CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

Let's face it - gone are the days of just walking into a store, purchasing a game console and then going home and connecting it to the family television and playing video games. That was a simpler time. Now when you purchase a next generation video game system, like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or Nintendo Wii, your expenses don't even come remotely close to ending with that purchase. In fact, in most cases, that's where the real expense actually begins.

For those that are confused right about this moment, let me ask you a question. Have you by any chance noticed all those neat little logos found on the backs of the game cases for these new console games? You know the ones I'm talking about. Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, Xbox Live, or HDTV. Maybe you've seen 720p or 1080i written on these feature listings. What does it all mean, you might ask?Well to put it simply, it means you're about to have to spend even more money on that shiny new game console than you already have. If you thought the game system pinched your wallet, hold on to your trousers.

Okay, you've just purchased that brand new Xbox 360 along with a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3 and now you're ready for a few laps around the track. You even went the extra mile and purchased the Premium system. You're all set, right? Well not quite. If you take a look at the back of the PGR3 game case you'll see the words "HDTV 720p" in the list of game features. I'll avoid the long explanation of what that means exactly, but simply put, it means you're going to need an HDTV. If you want the true 720p, you're going to have to spring for something called an LCD HDTV. You know the cute little televisions that you can hang on the wall. You can grab a 23" model for about $600 if you shop around, but for those looking for the big guns, like maybe a 32" or 50" you're going to have to drop a thousand or two to get one. Ouch, that one hurt didn't it. Well we're not done either. If by some chance you purchased the Core Xbox 360 system, now you're going to need to purchase the $50 component cable. I know, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Now we've taken care of the video part, it's time to move on to audio.

Another cute logo you might notice is the "Dolby Digital" logo. That means this great new game you just purchased offers Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. That also means that unless you have a state-of-the-art home theater setup, you're about to spend some more money. Logitech makes a great Dolby 5.1 setup called the Z-5500 and you can find it for around $400. It comes with the receiver and complete set of speakers, including an earth-pounding 10" subwoofer. Unfortunately, if you want true Dolby 5.1, you're going to have to pony up a little more cash for an optical audio cable. You can grab a decent optical cable for about $15, although I did splurge and grab the Monster optical audio cable for $40, more for piece of mind than anything. Now you can hear the cars in PGR3 whiz by you on either side, and in all honesty, that's when you'll know that your surround sound setup was worth every penny because it really is impressive to hear. So are we finished blowing money yet? Not quite.

You may also notice the sleek "Xbox Live" logo on the back of that game case as well. Maybe even the words "Online Multi-player" or "Content Download" also. What this means is that you're going to need the Xbox Live online service to take advantage of these features. The first thing you'll need is a broadband internet connection, which most of you should already have if you're reading this. If you purchased the Premium Xbox 360 system it comes with one month of Xbox Live Gold to try out. Xbox Live Silver is available for free to all Xbox owners, and it allows you to download updates, content, as well as Xbox Live Arcade games, but if you want to go head to head with other players around the world on Xbox Live, you'll need Gold to do that. Once your 1 month trial membership expires, it will cost you an additional $49.99 to renew it for one year. It's really a small price to pay for the solid reliability and speed Xbox Live offers.

Now that we've got everything we need to get the most out of the Xbox 360, let's tally it all up. We started out with the Xbox 360 Premium system for $400. We picked up a 23" HDTV for around $600 and the Logitech Z-5500 Dolby surround sound setup for $400. We had to spring for the optical audio cable for another $30 and then capped it all off with 1 year of Xbox Live Gold for $50. All told we spent $1500 for this gaming setup, and that's actually pretty low end considering we could have gone well into the thousands for a big screen HDTV or a top-of-the-line theater sound system. Let's face it, if you wanted to go crazy, you could easily spend in excess of $5000 for your Xbox 360 game setup and that's not even counting the cost of adding another system like the Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii. It just proves that next generation gaming consoles aren't the only thing costing more money. Each new step up in technology comes with more expenses in order to take advantage of them. When will it all end? While no on really knows the answer to that question, the one thing we do know for certain is that if you want to continue to game over the next decade, a second or third job isn't out of the question.