Let me go on the record by saying that I have never been an Xbox fan, whether it was the original Xbox or the Xbox 360. Now, I may get flamed for this, but keep in mind, I love Sony and I love Nintendo but I’m not a fan boy. To me, being a fan boy would be having not ever owned the system and talking thrash about it, which I haven’t done. In fact, I have owned more than four Xboxes in the past but that’s a story for another day. I will say however, that Microsoft blew my expectations away with this beautiful little number.
Enter the new Xbox 360 250GB Kinect-Ready System.
To be brief on how I obtained this system, it was actually by luck. I had originally owned an Xbox 360 120GB Elite System which I had to sell when my launch PlayStation 3 finally got the yellow light of death. For a few months I didn’t have an Xbox system and for awhile I was fine with it. However, I eventually started to miss having one. I had a breakthrough one weekend. My parents had bought a home theatre system from Target on impulse and included in the package was the Xbox 360 “Slim” as some people have lovingly begun to call it even though that isn’t the official name. They informed me that they had no need for it so they let me have it for free.
First let’s start off with the body. It is shiny black, very comparable to the launch PlayStation 3′s body. The only problem, as was the same with the PS3, is that it’s a fingerprint and dust magnet. It’s very hard to keep it clean. I tried gently wiping it with a slightly damp cloth and even then it was hard to keep dust off. This doesn’t bother me so much though. I know some people that would probably be driven absolutely nuts by this. It is differently shaped this time around, the shape is kind of hard to describe; it’s more concave. It’s something you have to see in order to fully understand. Also included are large vents on the side; I’m assuming that this is to allow for better air flow to keep the system from overheating. I would also like to mention that the fans on this new system are whisper quiet, unlike the older models. In fact, after playing Fable II for about 2 hours I had yet to hear almost any noise at all.
Everything on the unit itself is touch sensitive, again very similar to the launch PlayStation 3 and the system also makes a very cool, very futuristic, ringing noise whenever the system is activated or the tray is opened.
Lastly, let’s get to the added bonuses. I’ve covered aesthetics for the most part but what are some other features that make this worth your buy? Well for one, this model of the Xbox 360 finally comes with Wi-Fi built into the unit. I may again get flamed for this, but you couldn’t imagine how frustrated I would get when I would have to drag my system into a room with wired internet connection just to play on Xbox Live. I truly hated it. I understand that they sold an adapter for USD $100 but I don’t feel that should have been necessary. Well not this time around, I can enjoy blasting people away on MW2 anywhere in the house.
Also included in this model are a whopping 5 USB ports which I find to be very awesome. There are 2 located in the front and 3 in the back. Not very many people are aware of this but did you know that it is possible to charge certain USB powered devices such as cell phones? I usually used my PS3 or Elite to charge my phone whenever I couldn’t find the wall charger. Another addition to this model is that it is Kinect ready. I’m not too keen on the PlayStation Move or Kinect but I am sure for many people this will be a great addition. As far as firmware goes, it still runs like an ordinary Xbox 360, just with new features added to the unit to make it more efficient than the older models. Did I also mention that the power brick is much smaller than before? No longer will it take up your entire TV stand.
Now the biggest question of them all, does this 250GB model of the Xbox 360 System still get the dreaded Red Ring of Death? That answer is yes; sadly it does. However, it’s no longer the Red Ring of Death, it’s now called the Red Dot of Death. Don’t fear though! Microsoft really took this into consideration and put a great new feature into the system. If the unit feels that it isn’t getting proper ventilation, it will flash a warning sign on the screen and automatically turn itself off until it is placed in a better ventilated area. For many who may lack common sense this is a godsend, because it can tell them that they obviously don’t have the unit stored in a properly ventilated area.
Overall, I’d say that Microsoft really impressed me with this system. It’s chrome-like body is very sexy and pleasing to the eyes. It’s quiet, and doesn’t seem to be as clunky or as loud as the older models. It has enough new features to entice any gamer to want to upgrade and when you first activate your system, Microsoft even throws in a free month of Xbox Live, which I thought was very cool. Is this worth the upgrade? Yes, very much so. For those wanting to get a sexier, more energy efficient console, you should definitely consider this one. For all of you Halo fans out there, there is a special edition 250GB “Slim” Xbox 360 coming out alongside the release of Halo Reach. This unit will have a different color design as well as sounds from the game in place of the futuristic sounds on this unit.
