Spendy Gifts: Microsoft Xbox 360 (Instead of a Playstation 3)
4 Comments Published by Joel November 20th, 2006 in Gadgets, Games. Share This
There are two new videogame consoles available this Christmas…in theory. The Sony Playstation 3 is going to ship in such limited supply that finding one will be a labor of much frustration. In fact, we can’t in good conscience suggest you ask your loved ones for PS3—it’s too expensive, there aren’t very many games, and it’ll be a pain for them to get a hold of one.
The Nintendo Wii will be slightly less difficult to track down, but the initial shipments are already depleted. It’s relatively cheap, though, at just $250. It also has plenty of Christmas morning novelty; it’ll be a blast to gather ’round the TV and learn to play the virtual reality-like games with the family.
The Xbox 360 has great graphics, a fledgling HDTV download service, industry-leading online play, and a full year head start which has afforded it a sizable library of great games.
Dethroner suggests both the Wii and the Xbox 360, but since we’d like to narrow it down to just one console suggestion, we easily select the Xbox 360 Platinum Edition for $400. It will have everything necessary to start playing right out of the box, although you’ll want to add a game or two, as well. We suggest Gears of War and Dead Rising.
There may be other accessories that would go well with the Xbox 360, but that will certainly get a man gaming right out of the box. (If we were going to suggest anything, we’d suggest you pick up an extra controller.)
Since this is the man’s site, I’ll also suggest picking up the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel to play with PGR3, which looks amazing. Its $150 on amazon right now.
If you’re shopping for children, the reviews on the game Viva Pinata are pretty glowing. Claims of it being like a meld between The Sims and Pokemon are frequent. The theme of the game is that you have a ranch and you attract these pinatas that live like golems full of candy around your yard. Apparently, you can smash them apart with a shovel and the other golems rush in to feed off of the delicious entrails. Just another typical kids game.
^I’d probably play that. Hahaa.
If someone is thinking about the XBox, they may want to look Amazon’s way – you can vote for their deal of the week, with one of the choices being a Core system for $100 (regular price $299.99). Even if you spend an extra $99.99 for the hard drive (pretty essential), you’re still getting away for half of what the full package costs (as long as you can live without the wireless controller, which I could).
I know I’d be thrilled to find that under the tree. Frugal yet oh so cool.