The Energon Pub

[Me, Grimlock!]

A few months ago, I posted some questions about buying a PS3 and only a PS3. (Yes, I like to do a lot of thinking before I buy big-ticket items.) Well, I think I may be considering other systems. The deal was that I wanted to get something that could play PS2 games (so I wouldn't have to keep my PS2 around) as well as newer games. That was my big reason why I wanted to get a PS over other systems. Anyway, that plan went south when I found it near impossible to find a backwards compatible PS3 (60 gig model) without gouging my wallet, on eBay, in local used stores, or anywhere else.

Now I've been looking at an Xbox 360, which seems more affordable and has more games on it that I can't play on the PS3 than the other way around (Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, anything with "dead" in the title--you get the picture). About the only game I'd like to get that I can't play on the Xbox 360 is Metal Gear Solid 4. And all future games I'm interested in--RE5, Marvel UA 2, Ghostbusters--are available for both. Anyway, I'm starting to consider an Xbox since PS3 seems to not have much of a leg up and doesn't have that many exclusives.

I usually play older games (I don't like paying full price for a game since I'm buying a house in March and, frankly, I'm excited about the deal almost as much as the game ) and since the 360 has been out longer than the PS3 and plays regular Xbox games, there should be more older games available to me. I really don't want to play $399 CDN for a paperweight, plus another $60 or so just to make it do something (i.e. have a game). I thought I might be able to get a deal on Boxing Day (our big sales day in Canada, much like Black Friday in the U.S.) but no such luck.

So what should I look out for if I go the Xbox 360 route? I know not to get the Arcade Console, because that's got no hard drive and almost no inclusions as far as I understand. But past that, my knowledge is minimal.

As far as I understand, unlike the PS3, I have to pay to play online with an Xbox. Since I have a lot of responsibilities, I'm more of a casual gamer, not much of an online gamer (does that make it impossible to play Left 4 Dead, btw, or can I play that solo?), so the only thing I'd do online is probably by add-ons. Do I still have to pay to access the online store?

Here are some other questions. How many USB ports are there (can I put saved games and add-ons onto my PC and copy them to DVD)? The Xbox 360 is cheaper than the PS3... but is there a reason why? What hard drive size should I buy for casual gaming? And, like the PS3, are there differences in the consoles other than the amount of hard drive space they come with? What's this notorious ring of death about?

Anyway, is the Xbox 360 a wise decision?

I may have a few more concerns or questions later (right now my one-year-old is tugging at me to go play, so I'm a bit rushed), but for now this should help me make some sort of informed decision.

[Galvatron628]

As a PS3 fan, <sigh> I have to admit, I Think nowadays the 360 isn't a bad decision, if you don't care about Blu-ray and you don't wanna break the bank. The Arcade model's a steal if you just want a game system only. 256megs should be plenty to save files on forever. But if you want a hard drive, the next step up's only $300, and you get a 60GB HDD, a hybrid HD/SD cable, and a headset for on-line play.

As far as I know you don't have to have live to access the store. You'll have to pay for anything you wanna buy but thats about it. I'm pretty sure you can get the BC upgrades and system updates for free too. Downside about the 360 is no wi-fi so if you wanna get on-line you either gotta shell out $100 for the Wi-fi adapter or put the 360 near a wired router where you can plug it in.

But I think the RROD problem is pretty much fixed now in new consoles. The new consoles have a new motherboard and a smaller nm CPU, as well as an improved heatsink, so I don't think overheating is as much of an issue.

[Me, Grimlock!]

I'm not too concerned about Blu-Ray. I don't have the TV big enough or good enough to take advantage of it anyway, and when I get one, I'll probably get a Blu-ray player at the point anyway.

Downside about the 360 is no wi-fi so if you wanna get on-line you either gotta shell out $100 for the Wi-fi adapter or put the 360 near a wired router where you can plug it in.

All I have is a telephone jack. Don't suppose that's good enough.

But I think the RROD problem is pretty much fixed now in new consoles. The new consoles have a new motherboard and a smaller nm CPU, as well as an improved heatsink, so I don't think overheating is as much of an issue.

That's a relief. I'd hate to bring one home and have it die on me after a month or two. I'm not the type of person to leave a system on while it's not in use, but the risk is still there.

Can I save data from the hard drive onto a memory stick? Or is that what you mean by HD/SD cable? (Sorry, I'm not up on the lingo. I'm guessing hard drive/storage device cable?)

Oh, and here's another question. I just came across an Xbox 360 HD DVD. But it has no hard drive. What's the deal with this edition?

[Cyberstrike]

I'm not too concerned about Blu-Ray. I don't have the TV big enough or good enough to take advantage of it anyway, and when I get one, I'll probably get a Blu-ray player at the point anyway.

Downside about the 360 is no wi-fi so if you wanna get on-line you either gotta shell out $100 for the Wi-fi adapter or put the 360 near a wired router where you can plug it in.

All I have is a telephone jack. Don't suppose that's good enough.

If you don't have a broadband internet connection then you can't get online with an Xbox 1 or an Xbox 360.

