Potential 360 buyer, gimme the lowdown

So I am giving serious thought to getting a 360 for Christmas. I went up to visit a friend and, again, we spent the bright part of the day (prior to the dark part, where'd we get our booze on) playing Halo 3 and stuff. It was a lot of fun, and I was also pretty good at it (rocket race is freaking fun too!).

Anyway, I was hoping someone could give me the lowdown on a few questions I had.

1. What are the various versions? My budget is less than 500 dollars, I heard this can afford me the mid-range one.

2. Is RROD fixed...have the latest batch of 360s been built to minimize this flaw? Microsoft really screwed the pooch on this one imo, anyone I know who bought a 360 had to return it AT LEAST once. If this is still a flaw with new 360s, I wont buy it.

3. I am a diehard PC gamer *turns flame shield on* Any other PC gamers here have life lessons on the controller issues? I think mouse and keyboard is better, and I have never felt entirely comfortable with a controller...will I get used to it after a few weeks of exposure, or is it always difficult?

4. Are there any "Mario" or happy-fun games for the 360? The reason I ask is this is sort of a "family" gift, meaning it needs to benefit myself, my mom, and my dad on occasion, and we were originally planning on getting a Wii. I like Wii, its fun, but the games are not as good imo. I think my mom would like DDR (plus its a good workout) but I cant think of anything else...most of the games on 360 tend to be geared for young adult males. So for someone who likes thinking games, tetris, mario, and stuff like that, would the 360 be sufficiant?

OK, any other tips you want to give would be appreciated.

There's Arcade for $270, Premium for $350 and Elite for $450. The premium and elite will come with 2 free games: forza 2 and marvel ultimate alliance.

There are still problems with the xbox, but so far, the one I bought on Oct. 30 is fine. It was manufactured on august 24.

As for feeling comfortable... I do feel comfortable. It's not as precise as a mouse, but you have to remember that EVERYONE uses the controller.

Happy family games? Guitar Hero, Viva Pinata (although that would scare some people), Katamari something, Scene it, bomberman live... I'll be honest, the 360 is not really a family machine. Go for the Wii, if that's the top priority.

I assume it's between Xbox 360 and Wii.

My friend has a Wii and the only game that amazes me right now is Mario Galaxy. The online is piss poor and the game with the "best" online features, medal of honor 2, is extremely hard to control.

I have an xbox, no breakdowns. I got the 2 free games, picked up chrome hounds and got bioshock and call of duty. Call of duty is an amazing multiplayer game. Bioshock has a great story. With the Xbox, you are getting mature plots and the best online gaming.

Wii: new people who are curious

Xbox: games with deep plots and robust online structure

If this is really a family gift, go for a wii. It's really open to anyone. It's just that because it's so easy and such, it's shallow. Deep stories like Bioshock or Mass Effect? Eh. Intense CoD4 multiplayer? Blah.

You know what actually? If your parents are those types who just say "this is neat" and never play the system again, you might as well get a 360, because you know you will play it. If you want to play with parents, perhaps try board games. It's a lot more social and it includes everyone.

There's Arcade for $270, Premium for $350 and Elite for $450. The premium and elite will come with 2 free games: forza 2 and marvel ultimate alliance.

There are still problems with the xbox, but so far, the one I bought on Oct. 30 is fine. It was manufactured on august 24.

As for feeling comfortable... I do feel comfortable. It's not as precise as a mouse, but you have to remember that EVERYONE uses the controller.

Happy family games? Guitar Hero, Viva Pinata (although that would scare some people), Katamari something, Scene it, bomberman live... I'll be honest, the 360 is not really a family machine. Go for the Wii, if that's the top priority.

I assume it's between Xbox 360 and Wii.

My friend has a Wii and the only game that amazes me right now is Mario Galaxy. The online is piss poor and the game with the "best" online features, medal of honor 2, is extremely hard to control.

I have an xbox, no breakdowns. I got the 2 free games, picked up chrome hounds and got bioshock and call of duty. Call of duty is an amazing multiplayer game. Bioshock has a great story. With the Xbox, you are getting mature plots and the best online gaming.

Wii: new people who are curious

Xbox: games with deep plots and robust online structure

If this is really a family gift, go for a wii. It's really open to anyone. It's just that because it's so easy and such, it's shallow. Deep stories like Bioshock or Mass Effect? Eh. Intense CoD4 multiplayer? Blah.

You know what actually? If your parents are those types who just say "this is neat" and never play the system again, you might as well get a 360, because you know you will play it. If you want to play with parents, perhaps try board games. It's a lot more social and it includes everyone.

Revelade

Ya, I think thats some good advice right there. Honestly, my mom is perfectly happy with the gameboy they got me for Christmas 15+ years ago (yup, it still works...no RROD there!)

Anyway, its my sister and I who are buying it, but she lives in Hawaii so she wont have much say in it. I think I will just get the 360.

if i were u dude dont get it (coming from a 360 owner thats me) get a ps3 or wii cuz they wont break down on you and it wont take TWO MONTHS for microsoft to return the consolesolo4321

ya, thats another aspect I was considering. I mean, 95% of games I ever wanted that are on 360 have come out for PC either soon or eventually. The only one right now that I want is Mass Effect.

I think a PS3 would be good, but theyre so damn expensive.

