The General 360 Owners/Buyers FAQ Thread (Updated 1/15/10)

Where does everyone buy their Xbox Live Gold memberships? My free trial is about to end so I would like to get the 13 month or 6 month membership for a decent price.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Where does everyone buy their Xbox Live Gold memberships? My free trial is about to end so I would like to get the 13 month or 6 month membership for a decent price.[/quote]I think Sears has one on sale this week for $29.99 for 12+1 membership. Check this week's deals thread.
 
Yeah, Sears does. Otherwise, wait for a deal from another store. All the various B&M stores have had them on sale for $29.99 at some point, Amazon as well.
 
[quote name='wckddudeman']Adventure
Banjo kazooie[/quote]
We're talking about the original, right? Cause Nuts & Bolts was anything but an adventure game. :(
 
Well, I started playing Halo 3, and so far I'm not overly impressed, but I'm guessing the real attraction in the online community. But I haven't gone online with it yet.

I was shocked after playing the Quake 4 demo that I really liked it! I know I saw a used copy at Blockbuster for $10, so I will be buying that, even if the online is dead.

I tried the Crackdown demo, and I think I'll just stick with Saints Row 2.

Thanks again guys. I'm lovin' the 360.
 
I always forget about Crackdown. Way more fun than GTA. I don't recall the demo though, whether it was a "good" demo or not. Anyone else?

Lots of good suggestions in the thread, but I'll second RezHD on the Arcade and Viva Pinata.
 
I had been asking about a good racing wheel and some games to go with it. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm awful at racing games and was hoping that a wheel might be a little tighter on the controls than the analog stick. Thanks.
 
[quote name='Achilles00']Well, I'm no worried about which games are supported, but rather which ones are actually any good.
Thanks for the link, though.[/quote]Obviously Forza and PGR. Burnout games if you are looking for some action in your racing. I think all of them are supported and the wheel was made with Forza 2 in mind, so grab that. I was always considering picking up a wheel, but I'm not into racing games enough to justify it.
 
Oh IC, then yes Forza 2 was like the test game for the wheel so that and I would say PGR 3&4, GRID and Burnout Paradise is fun to play with the wheel but takes some time to get used to. You could try DiRT but its really hard to race with the wheel.
 
I think you have to have it on your original xbox and transfer to your 360, I dont think you can transfer from 360 back to the original.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Oh IC, then yes Forza 2 was like the test game for the wheel so that and I would say PGR 3&4, GRID and Burnout Paradise is fun to play with the wheel but takes some time to get used to. You could try DiRT but its really hard to race with the wheel.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the feedback. But which wheel should I get? The Microsoft one? Or was there one that came with Forza?
 
The Microsoft wheel came with a Forza 2 Demo. Don't make the mistake I made, though. I was really disappointed with it until I plugged the wheel into the outlet. That's when the actual force-feedback kicks in. I played for a week before I realized that. Duh for me not reading.

As far as playing Dirt with it, make sure to clamp the wheel to something if doing sand races. I had the thing jar so hard it jumped off my lap. Was fun, but very frustrating.
 
Well that depends with price as I know Porsche makes a wheel but its prob expensive. I don't know of any third party ones but I would guess Logitech would have something. The Microsoft one is what I have and it works fairly well, besides not being completely wireless. I usually have it clamped onto my computer desk since due to my tall proportions it just doesn't feel right in my lap.
 
sp00gr and Spybreak8, thanks for the input. I guess I'll pick up the Microsoft wheel and see how it goes. Does it seem pretty durable? The reviews on Amazon are mostly positive but a fair amount have complained about the wheel's durability...

Thanks again!
 
[quote name='Puffa469']Dude, don't do it. You can cause a temporal rift and you will go backward in TIME!!! Oo[/quote]
At least he'd be able to play SVC: Chaos.
 
Having seen that sexy red RE 360, I'm ready to upgrade my Pro to an Elite. However, if I do that, what happens to all my STUFF? Do I lose my gamertag and gamerpoints? Are my downloadable games and themes gone forever? Or is there a method of transference?
 
i believe the elites come with a cable to transfer the info to your new harddrive and the profile will no longer be on your old harddrive.
 
The Xbox 360's HD is external. You can detatch it from any system and plug it into another. There is a transfer cable, that comes with Elite systems, that you should be able to use.
 
Like mentioned previously you can detach the hard drive and move it to the new system & transfer the data over using the data migration kit (I'm not sure if they package them with the system. I had to fax in a form and got mine in about a week). The most important thing you will need to do is link the drm(digital rights management) to the new console or you will not be able to play/use any of your downloadables when you are not connected to LIVE. It is super easy and the instructions are on the Microsoft 360 website.
 
