I really want to get an XBOX 360 but I am wandering how the games will look on my 36" Mitsubishi Standard TV. I do plan on upgrading to HD-TV but probably not intil Next year. Im still not sure if I want to go with a 60" flat screen or a 60" DLP from Sony. Help Please!!

Only one game that isn't designed for standard TV: Dead Rising (so far I know). I've played Madden 06, Perfect Dark Zero, Oblivion, Afterburn, few more and they're playable on my 36-in standard TV.

Definitely worth it, just be careful with a few games like the aforementioned Dead Rising.

Reviews mentioned that the new Rainbow Six: Vegas game looked like ass on regular TVs as well.

It's absolutely worth it. I never understood the "upgrading is pointless unless you have an HDTV" logic. I had my 360 for about 8 months before getting an HDTV. Loved every minute of it.

But tell them how much better it looked once you popped it on the HD set :-)

Yes, it does look better on HDTV than standard TV. However, the OP mentioned that he is considering getting HDTV sometimes in the future - he can play many games on standard TV till then.

So your saying these High Def Games look good on a standard TV. I have another question as well. I currently own an XBOX and am on LIVE using a wireless gaming adapter. Will that same gaming adapter be able to be used with the 360 or do I have to buy another one. I have a broadband connection but I still get complaints about lagging even though the games look like they are playing fine to me. The reason I went wireless is because my Modem is up stairs and I would have to run a cable about 50' outside and drill a couple of holes. Can someone offer a better set up solution for me. Heres my situation

Upstairs Bedroom
Modem
Router
Printer (Hooked up to the router)
Computer 1- (Wireless Network)
TV (Direct TV)

Downstairs
TV (Direct TV)
Surround System
Wireless Gaming Adapter
XBOX
Computer 2 (Wireless Network)

You could also get the VGA cable and hook the 360 up to your monitor with it. This will get you HD gaming on your 360 as well. It is what I do since I don't have an HDTV.

The 360 still looks good on SD, but it looks does look better on HD. Notice how on your PC monitor everything is crisp and clear and how on your SDTV everything is kind of blurry and jagged. This is also the difference between SD and HD gaming.

A TV of that size probably has component INPUTS. Use those whenever possible. Even the S-Video connection will give you a better picture than the standard composite (red, white, yellow) hook-up.

so why can't you play "Dead Rising" on standard?

Looks crappy, and some of the text is too small to read on SDTVs.

Touche.

He's right, though. Is it worth it to get a 360 without an HDTV? Absolutely. But when you plug it into the HDTV for the first time...wow. *whistles* It's a significant difference.

Dead Rising can be played on standard TVs. The only problem is that the text is completely unreadable. Dead Rising uses a small PC-style font instead of a big blocky TV-style font so the text is so blurry on standard definition that it is unreadable. The game can still be played and beaten on standard defintion; you just won't be able to read anything.

This is a pic of the text taken from a standard definition TV:

yea, the text is quite a bitch, but I was able to complete the game just fine. You'll find yourself straining your eyes quite a bit, but its easily worth it

I said Dead Rising is DESIGNED for HDTV and I didn't say it's unplayable. I played it on standard and hated it very much, till I got Dell 2007WPS and it's much better.

Been playing my 360 on an SDTV 27 inch for a year just fine. I do have it connected through the component inputs.

Yes you can use the same wireless adapter you are currently using...

I use the original wireless adapter for the XBox with no troubles. If you're getting lag complaints, make sure you don't have any programs open on your computer (downloading programs, for example) that are sucking up your bandwidth.

Yes you can. I played my 360 on SDTV for about 5 months on one. I then switched over to my monitor via VGA cables. I now have an HDTV and it (and the monitor) are big improvements but it still is playable and enjoyable on SD.