It may be a fuzzy picture but this redesign still looks beautiful.
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Check out Patrick O’Rourke’s impressions of EA’s latest NHL game, NHL 2011.
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@Heavy
What are you even doing here? You clearly hate the 360, so why are you commenting, shouldn’t you be somewhere playing Uncharted?
Get lost kid, grown ups are talking.
@Todd Packard.
I was talking about 1st person shooters, but it’s funny that you include uncharted on the shooters, and MGS on the next list, not very smart comment.
@Patrick O’Rourke
My point was that the only reason to have an X-box is for some 1st person shooters, so… thanks for confirmin that I was right, and I’d play Killzone 3 over all the shooters that Xbox has to offer, even if I don’t like 1st person shooters
@Heavy
I wasn’t saying you were wrong, I like first person shooters and I like Microsoft’s FPS exclusive franchises. That’s why Xbox is my logical platform of choice. Aren’t both MGS and Uncharted shooters? Third person but still shooters.
@Heavy
OK that is a very common misconception, saying that 90% of 360 exclusives are shooters is factually inacurate, just do a little research, its not even close.
Now if we just look at the bigger more blockbuster exclusives then a much higher percentage of them are shooters, however, the situation is the same for PS3.
SOCOM
Uncharted
Haze
Resistance
Killzone
The only thing left worth playing on PS3 that are not shooters is
GT5
LBP
MGS4
GOW3
Heavy Rain
When you looks at that percentage its about the same for 360.
Exclusives worth playing vs exclusives worth playing and they are about the same as far as shooters vs other genre.
@Patrick O’Rourke
And which franchises are those? The only why I don’t own an X-box is because 90% of the exclusive games are shooters, and lets face it, PS3 has passes the X-Box in MANY categories
@Heavy
Halo, Mass Effect (I realize that Mass Effect 2 was announced on the PS3 Recently, but If I want to play it first I imagine it will always be initially released on Xbox), Gears Of War, Codename Kingdoms. I’m not trying to get into a game naming battle here. I’ve grown up playing Xbox, I’m familiar with Microsoft franchises and I’m really looking forward to Halo: Reach.
I realize these are shooters but shooting games are my favoritr genre.
The Xbox is and will always be the only place to play Halo on.
Good article, one problem though, there is no real proof that the RDOD is an issue still, all we know is that there is a dot instead of a ring to indicate hardware/overheating issues if they were ever to occur.
To say the RROD still exists in the form of a dot is both shifty and unprofessional and borders on sleazy. That is a deal breaker for a lot of people, so you cant just say it exists if we dont know for sure that it does.
As for the so called occurrences of the RDOD that have shown up on Youtube, that is hardly what I would call reliable information. I would have been surprised if some douche didnt claim they got the RDOD and stick a video up on the internet. We also saw tests on the internet of the 360 slim being put in “heated” situations along side a PS3 slim, and the PS3 slim always over heated before the 360. If you take the claims that RDOD is still out there seriously, then you have to take those test seriously as well, after all they are both, “on the internet”.
@Todd Packard
Didn’t Anthony just say that the dot would prevent the system from overheating? That the dot would occur to avoid the Red Ring of death and prevent the console from overheating. It’s common sense that the console has the ability to overheat, throw a blanket over it and see what happens. The light is just their to prevent it.
With the rumor of the PS3 320 GB reducing it’s price, I don’t think it’s time to Downgrade to an X-box
@HeavY
I don’t see how it’s a downgrade really, both systems have their strengths and weaknesses.
The Xbox has the franchises I want to play right now, that’s why I’m an Xbox Gamer
@Paul
Unfortunately that seems to be a theme right now with consoles, redesigns. The sad thing is the market actually falls for it most of the time. This does look like a really nice redesign though, if I needed a new Xbox or was thinking of getting one, I’d definitely pay the extra money for this sleek version.
Oh look, the same hardware that come out in 2006 except slim!