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There's something online that says a month of Gold for $1, but I don't want to have to auto-renew after that not knowing the price.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think in order to get the $1 deal, you have to be renewing your membership, not starting it. I don't remember exactly, but a friend of mine tried doing this a while back, and it didn't work. I just stick with the subscription cards for both Live and for MS Points.
I have seen a 12-month card at Amazon for $35. They need an idiot's guide to this...
Yea, if you look around, you can usually find the 12-month cards for under $40. As you found, Amazon is always a good place to start.
Halo 3 so far is a little confusing because I have never used an Xbox controller and it's been years since I played a game like this.
If you end up getting Xbox Live Gold, let me know if you want a co-op partner for some Halo. I'm always game for some Halo, and have played it a ton, so I can help you figure things out if you need. My gamertag is the same as my username here.
...plus I wish I could plug up my existing HDDs!
If it connects with USB, you can. If you are wanting to use this for extra Xbox storage, make sure you have everything off the drive before doing this, because the Xbox will need to format it for use.
So thanks again for the advice. If anybody knows something REALLY fun to play that isn't too expensive, I'd love to know.
Not only are these some pretty affordable games, they also just happen to be 4 of my favorites as well. Can't go wrong there.

Crackdown, $13
http://www.amazon.com/Crackdown-Xbo..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277185353&sr=1-1

Geometry Wars 2, $10
http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Wars..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277185424&sr=1-1

Portal: Still Alive, $15
http://www.amazon.com/Portal-Still-..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277185461&sr=1-1

Rez HD, $10
http://www.amazon.com/Rez-Online-Ga..._1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277185509&sr=1-1
 
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Oh dude, I CAN use a USB HDD? That's frackin' awesome. I have two portable ones sitting here doing nothing. Once I finish this first level of Halo, I'll have to try setting it up.

I'll probably do Xbox Live Gold soon. From what I understand, most anything good online requires it. As I said, I just have little to no clue what I'm doing on this system. I only kinda know what I'm doing right now because I played this level with my offline profile before I moved my modem and such.
 
Oh dude, I CAN use a USB HDD? That's frackin' awesome. I have two portable ones sitting here doing nothing. Once I finish this first level of Halo, I'll have to try setting it up.
Yep. The Xbox will format the drive and let you use it for extra storage. The only problem is, no matter what the size of the drive, it will only let you use up to 16GB for storage. But yes, if you have a USB drive just sitting around gathering dust, might as well put it to use.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981974
 
Yep. The Xbox will format the drive and let you use it for extra storage. The only problem is, no matter what the size of the drive, it will only let you use up to 16GB for storage. But yes, if you have a USB drive just sitting around gathering dust, might as well put it to use.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981974

I just noticed that. 250GB on the drive, 16GB to use. Well, beats nothing. I already figured out how to get Live Gold for $1 for a month, then found out about demos. Holy crap. It's taking forever for the NCAA 11 demo to download, but that should be awesome instead of dropping $50 on crap, like I did on the Wii version in 08.

I may eventually end up wishing I had gotten the $300 system, but I did end up with a pair of free games with this. I can add a 250GB HDD for $100 and then be mostly the same except for built-in WiFi. That's saving $50 by running an ethernet cable.

I sent you an invite or whatever on Halo. I think it was on Halo. Anywho, my name is the same as here except without the space. I slightly got better, but I'm still mostly running around and just shooting at stuff.
 
I jumped on a month of Gold for $1. Close enough to free. Amazon also has the 12 months at $35 with the free super saver shipping. This thing is so gonna break me.
 
A mistake? Unless I'm mistaken, when the 40GB PS3 was released, it was $399, and the 80GB version was $499. At least, those were the normal prices when I bought my 40GB.

Well...it's wasn't a mistake it was given to me for free....but it was during those times that the PS3 was the main deal and people rioted and fought and they were several people who were victims of theft when it came out.:D
 
I'm kinda glad I waited on this, but maybe not. The trial versions of games online is almost worth the price. I don't know a good place nearby to rent games, and I'm not doing that Gamefly or whatever thing for $8 a month because I wouldn't rent THAT many. Those demos make it easier to commit to a game.

I just bought Star Wars: TFU today used. I got the Sith edition after the guy at the store explained it to me. You save $5 overall ($40 versus $15 for original and $30 for addons) and I don't have to clutter HD space that I may need later.

