Xbox 360 Questions (Dummies Guide)

pfpf

i thought after all the recent doom and gloom, and following on from a crappy summer it was time to prepare for the dark cold winter. what better way than a bit of gaming?

Xbox360 v PS3 aside i have a few questions if anyone can help?

i have been a keen gamer for many a year but have got out of gaming in the last year or two due to various things. i have never been into consoles, PS1 excepted, its been computers from the Amstrad CPC464 through to PC's and everything in between.

so here goes.

1. why is it better to have a HD version of the 360 and not the arcade?

2. is it simply a matter of connecting HDMI to HDMI and thats it, HD quality?

3. i only have 1 HDMI socket on my TV, can i use a splitter box thingy?

4. how easy to connect to the net? i have a router currently connecting 2 PC's with spare sockets on the back (i dont do wireless). is it just another wire from router to 360? i dont understand all this port stuff, would i have to tell the router anything?

5. whats all this "live / points" stuff? i see things like "gold membership - £xx.xx per year" but then see things like "2100 points £xx.xx" whats the difference between membership and points? which do i need to play online gaming? (is there silver and bronze?)

6. wired or wireless handsets? what do 360's come with?


thats all i can think of just now.

any help or other tips/advice would be greatfully received.

pfpf.

Conor_3

1) Because you can download content, you need somewhere to stick patches and downloaded maps and you don't have to fanny around with memory cards.
2) Yes or using component cables.
3) I think they're crap - just like I think SCART splitters are crap too.
4) Yes, just another wire. Don't need to tell the router anything.
5) Membership allows you to play online. Points are used to buy things like maps, artwork, games.
6) Wireless. You'll want rechargeable batteries though or buy a charge'n'play kit.

azzaelectro

Hi,

I have a Xbox 360 and I think it's great, however if your choosing between a 360 and PS3 there are a few things to consider.

The 360 this Dec would have been out for 4 years as opposed to a year and a half on the PS3…so there’s more cheaper 360 games up for grabs on eBay etc Also the 360 console is a lot cheaper, I think you can pick up a 360 now for about £150 where a PS3 goes for at least £279/£299 however you do have the advantage of a Blu Ray player with the PS3 which in a few years time will take over the DVD player.

With the xbox 360 It's really easy to use...to connect to the internet, just plug the network cable you get with the xbox, from the 360 to your router...it's as easy as that. You get a free 1 months free gold card as well to "try out" mutiplayer mode on your games....you will not be disapointed!

AzzA

Crazy_Jamie

Apologies to Connor if I repeat what he's said. I'm just going to flesh things out a little bit.

pfpf wrote: »

1. why is it better to have a HD version of the 360 and not the arcade?

You can download a variety of items from Xbox Live even if you don't have a gold membership (I will distinguish between the memberships in a minute). Some the these files are very small, such as Gamer Pictures and Themes, but others (such as game demos) are larger files. A hard drive will allow you to download these larger files and store them, which is very convenient. Obviously it depends somewhat on how much you will be using Xbox Live, but I would recommend getting one with a hard drive regardless. It means that you'll never run out of space for things like arcade games and saved games. Even leaving demos aside it is just much more convenient.

2. is it simply a matter of connecting HDMI to HDMI and thats it, HD quality?

Yes indeed, it is that simple. As Connor said you can use component cables as an alternative, and you could also use a VGA connection if you are so inclined. HDMI is better though.

3. i only have 1 HDMI socket on my TV, can i use a splitter box thingy?

Yes, but I tend to agree with Connor that splitter boxes can often be of very questionable quality. Personally I don't use them.

4. how easy to connect to the net? i have a router currently connecting 2 PC's with spare sockets on the back (i dont do wireless). is it just another wire from router to 360? i dont understand all this port stuff, would i have to tell the router anything?

You would just need to connect an ethernet cable from the back of your Xbox 360 into a spare port on your router. It's that simple.

5. whats all this "live / points" stuff? i see things like "gold membership - £xx.xx per year" but then see things like "2100 points £xx.xx" whats the difference between membership and points? which do i need to play online gaming? (is there silver and bronze?)

