xBox Fans...

[Big Media]

I took advantage of Wal-Mart's xBox deal and picked one up for the Little Media. I know nothing about xBox other than it plays games and shit.

It is an xBox 360 Arcade edition.

I keep seeing hard drives advertised for this thing. For what, does it need a hard drive? How big a hard drive do I need, considering that it is more likely to play the likes of SpongeBob and Lego Batman, than Halo.

What else do you recommend I add to it for an 8 year-old and a 4 year-old?

[fearpeddler]

get one with a hard drive, just buying the arcade edition stand alone, gives you a console, a VERY SMALL memory card, and a controller, some games actually install data so they load faster, you can also download media via netflix or xboxlive to watch on the console, got a nice library of tv and movies on there. You can also stream video from your pc to your tv through the console.

But honestly if you're just buying a system for the kids and have no personal interest in using it other than to play with them on occasion I'd definitely recommend the wii, more family friendly titles in their library, plus all those great nintendo, neo-geo, sega and snk classics from years gone by.....

[Lester]

Concur on the Wii. The kids love it, and momma is currently using it for post-preggo weight loss through EA Sports Activity Personal Trainer and Wii Fit.

[fearpeddler]

I've had all 3 current major consoles on my tv at one point or another.

[Big Media]

We have the Wii and they do love it but my 8-year-old has been wanting an xBox for a while now. The only reason we decided to go ahead and get one was the deal Wal-Mart has been offering, whereby you essentially get the Arcade edition for $99. That deal was too good to pass up. The only thing is, I am clueless as to the capabilities of this system.

I had no idea you could stream Netflix through this thing.

[Lester]

Yup... and I think the PS/3 just picked up the capability as well.

[Scott Reppert]

I've got two radios. One is a GE clock radio from 1985. It gets AM. The other is a SuperRadio 3. It gets FM.

Good night, now...

[fearpeddler]

the ps3 netflix patch will be in the next couple weeks, both systems have always had online rental stores, you're just able to access your netflix account if you have one. in overall usability the ps3 wins as the strongest home accessory just because of the blu-ray and web browser, which xbox lacks both of. but microsoft has that huge library of mediocre games......

[AmpedNow]

The larger the hard drive, the more games and crap you can store and download on it.

I'll have a PS3 eventually, since it doubles as a Blu-Ray player.

[fearpeddler]

another bonus of ps3 vs xbox, microsoft makes you use their specific hard drives, if you want to upgrade the ps3 just head to best buy and get a new sata for it...

[Lester]

I wish the PS/2 were that easy. I still haven't figured out how to format one.

[Lee]

I'll be the proud owner of a PS3 soon.

I wanted a Wii in the worst way because of all the old-school Nintendo and Sega games you could download for it. Why spend 50 bucks on a game when you could download all those old games for a fraction of what a new game would be?

[Dave Loudin]

I've got two radios. One is a GE clock radio from 1985. It gets AM. The other is a SuperRadio 3. It gets FM.

Good night, now...

AM on the SuperRadio is almost pointless, now. Nobody is using the NRSC mask that the SuperRadio's "wide" setting worked with, are they? Between IBOC hash and Auction 84 pop-guns hitting the air, I can't get much clean reception anymore.

/end cranky old man mode

[The People's DJ]

I'll be the proud owner of a PS3 soon.

Welcome to the family.