The Xbox 360 Thread Elite Edition

[eugimon]

Hmm, why not just swap the HD's on the two 360's, give your son the new HD, and keep the old one.

Also, how will Microsoft be handling repair/exchanges on the Halo 3 units? Considering it's a custom case made by them, it wouldn't be fair to ship owners a standard case, while someone else gets your custom ugly green & gold model.

hah. I know I would be pissed if I got back a unit that looked like a flock of geese flew over it.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I've been playing Bioshock off and on for a while now, but mostly off for whatever reason. I'm to the point in the Farmers Market where you collect some stuff. About how much more game is left?

If I remember right you are about 40% of the way through. There are something like 4 or 5 more levels after that one.

[Dante74]

My girlfriend just called to tell me there's a package waiting at home. Must be my 360, which is really fast cause I shipped it out less than two weeks ago. This means I can get EA's Skate in a couple of days and Halo 3 next week! WOOT!

[mikeszekely]

I am cross posting this to both the 360 and PS3 threads. Just a few questions about Dynasty Warriors Gundam.

1) When I played through as Amuro, I continued playing as him over and over again in order to get the 30 Pilot Level and the all skills achieved achirements. During the process, I maxed out the Gundam, Zeta, Mark II, and Char's Gelgoog. After doing that, I've gone through and played as Char and I almost have Kamille's missions beat (BTW this all being in Official Mode). When I started out with Char's Gelgoog while playing with Char, it looked like the Gelgoog was eqipped with all the accessories that I earned for it while playing as Amuro. Same for the Mark II and Zeta when I played with Kamille. So do items earned by other pilots carry over to the other characters?

2) No hide nor hair of Sayla Mass. Was this because of the death of her voice actress a few years ago in Japan? Didn't Bright Noa's VA (also the voice of Kaifun on Macross) die before this game was made, but yet he's in the game???

Props to Bandai here in the US for rehiring so many of the voice actors for many of the Gundam series. It was nice to have the actors from the TV series and Char's Counterattack now properly dub their characters (namely Char and Bright) for the Zeta portions of the game unlike what happened with the Zeta DVD release.

Answered in the PS3 thread.

Hmm, why not just swap the HD's on the two 360's, give your son the new HD, and keep the old one.

That makes sense. The Halo one comes with the 20GB HD, right?

[Dax415]

Hey guys, sorry to switch subjects but i was going to grab a 360 in anticipation of Halo 3. What I was wondering was what's your opinion on where I should buy a 360, costco (bundle) , target (premium edition plus I have a 10% off coupon good for one day) or a refurbished one at gamestop. Was also wondering what were must haves besides an additional controller and games of course......are the intercooler fans for the 360 really worth it? play and charge kit.....?

The guy at gamestop said microsoft had a design flaw in the fan system on the older 360 since they didn't anticipate long playing times. If he were to chance not buying an extended warranty he said to wait till the premium editions came out with the hdmi connection because of the new heat sink and motherboard. Was just wondering what everyones thoughts were since i heard the wireless headset was utter crap. If I buy it at target I was hoping there would be a sale on the system around the time the game comes in so I could swoop in on everything at once. Thanks

--Dax415

[JB0]

Hey guys, sorry to switch subjects but i was going to grab a 360 in anticipation of Halo 3. What I was wondering was what's your opinion on where I should buy a 360, costco (bundle) , target (premium edition plus I have a 10% off coupon good for one day) or a refurbished one at gamestop. Was also wondering what were must haves besides an additional controller and games of course......are the intercooler fans for the 360 really worth it? play and charge kit.....?

*expletive* the used decks. Don't even go NEAR them.

Seriously. The system's known for having reliability issues, you don't get a proper warranty, there's almost no price break, and GameStop can't even test a PS2 right(took my sister 3 tries to get one that actually worked).

You don't say what the Costco bundle is, but I doubt it's really much different than buying a 360 Premium and the game/accessories separately.

Get the Target one. 10% off is good.

The Intercooler is considered a VERY BAD THING. Aside from being connected to system-killing electrical shorts, it also stresses the system since it leeches from between the system and the power supply. As I understand things, the 360's voltage regulation is in the supply, not the console. Which makes leeching off it a bad thing.

