Xbox Accessories
There have been several huge runs with the Xbox, where people just can’t put the controller down and stop playing. Halo 2 grossed over $125 million it’s opening day. That’s more than Spider-Man 2 grossed it’s opening day last year. Video games have become more popular than movies, and they continue to grow in how expensive they are to play.
When you first purchase an Xbox console, you just get the console and a controller to play with. If you’re lucky, they will throw in a game for you so you don’t have to thwart out $50 for every game that you own. Yes! I get one for free. The controller is actually a great place to start when it comes to accessories. The controller is the biggest thing that you must have to play console games. There are such a variety of them too. There are big ones, fat ones, small ones, round ones, wireless ones, green ones, black ones; I think you are getting the gist of it here. I was unfortunate enough to purchase my console when they had these HUGE controllers that could barely fit in your hands. Well, my hands at least. (Please no small hands jokes.) Finally I heard that Microsoft was coming out with smaller controllers. I went right to the store when I knew they were out to purchase four brand new controllers. To my dismay, the marketing genius Microsoft was raking me over the coals; each controller was $30. I could only afford two, and I had to be happy with it. At the time, I didn’t know that you could purchase controllers from other companies besides Microsoft that would work in the Xbox system. However, this is the case indeed, and usually these controllers are better and cheaper. Some of them even look cooler! (Do a google search for “Xbox Controllers” and it should bring up numerous places you can order them. You can also get one or two different ones, other than Microsoft’s, at Best Buy or Radio Shack, or other places of that nature.) EBGAMES.Com is my favorite place to purchase accessories. They do not discriminate against any product producer. They have a wide variety of controllers, and will fit whatever need you are looking for at an affordable price. Now, when purchasing a controller, there are two things you need to remember:
1. You want a small controller. No matter how big your hands are (stop laughing at me) you will find it easier to control your characters in game with a smaller controller. They are just designed better.
2. You do not want a wireless controller. You don’t need to sit across the room to play your Xbox. If you do, you’re just at a disadvantage anyway. It takes a millisecond longer for the controller to communicate when it is wireless. If you are in a game that needs fast reactions, then wireless controllers will just not get it done for you. Every fraction of a second counts in those types of games. (i.e. Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon)
Luckily, the Xbox saves to an internal drive, so you do not need to purchase memory units. If you want to watch movies on your Xbox, since it has DVD capabilities, then Microsoft tries to tell you that you must get an Xbox Remote Control. However, it is not necessary. You can use your controller to navigate through your DVD Menus. The remote control makes life watching movies on your Xbox INFINITELY easier, but it’s not completely necessary. If you have money to throw around you can always just go purchase a DVD player.
There is only one more set of accessories that we need to discuss. It’s the accessories that you need to play Xbox Live with. Xbox Live is, without doubt, the reason Xbox stands above the Playstation 2. It allows you to play with people over a broadband connection in games with intense strategy, simulation, and tactics. Everyone who plays Xbox Live gets hooked with the immense capabilities that it contains. There are a few things that you need in order to play it though. First off, you need to get a broadband connection. That means you need either DSL, or a cable modem. (Cable is recommended.) Next, you need an Ethernet cable to connect to your Xbox. Once you’re plugged in, you can sign up for an account. You need to purchase an Xbox Live account. You can either sign up through your Xbox, and pay so much a month, or you can save a bit of money and buy a 12-month card at a local video game store, or entertainment store. I prefer the latter, as you don’t have to worry about it for a year. Once you do that, you get to pick a name, if it’s not already taken, that everyone will call you by. It’s an alias, or gamertag as Microsoft likes to call it. There’s only one thing left before you’re frag’in your friends, or racing against a total stranger. You need to get an Xbox Live Headset. This is so you can talk to everyone online. You can play without one, but it’s been my experience that people won’t play with you if you can’t talk back to them. These are much like controllers in the fact that Microsoft will try to sell you a cheap looking one, but there are better ones that will work out there for less money. Look around, and you will find one that suits you nicely. It’s good to note that the Microsoft one will break if you have that one. It’s just a matter of time.
All in all Xbox Accessories really aren’t that bad. The bad thing is dreading the Xbox 360, because when it comes out I’ll be forking over an extra $100 just to get the basic accessories for it. Thank you to whoever got me hooked on video gamesâÂ?¦. Yeah thanks a whole heck of a lot.
