Video Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Well, I want to get a 360, but uh...There's two different 360's out there (and soon to be 3 to my understnading) One of the things I want to know, is there any reason I would have to get the Hard drive for the 360? I know the BC thing won't work at all without it, but a lot of it doesn't work anyways. But do any 360 spacific games require the HDD? I'm most wanting Halo 3 (which may not get released on the 360 at all, from the looks of it) and Oblivion, which is most likely to use the HDD, of any game I could think of (other than online only games which I won't play anyways) I also know VC games won't work without the Hdd (well, maybe, but I'll have to get a Memory card for it) So, uh..yeah. Is there a good reason to buy the Premium system, when I get the money, as opposed to get the cheapo core and buy the $100 drive seperately down the road? Or is there other stuff that the Premium does have that the core doesn't? Anyhow,t hanks for any help in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 The question is "Do you want the downloadable content?" Your answer to that will determine if you can be satisfied with a Core. As long as you have one of the memory cards, you can save profiles, connect to XBox Live, and even download a little of the online content. You'll really need a memory card or a hard drive. There's no option about it. So far, no games technically REQUIRE the hard drive or a memory unit. This is much the same way that RPGs don't REQUIRE you to save your game. Now, if you want to save a few bucks, and only make a basic profile, and maybe download Geometry Wars or other small Live Arcade games, then the Core and a memory card will suit your needs for a while. After a time, you can upgrade the system with a hard drive. If you know that you're going to want to download lots of stuff from Live, then go for the Premium or the Elite. Also, if you intend to use a Live Gold membership, definitely go with the Premium or Elite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari5200 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 the core will play all the games without a hard drive, you cannot save anything without some kind of memory though, XBOX live will work with memory stick but it's limited. you won't be able to download hardly anything, but should work to at least play over xbox live. I bought the premium package and haven't regretted it. With everything you get in the premium, it's worth it. Now they have packages that include games for the same price so you can't really go wrong. So it really depends on what you want to do. If you don't care about xbox live, live arcade, marketplace, and you just want it for games, then the core system would be fine. But a few months down the road you'll be shelling out $100 for the hard drive that you could have got plus extras with the premium pack when you realize that the 360 is capable of so much more with the hdd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper_Eye Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I'm most wanting Halo 3 (which may not get released on the 360 at all, from the looks of it) Why would you say that? I have not seen anything to warrant speculation that Halo 3 would not be released on the 360. I don't see anyway that they wouldn't release it on the 360. Did you mean to say it won't release on the orginal XBox? If that is the case then you are most likely correct. and Oblivion, which is most likely to use the HDD, of any game I could think of (other than online only games which I won't play anyways) Oblivion will cache to the hdd if it is there but the hdd is not required to play the game. The hdd is not required to play any 360 game. So, uh..yeah. Is there a good reason to buy the Premium system, when I get the money, as opposed to get the cheapo core and buy the $100 drive seperately down the road? Or is there other stuff that the Premium does have that the core doesn't? The premium comes with a wireless controller, component cables, and hdd. The core comes with wired controller and composite cables. Originally the premium also came with a small media remote. I believe that was a limited time accessory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I would go with a hard drive simply for the downloadable content. One of the great things about the 360 is the "try before you buy" experience you get with all of the free demos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronMongeR Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 The Core system is a waste of time. Don't even think about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starscream Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Yeah, I think the Core is useless really. You need to get a memory card with the Core, and I think they are like $40 or something and the new bigger ones are more than that. For a few bucks more, you can get the Premium and not need the memory card. The only drawback is you will need to get a rechargable battery deal which is like $15-$20. So if you add this crap up, you save around $80 now or spend around $100 later if you go get the HDD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari5200 