written by owen on 2024-Dec-26.

I have not bought a new console in like 2 years so I looked around and bought myself an Xbox 360 E. I am buying it on Amazon because I cannot seem to find any for sale locally. I thought I would be getting a switch or PS4 at this point but there are just too many negatives surrounding the current console generation (8th, 9th). I did enjoy the time I spent playing NoManSky. Though a single game was not enough to convince me. I calculated that I would spend way less buying a retro console since I have basically have no FOMO. So buying something released in 2006 is as good as buying the latest hype.

Added to fact that I skipped on a lot of the old+HD games released in the 2007-2014 - 7th gen - in favour of playing the Wii era games. This "new to me" console will allow me to play those until the xbox360 eventually of RRD. I am only playing 1 game in each series. I only have so much time to allocate to video games these days so I want to play the best that are out there - not necessarily the newest or prettiest. I still cannot believe there were like 6 assassins creed games on 360. I mostly play games offline, the last game I played religiously online was MW3 and I got my fill of that until it shutdown.

I wish I could use one of the modern Xbox controllers with the old 360 console but I guess we are still living in that world where things don't get better over time. Things just go sideways. Matt suggested I purchase a Wingman XB2 - I will bookmark this for a later date Though I would rather not have anything sticking out of the console.

I made sure to get a console that has the built in harddrive - 250 gb should be enough as I will be playing most games to completion and then deleting them. Based on research installing 360 games to the hard drive improves loading times. I don't know - so they say.

So far I have acquired 21 games (some multi-packs). While looking at an additional 8 to round off the games I want to play. I am getting them all now so that I don't have to worry about buying them later in 2025 fearing inflation/sanctions/WW5. Plus you never know what the prices on retro stuff will be in 6 months. I have never played any of these games before so I will need to adopt a strategy which involves playing them all on easy, only the main quests unless I find the game interesting. The way I am, I could be on this project for approximately 3 to 4 years - no point in savoring the experience.

The hard drive in the xbox360E should be about 250gb. My estimate is that if each game installed is roughly 8gb then I should be able to install 30 games before running out of space. At least that's my guess. If I had bought a modern console I would be looking at a total of 600$ with only 5 games. If I bought a new Xbox there is no point in playing old games on the modern Xbox. The extra hassle of interacting with the modern stuff is not worth the effort.

I don't plan on collecting games. I plan to do the same as I did with the PS2: simply get a bunch of the best games on the platform and play them little by little over time. Picking up a few extras that I may have missed along the way. This way I save money and I dont need to be constantly looking out of new things.

I was initially leaning towards PS4 but I have a distaste for the generation of "pro" consoles. Pro consoles are the upper level of anti consumer evil. Another problem with PS4 is that a lot of its games are ported which creates this weird combination of confusion and cannibalization. Alot of these games originated on the PS2/Xbox. I would never get a PS3. Fts. Worst console ever made.

The PS5 selling fast loading times as a feature instantly brought me back to the terrible load times of the PS3 and the methods they used to hide it. It's all ancient history now. I now realize that I did not even blog about the PS2! Will have to write an article about it at some point since I have had it for over 10 years now.

I am always surprised when some of these brand new games are cheaper than old 360 games. Makes you wonder if upgrading to the newer console would be cheaper.

Not even sure which I should play first. Xbox360 has alot of FPS shooter games which are hard to avoid so I picked up a few of those. Triple pack games are an interesting feature of the xbox360. Saved me time. It is unlikely that I would play 3 games in the same series unless they are really short. But some packs have 3 separate games that are each worth playing by themselves.

I plan to start with AsCreed 2, FarCry2 and Borderlands. Playing these in parallel. Then either GTA5 or Skyrim. I might get sucked into one of them. It's hard to tell which will grab my interest. I am not really sure. Video gaming never really works out to plan when I have access to all this games at one time. Wish me luck.

Price List

running total; $385 + shipping costs roughly $100
Total games: 20/30

Rage - $5.98 - 3 disc
Ultimate Stealth Triple Pack (Thief, Hitman: Abs, Deus Ex: HR) - $12.99 - 3 disc
Mass Effect 3 - $6.28
Fallout: New Vegas - $10
Red Dead Redemption - $28
Sega Alien: Isolation - $32
Forza Motorsport 4 (Essentials Edition) - $15
Far Cry Compilation - (FC2, fc3, fc3 bd) - $18 - received = 3 disc
2K Essentials Collection - (bioshock, borderlands 1, xcom) - $13 - received - 3 disc
Assassin's Creed - Ezio Trilogy Edition (ac 2, ac bh, ac r) - $16 - received - 3 disc
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - $9 - received
Grand Theft Auto V - $15 - received = 2 disc
XBOX 360 E 250GB Console (Renewed) - $169 - waiting

Conclusion

I should have bought everything in one box if I had known about thevideogamecompany but all's well that ends well. If I had found a local seller I could have saved some money but no such luck. I think $500 usd is a good budget for what I got. It will probably take me 5 years to play all these games. I just hope the renewed xbox doesn't die of heat death before I get my full use out of it. I will write more articles on my experience as time goes by - if I remember to do so.

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