Without an HDTV, is it worth buying a 360?

[GP Mercy]

I've had my 360 for almost a year. Although I can notice the graphics, I might just cave in and get a HDTV this summer.

[inkcil]

I was about to pose this same question (as original poster). Let me ask, are your gamestops and eb games all playing the 360s (and Ps3s) on HDTVs?

[Scottdau]

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbo_Squish

Wow, this seems pretty convincing. I'm getting the distinct impression that when it comes to SD vs. HD on 360, ignorance is bliss. In other words, if I don't know what it looks like in HD I'll still be extremely happy with how most 360 games look in SD. Am I right? Now assuming I do get one, will any of my original Xbox games work in the 360? I know there's a backwards compatibility list on Xbox.com and other places, but it seems to contain very few newer Xbox games. The games I'm interested in are Fight Night Rd. 3, Battlefield 2, NHL 2K7 and NBA 2K7, since I still play all those games and might as well wait for Rd. 4, NHL 2K8 and NBA 2K8 before buying 360 versions. None of them are listed as backwards compatible as far as I can tell.

Yeah it still looks good in SD TV. Also that TV you got is a good TV, so go for it.

[quaziemoto3]

Quote: Originally Posted by inkcil

I was about to pose this same question (as original poster). Let me ask, are your gamestops and eb games all playing the 360s (and Ps3s) on HDTVs?

usually they are on samsung LCD HDTV's...I think.

I bought my 360 early this summer and hooked it to my 27" SD TV. It was great. Definate upgrade and worth the price. I didn't regret my purchase in the least bit. Two (non-obvious) drawbacks to 360's on SD TV's (outside of the obvious graphical upgrade that an HD TV presents). 1) On some games, like Dead Rising and NBA 2k7, it can be difficult to read the text on the TV because of its size and clarity. The games were clearly made for an HDTV. 2) On some games, like SCA and some Live Arcade games, the lack of widescreen impares your ability to see some of the action or graphical overlays. Two things to think about.

For black friday I bought a 32" Samsung LCD HDTV and I love it. Over Christmas break when I hooked by 360 to my Mom's 60" non-HD big screen, I couldn't even believe the difference that the HDTV makes. I don't think I could ever go back to SD. However, before I bought my HDTV, 360 on SD was A-OK!

[Turbo_Squish]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm going to get one. Now if only I had a crystal ball to know if a price drop was coming...

[WTF]

Price drop on the 360 won't be coming for many months... probably at LEAST not until around Christmas or beyond. I don't see it happening until next spring. Just my .02 though. Reason being, they'll be bringing out the newer chipsets later in the year, and they won't cut the price on the units until they can streamline the manufacturing process of those...

[MJ23]

i played nba 2k7 fight night round 3 and gears of war for the 360 on standard tv and they look great but some games have some blurry areas during cut scenes, people will know what i mean...

[Turbo_Squish]

Just a quick update: I picked up a 360 over the weekend and wow, I am NOT disappointed. This thing looks fantastic, even on my SDTV. I downloaded the NBA 2K7 demo to compare to my Xbox copy and there is no comparison, the 360 version is much, MUCH nicer looking! If anyone else has any reservations about buying a 360 because you don't have an HDTV, take it from me: get one, you'll still be amazed.

On a related note, I played for a few days using the standard yellow composite video cable. Then I went out yesterday and picked up a Joytech advanced AV cable for $29.99. It has an S-Video cable on it and that actually made quite a nice difference, particularly in the fine details. The small, made-for-HD text in a lot of games is now much more readable.

Anyways, thanks again to everyone who posted in this thread. I'm extremely happy with my purchase!