The Elite's do not come with the transfer kit, you have to send in a form to Microsoft for a free transfer kit. You will need to use your original HDD until you get your transfer kit, but once you get that your profile will be able to be swapped over to your new 120gb HDD. You will keep all your gamer points and you will have access to all your downloaded content as long as you are connected to LIVE (they become trials if disconnected I believe). Like gr8asianman said, you will need to do the DRM if you want to play them while disconnected from LIVE (I suggest doing this just in case LIVE happens to go down and you have the urge to play an arcade game).

Edit: Now if you were to buy the 120gb HDD seperate from the system, you would get the transfer kit right then. That is what most of the others were likely thinking of.
 
The gamertag is pretty universal. Hell, I use the damn thing when I play fallout 3 on the PC.

I remembered that I did hook up my old xbox to XBL, after creating one to use on my 360, so you should be fine.
 
[quote name='Achilles00']sp00gr and Spybreak8, thanks for the input. I guess I'll pick up the Microsoft wheel and see how it goes. Does it seem pretty durable? The reviews on Amazon are mostly positive but a fair amount have complained about the wheel's durability...

Thanks again![/quote]

I've found that I prefer the controller better anyways. That's just my opinion though of course. The wheel can seem a bit unstable at times..
 
I had to create a new Live account. Of course all my saves are on that account. Is there a way I switch them from the old to the new?
 
I have never used chat/messenger on XBL. I am now playing L4D and I want to know if I just buy a headset and just plug it into the USB? or is it more complicated and/or do I need to buy additional software or something?
 
I'm selling my sealed Arcade 360 to a friend whose dad has a broken out of warranty Pro.

She is going to have her own Live account via the Arcade, so will we have a problem attaching the old HDD that still holds her dad's account? How does the machine deal with multiple Live accounts?
 
You can have your live account on as many boxes as you want and earn acheivements, etc. I'm pretty sure DLC IS tied to specific boxes though, so be mindful of that.
 
Microsoft support is kinda... not great, and I don't know where else to turn except here.

When I'm streaming Netflix, even if I just have it paused, after 10-20 minutes, maybe less, I get the red rings. If I turn it off and back on again, everything seems fine, and as far as I can tell, games play all right, DVDs seem to as well, though perhaps I need to play games longer to find out (been busy with DS and PS2 lately, honestly).

Any insight? If it's going to kick the bucket, I wish it'd just do it, especially now when I'm more interested in non-360 games. My warranty lasts until June or so.
 
Can some techies tell me if this is a horrible idea? I, essentially, want my XBOX360 plugged in, in my living room, for my Netflix -- although gaming would be a plus too. My router is in my bedroom which is, counting corners, almost fifty feet away.

I was looking at the $80 (on sale) wireless adaptor, but I've heard from some friends that the wireless connection is fairly subpar when it comes to the HD vids, if not even the standard def.

Would it be more true-CAG of me, as well as a better connection, to purchase a fifty foot or so cable for a direct plug in? Is this going to completely degrade my signal? Do they make these cables on the cheap(ish)?

Any tips would be appreciated!
 
That's generally how it's seen. The wireless adapter is seen to have fits of lag from time to time due to possible outside interference, while using an Ethernet cable gives you the best speed you can pull from your connection.

I went with a cable that I got from Target for $7 and it's more than 36 feet. Really, the wireless adapter is too damn expensive for what it is considering you could buy ones for the PC at half the price. Shame we can't use those.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']If I restore "initial setup" will I get all the trial arcade demos back that came with my 360?[/quote]

Can't you just download them? :s I'm confused as to why you care. I don't know the answer to your question, though.
 
Well certain downloads are no longer available like the Lego SW II demo. I just wanted to know in case I wanted to restore the 360 to its original state.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Well certain downloads are no longer available like the Lego SW II demo. I just wanted to know in case I wanted to restore the 360 to its original state.[/quote]

Okay. Well, unless you've got some kind of DVD media that you pop in to complete an initialization or it re-downloads stuff from a server, then no, I don't think it's likely that it would restore any demos or content that were originally on the hard drive. It would just restore the initial settings.

I can't comment on it with any authority, but I thought since no one else has replied...
 
Well this is encouraging. I'd WAY rather get a $12 cable than the $90 wireless. Especially if the connection is better. I do have two locations that I play/use my XBOX in, but I already have to physically move it anyway, so whats the hassle in plugging in one more little cable.
 
or if you have a laptop that is connected to the internet via wi-fi you can use a crossover cable from the laptop to the 360 to connect using the laptop's connection
 
If there's a Fry's near you, you can pick up a CAT5 cable for as long as you need for roughly the same price as Monoprice. If not, Monoprice will be your best bet and you can pick whichever pretty color you'd like.
 
I've got a 100' cable running from my router through the wall, through the attic, back down through the garage, and through my living room wall into the 360.

You're not going to run into any signal degradation with a 50' cable. I think 300' is the max you want to run with one cable.

I also got mine from monoprice and got it in black to match the other wires running to my TV stand.
 
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