Xbox 360 Console Core System (Includes: Xbox 360, wired controller and composite TV connection & SCART adaptor)

A multi media experience

Xbox 360, shown with levitating wireless controller

In comparison to the Darth Vader inspired design of the original Xbox, the Xbox 360 a thing of (near) wondrous beauty.

In addition to playing games and movies, the Xbox 360 can stream music and video from a wide variety of electronic devices, including iPods and the Sony PSP.

Get Live

The Xbox 360 offers an online gaming experience via Xbox Live. This allows you to play multi-player Xbox 360 games on the internet via your broadband connection. The service also lets you download--and save on the console's hard drive--new missions, characters and vehicles for your favourite games. You can also shout real-time abuse at your opponents using the Xbox 360 headset

Choose the package that's right for you

The Xbox 360 comes in two different packages: the deluxe package includes a wireless controller, 20GB hard drive, and a number of other accessories. Alternatively, the Core System bundle has a standard wired controller and no hard drive.

Which option is right for you will depend largely on your gaming needs--are you a fan of downloadable content? Do controller wires upset the feng shui of your living room? There are pros and cons for each option: for instance, if you do plump for the Core System you will have to buy a separate memory unit if you want to save your games. Likewise, if you opt for the deluxe version you will need a steady supply of AA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack to power the wireless controller.

The Xbox 360 is only backwards compatible with a limited number of original Xbox titles, and a hard drive is required for this function.

Now the items such as the HD AV cable is really only needed for a HD TV, so right out I knew I didn’t need that, the mini remote I kind of wanted because I had the Original Xbox and DVD playback kit and thought I would need one for the 360 to watch my DVD's but I did my research and found out I could use the controller to operate the DVD functions of the 360, the mini remote is there if you want it for DVD but its more aimed at using a Media Centre PC which I don’t have, so I don’t need that item either, the headset also is cool but if you don’t have or intend to take the 360 online then its pretty much useless, I am sure some games will be enabled to have voice commands set for offline gaming (Rainbow Six 3 on the Xbox for example) but I always felt kind of silly shouting out commands at my TV set (I’m sure other people in the house must have thought I was nuts). The wireless controller is a great idea and I wanted one a lot but I got to thinking how the pads lasts for 25 hours (it does warn hours before its out of power apparently) and I didn’t want to have to stop gaming and leave it charge for a while, and I know I could buy a play and charge kit and keep on going but as I said if, like me, your on a budget and you just spend nigh on £300 on a games system (and that’s before you buy any games) the last thing you want is to splash out on more expensive hardware, so it turned out that the wired pad was a selling point with me for with core pack.

Now we come to the biggest decision I had to make when choosing a package.......the hard drive, I knew I wanted, no needed this (for backwards compatibility. I decided a while back I wasn’t going to get a launch title seeing how they were nothing special, if you want my advice play the stellar Xbox games you already have and wait till spring for the real next generation games, incidentally you'll need to download an update onto your 360 hard disk from Xbox Live, if like me you don’t have Xbox Live just go to Microsoft’s homepage and download the patch, burn it to disk and pop it in the 360) to play games like Halo 2 and Half - Life 2.

When you weigh up the facts you cant deny that if you go for the core pack and buy the hard drive separate it will cost the same as the premium pack only without the free (but perhaps unnecessary) items, I knew in essence that I’m going to pay the same and get less, initially, but I thought on it and realised that if I went with the premium pack I would still want to buy the play and charge kit for the wireless controller and I knew the extra items that came in the box…..would stay in the box, the things I would actually be using I would get with either pack, I would get a 360 with a wired controller (no charging) and I would just have to get a hard drive to play my original Xbox games.

The bottom line is that your going spend 280 either way if you want to play your old games (the core pack is aimed at people who want just to play 360 games and not old ones, granted but you will still need a memory card or hard disk to save game progress), which most people will (even if you didn’t have the first Xbox the great thing with the 360 is that you can still, provided you have a hard drive, pick up the classics like Halo 1 and 2), and if you go with the premium pack your still likely to want to buy a play and charge kit, so depending on your needs you could argue that you could save money either way, if you just want a 360 for your bedroom and a normal TV go with the core pack and hard drive, you'll get value on money, if you have all the latest gear to take advantage of the 360's power, go premium, you'll get value for money.

One advantage the 360 core pack has right now is that your much more likely to get one for new years than a premium pack, only one minor regret about not getting the premium that I have, is that the premium has a chrome disk tray and the cores disk tray is just plain. Since it launched over in North America and here in Europe I have been to countless websites, forums etc and feel I know as much about the 360 as I possibly could without having it yet.