Xbox (not 360) on-line gaming?

[spagmasterswift]

Well I was all set to part with ?300 for a Premium Xbox 360 package when I noticed a sign on the front of the Oblivion box - ?You must have a 60hz TV to play this game?! Well that?s me screwed so I?ve decided to go ?old school? and pick up the original Xbox now that its super cheap and has a large back cat to explore for the first time.

Anyyways, having never played on-line before I was wondering which games would be a good starting place and will there still be plenty of people to play against?

I?m a total Xbox NoObie so any advice would be much appreciated! Also do you think ?60 for a preowned console with controller is a good deal?

[EvilBoris]

You don't have a 60hz TV? You should get that sorted once and for all, 60hz only is something that is going to become only more common.

[spagmasterswift]

Yeah but if I'm gonna get a new telly then I'm gonna have to get an HD one - which aint cheap. Hmm, maybe I should focus on the TV for now and worry about a new console later. Sadly thats no fun

[EvilBoris]

Its more fun than you might expect

[spagmasterswift]

Really?

I guess its about time - had a portable TV (which was handed down to me from my sister) for years now. Well, got the laptop bought (hence why I'm on-line on a weekend) so maybe a trip to dixons next month is on the cards...

[EvilBoris]

I think you can get one of the 26inch samsung's from freemans.co.uk for ?480 due to some crazy first time order 20% discount

[spagmasterswift]

Cheers Evil B! Maybe in a couple of months then. Why does all this tech stuff have to cost so damn much?! >_<

[randombs]

hang on a sec, so you were about to splash out ?300 on an xbox 360 but are holding on to a telly that doesn't do 60hz?

you could easily get a 60hz-capable telly for cheap, won't be hd or anything, but you could just chuck out your old one and put the new one in it's place. it's all well and good playing xbox games but they're not too hot in 50hz either! my 14" telly was dirt cheap. doesn't do ntsc but does 60hz just fine (ntsc works through rgb though). i've had it for a few years now, bought it for ?40 from some guy in the loot, and it's going just fine.

as for online, it depends on what type of game you like. you'd get plenty of people on burnout revenge, say, but jack all on street fighter. the problem with online stuff is you'll get a lot of people on the new stuff, but after a while interest is lost. games like halo 2 still have a healthy online presence. outrun 2006 should have a few games going as it's new. i'm a bit sick of playing xbox games online now, as it's so difficult to find a game so i just give up

[fahrenheit]

99% of Xbox games are designed as 60Hz (100% of 360 games are designed as 60Hz). When you choose PAL50 on these consoles, you are forcing the hardware to convert these games to 50Hz and that conversion causes issues that have a negative impact on gameplay.

When you add Xbox Live into the mix, it compounds the issue even more.
Imagine yourself as having a handicap that puts you at a distinct disadvantage. Everyone on 60Hz is playing the game at the speed it was designed to be played, but you are running slower than them. If you face someone and you both have a full clip of ammo and they can empty that clip faster than you, who do you think will die first? Likewise for fighting games, no matter how good you are with your combos, you'll always be one step behind. You are Agent Smith and everyone else is Neo.

You are doing yourself a great disservice by running in 50Hz.

[spagmasterswift]

Point taken. Does that mean when I play games that I totally pwn in 50hz I'm gonna suck?

Anyways thanks for the feedback, new TV is now top of the list

[EvilBoris]

Point taken. Does that mean when I play games that I totally pwn in 50hz I'm gonna suck?

Quite possibly, some games can be so badly optimised that they run upto 17.5% slower. This can really throw off you timing until you get used to it again