Buying a Xbox 360 Console in 2018 - Hardware & Game Recs

[Jagosaurus]

Title says it all, I'm looking to pick up a 360 in January. This is a console I have a lot of time with (due to roommates and friends) but have never personally owned one. I picked up a PS2 personally (very similar situation) after they had been out for about 10 years. Time to repeat the cycle

Hunting Hardware
Anything special I should watch out for regarding harware? I know about the RROD so I am thinking the latest S or E model is the best route. Assuming the E would have the least mileage as it was the latest version. Also the 250 GB or 320 GB HDD versus the 4GB. Looks like those can be had on ebay for ~$100 with the power supply and a controller. That seems reasonable.

Assuming it will be smart to pick up a controller battery pack charger versus eating batteries. Recs there?

Games
Next step is digging into the "best of" games lists. I have the most experience with the multiplayer hit games... Halo 3, Gears 1 & 2, CoD WaW, etc. High on my list: Mass Effect series, Dead Space series, Resident Evil Revelations 1-2, Alien Isolation, Left 4 Dead (revisiting), Dead Island, Army of Two (not sure why there ), Rayman Origins & Legends. I am by no means limited to FPS or horror, it is just what my buddies were into so I heard the most buzz surrounding those and watched trailers. I love platformers, action games, strategy, RPGs... really not tied to any specific genres. For some reason I'm not really drawn to Skyrim, Fall Out, or GTA games. I know the library is huge so I need to conduct some research here. Feel free to just list a few of your favorites and point me to a thread, link, etc.

Random
Is Xbox Live dead for the system for multiplayer (if not, any costs)? How about XBLA for downloading indie games?

[isiolia]

Hunting Hardware
Anything special I should watch out for regarding harware? I know about the RROD so I am thinking the latest S or E model is the best route. Assuming the E would have the least mileage as it was the latest version. Also the 250 GB or 320 GB HDD versus the 4GB. Looks like those can be had on ebay for ~$100 with the power supply and a controller. That seems reasonable.

Assuming it will be smart to pick up a controller battery pack charger versus eating batteries. Recs there?

S or E is largely a matter of how you're intending to hook it up. The E revision removed the A/V out and optical jack (and cut down on USB ports), though if you'll just be hooking it up via HDMI anyway it's kind of a moot point. Definitely would not go with the original models though - even setting RRoD failures aside, the earliest iterations didn't have HDMI, and it wasn't until the S that WiFi was integrated.

You do want one with a HDD as well - installs became less optional on 360 games as time went on, and MS intended on HDDs to be an official accessory (there are case kits you can get, but AFAIK they don't work for things like X-Box backwards compatibility).

Play and charge should be fine, though I've always just used AAs.

Games
Next step is digging into the "best of" games lists. I have the most experience with the multiplayer hit games... Halo 3, Gears 1 & 2, CoD WaW, etc. High on my list: Mass Effect series, Dead Space series, Resident Evil Revelations 1-2, Alien Isolation, Left 4 Dead (revisiting), Dead Island, Army of Two (not sure why there ), Rayman Origins & Legends. I am by no means limited to FPS or horror, it is just what my buddies were into so I heard the most buzz surrounding those and watched trailers. I love platformers, action games, strategy, RPGs... really not tied to any specific genres. For some reason I'm not really drawn to Skyrim, Fall Out, or GTA games. I know the library is huge so I need to conduct some research here. Feel free to just list a few of your favorites and point me to a thread, link, etc.

There was thread here that's recent/active with some suggestions.

Random
Is Xbox Live dead for the system for multiplayer (if not, any costs)? How about XBLA for downloading indie games?

Far as I recall the only thing that got shut down so far is the Indie Games program. Far as I've seen, MS seems to be making an effort to kind of keep content between the 360 and XB1 (via backward compatibility), to the point that they're selling repackaged 360 games for XB1. So while, yes, Gold does cost money, far as I know it's still mostly there for the 360.

