XBOX 360 question

[SlappY]

Sup,
So I got a signed permission slip to purchase a 360. But I want to know a few theings that have cleverly been hidden in the marketing of the 360.

Wireless...so the controller is wireless, whoop dee doo, but they also mention the whole wireless networking thing...sooo.... does it come standard? or is it a little dingy mah bob that you have to plug on afterwards that is going to cost me my other kidney.

Another thing. Is it worth it? I got me a PC. So whats the diff. I really like the idea of one, but dont want to fork out if it is exactly the same as a PC.

Next question. Shall I wait for the PS3. I did a costing and to bring the XBOX up to the same peripheral spec as a PS3 will cost more. (HDD's, Blue Ray addon, wireless, etc). Plus the PS3 has more processing power.

What to do, what to do....

[Ga5can]

Slappy ...

Please post a comprehensive comparison of the two systems so that we as the redundancy-redundancy committee (committee) can actually view all the irrelevant issues to [-]not make or [/-] help you with a decision ... :confused: ... I would wait for PS3 though :D

[doobiwan]

heh dude,

I definitely say Go for it! Or wait for a Wii ;) But I'm quite anti PS3. (more later)

On the PC versus 360 issue, they're very different and similar ;) It's a different way to play, it's definitely more social in a "sit in the lounge and play together" way. The console bonus - no upgrading, resale value, plug and play. Downside? Games are more expensive than PC games. 360 also has Live Arcade which are more casual downloadable games that are great for wifes and non gamers.

Power wise, the 360 is the best bang for your buck you're going to get for a while, the PS3 is not anywhere nearly as powerful as Sony is making it out to be (http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/35372/?spage=1) And an equivalent PC will set you back 2-3 times as much.

On the wireless thing, that is my one complaint with the 360, the wireless adapter is currently available for ~R900, which is pretty steep. you might be able to import it for less, as it's not an officially available accessory here yet.

At least with the 360 you can get the components over time, you don't have to fork out R6500 straight of the bat (expected price for the PS3) or wait 6 months for it.

The 360 (mainly) exclusive titles are looking awesome, Gears of War looks set to win Game of the year, Viva Pinata, Rainbow 6 Vegas, Sheesh, the games released in the last 2 weeks alone are reason enough to get it, let alone the likes of Bioshock, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Halo 3, Project Sylpheed, Lost Planet, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Command and Conquer 3!

The PS3 has Final Fantasy 13, Even Metal Gear Solids exclusivity is being questioned.

360 rocks.

But then . . . there's always the Wii ;) . . . .

[SaintMg]

slappy i dont know much but i did find this


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9136575504838642038

and then there is this

http://www.wargeeks.org/showthread.php?p=36537#post36537

[SlappY]

Thanks for the info guys.
I must say I dont think I will look at a Wii. From what I gather they hardly qualify as next gen. And there is little to no support for them here.

The thing with the PS3 is that it has become cool to slag them off, but realistically they are more powerful and do have more features that come standard.

My BIG miff with the XBOX is the lack of wireless. Not so much that you have to buy it extra, but more that you going to have this extra tack on hanging out of it.

My big sellers on the XBOX are the titles:
BioShock
Mass Effect
Dead Rising
Gears of War

Another question: What is the server situation like for multiplay? Is it going to be ints and therefore so laggy you cant play at all. Or are we looking at a similar SAIX setup here?

[doobiwan]

Hey Guys,

As far as multiplayer goes chat to the guys here http://www.xbox-360.co.za/ .

360 multiplayer is lobby matching then peer to peer, so if you only play against South Africans the lag will be great. 360 net code is also apparently very good.

Slap's read the link (http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/35372/?spage=1), the PS3 is not more powerful than the 360, it's just FUD.

I guess the wireless is expensive but with it you'll be paying R4600, still R2000 less than a PS3, and you can get it now.

On the game front, look at the PS3 launch titles, only one generic shooter exclusive got a near decent review, the rest all sucked, big time and all the 3rd party games are suffering from frame rate issues. There's also issues with the HDMI and games are crashing.

On top of that, the PS3 only ships with composite cables which means you have to fork out another R400 for a component cable or R600 for HDMI if you want to play in High def. On Hi def, if your TV doesn't support 720p the PS3 automatically downscales to 480p even if (like mine) the TV still supports 1080i.

. . . And the Wii markets itself as "a new way to play" not as next gen. The expectation is that for a hardcore gamer such as yourself ;) it's seen as complimentary to something like the 360. www.Wii60.com

[RotoRouterZA]

Before i start, i have a Xbox360...

This weekend i played Gears Of War, and all i can say it AWESOME. I am yet to see pc graphics that good. Gameplay is excellent. I spend 5 hours saturday night playing coop via the internet with a guy finishing the first act. Bandwidth wise it hardly used any. Lag, the was none!! Gameplay excellent.

I play a lot of FIFA07 and am part of an international league. The netcode is excellent and i can play almost lag-free games against internationals.

By using Xbox Live, playing against friends and other people is a breeze. Literally start the game, got to the Xbox Live link and search, you will find a whole list of people to play against and then you just start a game. It is better to play SA people, because then you wont have any lag.

