360 buying/ only one game I really want quandry

[Austin]

There are plenty of games that I'm sure you will at least have a slight interest in--You just have to dig and see what else is out there. Also, if Rez and Ikaruga sparked your interest, there's a lot more on the system where that came from!

 

I recommend taking advantage of the available demos in the marketplace. They are a great way to try-before-you-buy if you're really not sure about something. Also, if you shop at GameStop locally, take advantage of their used policy. Buy a game and don't like it, or maybe you finish it quickly and feel you won't get any more replay value out of it? Go return it for another one within fourteen days.

 

Also, be sure to check out the titles released in the first year on the system. Many of them are pretty good and are mega-cheap, i.e., $7 cheap (I always love good, cheap games).

Edited January 31, 2010 by Austin

[liveinabin]

I considered getting a 360˙ for AvP when it comes out, but probably won't since I keep hearing nothing but bad about the machines reliability.

 

I've held out this long in buying a 360 of precisely the same reason. However, I'm pretty satisfied with the measures taken with the current issue of 360s. I'm pretty sure these will live.

 

That said, I'll post here right away if mine is DOA

[liveinabin]

There are plenty of games that I'm sure you will at least have a slight interest in--You just have to dig and see what else is out there. Also, if Rez and Ikaruga sparked your interest, there's a lot more on the system where that came from!

 

I recommend taking advantage of the available demos in the marketplace. They are a great way to try-before-you-buy if you're really not sure about something.

 

 

Yeah, I love demos, that's why I got an Elite - that 120Gb is going down in a hail of free sh*t!

 

As for other games, I'm really fussy about what I play. See, I loathe cliché and can spot it a mile off, which is an issue, given that games - perhaps even more so than movies - tend to be fairly unadventurous, style and content wise.

 

If I've seen it before, chances are I don't wanna play it. Given this - that rules out probably 99% of the 360s library straight away. Still, if there are even three games that I really click with, I'll consider the console a worthy purchase.

[liveinabin]

Yay! My Elite arrived today! After some fiddling with cables, I've been at Mass Effect all evening. Absolutely astonishing game. So happy.

As for the console itself, the software/firmware side of it is great. The Xbox dash has a lot of character and the free demos of pretty much everything are nice.

The hardware is pretty cruddy though, if I'm honest. Glad I installed Mass Effect to the hard drive, then I can play it with only the annoying pulsating whine of the fans rather than the insane row of the disc spinning. Pretty though, and the controller is nice (apart from the D-pad obviously).

Haven't even broken the shrink wrap on Bayonetta yet.

[Hyper_Eye]

Yay! My Elite arrived today! After some fiddling with cables, I've been at Mass Effect all evening. Absolutely astonishing game. So happy.

As for the console itself, the software/firmware side of it is great. The Xbox dash has a lot of character and the free demos of pretty much everything are nice.

The hardware is pretty cruddy though, if I'm honest. Glad I installed Mass Effect to the hard drive, then I can play it with only the annoying pulsating whine of the fans rather than the insane row of the disc spinning. Pretty though, and the controller is nice (apart from the D-pad obviously).

Haven't even broken the shrink wrap on Bayonetta yet.

 

Maybe the amount of noise from the console and their previous HSF design was cruddy but the hardware itself is far from cruddy. Glad you are enjoying Mass Effect.

[moycon]

Glad I installed Mass Effect to the hard drive, then I can play it with only the annoying pulsating whine of the fans rather than the insane row of the disc spinning.

 

Wow really? My two Elites are pretty quiet. Do you set yours vertical or horizontal? All my 360's sit horizontal. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

If you think the system is loud now, be glad you didn't get one of the launch units. My old 360's were so loud at one time I kept them in a separate room!! No lie, I drilled a hole through a wall with a hole saw and kept my 360 in the spare bathroom for a brief period. This was when I got my HD DVD drive and the noise of the 360 actually distracted from watching a movie!!

 

Anyways, if you are enjoying Mass Effect, you will probably love Mass Effect 2 just as much. Great game! working my way through it now and having just as much of a blast as i had with the first!

[Hyper_Eye]

Wow really? My two Elites are pretty quiet. Do you set yours vertical or horizontal? All my 360's sit horizontal. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

If you think the system is loud now, be glad you didn't get one of the launch units. My old 360's were so loud at one time I kept them in a separate room!! No lie, I drilled a hole through a wall with a hole saw and kept my 360 in the spare bathroom for a brief period. This was when I got my HD DVD drive and the noise of the 360 actually distracted from watching a movie!!

 

Anyways, if you are enjoying Mass Effect, you will probably love Mass Effect 2 just as much. Great game! working my way through it now and having just as much of a blast as i had with the first!

 

The fans weren't the problem on my launch-day 360. The DVD drive was the problem. When a game was in there it sounded like a jet plane was taking off (and I live right by an airport so I am very familiar with the sound.) When a movie was in there it wasn't as loud but it was still loud. When I got my HD-DVD addon I started watching both HD-DVD's and DVD's with it because it was so much quieter than my 360 drive. I still use it for movies because I replaced my launch with a core and it is still pretty loud. The new ones are silent compared to my launch unit. Seriously... those things were deafening.

[liveinabin]

I'm getting used to the fan whine now. It's not amazingly loud, it's just at a noticeable pitch. Aside from the relative volume, though, it's great.

I was rather harsh calling it 'cruddy'. Sorry

 

Been playing pretty much nothing but Mass Effect:). Had a quick go at Geometry Wars 2. Not sure what all the fuss is about there, surely that's just a less focussed Robotron.

 

Suffice to say, I'll be buying Robotron

Edited February 3, 2010 by liveinabin

[Austin]

..Had a quick go at Geometry Wars 2. Not sure what all the fuss is about there, surely that's just a less focussed Robotron.

 

Suffice to say, I'll be buying Robotron

 

Most of the fuss was with the first 360 Geometry Wars when it came out in '05.. I hardly hear anyone mentioning part II..

Edited February 3, 2010 by Austin

[moycon]

The fans weren't the problem on my launch-day 360. The DVD drive was the problem.

 

Weird. For me it was the fans I think, unless the disk drive goes while playing an HD DVD in that separate drive.

I was all excited to finally get HD DVD but then realized the noise from the unit was ruining the experience!

So yeah I put the 360 in the spare bathroom to get it out of the room! I wonder did the 360's ship with different DVD drives? I didn't have a launch unit, I didn't get my 360 till the March after, and wound up returning it to MS a few times.No way to tell now I guess. I sold it last year. Now that I think of it though, I can recall it sounding loud when booting up games as well. Those old 360 were just frickin loud I think. Maybe that's why my Elite Jaspers seem so quiet, its by comparison to those old units!!

[liveinabin]

Heh. That's pretty extreme.

I had a bit of a scare yesterday when my Xbox, added to all the other AV stuff running, overloaded it all and everything went dead.

Luckily the Xbox's power breaker took the brunt, and the console was fine - it even picked up it's downloads where it left off. Smart.

 

To add some balance, I should add that my PS3 originally had a dead blu-ray drive.