There is now less than 48 hours to go until the next generation officially starts. As such I thought I would share a few reasons why it’s still worth buying an Xbox 360 now if you are new to the world of gaming. The Xbox One is going to be an amazing machine BUT there are still plenty of reasons why the Xbox 360 is still a great purchase.
PRICE – I remember paying $650 AUD for my Xbox 360 when it first launched. It had a whopping 20gb HDD, included a headset, HD component cable and 1 Month Xbox Live Gold. I then had to purchase a second controller and a couple of games. I’m pretty sure I spent well over a thousand dollars in that one transaction. Fast forward to the present and there are some insane bundles for $200 to $300 which includes a significantly bigger hard drive, HDMI port, built in WI-Fi, smaller and sleeker design AND several game titles. Some bundles even include the Kinect Sensor as well.
You also have to remember that the games themselves have dropped down in price significantly. Games that originally retailed for $100 each are now less than $20 and some stores have buy two for $30 or even get one free. These were all amazing titles back in the day and there is nothing wrong with them now.
GAMES – The Games library is pretty impressive to choose from when you think about it. To start with the Xbox 360 is backwards compatible with the original Xbox. Well at least a few of the major titles. These will look better when playing via the Xbox 360 but sadly will lack any Xbox Live support. There are still some amazing Xbox Original games that are worth playing today such as Ninja Gaiden, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or my personal favourite Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.
Next we have all the XBOX LIVE ARCADE games. These could be small classics like UNO, Zuma, Geometry Wars or Bejeweled to remakes of Duck Tales, Double Dragon, Tony Hawk and more. The best thing about every single one of these games is that you can enjoy a FREE trial before you buy.
Finally and most importantly are the Xbox 360 games themselves. One great feature is that you can purchase games digitally now. So no need for that disc, or scratches or losing it. You can even delete that game to free up space on your hard drive and then download again in the future. You own it forever thanks to your Xbox Live account.
Xbox Live Gold – There are a lot of benefits of signing up to the paid GOLD membership. Firstly it will carry over to your Xbox One thus preparing you for the future. You will have the ability to use apps such as Foxtel, VEVO, Crackle and more. But the most important reason is Online Gaming. Sure there are hundreds of games you can enjoy at home on your own or with local multiplayer. When you start playing Halo, Gears of War, Forza Motorsport or anything else over Xbox Live it is just an amazing experience and honestly worth the few dollars per month.
On top of all the other benefits we now have the “Games with GOLD” promotion that looks like it will be ongoing. Originally it was advertised as ending at the end of the year. This promotion gives GOLD members two free games a month. These could range in titles that you may have never heard of before to games like FABLE III, Assassins Creed II and recently HALO 3. To put it simply in 2014 you will get 24 games for FREE that you will own forever.
APPS – I think one of the most surprising things that the Xbox 360 has shown us is the use of APPS. FOXTEL would be the most exciting one for me. Allowing subscribers to choose from a variety of bundles that they are after and more importantly cancel at any time. YOUTUBE works very nicely and you can even use your mobile phone YouTube App to control the Xbox 360 app. VEVO has to be my personal favourite. Sure there are other music video services but VEVO has a nice user interface and has more than enough music to enjoy. Then you have all the apps for the local Aussie TV channels which is surprisingly very useful when you want to watch something you missed or a particular series on offer. There are so many apps available today and I’m sure there are only going to be more.
KINECT – I have to say that I’m a big fan of Kinect. This is something unique and different and simply offers a way of playing games that has to be experienced for yourself. Now I know that KINECT is not for everyone! But think of it as something you can enjoy with your children, sister, wife and even the grandparents. Games like Kinect Sports, Fruit Ninja and Dance Central are fantastic party games for a small group of people. On top of all this there are some serious exercise games available for those wanting a workout with a virtual trainer. In fact the Xbox 360 itself has a new setting for Kinect Fitness and will measure your calories burnt regardless of what Kinect game you are playing. For the young ones games like Kinectimals, Sesame Street and even National Geographic offer a variety of gameplay experiences that are fun and educational. And there are still some “hardcore” games that use the Microphone effectively such as Halo, Forza, Splinter Cell and many more.
So what do you think? If you don’t have an Xbox 360 for some bizarre reason, would you be interested in purchasing one now? At the end of the day the Xbox 360 is a great investment and in my eyes is the perfect game console for the entire family. If you were ever considering getting into the world of Xbox 360 then now is the best time ever.
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