July 3, 2010

Xbox 360 Arcade is an awesome game console for the poor gamer!

I own a Xbox 360 Arcade since December 2009. I loved every second of it when I play games on the Xbox Arcade. It has been a fun, easy to use, durable, inexpensive and entertaining game console for spending countless hours at home playing games or watching movies on my TV.

I loved doing quests and fighting pirates and monster in Fable 2 where I can choose to be good or evil.

Racing the Nissan Speedway Oval with a Fully customized Nissan Skyline in Forza 2 made me so a live since Forza 2 is so realistic and fun. I can't wait till I buy Forza 3 and for Forza 4 to come out.

The best part is the Xbox 360 Arcade now comes with 512 MB of built-in memory, so I don't have to buy expensive hard drives or Memory cards. Microsoft recently released a firmware update which lets you saves Game save, Xbox live marketplace games, your files and online content to a flash drive up to 16 GB, and you can plug in 2 flash drive at once which gives you a combined storage space of 32 GB.

But, I recommend getting a Microsoft Xbox 360 60GB drive if you have the cash since it is faster then USB flash drive, and less likely to get lost.

The Xbox 360 Arcade also has HD capabilities since newer Arcade models has an HDMI output plug which allows you to hook up your Xbox 360 with an HDMI cable to a HDTV with HDMI inputs.

The controller on the Xbox 360 is one of the best controllers. I ever used. It fits my hands very well. It's not too small or big which is perfect for my medium size hands. Plus, the arcade now comes with an wireless controller which is great since I no longer have to worry someone will trip over my console controller wire and drag my 360 to the floor. What I find cool about the Xbox 360 controller is the Center X button doubles as the pause key and ON key for the 360. Plus, it can also control the Opening and closing of the 360 DVD drive tray. I like that the controller uses 2 AA batteries instead of a strange battery type like some electronics like camcorder or digital cameras. I use Rechargeable Energizer AA batteries, but I'm thinking of getting a Play and charge kit since it seems more convenient. However, I don't really need Play and Charge or quick charge since my energizer batteries work pretty well since they last a few weeks before they need charging even with rumble/vibration on for my 360 controller.  But, they are nice to have if you hate charging batteries or you like the convenience of gaming non-stop without replacing batteries.

I mostly use my 360 to play games, but the media streaming and DVD playback capabilities are great. It only took me a few minutes to configure streaming in Xbox Media Center and Windows Media Center in Windows 7 Home Premium.

The video and sound quality for my Xbox 360 arcade is pretty good on my Sony CRT tube 27 inch TV using the standard Xbox 360 video and audio cables. But, I'm thinking of getting an S-video Xbox 360 cable to see if I can improve the video cables even more, or maybe a cheap HDTV and HDMI cable when I have the money. The noise of the Xbox 360 when the disc and fans are spinning is not very noticeable if your TV volume is at medium volume or if you have a pair of headphones connected to your TV.

I haven't really tried Xbox Live, but it is pretty fun competing to be the best player at a certain game online against other players in Forza 2.

There is also a large collection of cheaper awesome games for the 360 like Burnout Paradise, Project Gothlan Racing 4, Oblivion Elder Scroll, Halo 3, and so much more which you can get for about 20-30 dollars on Amazon or Ebay.

Xbox 360 also looking to be more promising with Kinect Motion Controller coming out soon...

The Xbox 360 arcade also does not run very hot thanks to the new and improve Jasper Chipset which uses less electricity and generates less heat compared to the previous Xbox 360 versions. I been using My 360 since December 2009 and it never froze or over heated, and I play my console for a few hours a day.
In Summary, the Xbox 360 Arcade is a great deal for people who are interested in Current Gen gaming, but are on a limited budget. I recommend getting a bundle pack since you will also be getting 2 games to play once your Xbox 360 arrived to your house if you buy it online. If you are on a very strict budget, then you can also buy the basic Arcade console for the 360 which cost $95.95 on Amazon

The Xbox 360 Arcade is now discontinued, and have been replace with the Xbox 360 4GB Slim with built-in wireless and 4GB of storage built-in. It runs cooler and a lot quieter then previous models. I recommend getting the newer slim model since it has more features for the same price as retail stores, and it is a great deal if you buy it with the Kinect motion sensing device that comes with one free game.

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