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 screw the recharable battery thing, get the $5 wal-mart special recharables that plug in a wall, i get 20+ hours easily on a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruser_inc Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 The only game (that I know of) that needs the hard drive is Crackdown, if you want to do co-op in anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 They've dropped the price of the old 64 Meg memory cards. You can buy them new for $25 now and used for under $20 off Amazon. That said I would still forgo the Core unit and get the Premium. You will want the ability to download demos and try out games before you spend your hard earned cash on them. Free HD content like the HD South Park episode (Folks can laugh that a HD South Park is silly....but we thought it was awesome, we have been watching Seasons 5 - 7 on DVD lately, my girlfriend and I were blown away by how crisp and clean the HD version was!) would be impossible to get without the HD. Granted none of this has anything to do with playing games, but it's just plain cool to mess around with gaming wise you have to consider the Live arcade. Those 64 Meg or even the 8x Memory cards are gonna fill up quick with all the great games you will have at the touch of a couple buttons. Unless you just want to play 360 games, spend the extra cash. It'll be worth it in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted April 27, 2007 Author Share Posted April 27, 2007 The question is "Do you want the downloadable content?" Your answer to that will determine if you can be satisfied with a Core. I would be, if I had an option to actually get downloadable content (despite the Live service being a huge success, believe it or not, Broadband still isn't available everywhere) I can understand setting it so you can't play link games online, but why not support dialup to download a 2 meg game that will be permanantly on your hard drive? Though technically, I think i could hook it up to a server, and use that to call out dialup, but I wouldn't bother unless I knew it would work, since I see no reason to pay for a subscription to something I may not can use anyways. I'm most wanting Halo 3 (which may not get released on the 360 at all, from the looks of it) Why would you say that? I have not seen anything to warrant speculation that Halo 3 would not be released on the 360. I don't see anyway that they wouldn't release it on the 360. Did you mean to say it won't release on the orginal XBox? If that is the case then you are most likely correct. No, just that it's over a year and a half into the systems life, and there's still not even a releas YEAR for this game. And there's still not a set time for even demos of this, though, Halo had demos come out, what, 3 years after the game came out, so If it gets pushed back one more year, I see no realistic reason to bother releasing it at all on a system that at most has 2 years left when they could spend the 2 years putting a LOT more work into it and haveing it as a launch game on the next system. Of course, I'd be pretty pissed, as Halo is one of the selling points for X-box for me (that, PGR, and maybe Mech Assault, if they make any more) but as I said, as things are going currently, it would honestly not surprise me in the least. and Oblivion, which is most likely to use the HDD, of any game I could think of (other than online only games which I won't play anyways) Oblivion will cache to the hdd if it is there but the hdd is not required to play the game. The hdd is not required to play any 360 game. So, uh..yeah. Is there a good reason to buy the Premium system, when I get the money, as opposed to get the cheapo core and buy the $100 drive seperately down the road? Or is there other stuff that the Premium does have that the core doesn't? The premium comes with a wireless controller, component cables, and hdd. The core comes with wired controller and composite cables. Originally the premium also came with a small media remote. I believe that was a limited time accessory. Cool, so some games do use the HDD, but not necessairly require it. That's cool, maybe next time I'm over at a friends, I'll see how it plays without the hard drive, unless it's horrendus I'd probably do without. And it looks like if I bought the Premium, I'd have to get a Video cable anyways (along with broadband, I don't have HDTV either) at around $25 for official, or cheaper for offbrand, and if I bought the core, I'd pay around $25 for the memory card (what I saw them for at walmart) so, about $100 difference either way, and I'd get a wired controller, so I'd save on batteries. Of course, if I could find either with games for the same price, that might make me buy a premium instead of a core (assuming it's not sports games, which I would avoid like the plague) I guess another thing I'd like to know, can the 360 save to say, Compact Flash or SD? I notice it has USB support (but if they're trying to sell hard drives and memory cards, I doubt they would support this) Cause if it would, I've got about 20 GB of memory already (Not all on one card, that'd be friggin sweet, but