But I think the RROD problem is pretty much fixed now in new consoles. The new consoles have a new motherboard and a smaller nm CPU, as well as an improved heatsink, so I don't think overheating is as much of an issue.

That's a relief. I'd hate to bring one home and have it die on me after a month or two. I'm not the type of person to leave a system on while it's not in use, but the risk is still there.

Can I save data from the hard drive onto a memory stick? Or is that what you mean by HD/SD cable? (Sorry, I'm not up on the lingo. I'm guessing hard drive/storage device cable?)

Oh, and here's another question. I just came across an Xbox 360 HD DVD. But it has no hard drive. What's the deal with this edition?[/quote]

I know on the original Xbox you could transfer some games save data from the hard drive to a a memory card. I'm not sure about the 360.

IIRC The HD/SD is the cable you connect between the 360 and TV it has nothing to do with saving game data. I might be wrong though.

The 360 had an HD-DVD extra add-on that could play HD-DVDs on and that was all it was good for and since HD-DVDs have went the way of the dinosaurs I can't recommend it.

Now if you're talking about playing games straight from the 360's hard drive, you can if you have XBL and download the new XBL experience, this allows to install games straight on to HD and play them off the HD, however it eats up a LOT space on the drive (the average size is a little under 7 Gigs) and supposedly makes the 360 run a lot less nosy and quieter too. I haven't done this because I don't have the space on my HD.

I recommend the 360 it has several great entry price points and you can update the system as you like, it does have backwards capitally for most of the original Xbox games, it has a great online service, and a lot of kick ass games.

A final word of advice: If you do get one with a wireless controller you might want to take the battery out of the controller (this will basically turn the controller off) before you leave the system on it'll save you a lot time. Those recharagable batteries take forever to recharage.

[Galvatron628]

I think what you saw was the HD-DVD add on drive for the 360. IT looks like a 360, but its actually just a drive with a USB cable to plug it into the 360. Considering HD-DVD is dead I wouldn't reccomend it.

Anyway yeah you have to have a broadband internet connection or you can't get on-line with the 360. And yeah as for the Hybrid cable its the TV connection, has nothing to do with game save s or anything. Its like this:

Arcade: Includes regular composite cable only

Pro: Includes Hybrid Component/Composite cable

Elite: incldues Hybrid cable and HDMI cable

[Symbiote Spiderman14]

For the Left 4 dead question. It does have single player,but there isn't much to it and it doesn't really have a stoy just get from point a to point b.The online versus part is where most of the fun is with that game.

[Me, Grimlock!]

One last thing. I think it was touched on earlier, but I'm still not straight on this.

The Xbox 360 has 3 USB ports, so I can connect my memory stick to one of those? I've done some looking around online, and I've seen conversations about having to buy a memory stick formatted specifically for the Xbox, but I'm unclear if they mean memory card (like what the PS2 has) or they actually mean memory stick (like those made by Kingston, etc.) And I was also unclear if they meant Xbox or Xbox 360.

And I could find mention that you can transfer files like music and such onto the Xbox, but couldn't find any references to save game data.

Sorry if this was answered above. I might just be confused what with all the other Q&A flying around.

[TheMuffin]

Game data must be saved to a Microsoft brand HDD. A regular external drive or flash drive will not work.

A flash drive or external HDD however can be used to stream music, video and pictures to your 360. The only one I've found not to work is the IPhone and Ipod Touch.

[Me, Grimlock!]

Game data must be saved to a Microsoft brand HDD. A regular external drive or flash drive will not work.

I guess it's basically a way for Microsoft to fatten its wallet even more.

[Symbiote Spiderman14]

If you buy the pro or elite the hdd comes with it, but you would have to buy one for the arcade 360.

[Me, Grimlock!]

So there's no way to get the game data off the Xbox short of removing the HDD and connecting it to some other hardware?

[TheMuffin]

I'm not sure what you mean.

[Galvatron628]

There are 256MB Xbox360 memory cards. But I agree its stupid you can't save game data to a flash drive or anything. You can plug anything you want into a PS3 and back it up. Hell you can even replace the hard drive with any size you want!

[Me, Grimlock!]

I'm not sure what you mean.

Just wondering if there were any way to save game data off the Xbox short of buying an Xbox memory card... and if a common PC can get data off and onto that memory card.

Basically I'm looking for a go-between for the Xbox and the PC.

[TheMuffin]

I believe Datel has a kit that allows you to move your data over to a computer. Possibly. I've never had a reason though, so I've never looked into it fully. The 20GB HDD holds a lot of crap to be honest. And if you only rip one game to the drive at a time, that'll leave you with a good 6 or so GB left over for trailers, map packs, etc.

[Me, Grimlock!]

Yeah, the hard drives are big enough. I'm just the type of guy who backs up EVERYTHING just in case.

[TheMuffin]

Which is why I love the fact that pretty much everything is tied to your account. HDD get run over? No problem, your downloads are all recorded and you just download them again. Game saves are practically the only thing that isn't.