Favorite Games: LEGO series, Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Saints Row series, GTA series.
This is another incredible piece of gaming hardware, but got quickly phased out by PC's and their prices, but it's the games and services the device had! Yet this is the only Xbox console to have some valuable exclusives, but I did not get to play all of them yet. One of these games is Saints Row. The framerate in the game is not the best (this generation and the two generation before of consoles were well known for having framedrops) and so are the bugs, but it managed itself to be a really good GTA clone with a good story which is real fun.
Back at the console. This device has many unique models (the white ones being known as the cheap models). Early cheap models shipped with very low storage or without storage, and for that reason they have memory card slots which expanded the storage (weirdly enough this was removed for a long time but came back when the Xbox Series X was released). The early models had a high failure rate which resulted in the well known problem: The Red Ring of Death, which is identical to the PS3's yellow light of death.
It was common for consoles (and is now again) to be marketed as standing vertically instead of lying horizontally. since this device use a tray for discs, I wouldn't try playing games vertically. The PS3 however has no problems doing this.
The 3 main models are easily distinguishable by the looks. The first model is the one I have (Jasper V2), which is huge for a game console (yet thinner than the NES) and features a 240GB HDD and two memory inputs and the most I/O. Most I/O ports being USB ports in front, there is a port in the back and below that port is an ethernet connector. This device came with so many display cables for its proprietary connector, the most notable one being the multi AV out which is a mix of composite and component with audio. This Elite model also ships with a lot of other audio video connectors, but I'd recommend using the HDMI if you have enough spots open for that connector. This first model has history of being unreliable but that only seems to be true for models being produced between 2005 and 2008. This device makes quite some noise depending on the game, and the disc drive is seriously loud. It had an external HD-DVD drive released for it, even with certain movies being released for it. Yet I never heard of this specification before... And the format did not last well... So did my power supply a year ago, it had to be replaced after it suddenly stopped working. It also shipped with a Xbox 360 headset, which I never used.
The second model, also known as the Xbox 360 Slim has removed the memory card slots and a usb port (only accessible at the back now), has a different shape and now also comes with glossy material and a kinnect port + Sony / Philips IF digital audio out. No huge external power supply needed anymore (which even had fans!). It makes a sound when turning it on and pressing on the eject button. From here on the models come with built in Wifi.
The third model, also known as the Xbox 360 E looks exactly look the Xbox One, in fact it was just released before the Xbox One. They removed yet another USB port and the optical port, and it now comes with an external power supply again... They say the Red Ring of Death was fixed on this model.
The controllers are mediocre. It's really good for racing games but I hate using it for first person shooters, the Dual Shock layout just does this better in my opinion. They lack some features such as motion controls which the PS3 and Wii controller had. I used one of these controllers to play Skyim on PC for some time, it was doable but after changing to a Dual Shock 4, it was much better. The rumble motor is extreme in these controllers, I'm pretty sure no controller compares to this amount of rumble!