I've got a mountain of 1 and 2 gig cards here, and as soon as the 4 gig's come down, I'll get some of those too) I'm sorry, it's not really a case of not haveing the money to spend (though that's 2 or 3 more games if I can get the console for $100 less) I'm just a cheap ass, and for the most part, the $100 drive is something that (unless a game I by spacifically requires it) I simply won't use, or at least, all the cool features would go unused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 I think you need to do some more research, and ask yourself why you think you want this thing. Halo 3 is coming out this fall, and the public beta starts next month. This is not a secret, it's all over the internet. The hard drive is not absolutely required, but this isn't the PS2. Spending real money on dinky memory cards is a waste of cash. If you can't afford the "Premium" system, you're better off waiting for the machine to drop in price. Remember that new games are sixty dollars a go on this machine. No, you can't use your old flash cards as save devices on the 360. No broadband + no HDTV = a vastly diminished 360 experience. Might as well save your money and play the older systems, PC games, or the Wii. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 (edited) If you do just get the CORE unit and all you want to do is play 360 games Amazon is a great resource for cheap used 360 titles. I've seen them as low as $8 (PDZ) Most I pick up are in the $20-$30 range. (Thats including shipping) Shipping is usually $3.49 Edited April 27, 2007 by moycon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 (edited) No broadband + no HDTV = a vastly diminished 360 experience. Might as well save your money and play the older systems, PC games, or the Wii. Broadband...maybe. If you don't care about online multiplayer, then the only thing you need it for is the downloadable content. I enjoy the content, but hardly ever play games online, so I suppose I could do without it. IMHO the HD experience is what I couldn't do without. I haven't played the 360 in standard def, but after playing in HD this whole time, I can't imagine ever wanting to. If I didn't have an HDTV I'd probably just stick with the original Xbox or the PS2. Edited April 27, 2007 by Lord Helmet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted April 27, 2007 Author Share Posted April 27, 2007 Gee, that was really anti X-box sounding Yeah...no. I've played online games (even on broadband, and even on LIVE, back when I lived in town and had it) but just honestly, the whole experiance is absolutely shitty compared to getting a LAN going (and most people you'll have at the lan will be more mature and amusing to play agianst anyways) Unless there's a MAJOR overhaul on Live (or has been already, I've been out of teh scene for a few years now) I just don' thave any desire to play online with all the little kiddies that think cussing for the sake of cussing is cool, and kick you out (or quit) at the slightest possibility that you might be good at the game. We have a group here that gets a good lan going at least once a month, and useually at least once a week (and there's several a week if you hit the smaller groups too) As for HD, eh...the nice clear image is cool and all, but other than the like one game I saw, that you literally can't read the text on if you don't have HD, there's nothing really desirable in paying $1000+ for the video screen to watch this on. Though I suppose technicaly, I could use my computer, since it has TV in and a much higher res display than an HDTV would support anyways Of course, after dealing with that, I'd probably just slam it in my room on the same crusty ass 13 inch mid 80's TV that I got for free out of the trash and use everything else on anyways Of course, if I get one, either way, I gotta try it at least once on my grandparrents 52" sony HD set. Oh yeah, and PC's suck arse for gameing machines, or at least my experiance has pretty much always sucked. To bad too, it's technically so much better than a game system could be (and easily upgradeable) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Oh yeah, and PC's suck arse for gameing machines, or at least my experiance has pretty much always sucked. To bad too, it's technically so much better than a game system could be (and easily upgradeable) That's exactly the problem with them, you have to upgrade all the time to keep up with the latest. Nothing more frustrating then dropping $49.99 on a game and then realizing you need to spend $100-$200 on new hardware just to play it. (I'm looking at you Guild Wars) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted April 29, 2007 Author Share Posted April 29, 2007 (edited) Oh yeah, and PC's suck arse for gameing machines, or at least my experiance has pretty much always sucked. To bad too, it's technically so much better than a game system could be (and easily upgradeable) That's exactly the problem with them, you have to upgrade all the time to keep up with the latest. Nothing more frustrating then dropping $49.99 on a game and then realizing you need to spend $100-$200 on new hardware just to play it. (I'm looking at you Guild Wars) Actually the reason that