Btw, never thought I would be talked out of getting a 360 on the 360 forums lol.

buy Xbox 360, you won't regret it... it's the best console ever...

to help you with regards on the games, here are my games:

certified, great games:

RPG:

1. the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

2. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

FPS:

1. F.E.A.R.

2. The Darkness

Racing:

1. Forza Motorsport 2

[QUOTE="solo4321"]if i were u dude dont get it (coming from a 360 owner thats me) get a ps3 or wii cuz they wont break down on you and it wont take TWO MONTHS for microsoft to return the consolemrbojangles25

ya, thats another aspect I was considering. I mean, 95% of games I ever wanted that are on 360 have come out for PC either soon or eventually. The only one right now that I want is Mass Effect.

I think a PS3 would be good, but theyre so damn expensive.

Btw, never thought I would be talked out of getting a 360 on the 360 forums lol.

Ps3 is now $400 and $500. Also for the guy that said it took 2 months for the repair, where do you live? I'm in the Us and got mine in 3 weeks. Also to the TC, the xbox 360 console is the best console when it works right.

[QUOTE="solo4321"]if i were u dude dont get it (coming from a 360 owner thats me) get a ps3 or wii cuz they wont break down on you and it wont take TWO MONTHS for microsoft to return the consolemrbojangles25

ya, thats another aspect I was considering. I mean, 95% of games I ever wanted that are on 360 have come out for PC either soon or eventually. The only one right now that I want is Mass Effect.

I think a PS3 would be good, but theyre so damn expensive.

Btw, never thought I would be talked out of getting a 360 on the 360 forums lol.

Don't listen to him man. The 360 is a solid console and you are completely covered with the RROD anyway. And I do have to say, Mass Effect is one amazing game. I totally don't care for RPG's much at all and so I decided not to buy ME. Well, I borrowed it from a friend and it is one of the most amazing games I have ever played! I'm actually going tomorrow to buy my own copy! Oh, and you actually can get 3 games with the Premium 360 which is $350. You can get Halo 3 with the purchase of any 360 console and you would also get the two free games in the premium package (Forza 2 and Marvel:UA). I have had my 360 from day one and the first one lasted a year and a half (that's a launch model) before it had issues. I am on my fourth one now but I don't care. The games are SO good and Xbox Live is SO much better than what the PS3 has it's ridiculous! The PS3 is a fine machine but the 360 has way more games and is a much more fun experience online. And you get THREE FREE GAMES!!!

Anyway, its my sister and I who are buying it, but she lives in Hawaii so she wont have much say in it. I think I will just get the 360.mrbojangles25

1. Theres the Arcade, where you get the bare minimum. Wired controller, no HDD. I wouldn't recommend it.
Premium/Pro, you get a wireless controller, 20GB HDD(But you'll only have 12GB available after you delete all the demos the console comes with, a wired headset. I'd suggest this one on your budget.
The Halo Edition. Basically the Premium with a paintjob and the new jasper chipset
The Elite. iirc like the Pemium but with a 120GB HDD and possibly more outputs. Not too sure.
I'd say get an extended warantee, you'll be glad you did.

2. Get the extended warantee

3. You'll get use to it, I did with GRAW2 and Gears of War

4. Xbox Live Arcade(the games you dl from Marketplace, not the arcade console) has a lot of family friendly games.

I got my 360 in October 2006 and it hasn't died yet. My only complaint on the 360 is that the laser's cushioning is **** so you'll occasionally get disc scratching. (Don't move the console when it has a disc in it and it's on- the disc gets DESTROYED) Live Arcade has some great titles like Prince of Persia Classic, Marathon, Doom, Carcassonne, Alien Hominid, etc... and the normal game library is just plain awesome.

My games right now:

Gears of War

GRAW

GRAW2

PGR3

Oblvion

Shadowrun

Halo 3

Bioshock

Burnout Revenge

Call of Duty (2, 3, and 4)

Kameo

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Guitar Hero (2 and 3)

Assassin's Creed

NFS Most Wanted

Perfect Dark Zero

And I still have to go out and buy Mass Effect, Orange Box, and Rock Band...

If you want quality games, go with the 360. You won't run out of great games to buy for a real long time. Achievements are cool to- if you're the kind of guy who wants to get 100% in a game, these things give you an idea of how close you are. Working for them alsomakes multiplayer more fun and gives you a goal.

I can adjust pretty well between CS 1.6 on my PC and Halo 3 on the console, it just takes a little getting used to. My first FPS was on a console (Goldeneye64) and I picked up PC controls pretty quick. That shouldn't be a problem.

Xbox Live is a better online service than Nintendo or Sony's, even if it isn't free.

Gamertag:

Absolute Zerr

Gamerscore 8120

Xbox Live is a better online service than Nintendo or Sony's, even if it isn't free.Absolutezerr

Live has so many things over Wii Connect. Medal of Honor Heroes 2, which sports 32 players on the Wii had less than 100 players total when I logged into it yesterday, compared to thousands I play on CoD4. Live has voice communication, friend notifications and so on. It also has more games that are online. Of course, who knows what will happen when SSBB is released.

As for PSN... never tried it. I suppose the top 3 are Warhawk, Resistance and CoD4. I'd love to try Warhawk.