XBOX Live Question

[Gene Kiniski]

I'm looking to get a 360 shortly and when I do I want to get XBOX Live. I know it comes with 1 month Live Gold, but after that what should I do? If I looked up correctly then 12 months/1yr of Gold is about $60, right? Or am I reading something wrong? Help me out with understanding the whole XBOX Live thing altogether.

[Guest Miyagi]

that's correct. You may even be able to get the 12+1 month free (obviously still $60). Some retailers carry that (Best Buy, Target, etc)

[Gene Kiniski]

Do I just go in and buy one of those "gamer cards"?

[Guest Miyagi]

Yeah, just buy the cards that they sell, scratch off the back to reveal the code and enter that on the screen when prompted.

A note about the Microsoft points (to buy content on XBL Marketplace):

If you buy a lot of points at once, it will be the same as if you bought the same # of points in small amounts...

--$20 for 1600 points

--$50 for 4000 points

[zero]

You don't have to buy a card, you can purchase your subscription through XBox Live as well. When you hook up the 360 to the internet, you'll be on XBox Live Silver, which is free. You can go into the Marketplace and purchase a Gold subscription through that if you have a credit card.

[oldskool]

Don't forget to check eBay for deals I got my 13 months at almost half price.

[The Kraig]

And it's Xbox Live...XBOX aren't initials my friend, nor it is a Japanese heel.

Basically all you need for online playing is: Xbox 360 Headset (should come with the premium 360 pack), an internet connection (via ethernet cable or via wireless network using the 360 Wireless Network Adapter which is NOT cheap) and an Xbox Live Gold subscription (which can be bought using your credit/debit card via your 360's internet connection).

Of course, if you're buying a 360 now, you may want to save your pennies for this beast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_Elite.

In the UK Xbox Live is £40 (about $80, $85 Canadian) a year, but it's only $50 in the US, so should be like $55 Canadian. I'm not sure why there's no universal price in US dollars, it seems we Brits/Europeans pay more for less content right now, thanks to a big chunk of North American-exclusive video marketplace things. But alas...

[alldaws1]

You don't have to buy a full year either. You can get smaller packages of 3 and (I think) 6 months.

[The Kraig]

Yeah, for those people who timeshare their 360.

[alldaws1]

Or just for those of us who aren't addicted to our gaming consoles

I tend to go through spells. A few weeks I'll really be into it but then my interest will waver and I'll barely play at all for a month or so and then slowly pick it back up.

[Gene Kiniski]

Yeah, for those people who timeshare their 360.

[zero]

Yeah, for those people who timeshare their 360.

Thanks a ton, guys. Is there anything else I really need to know? Or need?

Personally, I think the 360 Elite is a waste of an extra $80 you could spend on games. Unless you plan to use the 360 to do a lot of HD Movie downloading or your really need an HDMI port, save yourself the money. Just a suggestion on that front though. Other than that, get the plug and play rechargeable battery pack, the 360 controller demolishes batteries.

[The Kraig]

If I was buying a 360 today, I'd get the Elite. Because I'm constantly deleting stuff from my 360 HD right now thanks to game data, videos, demos and arcade games. I don't even bother putting music on it because it would take too much space (and the fact I can stream anyways).

Not to mention it's black, making it automatically badass.

[Gene Kiniski]

Let me ask this now - if I get the Xbox am I able to just "plug and play" or do I need all sorts of other stuff to hook up my broadband?

[Cactus Drags]

You've already been told what you need. Ethernet cable or wireless adaptor (obviously you need a wireless router for the latter).

[Gene Kiniski]

I realize that, Dragsy, I was just trying to double check I got it right. I have wireless and the ethernet cable in my house so I was wondering if I could just plug the cable into the Xbox or something of that sort.

[Cactus Drags]

...what else would you do with the cable?

[Gene Kiniski]

...what else would you do with the cable?

[The Kraig]

There's a connection test wizard in the 360 dashboard (which is like the 360 equivalent to a Windows desktop) which should connect you automatically by assigning DNS and IP and whatever else it does. Any problems and it tells you what might be wrong with your set-up.

And yeah, the ethernet cable goes in the back of the 360 as Drags was trying to say.

[Gene Kiniski]

Anyone remember that website you goto to setup your Windows Live stuff? I seem to recall it's something like xbox.com/mypc or something, but I can't remember. I can't exactly get on Live to look it up again either.

Also, does your Zone really make a difference on anything?

Edited May 29, 2007 by Gene Kiniski