xbox 360 - should I just go for it?

[stainboy]

Just recently I've warmed to the xbox360, the only disc release I'd be after buying at the moment is Oblivion, what I'm really excited about is all the Live stuff. I love the idea of being able to see when your friends were on and what they were playing. I love the idea of playing the arcade games online, all the new demos you can download. That's what feels next-gen to me, not the graphics of the games.

So I keep looking at deals, wondering whether to just whack it on a credit card to shut myself up or if I'm being stupid and should I bide my time and play the games I do have and wait till I can pay proper cash for it?

I don't know what to do!

[Kron]

You might as well had wait a couple of months if you're only interested in a single game, When the Wii and PS3 are released the system will have a price cut anyway.

[stainboy]

This is the logical decision but I just want it now and it could tide me over till the Wii comes out.

[Spatial]

Sounds like you've got console-fever to me.

My diagnosis: take one massive dose of Xbox 360 followed by a prolonged course of games*

*warning:- side effects may include broken wallet and upset bank manager.

[Geezer]

A bundle following in the footsteps of the Canadian one is more likely:

This, which is the same price as this

[MetalJoe]

Well it obviously depends on your financial situation but I would just go for it if I was you. I did the same thing a few weeks ago and I?ve not regretted it. Lots of plus points for me? the live implementation is great, lots of HD gaming goodness, custom soundtrack/mp3 streaming options and some comfy wireless controllers. Oh and some of the games aren?t bad either. :P

In fact, I haven?t touched any of my other consoles since I got my 360. The lure of Dead Rising, Oblivion and Battlefield MC (which is brilliant fun multiplayer) is just too much!

[supersmithy]

Yeah, go for it man, impulse buys are always great - especially when they turn out not to be **** - which the 360 so isn't!

[stainboy]

Oh man, I get console fever a lot but never let myself cure it. I'm excited about the new generation though ever since I got my DS, I don't want to miss anything this time around.

Though I am meant to saving money before I go to uni for another go as a mature student next year. Thing is I've tried the "I won't have any fun and I'll just earn money!" thing before and it doesn't work. I don't spend on much else though, I don't go out drinkin' and the like. Games are my escape man.

Yeah I'm a whiney child I know but I don't regret my DS spendathon so I'm hoping it'd be the same with this.

[SuperDanX]

I tell you something since i joined ntsc-uk around a year and half ago, ive bought every piece of new hardware released in that timeframe. Psp,ds,micro and xbox 360. I think that tells its own story.

[stainboy]

Yeah, it's like hanging out with your junkie friends - you're never going to get clean that way.

[oblivion_6]

Im smelling a great idea for a business that rents out consoles to let you "try before you buy" something like a tenner a week or something like that

Then if you like it you buy it

hmmm to the batcave!!!!!!!!!!

[sj33]

If you can connect your machine to the internet (50% of the point of the console IMO, even if your not interested now you will be), go for it. It won't get cheaper for ages, and there's plenty of stuff on the marketplace as well as the retail stuff.

Get a Premium though. Once you use the marketplace, you'll only buy a HDD anyway.

[Concept]

Yeah, it's like hanging out with your junkie friends - you're never going to get clean that way.

Take Kron's advise on this one. Wait until the PS3 launch as its likely MS will cut the 360 (probably not by much, mind) just before. Pick up Gears of War new, Oblivion, Ghost Recon, Condemned (most underrated game this year, imo) and Dead Rising on the cheap second-hand... then enjoy.

I can't speak highly of Live enough, even though I'm not a multiplayer gamer. It really is as good as what everyone says. Easy to use, superbly presented, chock full of demos, trailers, film videos, menu skins, themes, arcade games to download, game specific downloads for stuff like PGR3, Oblivion, Dead Rising etc. and all sorts of other things. If you don't feel like online gaming you can spectate and watch other people (for example, a really cool thing in PGR3 is to watch the best racers in the world via Gotham TV and then jump into their car and look around while they're driving independently of their action ).

As for Oblivion... it will suck you in, and it is (in my opinion) the best RPG since FFVII.

[stainboy]

If you can connect your machine to the internet (50% of the point of the console IMO, even if your not interested now you will be), go for it.

Oh definitely 8) it's the online part I'm interested in. The arcade, the demos, the online play. I used to love demos from back in the C64 days, it's only this gen that I've missed out on them. Online play, well I don't like PC gaming as a whole I'd much rather sit at a console and I've been frustrated with getting my DS online, the system is annoying with it's seperate code for each game and my DS doesn't always want to find my router. The 360 seems a lot more stable there.

Take Kron's advise on this one. Wait until the PS3 launch as its likely MS will cut the 360 (probably not by much, mind) just before. Pick up Gears of War new, Oblivion, Ghost Recon, Condemned (most underrated game this year, imo) and Dead Rising on the cheap second-hand... then enjoy.

See, by then I'll have the Wii and to get both at the same time feels like game overload to me which I suppose could be a good thing cos I'd be more willing to wait even longer for a 360 price drop. I feel like I want a big shiney new console now before anything else comes out. It's stilly really cos I could just play anything I didn't get round to on the cube. I just have the new console fever.

[sj33]

I'd personally be a bit suprised if we see a 360 price drop any time soon, the current price is very competitive, especially when compared to the PS3.