Xbox 360???

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I'm planning on buying an Xbox for my son's 12th birthday, and I'm totally confused.

I've budgeted about $350 total, but obviously I also need to buy at least one game with that.

How important is 250GB vs. 4 GB?

How important is Kinect?

How good is a "refurbished console"?

What is "elite"

What else should I be considering extra controllers?

Thanks!

 

[Scurvy]

250g vs 4g - It depends on the games he'll be playing, but I would not recommend the 4g. Some people will say that only hardcore gamers need that much space, but these days there is more and more additional content for games that isn't included on the initial disk. The music games have new songs available every week, the shooters have new maps occasionally, RPGs have new quests and levels . . . and those can add up quickly. Plus there are entire games that are only available as downloads, and movies and TV shows. I don't know anyone who regrets spending the money to get the larger hard drive, and I do know people who regret not getting the larger one.

Kinect - At this point, it isn't all that important. It is a neat idea and there are some cute games for it, but it isn't so integrated into the other 360 games that you'll be sorry you don't have it. Most games don't have any Kinect functionality yet, and though you can use it with the dashboard you don't have to.

Refurbished vs new - I would not buy a refurbished 360. The 360 has had lots of problems over the years (although neither of ours have had any problems). The newer consoles supposedly don't have those problems. Even with the older consoles that did have the problems, Microsoft was very good about repairing/replacing them. It's worth the price difference to me to have the warranty and customer service that comes with the new console.

Elite - There used to be the Arcade, Pro and Elite XBox 360 consoles. At one point, the Elite had the largest hard drive at 120g.

Other things you should consider - What games will he be playing? Will he be playing online multiplayer games? If so, he will need an XBox Live membership and if you don't have one, you'll need a wireless router.

 

[Darth Boeder]

How important is 250GB vs. 4 GB? I would get the 250. It can hold more of the downloadable content and he can also store games on it as well for a quicker load.
How important is Kinect? Kinect is not important. I would save it for a later gift or have him save money for it.

How good is a "refurbished console"? refurbished is okay. Just remember they usually do not come with a warranty. I would just buy a new one. But if you are on a budget it should work

What is "elite" the elite has the larger hard drive

What else should I be considering extra controllers? You might want to consder getting a wireless controler that has the rechargable batteries and maybe one extra controler. XBOX Live membership, wireless headset, if he is going to play on line you might need to get a wireless router. I would go to a Game Stop or BB and ask them what would work for your situation

 

[Hannathy]

I have a DS 12 and this is what he has

Xbox 360 250GB He will want this one.

He will want the on line membership about $50 a year.

Games that are big with that age are Halo Reach and COD.
He also plays the other Halo Games, and Star Wars . He and a few of his classmates regularly play on line with each other, it is so funny to hear them talking to each other, they are usually playing halo Reach.

I wouldn't bother with Kinect for a boy that age. We have one because my sister got us one for Christmas and she won't take things back but he really didn't want it and has only played a couple of times with it.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

If I don't get him the Kinect, can I add that on later, as a Christmas gift or something?

 

[Darth Boeder]

If I don't get him the Kinect, can I add that on later, as a Christmas gift or something?

Kinect is seperate. Ours is still sitting in a box from christmas. We use our wii and playstation moves more. We do more gaming on the Xbox!

 

[Scurvy]

If I don't get him the Kinect, can I add that on later, as a Christmas gift or something?

Yes, it's just an add-on to the console that you can get at any time, sort of like the instruments for all the music games. When you get it you just plug it in to the console and you can use it. It isn't anything you'd have to install like a hard drive.

 

[shortbun]

My son says the 4G is worthless to he and his friends. Find out what games your son's friends like to play. Those are the games he will want. You can not take this info from anyone else because each group has different preferences and some kids play different games alone-not online. My son and his friends play Call of Duty but the key is which Call of Duty...there are more than five and every group of gamers has their favorite. Due to overheat problems, make sure you get a console with a cooler or buy a seperate cooler. This is really important. You need at least two controllers and wireless is important. Kinect is not important right now and you need lots of space for Kinect to be fun anyway. "Elite" is a term used for the older consoles and the newer ones have the cooler built in. Online play requires an annual membership, $60 and either the "Elite" from the past Xboxes or the new Xbox that has wireless built in. We ended up getting a 'good' headset for onlline as well so I couldn't hear everything all the players were saying. Some of the young men had some salty talk going on and after I yelled 'watch the language!" a few times, the boys told my son to get a headset, lol!!! DS says you need to go to Gamestop and talk to those guys. I have found the local Gamestop employees to be wonderful and I'm a grandma looking woman. They take me under their wing and make sure my son gets what he needs. Go there. They are good folks who want repeat business so they really work to help. Go when there are fewer customers-school is in session so they have time to talk to you.

