XBox Arcade

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fdaniels

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Hey guys,

So I am considering getting one of these. Yes, I know that it doesn't have a hdd. Firstly I won't be playing online. I have not played with my Wii online in the two years that I've had it, despite the free online play. I prefer to play with people that I know, while we are in the same room. That is just the way that I like it.

The only thing that I am concerned about is the size of the save games. Also I hear that some games install stuff onto the hdd? How true is that? Any general feedback from people that own xbox arcades?
 
Do yourself a favour and get one with a hard drive man :)

Save games should be ok for the standard 256MB memory card, depending on how many games you play, how many saves you use and how many times you play through the same game. I average anything between 10-20MB per game (23 games) so a hard drive is a must for me.

But you'll also be missing out on DLC and the downloadable Arcade games if you don't have a HD.
 
fdaniels said:
Hey guys,

So I am considering getting one of these. Yes, I know that it doesn't have a hdd. Firstly I won't be playing online. I have not played with my Wii online in the two years that I've had it, despite the free online play. I prefer to play with people that I know, while we are in the same room. That is just the way that I like it.

The only thing that I am concerned about is the size of the save games. Also I hear that some games install stuff onto the hdd? How true is that? Any general feedback from people that own xbox arcades?
Click to expand...
it seems i am stalking you friend :)
i use the arcade (with a 256mb memory) and it works fine for saves, i have played online and it worrked fine there (exept DLC is not a good idea as space is limited), i curently use mine more as media centre to watch divx videos on my tv (either sreamed from my laptop or i connect my portable HDD to it) so unless you a real harcore gamer who will have more then 20 games at 1 time an arcade is fine.
 
isie said:
it seems i am stalking you friend :)
Click to expand...

ROFL :D Yeah


isie said:
i use the arcade (with a 256mb memory) and it works fine for saves, i have played online and it worrked fine there (exept DLC is not a good idea as space is limited), i curently use mine more as media centre to watch divx videos on my tv (either sreamed from my laptop or i connect my portable HDD to it) so unless you a real harcore gamer who will have more then 20 games at 1 time an arcade is fine.
Click to expand...

Ahh, that is what I wanted to know. Games are expensive, so I normally only buy one at a time and play it to completion. I am not interested in the DLC (demo games and clips?). The only other thing that I was concerned about is patches. Do they get installed via firmware upgrades (to ROM or something), or software upgrades (to your HDD)?

One more question. Using the xbox as a media center ... you have to connect it to a pc right? As in you can't just connect a portable hdd to it and play off of there. The reason I ask is because it will be great if I can give my computer to my brother. I mostly use my macbook these days anyway.

Edit: I currently have my pc connected to my tv directly and use VLC as my media center. :o It is pretty beefy, so I would prefer to give it to my brother for gaming.
 
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fdaniels said:
ROFL :D Yeah




Ahh, that is what I wanted to know. Games are expensive, so I normally only buy one at a time and play it to completion. I am not interested in the DLC (demo games and clips?). The only other thing that I was concerned about is patches. Do they get installed via firmware upgrades (to ROM or something), or software upgrades (to your HDD)?

One more question. Using the xbox as a media center ... you have to connect it to a pc right? As in you can't just connect a portable hdd to it and play off of there. The reason I ask is because it will be great if I can give my computer to my brother. I mostly use my macbook these days anyway.

Edit: I currently have my pc connected to my tv directly and use VLC as my media center. :o It is pretty beefy, so I would prefer to give it to my brother for gaming.
Click to expand...

firmware 2 answeres on mine there is a small amount of memory on the xbox and a portion of the memory card is alocated to to this on the new arcade they dont have a memory card but have 256 or 512 built in so way better
you can conneect your hdd direclty to the xbox (no pc needed) you do however need a live acount (silver the free one is just fine)to install the latest frmware and video codecs, also your hdd must be formated in fat32..
you can connected your pc directly to the xbox but i find this finick and tempramental it works when it wants to. i conect mines via my router so i can stream videos from my pc to the xbox.
 
Shot, thanks! Going to buy an arcade today then! [:D]


Edit: What outputs does the XBox support (DVI, RCA, VGA, HDMI)? Which cables does the arcade come with?
 
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Okay, from my googling it seems that xbox does support hdmi but I will have to buy the cable separately for the xbox arcade.


Edit: lol, posted at the same time. Thanks for all the input isie!
 
On this matter, I also have a question or 2:

In order to get updates and patches, I would need an XBox Live account, which is not available with the Arcade? In other words, no going online with the Arcade?

Second question is basically, well, if the Arcade and Elite are functionally the same, if I buy an Arcade and later decide to "upgrade" to the Elite, would it be simply a matter of buying a HDD? I can't see how that would work, especially if my first question is true... would I then need to sell the Arcade and purchase the Elite?