The Magic game I bought from the online store is awesome. There look to be a lot of other good online games as well. I do wish I didn't have to run a network cable across my floor, but I saved $150 doing that. I can find rug and cover that thing up if needed.

So awesome recommendation. The PS3 might be nice, but I love this thing so far.
 
Well here we have it, an Amazon listing for the new Arcade S?

If it turns out this is correct, then 4GB onboard memory is quite an upgrade over the 512MB in the previous incarnation. I'm convinced that the Arcade S will be glossy white. Amazon seem to have changed the page slightly, as it was showing a price of €148.99.

:apple:
 
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4gb onboard sounds cool, but with usb support (finally!) it seems a little superfluous. It would really only be used for saves i assume, and most saves are under 1mb, so you could have ~250 saves on the old model 360 without worrying about space.
 
Picked up my pre-order today, so far so good! The main reason I exchanged for my Elite was to see if the new Xbox was quieter in RL, which is its by a huge factor. I've got MW2 installing at the mo, and from 3m away can barely discern a hum - no more turbine hall, huzzah!

With no disk in it really is whisper quiet. There's a shrill "beep" when you use the DVD drive eject button to confirm you've actually touched it, as it's not illuminated in anyway that's probably a good thing.

Only issue I had was that the HDD was not detected first time I switched it on. One removal and insertion later and alls good, 227GB usable space. I'll ditch all of the pre-installed stuff before I get around to installing all my go-to games, add-ons, saves etc.

Suits my Samsung HDTV to a tee, one happy owner here!
 
This evening at Comic-Con, Bungie announced that they will be releasing a "Halo Reach" limited edition bundle. It will be available on September 14th, the same day the game releases. It is essentially the same as the new 250GB "S" version, just with a different color and design on the outside. Plus it comes with some extra stuff, like most bundles...

  • Silver, matte-finish 250GB console with "Halo Reach" designs
  • 2 matching "Reach" wireless controllers
  • unique Halo-themed Power On/Off and Eject sounds
  • copy of the regular version of the game
  • code for the "Limited Edition" multiplayer Elite armor

I haven't heard what the "Power On/Off" sound is, but apparently when you eject the disc tray, it plays the "Shield Recharge" sound. Kind of a neat touch. I will be buying one of these. MS releases a big bundle like this just about every year, so I just figured they would do that for this game, so I waited. This will be a nice replacement for my current Elite, which will then be moving to the bedroom.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/22/halo-reach-xbox-360-bundle-available-september-14-for-399/

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^ nice but too expensive.

100-150 euro more for it is a lot. Retailers are already throwing deals together such as free game, or at least cheaper game plus extra controllers.

I got the new machine with extra black controller, Pure & Lego Batman + newly released ToyStory 3 free.
 
It turns out that my friends sold their Xbox 360 consoles after all these years. If I do get one it will be fore media extension from Windows 7.
 
^ nice but too expensive.

100-150 euro more for it is a lot. Retailers are already throwing deals together such as free game, or at least cheaper game plus extra controllers.

I got the new machine with extra black controller, Pure & Lego Batman + newly released ToyStory 3 free.
Yea, that was the older 360 Elite Spring Bundle that MS was selling. The reason they threw Pure and Lego Batman in is because those games are old. Both came out in 2008. I already own all the Lego games anyway. The other Elite bundle they were selling recently came with Halo 3: ODST and Forza 3, two games that I already own as well. So, the standard bundles that MS has been selling haven't been much use to me.

The way I see it, with this bundle I'm getting the new $300 "S" console with an extra $60 controller and the $60 game for $380 (I had Amazon credit). So, I'm getting $40 off what it would have cost just for those items if I bought them separately, and that doesn't even take into account the unique color and graphics of the console and controllers. For a huge Halo fan, like myself, that counts for something. I think it is a good deal.
 
Well, I fell for it and bought this baby. It feels pretty nice, it's not my first XO per se (I had one borrowed for 6 months before from a friend) but it's nice to finally have my own and I can start buying a bigger game library.

I'll make it a habit to install games now since it has a big enough hard drive, and it makes a lot less noise when no disc is spinning. It's totally not "whisper-quiet" like they claimed in E3 but it's noticeably quieter than the older one. The fan speed rises periodically the longer you have it turned on, after 2-3 hours of gaming it sounded much closer to the old one. Did you notice the new smaller power brick actually has a fan now? That's what's making most of the sound :/

So far I'm playing RDR and trying to finish some older titles like Oblivion and Fable 2. Got any suggestions? I'm looking at Mass Effect 2.
 
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