 

[chabs]

I have a DS 12 and this is what he has

Xbox 360 250GB He will want this one.

He will want the on line membership about $50 a year.

Games that are big with that age are Halo Reach and COD.
He also plays the other Halo Games, and Star Wars . He and a few of his classmates regularly play on line with each other, it is so funny to hear them talking to each other, they are usually playing halo Reach.

I wouldn't bother with Kinect for a boy that age. We have one because my sister got us one for Christmas and she won't take things back but he really didn't want it and has only played a couple of times with it.

I totally agree with all of this. Don't buy used-get the 250 (I bought the 4GB for my DS14 this past Christmas and ended up shelling out $100 for the bigger hard drive), get Halo Reach and the online gaming card Xbox gold (which is currently $40 at Amazon) and you should be all set. If you have money left after all of that, you could pick up some of the points cards, which are like Itunes cards-he can buy Halo map packs or rent movies, etc. Oh-and you will need a headset for the online gaming (wired about $20, wireless about $50).

And then don't expect to see your son for a long time!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Can he only use it online? I'm not sure how I feel about that. Can't he play by himself?

Also, I'm not buying "M" games like Halo for a 12 year old. He plays them at other people's houses, and I'm fine with that, but I'm not fine with hours of play alone after school. He knows that, and says that there are plenty of T games that he would be happy with.

 

[Scurvy]

Can he only use it online? I'm not sure how I feel about that. Can't he play by himself?

Also, I'm not buying "M" games like Halo for a 12 year old. He plays them at other people's houses, and I'm fine with that, but I'm not fine with hours of play alone after school. He knows that, and says that there are plenty of T games that he would be happy with.

No, he doesn't have to play online. (And frankly, if he's a fairly new gamer I'd suggest not going online at first even if he will eventually, because it's easier to get used to all of it in single player mode without people yelling at you! ) All the major games have single player mode as well, plus most multiplayer games have local multiplayer so you can play with other friends in the same room without going online. You can get lots of use out of an XBox 360 without ever playing online - though to get any downloadable content (including any updates to fix any glitches in the games) you'd need to be able to get the console online occasionally just to download those things. I play quite a bit and almost never play anything online, though I do download lots of additional content.

ETA - If at some point you do let him play online, there are parental controls and you can actually set it so he can only interact with his friends and no strangers if that's something you're concerned about.

 

[shortbun]

My son has Halo but he never plays. They don't like it. I don't know why. I might be because none of them have enough time to play that they can get good at it. They are in school and playing sports so play time is naturally limited. They like Call of Duty and sports games. My son is 15 and he's been playing M since he was 12. At that age, his friends had been playing M for a year or two; I talked to the parents before I agreed. I also had him rent games prior to buying them so I could watch and decide. At first, I would not allow Grand Theft Auto and Saint's Row. I have now permitted certain editions of GTA but Saint's Row is still not allowed in this house-I find it offensive. It's kind of like R movies, some are barely R and some are VERY R. kwim? Call of Duty doesn't have the morally corupt people-prostitues, pimps and drug dealers in it. Neither does HALO. Anyway, good luck. He'll be desperately wanting online play almost immediately, I assure you unless he has friend over very regularly to play with. Most of these games are now made to be more fun online.

 

[jen0610]

My son says the 4G is worthless to he and his friends. Find out what games your son's friends like to play. Those are the games he will want. You can not take this info from anyone else because each group has different preferences and some kids play different games alone-not online. My son and his friends play Call of Duty but the key is which Call of Duty...there are more than five and every group of gamers has their favorite. Due to overheat problems, make sure you get a console with a cooler or buy a seperate cooler. This is really important. You need at least two controllers and wireless is important. Kinect is not important right now and you need lots of space for Kinect to be fun anyway. "Elite" is a term used for the older consoles and the newer ones have the cooler built in. Online play requires an annual membership, $60 and either the "Elite" from the past Xboxes or the new Xbox that has wireless built in. We ended up getting a 'good' headset for onlline as well so I couldn't hear everything all the players were saying. Some of the young men had some salty talk going on and after I yelled 'watch the language!" a few times, the boys told my son to get a headset, lol!!! DS says you need to go to Gamestop and talk to those guys. I have found the local Gamestop employees to be wonderful and I'm a grandma looking woman. They take me under their wing and make sure my son gets what he needs. Go there. They are good folks who want repeat business so they really work to help. Go when there are fewer customers-school is in session so they have time to talk to you.

Not only are the guys and gals at GameStop great with info, they also have a rewards program that you can sign up for. They have both the free option and the opton that is 14.99 for a year.

