Be sure to check out Part I for the Wii and PS3 breakdowns.

Xbox 360

None of the current consoles have fragmented the consumer experience more than the Xbox 360.  One could argue that the tiered offering of the of Xbox 360 line of consoles was designed to appeal to a broad range of gamers, from the very casual to the hardest of hardcore.  Unfortunately, most of the omitted features in the lower end models tend to be components you’ll regret buying piecemeal at a later date.  To make things a bit clearer, the Xbox 360 breakdown will be done in two separate parts, based on what Xbox 360 model you “jump in” with.

First things first, let’s get the common stuff out of the way.  Every Xbox 360 system comes with one wireless controller, and supports up to a maximum of 4 controllers at a once.  Each additional wireless controller costs $50, or if you prefer (although I’m not sure why anyone would want to), $40 for wired controllers that plug in via the USB ports.  Like the Wii’s wiimotes, the wireless gamepads also require either a steady supply of AA batteries or you could spring for a set of rechargeable battery packs made specifically for the controllers themselves.  The battery packs can cost as much as $15 a piece, and the charger itself can be bought as a USB “Plug & Play” cord for $20, or as an AC adapter plug-in “Quick Charge Kit” that comes with one battery pack and charges 2 rechargeable packs at once, all for $30.

Every Xbox 360 system includes a built-in ethernet card for wired online connectivity, but if you want to connect to your wireless network, you’re going to have to shell out the cash for a wireless network adapter.  Microsoft sells an official adapter for $100 that plugs into the back USB slot and clips to the system, and while you would think most any USB-based wireless adapters would work, sadly this is not the case.  The Xbox 360 is the only system with a pay-to-play, online membership.  For $50 a year, a gold membership to Xbox Live comes with access to multi-player gaming, premium online content (Netflix streaming, video chat) and early access to game demos and DLC packs.  Silver membership is free and still allows for online communication, friends lists, and full access to all downloadable content, but if you want to play online you have to pay.

As with Sony’s PS3, most full games will cost you $60, with budget titles running as low as $40 or so.  Downloadable games are usually priced at $5, $10 or $15, and in-game downloadable content can range from a few bucks to as much as $30 for some game expansions.

Arcade (formerly “Core”) model

The current Arcade bundle is priced at $199, and includes the Xbox 360 console, a 256MB memory card for storing downloaded games and save games, a game disc containing 5 arcade arcade games, composite A/V cable, ethernet cord, and one wireless controller.  Additionally, for the holiday season, all Arcade bundles also include an additional game disc of Sega Superstars Tennis.

The main difference between the lower Arcade model and the Pro and Elite models is the lack of an included hard drive.  While the PS3 allows you to swap out your HDD with most 2.5″ SATA HDDs, the Xbox 360 uses proprietary HDD shell.  Why might you need a HDD if the systems comes with memory card?  Well for starters, 256MB leaves you with very little space to store any paid or free game or video content you might download through the Microsoft’s robust online marketplace.  And there’s the fact that you cannot play online without a HDD.  You can always purchase (or upgrade to) the 60GB “Live Starter Kit” for $100 or the 120GB HDD for $150, but if that was the case, you could have just bought the Pro or Elite models instead. You would also miss out on the included microphone headset that all Pro and Elite units come with.

Recently, Microsoft started offering another upgrade option for Arcade owners and Core owners whose smaller memory cards might not have the 128MB of storage space necessary to run the “New Xbox Experience” dashboard features like Avatars.  If you own a Core system with a memory card of less than 128MB and you register your console at this memory upgrade website, you could qualify for a free 512MB memory card or buy a refurbished 20GB HDD for around $20.  Arcade owners who register and qualify have the option of purchasing a refurbed 20GB HDD and 3 months of Live membership for $30.

The Arcade bundle also only comes with a composite A/V cable, even though the system supports component cables (comes with the Pro bundle) and the newer Arcade models support HDMI cables (comes with the Elite bundle).  If you plan to use an HDTV, head over to Mono Price to grab yourself a much needed HDMI cable, otherwise HD component cables are sold separately for as much as $40.

Pro or Elite models

The 60GB Pro bundle will cost you $300 and the 120GB Elite bundle will shrink your wallet by $400.  However, since the introduction of HDMI 1.2 audio/video inputs to the entire line of Xbox 360 consoles, there has been little to differentiate the Pro and Elite bundles aside from the HDDs.  The only other major differences being that the Pro system currently includes an A/V component cable, while the Elite system comes equipped with an HDMI cable and its all parts of the system come in a stylish all black finish.  Both include one wireless controller, one wired microphone headset that plugs into the controller, an ethernet cord, as well as two free games: Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones.

It should be noted that Xbox 360 Pro owners do have the option of upgrading to the bigger 120GB HDD for $150 (so altogether $450), but with the recent price drops, that makes even less sense than buying an Arcade system and spending the extra $100 to upgrade to a 60GB HDD to match the Pro system (an option that would screw you out of the HD component cables).  At this point, choosing between the Pro and Elite system is really a toss up.  The extra storage space could be used for installing more disc-based games to the HDD (5-6GB each) or downloading HD movie rentals from the online store.

How It All Adds Up

So, to recap, Xbox 360 ownership will cost as follows.  New Arcade ($200) owners who buy 3 extra wireless controllers ($150), and an HDMI cable ($10) will spend about $360 + tax.  If you decide later on that you need a HDD, it cost $30 ($390), $100 ($460), or $150 ($510) more.  Pro ($300) owners with 3 extra wireless controllers ($150) and an HDMI cable ($10) will spend $460 + tax, and Elite owners with 3 extra wireless controllers ($150) will spend $550 + tax.

Throw in an Xbox 360 wireless network adapter ($100) and 1-year of Xbox Live Gold membership ($50) and the Arcade system with $30 HDD upgrade becomes $540, the Pro system becomes $610, and the Elite system becomes $710.  Rechargeable batteries can bring the costs up even higher, not to mention games ($60 each) and downloadable purchases.

The Full Comparision

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