Intercooler is so messed up MS actually made a press release saying "Don't buy this. It's crap." They said if you DO buy one, get a USB-powered one. Though they officially deem it unnecessary and note that any unlicensed peripherals void your warranty(though barring Intercooler-related scorch marks, they'll never be able to tell).

I don't see much need for the battery pack. I'm still on my first set of AAs. And there's not a good way to handle the charger unless you leave a big nasty cable hanging off your 360, which kinda defeats the purpose of wireless controllers.

The guy at gamestop said microsoft had a design flaw in the fan system on the older 360 since they didn't anticipate long playing times.

That's one excuse.

Most people think MS just screwed up big-time. The system's so crowded there's just no airflow over the main heatsink. It doesn't really matter how long you play.

If he were to chance not buying an extended warranty he said to wait till the premium editions came out with the hdmi connection because of the new heat sink and motherboard.

The new heatsink should be out now.

The new chipset is certainly worth waiting for at this point. But I was under the impression it was already hitting shelves.

Was just wondering what everyones thoughts were since i heard the wireless headset was utter crap. If I buy it at target I was hoping there would be a sale on the system around the time the game comes in so I could swoop in on everything at once. Thanks

Not likely to be a good sale.

Consoles rarely get marked down any appreciable degree below MSRP.

[Excillon]

So the intercooler sucks, how is the fanstand? I was thinking of getting one, when I get my 360 back.

[Keith]

From what little research I've done on such devices for any system, they seem to do far more longterm harm than they do short term good.

[Dante74]

Got a replacement 360 back last night. I suspect that MS gave me a completely new system. The little stickers covering the DVD drive and IR reciever were still attached, The fan is a lot more quiet that the one I shipped out and it has the Phillips DVD drive which supposedly doesn't scratch the disks and is also less noisy. I've also got a spare faceplate now cause I took mine off before shipping it and I got a new one on the replacement unit.

I'm a happy gamer for now, let's hope it lasts longer than my old one.

::EDIT:: Not only is the system more quiet, it also doesn't get as hot as the old one!

Edited September 20, 2007 by Dante74

[David Hingtgen]

****! Everyone gets a new, quieter system but me---the guy who really wants a quiet system and is willing to pay. Mine didn't even come with the new heatsink. I'm really starting to get pissed.

[mikeszekely]

****! Everyone gets a new, quieter system but me---the guy who really wants a quiet system and is willing to pay. Mine didn't even come with the new heatsink. I'm really starting to get pissed.

Cheer up, David, maybe you'll get the red rings again soon. If you send it back now, you should get the replacement in time for Ace Combat 6.

I don't see much need for the battery pack. I'm still on my first set of AAs. And there's not a good way to handle the charger unless you leave a big nasty cable hanging off your 360, which kinda defeats the purpose of wireless controllers.

Do you actually play with your 360? I went through two sets of batteries the first week I owned my 360, so I bought the Play and Charge kit, and by now it's undoubtedly paid for itself. As for the cable hanging off your system, if you really can't deal with a wired controller once in awhile when your system needs charged, do what I do: when your gaming session is over, plug it into a PC that's on. USB is USB.

My advice is to just buy the one at Target with the coupon. 10% is $35, no small discount. Costco's bundle probably sucks anyway, and the Play and Charge kit is the only accessory I'd recommend. The Premium really comes with everything else you need to get started. Save your money for more games. And I wouldn't worry too much about getting a newer chipset. Not only should they be in stores by now, as JB0 mentioned, but as long as you buy a new console, it's guaranteed for 3 years against the red rings of death. A pain in the ass, to be sure, but most people are reporting that Microsoft handles the whole thing pretty well, if a little slow now due to being backed up on repairs.

[eugimon]

you don't even need to plug the play/charge cable into a PC, just leave it on your xbox and turn the 360 off at the console, the play/charge will keep charging your controller. If you turn the 360 off via the controller, it won't charge. go figure.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I have one of those separate battery pack chargers and two batteries. When one croaks I put it in the charger and use the other one, then repeat the process. A battery charge lasts me about two to three weeks as I don't play for more than about 6 hours or so a week.

[Fort Max]

you don't even need to plug the play/charge cable into a PC, just leave it on your xbox and turn the 360 off at the console, the play/charge will keep charging your controller. If you turn the 360 off via the controller, it won't charge. go figure.