I've not gone ahead and bought Oblivion (I'd have to get an all NEW PC, since mine simply isn't upgradeable enough) I just don't see putting down $500 for a system to barely play one game. That, and even building it myself, it'll of course have Video and Sound issues. And honestly, I don't care for the "be screwed into useing the keyboard and mouse" thing that always happens on computers. Yes, I know Keyboards and mice are so much better than a game pad, that's why every console ever made has a gamepad (or joystic) instead of a keyboard and mouse I'll assume Oblivion has little half asses support for game pads, or none, like Morrowind, the last PC game I put any real time into, befor I got a so much better copy for the X-box with actual support for an actual controller, not crashing every 10 minutes to an hour, and no problems running Video and outta sync sound (well, it has some of that, but not nearly as bad as the PC version) Yes, it would run at a (slightly) higher resolution, which showed you just how shitty the textures were in the game, and how low a poly count everything really is. Yes I could put it a much farther view distance. Yes, I had access to a lot more options (supposedly easier) because of the keyboard and mouse cause everything had it's own key, istead of being combo or menue. Yes, I really enjoyed makeing custom maps and weapons and such. No, I did NOT over all enjoy the game more on the PC. This is actually why I want a 360, as opposed to simply saying feck it and getting a new computer (though I am seriously thinking about a laptop, but not for games) Edited April 29, 2007 by Video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper_Eye Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 And it looks like if I bought the Premium, I'd have to get a Video cable anyways (along with broadband, I don't have HDTV either) at around $25 for official, or cheaper for offbrand, and if I bought the core, I'd pay around $25 for the memory card (what I saw them for at walmart) so, about $100 difference either way, and I'd get a wired controller, so I'd save on batteries. The component cables included with the premium include a few things. They include the component portion itself, an optical output for Dolby Digital on the plug, standard stereo sound cables, and a composite cable. Unless you are specifically looking for S-Video (which any television that is of good quality should not provide much difference between composite and s-video) then you have everything you need in those cables. Personally, I use a VGA cable to my hd projector. With the VGA cable the 360 will upscale DVD's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 That's my issue though, I don't have any of that. I got Cable, and through an adaptor box, AVS, but none of the higher up stuff. Heh, I may just need to get a new TV, but I'll probably still stick to a low res or ED TV, just to get the built in AVS ports or whatever, as opposed to an HD. (unless I could find an HD in the $200-$400 range or something) They still don't make smaller HD sets though do they? I'm seriously limited on space, and I'd probably stick with at most a 20" or so screen (though without that huge tube sticking out the back, I don't know, maybe I could go bigger) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 What do you mean by AVS ports? A search on wikipedia doesn't reveal anything having to do with tv's for that term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted May 8, 2007 Author Share Posted May 8, 2007 Uh...standard AVS (Audio Visual Sterio) Or I guess I could say RCA, but RGB cables are also RCA, so that'd just cause confusion. Yeah, the one with Yellow for Video and Red/White for sound instead of the packin Componant whcih also has RGB for video (unless I could use combiners or something to make it work with AV ports or something) This may not be the right word, but I've never heard anybody call it anything but AVS (except back when people called it RCA just as much, but that was befor Composite) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I've heard them called AV cables but never AVS, sorry. Composite inputs are available on every HDTV I believe by the way, so besides worrying about scaling issues with playing 480i games on a HDTV, you shouldn't have any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted May 12, 2007 Author Share Posted May 12, 2007 That's what I'm talking about though, I'd ahve to buy an HD TV in order to make use of the packin cable on the Premium system. Or I'd have to buy AV cables to make it work on my TV. Someone above confused me, they made it sound like the Composite cable would have AV with it or something? Maybe they shoulda stuck with AV (or composite) on both consoles so to avoid the confusion :\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 That's what I'm talking about though, I'd ahve to buy an HD TV in order to make use of the packin cable on the Premium system. No you wouldn't. The packin cable on the premium has both analog HD, and composite video out. The connector on the cable has a TV/HDTV switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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