buying x-box need advice
 

My son has earned himself an x-box 360 for christmas, but I have no clue what to buy. I know there are "elites" and "platinums" and various bundles, but what's the best bang for your buck?

I'd like him to get the system, atleast 1 game and atleast 1 wireless controller.

Gamers? Thanks for any advice, and if my boy knew he'd thank you too.

Goodnight RCM!

COD modern warfare2.... Awesome game...great replayability ESP if you get xbox live..:)

The Modern Warefare 2 console is the best right now. It has the largest harddrive 250GB, 2 black wireless controllers and the game modern warefare 2

+1 ^ it has the biggest harddrive of any 360 it comes with 2 controllers headset an MW2 (amazing game) and looks totally bad ass in the MW2 scheme.but remember to sign him up for live (50$ a year or 5$ a month) because a 360 without live is like a 2200 neu without a battery :D --josh

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Prod...oduct_ID=75938

Pc ftw...

i don't want "the best", but "the best bang for my buck$$$$$"

he simply won't need the huge hard drive or the expensive console skin.

and unfortunately his mom with whom he lives wouldn't let him play COD

AWWWW no COD!?!?!? what kind of dictatorship does he live in! well,if you just want a regular 360 get a 120GB harddrive version and buy some stuff off the used game rack.it comes with everything else youll need.and there really arent a whole lot of 360 bang for the buck deals unless they are local sales only.

and i know most RC guys on here like fleabay,but for gods sake dont buy one now,after 2 million modders and chetaers had there 360's banned off Xbox live they flooded the market and most of them lie about it being unable to connect to live anymore.--josh

ps3 ftw

When I replaced mine (broken DVD drive) I just bought the Arcade version. It came with a bunch of games (mostly stuff kids don't want like Pacman) and built in memory (no need for a hard drive). I think they run $199. It comes with 1 controller. Depending oon what you are going to connect it to you may want to get a different A/V cable. The Arcade version comes with the normal A/V cable (Red for right, White for left and yellow for Video). You can also get a composite video cable and an HDMI cable. As far as games they run about $60 for new releases I don't buy a lot of games so I'm not a lot of help there.

Jeff

well, thanks guys. I heard about the flood of hacked x-box's, that sucks. Oh well, the boys worth it.

you might wanna go for the elite!
as far as i know they fixed the issues with the overheating but you might wanna talk to (brushlessboy?) about that.

will trade or sell like new xbox 360, halo edition, still under warranty, $600 worth of stuff. PM if interested. Alot of the overheating came from inadequate heatsinks and crappy thermal pastes. you do not have to worry about it in the newer consoles. There are other minor modifications to the RAM modules and such. The newer ones also use newer processors, which are more efficient, and therefore, produce less heat to begin with. Not to mention, Microsoft warrants your xbox for the red ring of death for 3 years

Microsoft customer service is great. Even if you do get the red ring of death i'm sure Microsoft will take care of you. I'd say get him a 60 gig xbox 360, two controllers, a live account, some microsoft points, and a gift card to walmart so he can buy the games he wants. I know its not a package deal but just an idea.

If you have a Gamestop/Eb games, its worth buying the Xbox their and getting the extended warranty so if anything happens to the system within the year of the warranty, you can get a new replacement one, no questions asked. I think Wal-Mart is also doing product replacement plans but their not as flexible as Gamestops and iv'e had to replace mine, and its really easy and the best extra $40-$50 you can spend.

As far as games, thats gonna vary GREATLY from person to person. What one person loves playing another person is gonna hate. Are you going to get him an Xbox Live gold account? If so, i'd have him download free demo's and go from there. If no Xbox live, rent a few from the store or borrow some of his friends. You can also purchase used games at gamestop and they guarentee them for seven days so if he doesn't like it, he can return it for exchange/refund unlike new games where once you open the package, your stuck with it.

I'd do at LEAST the current Xbox Elite that comes with the 120gig HDD, because thats were you store all your demo's and if you just get the Arcade version with no HDD, your gonna spend ALOT more for getting a seperate HDD, so do it right the first time. The COD MW2 package deal is nice, but its a premieum $400 and he may or may not like the Call of Duty series games.

Buy a used one! I did! Actually traded for one, much better than spending money IMO!

I like gta4, and plan to buy the new gta game when they show up used cheap!

Not much help, huh!

No COD? Wow. That sucks...

While the MW2 Edition console is great and all, you have to see if it is really worth the extra money.

I have a 120gb PS3 Slim and have barely used 20% of the capacity...However, I know that there are plenty of games that must be completely downloaded on the console (taking a solid 3-8 gigs each). These are usually games downloaded off Xbox live, so depending on how many of those he decides to get, it might be worth having a fairly large drive. I'd still say a standard Elite's 120gb is plenty. No need for the MW2 edition's 250gb drive.

Aside from the fact he can't play COD, lets break down the cost factor here.

The Holiday Elite bundle off amazon includes 2 games (Lego Batman and Pure), 120gb HD, 1 controller and a headset. It's 300 bucks.

The MW2 edition includes MW2, 2 controllers, a 250gb HD and a headset.

So the extra 100 bucks earns you a extra controller, bigger HD, and one less game (though, to me, Pure and Lego Batman are not games I'd play while MW 2 is - so in my personal view, the holiday bundle comes with no games).

The extra capacity is moot, if you ask me, maybe worth 10 bucks, and the wireless controller is $40. The game is $50. So if you forget about the games in the holiday bundle under the concept that they are ones you'd never play, you end up breaking even with the MW2 edition.

But if he can't play COD, then just get him the regular bundle. He'll get 2 games (up to him whether to play them or not) and everything he needs to play by himself. The 100 you saved by not getting the MW2 edition can be put toward games he can play and the spare controller.

I wouldn't get the arcade since it comes with barely any capacity and it's features are severely hampered (the capacity is not upgradable as far as I know - and it's small - and there is no backwards compatibility if that's a concern for you).