All 3 of our 360's are the 250g. The 4g is pretty much worthless, for the age range your son is. If he was much younger, maybe worth it.

Wireless controllers with the rechargeable packs are a god send and well worth the money!!! We were doing the rechargeable battaries, but with 5 controllers, we were still going thru them like crazy.

While, it may not be an issue right now with Xbox Live, when and IF you do get it for him, 99.9% of the games that my then 14 year old was playing were the M rated games. DH is a BIG time gamer and DS and DD both play with him. Their grasp of what is real vs make believe is where it should be. They both know what we will and not allow them to do while on line, it is very defined. BUT, because they both play M rated games, DH had to set up their accounts on Xbox Live with his birth date. If he had used their actual birth years, Live would have blocked them from playing some of their favorite games on line. That is a decision that you will have to make, like I said when and if you let him access Xbox Live.

Also, when you play on line, you don't HAVE to have a head set, but if he makes friends or connects with school friends, it is fun to be able to play the game and talk to and give instructions to those that you are playing with. I have even chatted with one of his school mates while DS was correctly doing something he had rushed doing earlier. I took over his character and the one kid yelled at me for being a horrid shot. I reminded him I knew his mother and she would have is hid for putting my gaming skills down. Changed his tune and said I was the bestest gamer in my own world. Smarty pants!!

The other plus of Xbox Live, if you don't already have it, you can get Netflix via your system.

We don't have any of our Xboxes on coolers or fans. We went out and bought these types of stands. That way the Xboxes get air from all 6 sides.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My son is 13 and he plays all his games with his friends on "Live" so membership there would be a plus. He has a few wireless controllers but most friends can bring theirs so extras aren't a stressor. He has a wireless headset so he can talk to his friends on "Live". If you have your son ask around you'll find that most of his friends are probably playing older games and once the games get to be a month or 2 old they drop in price considerably and you can pick them up used for a fraction of the initial sell price. The newest game my son & his friends want is "Homefront" but I don't know if we're getting it or not yet, we have to do some research first.

 

[Jacoby 46]

My son has an xbox 360 elite with the 250 gb drive and it also is the Modern Warfare edition...he plays COD, Saints Row, Halo Reach and Borderlands with his friends online. The wireless headset was a christmas gift this year and it was his favorite present!LOL. He also has the wireless controller. My son is 14 and has been playing "M" games since he was 12.

My daughter has the xbox kinect with a 250 gb and loves it. She is 11 and plays Kinectimals, Kinect Adventures and Game Party.

 

[disneyismyname]

My brother had a 360...had to exchange them with the company 3 or 4 times due to the "red ring of death" as he calls it. I don't think I will ever buy one.
If you do buy one and you want to use wireless interent..make sure you get a high wireless router. We had a simplest one...and when my brother would game online..it would totally take all the wifi and the laptops/computers would run super slow. It was a pain waiting for him to be done when I had school work to do.

 

[nosoupforyou]

My DS got an Xbox 250gb for Christmas with a few games. Don't get the 4gb -- you'll regret it. With the 250, you can save the games on the hard drive and not have to run the games in the system. It saves on wear/tear of your system. Also like others have said, the games have lots of add-ons so he'll want that extra space.

My DS also has Xbox live. You can probably find a deal on the internet by googling so don't pay the $50 full-pop price just yet. Our Xbox came with a free month of X-box live, so you may not have to buy that just yet. Also, if you get the 12 month live account, your DS will need the same games his friends have if he wants to play with them live.

As far as the Kinnect -- ours came with Kinnect and a free kinnect game. We bought 3 more Kinnect games and they were each played once or twice. Now the Kinnect never gets used. My DS just wants to do gaming. So that was kind of a waste. If you buy the Kinnect with the Xbox, it is cheaper getting the package vs buying the Kinnect by itself later on.

Also, there's a parental setting where you can have the bad language bleeped out if/when you get your son M rated games. My DS loves the war games like Call of Duty Black Opps, but we have it set so there's no swear words. Our DS is also the first one home from school, so we use another good xbox feature which is a timer. DH has the password, so DS can't change the settings. DS gets 1.5 hours per day and then the timer shuts him off. He usually plays when he gets home from school and has used up his time by 5:00pm. Now that it's light outside longer and it's warming up, he'll be outdoors more, too.

If your DS likes sports, go for the sports games like Madden 11 or NBA 2K11.

One last thing -- If two people will be playing at once (your DS and a friend or you and your DS), you'll need to buy an extra wireless controller.

 

[browneyes106]

I agree with others get the 250 g one better.

 

[bicker]

Quite frankly, the games that come with the Kinect are so fantastic that I don't see the need to buy any others. Every other Kinect game we purchased have been disappointing by comparison.