What To Do With a Free Xbox 360 Pro?

OzPeter writes "Last week I won an Xbox 360 Pro. However, I am not a gamer, and after looking at the current MS offerings, I am not tempted to become one. But I am in the market for a Media Center PC that I can use for streaming TV shows off the 'net as well as general web browsing and displaying video through the HDMI port. With that in mind, I again looked at MS and saw they seemed to have positioned the Xbox as an adjunct to a separate Windows Media Center PC and not as a stand alone unit (which is not what I want). So, once again, I did some more research into the Xbox homebrew scene and discovered things like Xbox Linux. But after reading that site, it is apparent that MS is trying to beat down the homebrewers, and I am left wondering how much hassle it would be to go down that path. So my question is: how should I re-purpose my Xbox? Is it worthwhile doing the Homebrew/Linux option (and can anyone share any experiences)? Are there other ways of re-purposing the device that I haven't considered? Or should I just keep it boxed up as a Christmas present for a favorite nephew?"

Comments

Why bother?

[M0b1u5]

Why let yourself in for a world of hurt for a device which will likely never operate in the way you require.

Best to give it as a gift, or sell it on eBay and pocket the cash, and invest that in your stand alone box.

Frankly, I can't believe you are even contemplating it.

Re:Why bother?

[AnotherUsername]

All three major consoles charge to develop.

The Nintendo Wii development kit is $1,700.
The Sony PS3 development kit is $2,000 (non-Linux)
The XBox 360 development kit....$100

Compared to the others, the XBox 360 development kit is a steal. As for not offering anything in return, consider:
1.) Small indie teams can work on a major console without breaking the budget.
2.) The games created by the small indie teams can be hosted on a major console's server, allowing instant access to millions of possible customers.
3.) Small indie teams don't have to be major developers in order to use it (unlike Nintendo).

Depending on the price that the game ends up costing ($5, $3, or $1), given the millions of gamers who are on the marketplace, an indie game studio could somewhat easily recoup that year's losses($100) from having Microsoft host their game by selling anywhere between 20 and 100 copies of their game. If the game is good, they should have little problem. If it stinks, they may have more problems. If no one is buying the game, they will eventually take it off, freeing up the marketplace for others to try selling their games, which may or may not be good.

Also, if you think that the above prices are extreme, consider that licensing the Unreal Engine 3 costs $350,000. And that doesn't come with hosting. Plus, paying 3% royalties on all sales of games made with the engine.

People need to figure out that not everything Microsoft does is horribly horribly evil. They are a company. They do things to make money. They are more evil than some companies, less evil than others. Yes, they have done some pretty shitty things in the past. That doesn't mean that everything they do in the future is done in the name of Satan.

Oh, and before anyone accuses me, no, I don't work for Microsoft. I am just open-minded enough to realize that they are a company, not a church. Business is brutal. Some people can't handle this, and prefer to remain in an idealistic fantasy world. I used to be in that world. I hated everything Microsoft. But then I grew up, and I dealt with reality. And I've been much happier and less stressed than I ever could have been had I remained a die-hard anti-Microsoft zealot.

Re:Why bother?

[Anonymous Coward]

All three major consoles charge to develop.

The Nintendo Wii development kit is $1,700.

The Sony PS3 development kit is $2,000 (non-Linux)

The XBox 360 development kit....$100

Depending on the price that the game ends up costing ($5, $3, or $1), given the millions of gamers who are on the marketplace, an indie game studio could somewhat easily recoup that year's losses($100) from having Microsoft host their game by selling anywhere between 20 and 100 copies of their game. If the game is good, they should have little problem. If it stinks, they may have more problems. If no one is buying the game, they will eventually take it off, freeing up the marketplace for others to try selling their games, which may or may not be good.

You're flatly wrong.

The Xbox 360 development kit is absolutely not $100. You can get a one-year membership to the XNA Creators Club, which allows you to submit games to the Xbox Indie Games service, for $99 USD. The actual development kit associated with this service is free, but you need to pay a $99 fee to actually use the publication channels for a year.

This is NOT a commercial development kit.

Moreover, as it relates to "commercial potential", Xbox Indie Games have been repeatedly grumbled about by prominent authors. The absolute upper cap for the single highest profile Indie Game is 10,000 unit sales. Developers in the price categories that even have a shot at that order of magnitude of sales are taking anywhere from 70 cents to 2.10 for their games. For commercial game production, Xbox Indie Games will NOT be profitable.

Actual commercial Xbox 360 development kits, used to develop Xbox Live Arcade games and Xbox 360 games, cost substantially more.

All of this information is available in a ten second Google tour of the subject. Why was parent modded +5?

Sell it

[MichaelSmith]

Its worth less to you than somebody who would use it for gaming.

eBay it (or otherwise)

[Macthorpe]

Sell it as new and put the money towards something that's built for the purpose you want it for. Bit easier than spending hours messing about with it.

Penny Arcade Charity

[Anonymous Coward]

Penny-arcade.com has a charity called "Child's Play" which provides hospitalized children with toys and electronic entertainment. If I were at a loss for what to do with a new video game console, that would be the way to go for me.

Congratulations on your good fortune.

Re:Penny Arcade Charity

[Mad Merlin]

...the IRS can't tax karma

Yet. No doubt they're working on it.

Jeez, you don't have to brag about it.

[tommut]

In similar news I just won a million dollars, however I am not much of a consumer. Anyone know of any good ways to spend this cash?

Re:Jeez, you don't have to brag about it.

[thrillseeker]

Anyone know of any good ways to spend this cash?

My thoughts intrigue you, and you wish to subscribe to my newsletter ...

Re:Jeez, you don't have to brag about it.

[pig_man1899]

Cocaine and Hookers my good man; cocaine and hookers

Hospital

[Anonymous Coward]

Give it to a local children's hospital. Cheer up some kids that could use it.

Two chicks at one time man.

[Anonymous Coward]

Two chicks at one time...