Xbox 360 Games: Dec 18, 2009

Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console

By J. Figueroa (Fremont, CA USA) - reviews

Ok, short story about what happened to me.... Saturday, before MW2 came out, my Falcon Elite displayed an E74 error message. My falcon had been "repaired" before due to RROD. So as you all can understand, I was pretty pissed off. Anyway, since amazon claimed this bundle was the "newest" version (newest chip), I decided to take the plunge and get it. My Falcon will be back from Microsoft next week and I plan to sell it, now that I have the MW2 console.

Anyway, so far, this bundle is the "newest version" and a must buy IMO, why? it comes with TWO controllers, a 250G HD and Modern Warfare 2. Reviewers have made arguments about the controllers feeling either smaller or cheap..take it from an actual Elite owner...the controllers or console's obvious built is NOT different than previous Elite versions, someone said something about this console having "too much plastic",so I guess they were refering to the DVD tray; it is now all black, the regular Elite tray is silver, this of course does not mean it is metal, it is still plastic.

Anyway, you will get the following in this bundle: two black controllers, an ethernet cable, a basic video cable (not a componet one), NO HDMI cable, a black headset, and the 250G HD, MW2 regular edition and that's pretty much it.

Now, how do I know this is a Jasper console? The power brick is smaller and the voltage is different compared to the Falcon Elites. It does run smoother and the noise from the DVD drive has been taken down a notch.

I should mention though, that so far, I have been forced to use my Falcon Elite' 120G HD, because Microsoft's customer support claims they are out of the "data transfer kits", that I MUST WARN YOU, now cost $12 and you can only buy it from MS. Quick tip: Microsoft's CS hours are US Eastern time, so, if you call in early, they will have the transfer kits, if you call too late, near their closing time (1:00am US easterm time), they'll claim to be out of kits, trust me, I called them at least 4 times.

Now, about the over all look of the console, honestly, it does look good, but $400 good?? not really. The only reason for anybody to buy this console is the HD storage room, plus the fact that if you do the "math", the bundle is a pretty good deal, because a normal Elite will cost you $300, that's with only one controller and no game. Anyway, if you have a 120G Elite with plentyof HD space; this bundle is a matter of wanting to upgrade to a bigger HD, having a broken/malfunctioning Elite like mine or simply having the cash to spend.

Hope this helps.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Xbox 360 Arcade

By M. Fields (ne) - reviews

This review is in reference to the 512 MB Jasper chipset Arcade XBox 360..

This is a very good strategy for Microsoft to push the newer Jasper chipset through the "Arcade" pipeline...first. It makes sense that MS would make a barebones version available to those who are currently experiencing the RRoD and do not want to ship off their console to McAllen, TX to only end up receiving someone elses refurbished headache.

Why not offer the the new chipset for for lowest price point SKU? Most everyone had bought either the Pro or Elite versions and already have component cables and headset. The only thing needed would be a reliable console.

MS is simply pushing the older chipsets (Xenon, Zephyr and Falcon) through the Pro and Elite SKU's to clear those inventories before releasing the more efficient Jasper in the more expensive versions.

Just look at it as a way for MS to throttle you in a new way with their poor design and manufacturing processes. If this doesn't work, you can always wait for future chipset Valhalla/Opus.

By the way...whoever thought the Jasper would allow the 360 to run quieter was just fooling themself (and us). The only way that can happen is to install and play the game from the HDD. That is highly unlikely if you have a large library of games that you play frequently and you have limited space on the HDD. Here's to hoping the rumors are true of a 1TB HDD to store all of your media.

Xbox 360 Elite Winter 2009 Lego Batman / Pure Bundle

By jbay - reviews

This is one awesome holiday bundle!!! I got it early because my previous 360 rrod'd and m$ said it would be $100 to fix it. So I went with the elite because the jasper chip that causes more efficient running, less heat and noise overall ... I think. The two games are awesome, two that I wanted. I am 23 by the way, so for anyone that says 12 and under pfft, Lego series games are popular with everyone, and racing games are awesome. Pure is an off road extreme atv game where its all about the tricks you pull. Two very awesome games. I haven't played them yet, but I'm a serious gamer so I watch videos and stuf like that. Xbox Live is THE STANDARD for online gaming now. Unmatched by anything else. It requires a subscription to play, but its worth it!! 1 month ~ $8 (if they still make those), 3 month ~ $20, and 12 month (with bonus month sometimes!) cards ~ $50. Thats about all you need to know.

Oh so in the box is the following:

-Xbox 360 console with the 120 gb HDD

-One wireless controller

-One Xbox Live headset

-One ethernet cable (8 foot)

-AV cable

-Power brick + connector power cable

-2 AA batteries (for controller)

-Holiday edition Pure/ Lego Batman games! (comes in one case, 2 separate discs)