Eh? Mine keeps charging if I shut down the machine from the controller.

I've found the play and charge kit to be invaluable, I can't understand why anyone would want to fiddle around with batteries any more.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Fort Max

[mikeszekely]

you don't even need to plug the play/charge cable into a PC, just leave it on your xbox and turn the 360 off at the console, the play/charge will keep charging your controller. If you turn the 360 off via the controller, it won't charge. go figure.

Mine charges for awhile, then complete shuts down. And besides, I don't feel like making the system work if it doesn't have to, what with all those red rings going around. I do a lot of bittorrent, though, so I have one computer that's on 24/7.

[eugimon]

there's a new HD-DVD drive coming out for the 360, this one supports the new HDi feature set:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/20/xbox-36...-drive-in-2008/

Edited September 20, 2007 by eugimon

[David Hingtgen]

The separate battery charger is worth it if for no other reason than it's a ***** to try to get the batteries out of the battery case. I think that's MS's intention--make it so annoying to try to remove the batteries, that you buy their rechargable battery pack.

Also, I recharge mine every 2 days if I'm playing a lot. AA's add up pretty quickly at that rate. I only have the one pack, as I find no need for a second one---playing Oblivion I found that you can go for hours beyond when it starts flashing at you---you don't have to "stop at the next save point and recharge". You can finish out that entire evening's gaming and recharge it while sleeping.

[CoryHolmes]

The separate battery charger is worth it if for no other reason than it's a ***** to try to get the batteries out of the battery case. I think that's MS's intention--make it so annoying to try to remove the batteries, that you buy their rechargable battery pack.

At least I'm not the only one who has trouble with those batteries

Where on the box can you see which chipset it was made with? I want to know if the new sets have reached my stores yet.

[David Hingtgen]

None have it, so don't bother looking yet. AFAIK.

[TheLoneWolf]

So I'll be getting Halo 3 tomorrow from my job, but the store manager told me not to get online with it until the street date because MS will be able to track down which store the disc came from. Is this just him BS'ing me or is this real? I've heard of some CD's having unique serial numbers embedded onto them, but it's an expensive process and I seriously doubt MS would spend this much money just to keep a few people from hopping online early with the game.

I remember that Crackdown had a serial on it for the H3 beta, but was it actually a serial number or just an executable on the first batch of discs that allowed it to download the beta?

[sabretooth]

i got 3 of them sitting on my living room table, i don't even have a 360, but i got lucky at work teehee....

and yes they will track you... or so they say

[yellowlightman]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/microsoft/microso...lo-3-301615.php

[Dax415]

My advice is to just buy the one at Target with the coupon. 10% is $35, no small discount. Costco's bundle probably sucks anyway, and the Play and Charge kit is the only accessory I'd recommend. The Premium really comes with everything else you need to get started. Save your money for more games. And I wouldn't worry too much about getting a newer chipset. Not only should they be in stores by now, as JB0 mentioned, but as long as you buy a new console, it's guaranteed for 3 years against the red rings of death. A pain in the ass, to be sure, but most people are reporting that Microsoft handles the whole thing pretty well, if a little slow now due to being backed up on repairs.

Is the 3 years warranty now a standard warranty or do i need to buy the 3 year extended warranty offered through target? Looks like i'll be swooping in on a 360 premium, play and charge kit, and extra controller at target. I only considered costco because of their return policy since the 360 is not counted as a tv, camera, or computer yet. Thanks again for the help.

dax

[Uxi]

I think the Play & Charge was one of the better buys, though in comparison to the PS3 and it's mini-USB cable, the 360 charge & play kit seems like a rip. They could've at least included one....

[David Hingtgen]

The 3-year warranty only applies to the overheat 3-red-rings failure. But it is standard with every 360, even retroactive to launch-day ones. Everything else (drive issues, power supply, misc weird stuff) is still just under the 1-year warranty. (Which is itself an extension---it launched with a 90-day warranty).

[yellowlightman]

New video doc up on Live about the video replay and Forge features. Both look awesome, but Forge is going to really increase the longevity of the multiplayer. Four more days!

Edit: Talking about Halo 3, obviously.

