If your kids asked you for Xbox for Christmas or a birthday and you have no idea which model to buy then this quick guide is for you.
My son is a Minecraft fanatic, and I thought that simply downloading the old free version on his iPod would keep him happy. But then Thanksgiving came and after a day of playing on a widescreen TV at my sisters house on her kids Xbox I knew my fate would have an Xbox purchase in the near future.
Here’s what you need to keep in mind when buying an Xbox or any other gaming system:
- BUDGET: if you don’t have a ton of money to spend then the latest and greatest versions of Xbox might be our of the question as they can approach $400 or more. But if you do have money to spend then getting the latest system might actually be cost effective and save you from having to upgrade your kids to a newer system sooner than you want. I’ll explain this shortly.
- GAMES: some games may only work with the latest system (which is Xbox One), others are compatible with this and the prior version (Xbox 360). If you are buying a system so your kids can play a specific game(s) then that’s a huge factor. If you’ve buying a system as a surprise gift and the exact games don’t matter as much to them then your options are more flexible.
- FEATURES: The Xbox One has more features, like a built in Game DVR that allows you to record game play and upload to sites like YouTube without much effort at all. Surprisingly this is what many gamers like to do. This feature is not built onto Xbox 360, but there are some workarounds that take a bit more effort to record game play.
Xbox Game Systems
Xbox One: this is the latest system in the Xbox family that game out in 2013.
Xbox 360: The prior (and still very popular version) is the Xbox 360. If you care to read about the history and in-depth technical details of how each system is constructed then click either of those 2 links ahove.
Does Size Matter?
Each system comes with different configurations, mainly the hard drive size. If you search Amazon you’ll not only see different bundle packages of games that can be purchased as part of your system, but you will as part of the description:
- 4GB
- 500GB
- 1 TB (terrabyte)
This figure means the storage capacity, or built in hard drive size, of the console. But you’re next question is probably “why do I need storage”?
The hard drive is used for:
- Saving games in session (save where you are at in a game)
- Downloading new games – there’s tons of games you can download directly through the Xbox console, some are free but most are paid. When you set up your Xbox you create a Microsoft account that has a credit card attached to it, similar to how the iTunes store works. Then you can purchase games directly from within the console, then the game software gets stored on the hard drive
- Movies: The Xbox Live Marketplace is where you can purchase and download movies directly to your game console, these also get stored on the hard drive.
So the hard drive size you buy with your system affects how much you can do with it. Casual gamers like my son can deal with a smaller hard drive as he only plays a few games and we don’t download any movies. Heavy gamers and movie downloaders probably want a fair sized hard drive.
NOTE: The Xbox 360 and Xbox One have a few USB ports on the back to which you can add an external hard drive or thumb drive to increase your storage capability.
Game Compatibility
Like most other upgrades in life, there will be “things” that only work on the latest system – in this case some games will only work on the Xbox One. But Microsoft does make a ton of money selling games so plenty of games work on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One. This article on Microsoft’s website talks about how most Xbox 360 should be backwards compatible on the Xbox One.
This is why is so important to figure out what games your kids really want to make sure you can not only buy the game but the compatible console to go with it.
So Which System Should I Buy??
Again this comes down to budget and which specific games you want/need to keep your kids happy. So read below and see what fits in your price range. And if you can afford a version of the Xbox One then I’d just buy it as the Xbox 360 is getting more outdated by the day.
Based on current Amazon Pricing as of 11/24/2015
| Console | Price | Details |
| Xbox One 500 GB | $330.98 | Latest console with huge hard drive. Refurbished version also listed on this page for $299.95. |
| Xbox One 500 GB Bundle | $329-$458 | Multiple game bundles available from Gears of War, Lego Movie, FIFA 16, Halo, Assassins Creed, and more. |
| Xbox One 1TB | $399-$459 | Latest Console, Massive Hard Drive. Multiple bundle versions with games like Madden NFL, Gears of War, Fallout 4. Click link to the left to see all bundles and consoles |
| Xbox 360 E 4GB | $184 | This unit is for less serious gamers and movie downloaders as it has a relatively small hard drive size. Still plays the most popular games like Halo, Assassins Creed, Minecraft, Madden NFL |
| Xbox 360 E 500GB Bundles | $230-$300 | Xbox 360 with large 500GB Hard drive. Multiple bundle versions to choose from like Call of Duty. Some come with the Kinect sensor which follows your body movements to control the game. |
Hopefully this chart helps you narrow down which game system to buy. Keep your ears to what you kids are saying they want, and wallets open for the shopping season.
Common Questions
- Can my kids play online with their friends? – In order to do this you need to activate an Xbox Live account, we had a free trial came with our purchase. After the trial runs out I think its a $60/year subscription with Microsoft to keep your ‘Live’ account for online play active. Any of the systems listed above are compatible with Xbox live, so again it comes down to what game the kids want to play.
- What if my hard drive is too small? – If you fill up your hard drive I’ve seen there are external hard drives or simple USB flash drives that you can plug in to incrase your storage capabilities instead of having to upgrade the whole system.
What System did I Buy?
We bought the game system over a year ago and would up with the Xbox 360 E 4GB for a few reasons:
- Price – it was the most affordable system
- Compatibility – plays Minecraft now problem. My only concern is there may be some holiday packs (addons) that only work with the Xbox One – but hopefully they work with Xbox 360
- Hard Drive – we’re only using about 2GB of the drive since the kids mainly play Minecraft and Disney Infinity, both come with disks so the game isn’t stored on the system. We did buy an addon Kinect sensor later and downloaded Fruit Ninja but the kids don’t play that too much
I hope this guide helps you with your purchase! If you have any questions feel free to comment below.
UPDATE 12/29/2015: My son loves watching and learning from Minecraft videos on YouTube and would love to create and edit his own. Now I wish I spent the extra for an Xbox One that comes with the game DVR to make recording game play videos easy. Also the 4GB of space just about ran out since my son has over 100 saved Minecraft worlds on the console. so I told him to clean it up down to 10 worlds which indeed freed up a bunch of space. I also stuck a USB flash drive in the back and was able to move games that we rarely play off the console memory onto the flash drive.