That XBox360

Remembered to call Bratus Pater about which XBox360 model he's buying.

"It's um the Arcade [Major] picked it out because I think it was the cheapest. I ordered it last night"
"Damn. Er you do know it won't play the old XBox games because it needs a hard drive"
"Doesn't it come with one? I thought it did"
"No it comes with a 256Mb memory stick"
"I think you're right, so which games can't he play?"
"The old Xbox ones or any of the new ones that require a hard-drive which isn't many"
"Hmm that's annoying"
"Yeah I thought it might be what with the old previous games being much cheaper"
"I'll have to think about that"

"Is he expecting to go online with it?"
"Yes"
"Ah you do know that none of them come with wireless built-in, your router's downstairs isn't it"
"Yeah, oh wait I'm getting a wireless entertainment bundle with it"
"Is that just an extra controller and maybe a headphone though?"
"I don't know let me look.... can't find it"

"Okay does he want to play with his friends online?"
"Yeah we know there's a subscription something like £4 a month"
"£40 a year so yeah. Might want to have a look at your order you can probably get the 60Gb version for a little more and it'll save buying a hard-drive later"
"It says it's been packed up, but there's a number to call I'll try them"

later...

"I can't cancel as it's been dispatched. The guy said none of them come with wireless built-in but I can get an accessory for £60 to do that"
"£40 from Amazon"
"Oh. And he recommended a hard-drive as Microsoft like to update the menu system and want to put in on a hard-drive he said I could probably pick up a second-hand 20Gb from eBay for £30 or so"
"About £40 new from Amazon, or Play I can't recall"
"Oh. The network connection is Ethernet isn't it?"
"I think so I'd be surprised if it isn't"
"Well it's no really hardship to run a cable up to his bedroom"
"Mmm what's your wireless signal like upstairs?"
"Not good"
"Yeah might be for the best"
"I think we might look at getting a hard-drive for him later it looks like they just slot on"
"Yeah they want to tempt you with the cheap basic package then get you to buy the extra bits later. Of course you have to buy the Microsoft-own hard drives"
"Oh yeah, wouldn't expect different"
"Of course this is a long-distance transaction so you have however long it is to change your mind"
"Yeah I'm looking at their returns policy at the moment"

Gods you've got to love my uncle. Anyway it's Gamestation he's getting it from and looking at their returns policy he can pop into Kiddy tomorrow and return it for a full refund and probably pick up the 60Gb while he's there if he decides to... hmm it's £40 more for a bundle that doesn't include the Tennis game, damn that's dumb! Wow looking at a bunch of sites the bundles for the Arcade version are much more attractive then for the 60Gb or even the Elite. Gosh you don't think this is as a result of direct competition with Sony's Playstation 3 do you? A case of "Oo look we're much cheaper then them with lots more extras"?

Of course this is all speculation, the reality is likely to be that he'll stick with what he's bought because that's what he's got and it's too much hassle to change. Then he'll find a second-hand drive at a car-boot or something. Oh and no he didn't ask which motherboard type it used.