Hubby resisted buying the latest Xbox. His old Xbox was still alive and kicking. Yes, he wanted to play Halo 3 when it came out, but other than that he didn't want to acquire more "stuff". Well the dilemma was solved then we received the Xbox 360 for Christmas. We received the Arcade version, which is a scaled down version - no hard drive, no HD capability, doesn't come with a headset or network cable, . It, however, came with a disc with games and trail versions, which was nice so we could at least get started.
Hubby reluctantly put away the old Xbox and put together the new Xbox. We learned, however, that we could purchase a hard drive separately. This hard drive enables you to play games that were made for the old Xbox. This backwards compatibility is a really nice feature, however, not all games are supported, unfortunately. Hubby thought about it though and he wouldn't miss his old games.
With the 360, I believe the best upgrade Microsoft has made is the wireless controllers. I can't remember how many times my dogs have unplugged the corded controllers. Yes, the graphics are much improved, but what I noticed the most was the lack of cords.
On the 360, we have played a variety of games and find this console to be a great addition to our entertainment system. It isn't without faults, however.
At first, we had set this up on our smaller tv in our bedroom (I believe it was a 26" CRT tv). The games do not play as well on smaller tv's. If there's any writing, it can be really difficult to read. Most people are upgrading to larger TV's so this is becoming less of a problem, but you've been warned. This gaming console is much more enjoyable on a larger TV, especially if you're playing a multi-player game.
Another thing that bugs me is that many accessories for the Xbox are made by Microsoft. You can go online with the Xbox, but it doesn't have built in wi-fi (like the Wii). You can buy an Xbox-branded network adapter, however, for about $100 (granted, there is another brand adapter but it has received really bad reviews). And the hard drive is also Xbox brand for $100, or $180 for a larger one. I guess they figure that the console itself isn't that much, so they'll make money off the accessories.
Despite all that, we still enjoy having the Xbox 360. At least now we can play Guitar Hero!
More details
Graphics Capability
Excellent
Sound Capability
Excellent
Range of Features
Good
Ease of Use
Easy
Value for Money
Good value for money
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