Tales from a Xbox 360 owner

(tags Xbox 360, game, hardware, Idolmaster)

I actively pursued some personal hands-on Xbox 360 knowledge by asking a co-worker about his setup. He's an FPS-on-PC and action/adventure game guy, and not at all a typical Japanese gamer. So here are my questions in italic, and his answers:

• Is 20GB enough? Sure, I delete demos quickly and Japan doesn't have a video service like in the U.S. so its enough.
• Are game saves big? No, just a couple hundred KB per game.
• How about downloading items? Yeah, I bought some map packs, in the tens of megabyte range. The Idolm@ster stuff is which is "8 catalogs" is a total of about 2GB (see wikipedia).

(photo from 「ビビッドなチャイナ服が登場！ 「アイマスカタログ」第8号配信」 2007-08-29)

• Can I use a VGA LCD monitor? Sure, you can use the VGA cable, no fuss. But why do 4:3 when 16:9 is so much better?
• Will it output "1080p" onto a widescreen LCD monitor? No games support it so why would you need that? Make sure to get a 20 inch or bigger display if you wanna go widescreen.
• Is it good to have HDMI on a monitor? Yeah if you want to use the DVD upscaling function. PS3 has the same requirement, no DVD upscaling on non-HDMI connections.
• Wireless (controller)? Batteries go pretty fast so buy rechargables like "enerloop" or you can try out the "Charge and Play Kit". I've lost power to my controller a number of times.
• Did you service your Xbox and if so how many times? I sent it in just one time a couple of months ago. (I think he has an early Xbox 360.)
• 65 nm process Xbox? I haven't heard any confirmation about this yet, and though the heat sink configuration might have changed in new Xboxes doesn't mean its a 65 nm.

Then he recommended some games. He imports foreign games so he's just like me, but only when he confirms (through official announcment) that they work on the console (ie region-free). For example he bought BioShock the U.S. version and complains that the English subtitles don't follow the dialogue exactly. He plays it in English, and but he doesn't talk to me in English, huh. He gives a thumbs down on Lost Planet. "Play it at your own risk." Huh, but that's not stopping me. "Avoid Trusty Bell, it has a bad (weak) story." Gears of War is good. "Did you know if you change your language they speak English?" Ooh thanks for that info. What about Project Sylpheed? "Um, well its okay :-/" Viva Pinata? "Not bad." "I don't completely finish games, I just keep on moving on to the next ones. :-)"

Upcoming games? Ace Combat 6 (ACE COMBAT 6 解放への戦火), his thumb's up. Beautiful Katamari (ビューティフル塊魂). I asked why?!? Because "its fun and I played it on the PS2". Halo 3? No, I'm not getting that (?!?! why not!). Lost Oddessy? "Hm, maybe." Assassin's Creed (アサシン クリード) Yes. How about those newly announced Xbox Live Arcade games (shmups)? "Hm, well." I think he was feigning interest there just to humor me.

Now I have about two weeks before the Xbox 360 comes to my home. OMG it seems like I can't wait. I need to check if my Xbox 1 games are compatible. I need to make sure I can secure a Halo-edition Xbox at my local store. I need to really make sure I don't want the Elite edition. Will I buy a JP Halo 3 or wait till more info about English-capable version? Aaah!