Thanks guys! ;)
 
You dont need an account to get dashboard updates, you can even just DL it on your PC & update from a flash drive

Yes, you can always buy a HDD later. I have an Arcade with a generic HDD
 
wishblade said:
On this matter, I also have a question or 2:

In order to get updates and patches, I would need an XBox Live account, which is not available with the Arcade? In other words, no going online with the Arcade?

Second question is basically, well, if the Arcade and Elite are functionally the same, if I buy an Arcade and later decide to "upgrade" to the Elite, would it be simply a matter of buying a HDD? I can't see how that would work, especially if my first question is true... would I then need to sell the Arcade and purchase the Elite?

Thanks guys! ;)
Click to expand...
Lol you can go online with it - an Xbox Live account is independent of the type of Xbox you have.

If you plan on watching Divx/Xvid and a few of the other formats, you'll need to have a Live account to fetch the codecs (it should give you the option when you try playing the file). Also keep in mind that when you register a Live account, they give you a Gold account free for the first month. After that it reverts back to the Silver account.

There are other ways to get your updates and stuff, but online is the easiest.
 
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Woooooo!! Any way, so I got the xbox today and it is awesome. I got 3 free games with it (banjo kazooie, lego batman and some quad bike game), and bought Mass Effect 2. It very great. I was rofling at banjo, is it hilarious.

I plan on getting Assassin's Creed (Where can I find part 1?) and Assassin's Creed 2, Fable 2 sometime.

The only problem now is that I need to find an xbox hdmi cable. I will have a look next week. Right now I am playing using the RCA cables. At RCA resolution my LCD prefers 50Hz but the games require 60Hz - but it looks a little blurry. I am sure that once I go digital it will rock socks :D


Edit: Quick question - the frequency thing will only be a problem while I use the RCA cables right? My TV runs at 100Hz so will the game try to run at 60 Hz and look blurry (because not at native frequency)?
 
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for the R500 more i personally would have got a elite, any hdmi will work, the official xbox one is a rip off, you can get a decent hdmi cable for R150 or less.
 
Glad you're enjoying it!

I'd also recommend getting Mass Effect 1 so that when you finish it you can import your character into ME2. It's pretty cheap, like R180 at Take2. And as good as it is, it'll make you appreciate how much better the second one is.

Kalahari has Assassin's Creed 1, not sure that I've seen it elsewhere.
 
fdaniels said:
Woooooo!! Any way, so I got the xbox today and it is awesome. I got 3 free games with it (banjo kazooie, lego batman and some quad bike game), and bought Mass Effect 2. It very great. I was rofling at banjo, is it hilarious.

I plan on getting Assassin's Creed (Where can I find part 1?) and Assassin's Creed 2, Fable 2 sometime.

The only problem now is that I need to find an xbox hdmi cable. I will have a look next week. Right now I am playing using the RCA cables. At RCA resolution my LCD prefers 50Hz but the games require 60Hz - but it looks a little blurry. I am sure that once I go digital it will rock socks :D


Edit: Quick question - the frequency thing will only be a problem while I use the RCA cables right? My TV runs at 100Hz so will the game try to run at 60 Hz and look blurry (because not at native frequency)?
Click to expand...
glad you enjoying it, on your question yep sounds like it might be the cables
and asasins creed 1 is in the bargain bins at most places
 
fdaniels said:
Edit: Quick question - the frequency thing will only be a problem while I use the RCA cables right? My TV runs at 100Hz so will the game try to run at 60 Hz and look blurry (because not at native frequency)?
Click to expand...

It would be Ok, The TV 100HZ works a little different for different reasons. So do not worry!
 
Thanks again everyone. I will have a look for those games this weekend, and also upgrade my cable!
 
fdaniels said:
Woooooo!! Any way, so I got the xbox today and it is awesome. I got 3 free games with it (banjo kazooie, lego batman and some quad bike game), and bought Mass Effect 2. It very great. I was rofling at banjo, is it hilarious.

I plan on getting Assassin's Creed (Where can I find part 1?) and Assassin's Creed 2, Fable 2 sometime.

The only problem now is that I need to find an xbox hdmi cable. I will have a look next week. Right now I am playing using the RCA cables. At RCA resolution my LCD prefers 50Hz but the games require 60Hz - but it looks a little blurry. I am sure that once I go digital it will rock socks :D


Edit: Quick question - the frequency thing will only be a problem while I use the RCA cables right? My TV runs at 100Hz so will the game try to run at 60 Hz and look blurry (because not at native frequency)?
Click to expand...

Which city are you in fdaniels? My recommendation is Animeworx at the Bright Water Commons, if you're in Central Gauteng. I got a brand new copy of Mass Effect for under R200 there in December!
 
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