XBOX help needed

sjpkgp

Hello everyone,

I'll apologise in advance as I am a mum of a twelve year old who wants to spend his christmas money on an XBOX. We have been looking at them and I have become very confused as to what he needs. He says he needs (!!) to play call of duty and burn out paradise. Argos seem to have a good deal on the Xbox 360 new arcade system for £119 where you get 3 free games retailing at £40 each (the console alone seems to cost £109 at GAME) but I note that it has no memory (well 256mg) but has a wireless controller. I think he will need to save where he is up to with a game (like the PS2) - so you can buy a memory pack of 60gb for about £50 (surely 256mb is nothing or can you actually play for a while with this?). Alternately there is the Xbox elite at £179, which comes with 120gig. There are various offers on a "accessory pack" with this, which seems to me to be a remote control and some sort of battery pack. There is also 3 year insurance for £25, and I have heard the Xbox is a bit sensitive when it comes to faults, and he is careless (and has 3 younger siblings).

I really don't know what he needs. We have a n router in the house, although wireless is a bit hit and miss (very thick walls,on seafront).

I have searched but most of the posts are about connectivity, not about not knowing what we need for starters. Very grateful for help. Thanks, sal xx

Oneday77

The x-box wireless is an extra adaptor for starters.
The elite would be better but you also need to consider whether you 12year old should be playing 15-18 games. They get more and more gory with each release. I am all for parents making the decision based on their own kids, just make sure your aware of what he wants to play.
The newer 360s are better built inside now so working wise should be a lot better, again the £25 is your choice, if things get broken in your house then probbably worth it.

sjpkgp

Thanks oneday77 - yes, I had not looked at the ratings for the games and will check them. Definitely think we will go for the insurance - they collectively tend to break everything. Son has looked on various independent insurance websites (bless) and £25 for 3 years doesn't seem too bad, although annoyingly, the first year is free anyway (other websites are offering £1.99 a month etc.). The arcade console offers "This console comes complete with 256MB of memory to save your games, a wireless controller and family settings for extra child security." - I am thinking this must be the wireless adapter you talk about. Glad to hear they are better built these days too - it needs it in our house. He is still thinking of going for the arcade memory version (in the hope that memory will come down in price) Thank you, sal xx

b33r

Also need to consider with the xbox to play online you will need to pay xbox live subs which varies from £25-35 per year depending where you get it.

TBH I don't know why microsoft bother with the arcade, you really can't utilise it fully without a hard drive. You will need it for downloadable expansions, downloaded videos, updates and also installing games (that really cuts down the console noise and reduces wear on the drive)

I personally wouldn't bother with insurance, your household cover will cover it for accidental damage and Microsoft will repair it for free for the first 3 years for the most common problems (rrod and E64)

GeoffX

The current Call of Duty game is 18 rated and I think all of the previous ones are 15 rated, so it would actually be illegal for a shop to sell your son one of the series...

b33r

sjpkgp wrote: »

I am thinking this must be the wireless adapter you talk about.

No that will be the controller, Oneday77 was referring to the xbox wireless network access for going online, that is a seperate optional extra. You can just use an RJ45 network cable and plug directly in to your router though.

b33r

GeoffX wrote: »

The current Call of Duty game is 18 rated and I think all of the previous ones are 15 rated, so it would actually be illegal for a shop to sell your son one of the series...

Incorrect, because of a legal blunder, see this.

Morally it is a different matter and I doubt the OP wants the thread to turn in to a moral debate. I will say that I have played 'violent' games from around 11 and consider myself fine. I think anyone that re-creates something violent they see in a video game has mental problems such that they could probably have been set off by anything, blaming violent video games is an easy excuse for poor parenting.

Marty_J

b33r wrote: »

TBH I don't know why microsoft bother with the arcade, you really can't utilise it fully without a hard drive. You will need it for downloadable expansions, downloaded videos, updates and also installing games (that really cuts down the console noise and reduces wear on the drive)

My daughter has an Xbox 360 Arcade. She uses it for, surprise surprise, playing games.

b33r

Marty_J wrote: »

My daughter has an Xbox 360 Arcade. She uses it for, surprise surprise, playing games.

Well she is missing out on the many advantages that the hard drive brings. I would honestly say the main one being able to hear something other than the xbox dvd drive whilst playing a game. Obviously doesn't apply to arcade games but oh wait you can't even get them without a hard drive.

Eliminator-Rapidfire wrote: »

If your son wants to play the call of duty games, he will already know about modded xbox 360 wirless pads. called rapidfire.

Yeh and if the son has any values he will realise how pointless cheating is, I mean seriously, what's the point?! Wow you can beat someone who is playing fairly, woopdy freaking doo!

pitkin2020

i have to say having a 360 without a HDD and one with, you cant really do without it, you could buy an arcade and pick up a used hdd from ebay, but the elite is at such a good price lately its well worth spending the extra to get the elite. The extra pack you talk about for remote and rechargable battery pack i would skip, the remote is ok if you are going to watch DVDs constntly using the xbox, but it doesn't do anything more than then the standard controller, as for the battery pack its ok but they do wear out, i found it much better to use rechargable AA batteries, (already have a charger)

Post #7 - they may not be able to prosecute you but no retailer will sell an 18 to an under 18!! Something to bear in mind if you allow your child to play modern warfare 2 online expect the use of bad language as every deliquent child around the world has been allowed to play this game it seems and you wont get into a lobby without some little brat screaming and swearing

Marty_J

b33r wrote: »

Well she is missing out on the many advantages that the hard drive brings. I would honestly say the main one being able to hear something other than the xbox dvd drive whilst playing a game. Obviously doesn't apply to arcade games but oh wait you can't even get them without a hard drive.

She's not missing out on a single thing. She wants it for just for playing games on, and that's exactly what she does with it.