[Exhuminator]

edit: got ninja'd , no need to post redundant response

[Jagosaurus]

Get first reply. So good it might've killed any discussion . Look forward to Nick's thread. The top mainstream titles will be easy enough to find for the others.

Yeah, great points. I remember being surprised the early models needed a WiFi adapter and were component only. I was our resident "AV techie" in our house back then so I had to run a cat 5 cable and show them how to use component cables (no joke). Good to know nothing to worry there on E & S for me. I'll be using a free HDMI port on my TV.

Sooo... you recommend the larger HDD? The 4GB is definitely cheaper. Assuming some of those games need "day 1" patches. Man... trying to play these years down the road might be an issue... if it isn't already . Now that I know I won't be DLing any games... what's the HDD use? IIRC, you could load parts of game on it for quicker loading.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Sooo... you recommend the larger HDD? The 4GB is definitely cheaper. Assuming some of those games need "day 1" patches. Man... trying to play these years down the road might be an issue... if it isn't already . Now that I know I won't be DLing any games... what's the HDD use? IIRC, you could load parts of game on it for quicker loading.

Honestly, most 360 games I've played have had exceedingly small day-1 patches. Like, a couple MB's at most. Perhaps those are just the games I tend to play on the console, though. I mostly bought a bigger HDD to play stuff like the Dishonored GOTY DLC and other DLC's on-disk that you need to download as if they weren't.

[Segata]

Had my current 360 Slim since 2012 with a 250 GB HDD. With a few digital games and 26 retail games that HDD is nowhere close to full. Still on the positive end of 200GB free.

[isiolia]

Sooo... you recommend the larger HDD? The 4GB is definitely cheaper. Assuming some of those games need "day 1" patches. Man... trying to play these years down the road might be an issue... if it isn't already . Now that I know I won't be DLing any games... what's the HDD use? IIRC, you could load parts of game on it for quicker loading.

I think it's simpler to just get one with a decent size HDD to start with. For the most part, the 360 was designed around a HDD being optional for most games, with the exception being more things like MMOs able to mandate installs. As mentioned, original X-Box games straight up require it as well, and they're one of the only things that specifically require an official drive - many other games can be "installed" to other storage.

As you mentioned, the option is often there to install some data to speed things up. Additionally, MS added the ability to fully install any game to the hard drive and just use the disc as verification. It's not always a performance boost, since the games are typically designed to work around streaming data from disc already...but it could save some wear and tear on the DVD drive I suppose.

There are some later games (particularly) that did end up mandating an install, even just for single player, such as GTAV. Fairly few and far between, I believe, but there are some out there.

All that said, I don't think you need a particularly large HDD for it, especially if collecting discs.

[Melek-Ric]

It is possible buy an original white 360 worry-free from RROD as long as it's the final MOBO revision called "Jasper". Might save you some money because everyone thinks all the white 360 are defective. You can tell from the info on the back of the console. Jasper info: power rating (2V 12.1A) and manufacture date (past Sept. 08). I've had mine since February 2010 and had zero issues with it. I even took it apart last year to deep clean it and there wasn't hardly any dust within it after 6 years.

[Segata]

I had a Jasper. It RROD. Didn't tell Best Buy it RROD (don't think they cared either as they never attempted to test it nor the other people in line..they just took anything) when they had a trade in for 100 bucks and got the Slim 360. It's been purring ever since. Jasper didn't eliminate the issue, just vastly reduced the chance. If I recall the Slims eliminated RROD altogether.

[Jagosaurus]

All good stuff!!!

So oXbox games install the HDD fully? I do plan on using that some as I love my oXbox. Lots of my games there are digital .xbes off HDD only though. Will check the discs I have versus the compatibility list.

Doesn't sound like patching will be much of an issue from yalls' responses. That's a relief. Hypothetically those servers could still be handing them out I guess. Anyone ever run into an issue with a 360 patch needed since the new Gen took over?