that's only true if you get the MS branded one. you can get a wireless bridge for about $35 that works exactly the same.

Typically, how much space does a game take to put onto the harddrive. I know this is a broad question as it depends on the game but let us go, then, with games I am interested in like FF13 and NHL 10. I have read that it is better to put the games on the HD because it is better for the system.

Figure on an average of 5.5GB for a single-disc game installation.

Several games look and run better on 360, but since you're interested in FF13:

<object classId="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="480" height="418" id="VideoPlayerLg44612"><param name="movie" value="http://g4tv.com/lv3/44612" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://g4tv.com/lv3/44612" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="VideoPlayer" width="480" height="382" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" /></object>

It's also on 3 DVDs on 360 vs. 1 Blu-Ray on PS3.

Well, based on my online research, what I was looking for and the suggestions of the good folk here I took the plunge today and picked up the XBOX Spring Bundle. I got it cheaper then advertised as BestBuy price matched Dell. It was $5 less but, hey, five bucks is five bucks. Also snagged FF13 on a price match. So, all in all, the bundle with 2 games and FF13 for $398.68. Not too shabby.

I figured it best to get the bundle with ODST so I can start practicing some for Reach having never really played the Halo games before. I tried a demo of Forza before I got the bundle and that game seemed pretty nice though I am not much into racing games (outside of Mario Kart ). This gives me a nice mix to start on a new gaming consol since my long gone N64. 1 sports game. 1 RPG. 1 FPS. Should do me for the summer until Reach, NHL 11 and Smackdown vs Raw 11 come out in the fall.

I imagine FF13 will keep me busy for the next few weeks so I don't think I will pull the trigger on my month free of Xbox live until around May'ish. That way, if I am reading correctly, I can take advantage of the Reach Beta thingy.

Thanks folks for all the info here and, well, here's to my next generation of gaming!

congrats View! enjoy!

the Halo games are really great and my first foray into XBOX gaming. some of my thoughts might be around here somewhere...

Congrats!

In many ways, I think this is my favorite generation yet for gaming...surpassing even the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis years.

Enjoy.

You made the right choice going with the 360.

I finally got off work and am about to unpack this thing. I feel like I did in the early 90s when my dad let my brother and I get a SNES. We drove to the states as it was cheaper there and got the system with that horrid Wrestlemania game. However, to my brother and I it was like hitting the lottery. We played the hell out of that system and it was going strong when we upgradded to the N64.

I'll eventually pop my gammer tag on here so you folks can murder me at ODST

I highly recommend tweaking a few settings when you get it.

Make sure background downloading is turned on. Then before you quit for the evening go queue up a bunch of demos before turning it off and going to bed. It will remain off and you will have a bunch of demos in the morning.

The marketplace demo section and the XBLA demo section should be your friend. Without leaving the house or trusting reviews you can try out hands on a ton of content and probably discover some good stuff.

IMO the XBLA is one of the coolest things ever.




Also, be sure to get the free Game Room download and then visit my arcade so i can get some coins.

Hey, I checked the hard drive space on this and found I only had 90 GB. Then I realized there was all this crap on there like demos, videos and a whack of Gamer Pictures. Is this normal? Should this be on there?

Obviously, MS intended to put them on there.

Just think of all that initial clutter as Basic 360 Training... you'll have learned to navigate the blades interface and how to delete files before you've added anything important to the hard drive.

blades interface? Man, I have a lot to learn.

I just deleated things one at a time and still I only have about 109 GB.
Where did all the rest go? Menu screens and such like a computer?

No. They've always been a little disingenuous with the HDD size. 7-8 GB of memory is dedicated to backwards compatibility emulation and other basic functions. It sort of sucks on that drive, but it was far worse on the old 20 GB drives that filled up in a few months.

Still I've had my 120 GB drive for almost 2 years and with lots of music DLC, tons of XBLA games, some maps and other add-on DLC and some demos I still have nearly 40 GB left. You'll be okay.

Oh, and I hope you didn't delete the XBLA game Hexic, since it's a nice, free XBLA game that comes preinstalled and I think that if you delete it, there's no way to download it again, even by purchase.

No, I kept a few demos and that Hexic game. I kept pacman, Sonic, TMNT and Street Fighter for now. Haven't tried them but nice to know they are there to kill a bit of time later on.

So, I have 120GB.

Right now 6 is devoted to the first disc of FF13.
I would say maybe 1 in demos.

I currently have 101 on the hD. So seems like I have about 12 GB devoted to whatever else unless there are things I can deleated that I am missing.

You probably have some videos/game trailers on there as well. AFAIK, my 120 had about 113 on it once I cleared everything out.

Nope, I ditched all videos. Only thing left now is FF13 disc 1 and a few trial games that came with. Hummmm....perplexing.

I'm just gonna reitterate, Hexic is an amazing time killer. I've got it on my 360 and my Zune, and it gets an insane amount of play.

They offered a 2 year extended Warrenty at Best Buy for about $80. I have 30 days to think about it. I didn't get it off the bat but am wonderinf if it is worth it?

the formatted space available on any hdd (be it for a 360 or a computer) is going to be less than the advertised space. my laptop has a 160 GB hdd but when i check the properties in Windows it views its capacity as 149 GB. from wikipedia:

Well, this deal just got better. Best Buy Canada now is advertising the Spring Bundle with including a third game, Fable 2. I just took in my receipt to show I bought the bundle a week or so again and they handed me the game. w00t!

I bought my first 360 (Pro model for $350 I think) in January '08 at BB and got the PRP with it. It crapped out a year later with the E-74 error. I took it back that night and they tested it out, confirmed it wasn't working, and let me pick out a brand new 360 off the shelf. I grabbed a new Arcade (since I had bought the 120GB HDD separately, I didn't need another Pro or an Elite), and since the Arcade was I think $100 less than I paid for the Pro, they gave me a gift card with the difference back.

A brand new machine (including a brand new controller), a gift card, and the best part of all was that it was all done within a couple hours of my original 360 crapping out on me, and I wasn't without a console for a week or two or three. Having the PRP worked out really well for me and I bought a new PRP to cover the new unit for another two years. So yeah, I'd say it was definitely worth it in my case.