Right. There are two types of membership- Gold and Silver. Silver memberships are free, and allow you to download content from the Xbox Live Marketplace. You can play some games online with a Silver account (such as Shadowrun), but on the whole you cannot play games. If you want to play games you will need a Gold account, which is £39.99 a month directly through Microsoft, but you can get it much cheaper if you hunt around (for example, click here).

'Points' are the currency that you use to purchase items from the Xbox Live Marketplace. You have to purchase the points in advance to put on your account, and from there the points are deducted every time you purchase something that isn't free (for example, expansion packs or arcade games). Once again you can get these points direct through Microsoft, but once again they are cheaper elsewhere (use that link above).

6. wired or wireless handsets? what do 360's come with?

They come with a wireless controller. If you want extra controllers it's up to you which you use. Personally I mostly use wired controllers, though I have two of each.

any help or other tips/advice would be greatfully received.

pfpf.

If you let us know what kind of games you're interested in and what type of console you want we can hunt around for the best deal for you.

The 360 this Dec would have been out for 4 years

3 years. It launched in December 2005.

pfpf

great info, thanks alot.

just one thing. Jamie, are you saying for Gold membership, MS charge £39.99 PER MONTH? yet you can get a 12 month sub for £23.99?

how do MS get that price and who the hell pays it?

thanks once more, i think i'll have myself a 360 but maybe not just yet as the brakes on my car seem to have failed today and its in for repair tomorrow

bingo_bango

It's actually £39.99 for 12 months, but still a bit of a ripoff for those who choose to use MS rather than a 3rd party.

Crazy_Jamie

pfpf wrote: »

great info, thanks alot.

just one thing. Jamie, are you saying for Gold membership, MS charge £39.99 PER MONTH? yet you can get a 12 month sub for £23.99?

how do MS get that price and who the hell pays it?

thanks once more, i think i'll have myself a 360 but maybe not just yet as the brakes on my car seem to have failed today and its in for repair tomorrow

As bingo confirmed, the £39.99 charge is annual. Essentially you can either choose to set up what is essentially a direct debit with Microsoft (it will automatically renew and debit your account every 12 months), or you can buy the cards and input the codes (which means at the end of the 12 months you just buy a new card and input a new code). Obviously the latter involves a little bit more legwork, but the saving is well worth it.

MissPop

I think the 12 month memberships are available from certain game shops for around £35 per year. I've just done a quick search on eBay, and I've seen dozens of 12 month (sometimes there's an extra month in there too) for around £25. Although do be careful when buying codes off eBay - I bought 10 48 hour codes for £1 and they are fine, but sometimes people sell 15 48 hour codes as "One month subscription". It's a right ballache having to type in the whole code every two days, especially if you don't have the messenger keypad

Protocol45

Microsoft are now doing a deal where you can get cheap HD's off them or a free 512mb memory card.


Link

I'm paying £5 a month I think for my live subscription.
The points thing confused me at first. When I first got it, I thought when you get points in game for completing levels etc, I thought that could be used to buy things. Nope. You have to pay for it.
I have my Xbox hooked up to a VGA splitter to use with my PC on its 21" widescreen in HD. I cant afford a 40" LCD like these rich people :P

Crazy_Jamie

Protocol45 wrote: »

When I first got it, I thought when you get points in game for completing levels etc, I thought that could be used to buy things. Nope. You have to pay for it.

What you're referring to is gamerscore, which increases as you unlock 'achievements' in various games. Unfortunately your gamerscore is just for show and serves no practical purpose other than bragging rights to friends and such. Shame. If it had a practical purpose I'd be quids in by now :rolleyes:

MissPop

Just to add to what Protocol said about the memory units: these offers only apply to Arcade or Core owners - people with Pro or Elite 360s won't get the offer, IIRC. 360Fanboy gave a brief overview of the process and it seems you have to enter your serial number, and apparently the system will "know" which system you have, so there's no tricking it to get a second, cheap HD

Memory units are also available dirt cheap on eBay - less than a fiver.