Yes, the wireless networking adaptor is expensive. You can import it cheaper though. But if that is the deciding factor for you, i really think you will be loosing out. The Xbox360 is more powerful than the PS3. To make a comparison, intel had high ghz and amd had lower ghz but more efficient processing and thus a better processor. If you look at the link Doobiwan gave you it explains exactly what i am talking about.

But, at the end of the day, it is your decision. I am totally satisfied and happy with my xbox and i wont be upgrading my pc any time soon, if ever!

[Stool]

i stumbled across this article just now that compares the ps3 to xbox360

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-348-1.htm

[doobiwan]

Nice one.

I got to play Gears yesterday and I have to agree with Roto, it's awesome. I reckon you'll get used to the basic controls in about 15 minutes of play. The chainsaw rules :D

Here's an interesting tit bit - Microsofts stock has been upgraded based on the PS3 launch! http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/20/microsoft-stock-upgraded-on-digital-entertainment/

[Ruslan74]

In regards to the X360...

You might also want to consider that having a game like Gears of War running on your PC will require hefty hardware which in the end will be out-of-date after 6 months and at a cost far superior than your X360.

I hardly touch my PC anymore to play, only RTS games get my attention once in a while when i am not playing on the X360. Its just more social and much easier to plug & play, specially when you are online. It simply puts Xfire to shame.

My 2 cents.

[doobiwan]

Well, considering Halo Wars and Command and Conquer 3 are coming to the 360 (And battle for middle earth is already out) You may soon be getting your RTS fix on the 360.

[Ruslan74]

If they promise that it may have mouse/keyboard support then the PC is dead for me. :p

[doobiwan]

Wish granted :D

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12316/Connect-a-Mouse-and-Keyboard-to-Your-Xbox-360/

[FeralBanana]

Haha.. that's what I was talking on the other thread :p

[Ruslan74]

oh well, to be honest my PC DID die last night... some form of HD or Windows XP failure... dang... at work now to try to sort it out... sigh... anybody have the Vista RTM release btw?

[TG]

Vista is supposed to be available to businesses on the 30th.
I'm assuming it means those that subscribe to the open license volumes etc.

[Ruslan74]

yeah, our company does... will hope for next week for us to get something... vanilla XP for now for email & internet then... sigh.

[SlappY]

K, found the comment I was looking for previously on Take 2:
--------------------------

There seems to be a lot of debate over the price of the PS3 vs. the Xbox 360 and which one is really the best console.

At this stage, since the PS3 has been delayed until March 07, we can't truly compare the consoles output (which is the entire point of having a console); so we need to compare them in a different way, price. We do, however, need to compare apples to apples. The PS3 Premium does come with a lot more built in, so let’s build the 360 Premium up to the same specifications.

The first thing that you notice with the Xbox is the 20GB HDD; a maximum size due to the OS limitations, the PS3 comes with 60GB (Windows vs. Linux?). So let’s buy 2 x 20GB HDDs to equal the PS3 (you'll probably need all this space just for your MP3 collection and vendor service downloads).

Next you'll notice that the Xbox doesn't come with WLAN as standard, but they do provide an accessory for this; the PS3 has it built in. So lets buy 1 X WLAN so we don't need to run a CAT5 cable to the router to use the vendor service.

So thus far we have bought 3 items to boost our Xbox 360 Premium up to the levels of the PS3 Premium. There are definitely more items that the Xbox doesn't have, like the multi-format memory card reader and of course the Blu-Ray disc reader. MS will be giving us the option to buy an HD-DVD reader later on, but the format is so yesterday they might as well not bother and at what cost, R1500.00?

So now let’s get on with comparing those apples (based on Take2 prices):

Sony Option -
1 x PS3 Premium @ R6399.00

MS Option -
1 x Xbox 360 Premium @ R3699.00
2 x 20GB HDD @ R920.00
1 x WLAN Adaptor @ R964.00


The Sony option cost R6399.00 while the MS option cost R6503.00 (without card reader and high capacity disc reader).

There are your apples!!!


------------------
Not my words.. but care to comment. He makes a good point.

[sss]

except the ps3 seems to be shit and the xbox seems to be dinner pudding and tea all rolled into one!

[Ruslan74]

lol... do you know why the PS3 has a larger HDD? So it can install the game files coz the Blu-Ray player is too slow to play games on it! This is true to what the PS3 execs keep saying that the PS3 is more of a computer than a console!

And to compare apples to apples, at least MS gives you a CHOICE in what you want with your console. Sony is simply shoving it into your lap in an arrogant manner. Its either their way or the highway.

And why the heck would the Xbox need a card reader in any case? :p

Typical PS3 fanboy that dude! ;)

[SlappY]

For me I think it is going to come down to the games, in which case the XBox has it. But Damm that Live story is el shito. I dont wanna for out 600 a year for another stoopid subscription.

[Ruslan74]

:huh:

you pay more for DSTV and its got nothing to show for it other than sport.

Come on, R50 per month. You spend more in parking slips! :p

[sss]

useless.. have a look at the downloadable hi def downloads and see if it lets you store them elsewhere than your internal HDD

[Ruslan74]

currently MS is looking into providing a 80 or 100 GB HDD as an add-on for the X360.

you can swap HDDs if you wish to keep one solely for the HD downloadable content.