cause I've been distracted by the surroundings to the point I forgot someone might shoot me.

Lost Planet and Blue Dragon both got great review numbers from Famitsu.  Lost Planet is due out next month (on the 12th I think).  Not sure when Blue Dragon releases in the US but it should be sometime early next year.

DOA4, GoW, Dead Rising, TDU, Samurai Warriors 2 (though Samurai Warriors 2: Empires with create-a-character is coming out!) are my must-buys.

Also, coming soon:
Lost Planet (as mentioned)
Culdcept (as mentioned)
Earth Defense Force X (trust me on this one)
Oneechabara X (just waiting on an announcement, I'm confident - it's a game where you're a chick in a bikini slicing up zombie whatever - whales, people, bugs, etc).

Really just tons of shit. They're pumping out games for this thing next year like it's the PS2 and it's going out of style. I don't quite get it. But I'm ok with it.

Gears is lacking a lot of things (like, a story), but it makes up for it's shortcomings by being a lot of fun. I've finished it twice now, once solo, once co-operatively and still pick it up and play over different sections. It IS the game to show off the 360 imo. Sound, graphics, and fun-factor keep it spinning in my xbox and it's the first game I reach for when I'm showing off the 360 to friends.

Still not tired of chainsawing Locusts. One of the best kills in gaming ever imo.

Agreed. No matter how many times I chainsaw some one, I almost always let out with a "RAWWWAAARRRRRRR" scares my girlfriend some times. But hey.

I like RB6:V a lot, but it is a FPS tactical shooter. Gears of War is some thing new. Some times It almost feels like a lightgun game, other times like a survival horror game, and some times like a FPS. I really like what they did. Also, the graphics are simply jaw dropping. On my 60 inch Sony WEGA it really is "next gen" gaming. After playing GoW and RB6:V, I dont think I could play a shooter with out a cover system and not feel like it is "old tech".

I started the 360 scratched disc thread many months ago that caused the resulting flame war.  Recently my oldest fessed up that he moved the 360 while it was on; and that's when CoD got scratched to hell and gone.  Ain't the truth beautiful?

I agree, shooters without a decent cover system just seem lacking now. I tried the new Splinter Cell demo and didn't like it just for the fact I couldn't shoot from cover... or couldn't figure how to.

He moved a system while it was on and you just lost a copy of CoD 2 or 3.

Way to make a point.

I haven't been moving my system, and after recently going through all my games, they do indeed all have tiny (some games not so tiny) scratches on them.  I went out Tuesday and bought 20 D-Skins and put condoms on all my games.

My 360 may have VD, but I'll still keep fucking it.

Are they rings, or just scratches? Are they nice, smooth scratches, or random ones?

You discs could very well being scratched slightly as they move inside their cases.

They're most definitely in a ring pattern, and not random.  Also, there's the clicking noise on startup if I leave a disk in the system which I'm sure has caused most of these scratches.  It's gotta be the loose spindle problem where an element of wobble is introduced to the disk and it winds up skimming the laser housing.

As I do in all of these threads I have to mention Fight Night Round 3. It makes the 360 worth it by itself.

Funny as this sounds, that game is the primary motivator in considering buying this console. 

It is easily the most played game at my place, at least when friends are over.  Simple to learn, tough to master, visceral and beautiful.  Great game.

I just took it back to Walmart and exchanged it.

Cool, and he's learned a lesson.

Well I am still on the fence regarding the 360.

I now own a Wii, have preordered a PS-3 (release march 31nd in europe. Well maybe by then they might actually have some games out) and also have a PC.

I considered buying a 360 several times now (yes I have money to burn) but am still undecided.

I don't like fight games and sports games and am severly burnt out on 1st person shooters (generic WW2 shooter 348 and generic sf-themed shooter 420 were a bit too much) so there is not much that is actually worth buying at the moment that is 360 exclusive.

Lost Planet and Dead Rising would be system sellers for me if I didn't already have one.

Well, it wasn't exactly a price drop but I did finally decide to pick up a 360 today when I saw the Toys R Us ad offering a $100 gift card with the purchase of the Premium 360 (the offer started today).  After buying the 360, I used the gift card to purchase Gears of War and a second controller, so all in all it was a pretty good deal.

I tried the Lost Planet online demo, and while it could be fun, if the demo is anything like the real game I'll get sick of the sniping spawn campers *really* fast.

I got a used version of Saints Row and am having fun with that - that is, until the game froze and required a hard reboot of the Xbox.

Ditto. My friends and I have ongoing grudge matches in Fight Night Round 3. In fact, last Friday my best friend and I had a 10 round fight between Oscar De Lahoya and (I forget his name, Cinderalla Man). In the end, we were both so swollen and bloody it looked like a Rocky movie and neither of us had any power behind our punches. He finally got a lucky hit in and the ref called it because of my wounds.

I picked up a 360 at Toys 'R Us last night.  One word of warning, look at the game selection first ,as I am stuck with a $100 gift card due to the poor selection of games left over from the holiday shopping.  They didn't allow me to apply the gift card to the console purchase either.  I ended up just getting the charger cord and battery pack there and picked up Gears of War at Gamestop.

A few noob questions that I am sure I could find by RTFM, but I am at work now and doubt I will be able to mess around with it too much until the weekend.

1. Is it possible to get Zune to recognize .avi files to play thru the Xbox?  If not, is it possible to convert them?  I was able to get other video files to work, but most of the TV shows I download are in .avi format.

2. Is there a way to get back to the marketplace once a game is loaded?  I was able to get the dashboard to pop up, but if I had downloaded something in the background and wanted to go back to that file after starting a game, am I stuck just taking the game out?

I think the Zune, like the 360, only supports WMV so the AVI files will have to be transcoded.  There are a whole lot of converters out there, some are free and most have free trials.  I've tried a few but can't recommend one since I haven't found one I particularly like.  It's a real pain in the ass.  I just ripped all of our children's movies to DivX for our car player and now need to find a decent transcoder so they can be played through the Xbox.

Vex

Not sure what you are trying to accomplish? Once you go to the dashboard proper you are no longer playing your game, the in-game dashboard is only for messaging friends and seeing who is online.

In case anyone is interested in a mouse/keyboard/usb adapter for the Xbox 360, I just saw this look doohickey:

http://www.videogameadvantage.com/viewProduct.cfm?PlatformID=0&ParentProductID=4440

Hot damn!  I wonder how well it works, though...  For instance, how would they map the analog sticks to a keyboard?  Especially in a game like RS:V or Splinter Cell depending on how firmly you press the left stick determines whether you're running or creeping.  That's not something you can really control under a WASD insterface.

In lieu of making a whole new thread to ask my question I'll derail this one a little. Does anyone think there's a chance of a 360 price drop anytime soon? I got a camcorder for Christmas that's being returned to Best Buy for $250 credit so I can take a chunk out of the price. Any speculation I can find on a cut is old and keeps saying around the PS3 launch that has now come and gone.

Maybe by the summer?

There's no reason for MS to cut the price. They sit firmly between the gamecube2 Wii and PS3, good price/performance. It'd be dumb to cut the price until Sony undercuts them, which won't be for a long time, at least another year.

Right now they're making money simply because they've got the only console out in decent numbers. So I think you're right, at least a year until price drops.

Sony's first price cuts would have to be very deep to make MS even bother. Until the 'good' PS3 sells for $400, MS won't budge. The wii doesn't even factor in, imo. Maybe they would cut it to boost holiday sales next year.