Edited September 21, 2007 by yellowlightman

[TheLoneWolf]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/microsoft/microso...lo-3-301615.php

Thanks for the link, that's what I thought.

[Apollo Leader]

The Gamestop I'm getting my Halo 3 at is opening their doors back up for business at 11:00 on Monday night and are going to be processing as many people's orders as they can so that when midnight rolls around, all they have to do is start handing the game out. The store I'm getting mine at has 300 preorders and they're expecting about half of those to show up for the midnight release. This will be the first time in 7 years (the PS2 release) that I will be getting a game or system at a midnight launch. Swore I was done with such wackiness.

As for DW Gundam, looks like I just need to beat Official mode as one more person (Haman). Hopefully I can get most of this game beat before next Monday night.

[Chowser]

The Gamestop I'm getting my Halo 3 at is opening their doors back up for business at 11:00 on Monday night and are going to be processing as many people's orders as they can so that when midnight rolls around, all they have to do is start handing the game out. The store I'm getting mine at has 300 preorders and they're expecting about half of those to show up for the midnight release. This will be the first time in 7 years (the PS2 release) that I will be getting a game or system at a midnight launch. Swore I was done with such wackiness.

As for DW Gundam, looks like I just need to beat Official mode as one more person (Haman). Hopefully I can get most of this game beat before next Monday night.

haha, i said i was done doing that also, but I get off work at 10:30 on Monday, I'll head over to GS after work and pick up my copy. I've already traded in enough to pay off the Legendary Edition. I was going to pick up another copy for my son, but my brother just bought a new TV and got a free 360 Premium and free Halo 3, so he's giving us his copy of Halo 3 since he doesn't play Halo.

[Apollo Leader]

haha, i said i was done doing that also, but I get off work at 10:30 on Monday, I'll head over to GS after work and pick up my copy. I've already traded in enough to pay off the Legendary Edition. I was going to pick up another copy for my son, but my brother just bought a new TV and got a free 360 Premium and free Halo 3, so he's giving us his copy of Halo 3 since he doesn't play Halo.

I was going to trade in my PS2 Guitar Hero I this evening for about $38 in store credit (game and guitar together) to pay for most of the remainder on my Legendary Edition. When I brought into work this morning for safe keeping, my boss expressed a strong interest in it so I sold it to her for $40. Gotta figure out what else to maybe trade in while Gamestop's still offering all these trade in specials.

[mikeszekely]

As for DW Gundam, looks like I just need to beat Official mode as one more person (Haman). Hopefully I can get most of this game beat before next Monday night.

Don't count on it. Have you started Original mode yet? I have one mission left for Jerid, then I have to beat it with Roux and Puru Two, and then I'll have finished both Official and Original with everyone. And as of now, I have just over 51 hours in.

[Apollo Leader]

Don't count on it. Have you started Original mode yet? I have one mission left for Jerid, then I have to beat it with Roux and Puru Two, and then I'll have finished both Official and Original with everyone. And as of now, I have just over 51 hours in.

I've gotten in like 34 hours myself. I went the opposite direction then you did and worked on getting Amuro up to level 30 and then spending the time getting all of the skills for him. It about drove me nuts playing Amuro's missions over and over again.

[Chowser]

None have it, so don't bother looking yet. AFAIK.

My GS Manager just got back from a Microsoft conference, there are no Falcon boards out yet.

Oh, DH, good thing we didn't do the trade. My son just called me and said the replacement 360 RROD.

[David Hingtgen]

Man, a refurb dying that soon? Or was it in fact brand new? (would be surprised if refurbed-but-new-drives were in the chain yet)

[Chowser]

I believe it was new, it looked new. Unless they were relabeling refurbs with a new manufacture date or sticking them in new cases. I will check it to see what team built it when my son gets back home with the unit. That might make it more clear when it was built.

It was made 08/15/07. My Halo edition was made 08/06/07. That scares me now. But after speaking with my son this morning (the unit still will not power up), I am wondering if it was heat related as usual. He says he and his ex-step-father were playing for over 6 hours and the room was hot (dummies didn't turn on the a/c because it was 70 degrees outside) when the system RRODed. He immediately turned it off and it was hot to the touch. I'll look at it some more when he gets it home.