Heathan Box

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

If you're gonna get a console, it's the one to get. Games you may wanna look at (now and in the future):

-Halo 2
-Mech Assault
-that game with the friggin' huge controller that only about 4 people have (Steel Battalion?)
-Soul Calibur II (Spawn's the Xbox's special character)
-Prince of Persia
-DOA (volleyball or fighting game)
-Amped (the first one is supposed to be better and, now, cheaper)
-Brute Force (I still wanna a KB and mouse)
-Burnout 2
-Fatal Frame
-Genma Onimusha
-Jet Set Radio Future
-Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
-Midtown Madness 3
-Mortal Combat: Deadly Alliance
-Nascar Thunder 2002
-Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
-Project Gotham Racing
-Shenmue II
-The Simpsons Hit and Run (GTA plus the Simpsons)
-Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
-Time Splitters 2
-Tony Hawk's Underground (GTA plus the Simpsons)
-WWF Raw


We've played many of these at my house here in Toronto. Most of the ones I've chose you won't especially notice the lack of KB and mouse (except Halo 2 and Brute Force).

Yeah, PC gaming is better (ie. KB and mouse). However, look at what Dempsey got for $300 (at least, if he bought it smart):

-733 Intel Mhz cpu
-8 gig HD
-GF 3.5 with High Definition output
-64 mb DDR
-NF2 mobo with Soundstorm
-DVD

Decent deal to me seeing as how he basically got a better comp at a relatively cheap price.


Dempsey, try renting a few before you buy. I'd also heavily recommend a mod-chip if you never plan to use Xbox Live (which I wouldn't since Gamespy offers the same service for free). Mod chips allow one to also use DVD "bakups." Stores like Game Shack also offer mucho used games at reasonable prices (ie. $20 - $30).


While I find it somewhat acceptable for the majority of the people here to be angered at Dempsey's decision, I'm especially surprised at Neb. You seemed to be the largest supporter of differentiating one's platform even if they didn't live up to another's spec (ie. Mac). Why the change now?

We'll hook some of them up for the LAN.

EDIT:

Whoops! Just found out Hit and Run is also on the PC. My bad.

[[PX] Nebuchadnezzar]

yes, I support different platforms, but I'm talking less Micro$haft, not more...

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

M$ loses money per X-box. This can be seen in the fact that Nvidia lost money in the 2nd Q due to their losses on the X-box.

Buy it and turn it into a *nix box. Ultimate slap in the face. They only make money on the software.

Besides, if a product is good I'll buy it. I'm oppossed to the way they opperate their OS/office/app software division. I like their peripherals. Logitech really got their act together after M$ started releasing mice, etc. Would Logitech equipment be as good as it is today if M$ didn't give them a swift kick in the pants? Questionnable.

I'm not oppossed to M$ making honest money (often an oxymoron, I know). I'm oppossed to a 95% monopoly where nobody's exploring viable alternatives.

Competition = teh good (yay, capitalist me! )

[[PX] Nebuchadnezzar]

what again is the point in running Linux on the XBox? does it still run xbox games? what's the deal?

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Yes, it can still run X-box games. A quick flick of the modchip (if you get the good ones) and you boot into a *nix distro that allows you to use the comp for anything you want (ie. just about anything you can do with your hardware restraints). Examples include the following: word processing, spreadsheet, slide presentation, email, surf the web, post here on the message board, game, play DVD, play DivX, play whatever the devil you want, etc.

They've even installed Windows 2000 on an Xbox. Basically, it is a comp for about $300. Parts list comparison based off of CC:


-cpu = $30 (the cheapest they have is a 1300 Duron for $58 )
-HD = $35 (the 40's are $80)
-GFX = $125 (the 9200 do have PS 1.4, but the High Def adapter costs about $50.......so we'll split the diff).
-DDR = $20 (128 is $33)
-mobo = $100 (technically, the Abit NF7-S is the cheapest certified Sound Storm mobo, but it has more features so we'll lop off $45)
-DVD = $39
-remote = $8 (I dunno.........what's a standard remote cost?)


Total cost:

$357

We'll subtract $57 for the lack of easy upgrades (though, you can still upgrade your X-box.......it's just a real pain in the @$$) and call it $300. One also has to remember that these parts are new, not used (so there goes the "well, Homey V sold me his 6 gig drive for $20" argument). So (if that's what Dempsey paid........which he should've), he got exactly what he paid for. $500 was too much--$300's just about right.

So, yeah it's a decent deal. Not a stellar deal, not a crappy deal, but a decent deal. Try playing it--it's free.............for you

[[PX] Nebuchadnezzar]

I do believe he spent just under $220 after tax.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

AFTER TAX?! $220?


Where?

Futureshop had them on sale for $250 plus 2 games and the DVD remote was $50 after that (thus, the $300 I keep quoting). If it's that cheap................


EDIT:

Those prices are before tax, too.

EDIT2:

U.S. prices, though:

http://www.xbreporter.com/used_xbox_games_cheap.php

[[PX] Nebuchadnezzar]

his was a refurbished unit from Forest City Surplus. 1 controller, no games.

[[PX]IronFist]

You should probably factor in the cost of used parts then Jew.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Meh............you do it


I'm always the post whore around here............your turn

[Dempsey]

Thank you Jason Ill look into those and I have the Xbox live kit now

*EDIT The price of the box was $217.85 (obviously tax included)

Mech Assault is fun.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

http://www.gamespy.com/holiday2003/xbox/


I wouldn't have bothered with the Live Kit, but that's just me (they "update" your firmware without your permission and make it harder to turn it into a *nix box).

[[PX] Nebuchadnezzar]

I am still shocked that Mike got his XBox, don't get me wrong, but it is fun. I'm just upset that he didn't upgrage his computer first for the same price.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Well, what would he upgrade for that much? He had roughly $250 bucks to spend, right? Let's double that just to make this interesting. So Dempsey's got $500. These are his options:

K8:

-none (if there are, lemme know)

K7

-ABIT NF7-S nVIDIA nForce2 $145 (best price/performance ratio)
-Athlon XP 2100+ RETAIL BOX $98 (2500+ just got clock locked, 2400+ doesn't overclock too well, there's no overclock guarantee at all, it's the retail heat sink so it'd suck at overclocking anyways, and Dempsey actually might not wanna count on overclocking)
-Samsung 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 SDRAM = $128 (the nforce is dependant on dual power; he's gonna be running single channel with a performance drop cuz we have a budget to consider)
-Sapphire Radeon 9200 128MB DDR OEM $105

Grand Total = $547.4 (we're over budget so we could cut back to 256 mb of RAM to save $55 and get the Asus ASUS A7N8X-X to save another $47......he now doesn't have Soundstorm, his overclocking ability has gone down, and his mobo doesn't have features of the other one)

New Grand Total = $445.2


We meet budget, but he's got an average system at best, it's directx 8 (just like his X-box), he's fine for now (but prolly only for about a year what with future games), and he's getting pretty near twice what he payed for the other one.


Intel

-no way to get a decent Intel system under $500..........if you disagree, post it here and we'll discuss it.



So, basically, he's gonna get about a year or year and a half outta the system. That's basically what he'll get outta the X-box, too. Dempsey buys a lot of games so the whole "warez games are free" argument is diminished. Also, he can play quite a few games on the Linux box.

Besides, nobody said Dempsey wasn't gonna upgrade his comp next year (well, unless he has recently ).

[Dempsey]

You bet im gonna upgrade next year