Become acquainted with the bargain bin and have patience. That's what I do. Most of what I buy for 360 is from the bargain bin. That should ease the financial burden. Another thing that's probably hurting your wallet is the fact that you own 4 systems (3 home consoles + a handheld). To buy all that hardware and the software for 4 platforms, that's not cheap. I have 2 (1 home console, 1 handheld) and even though I wait for bargain deals, there are STILL way too many quality games out there for me to consider buying and playing. I still haven't caught up with the flood of 360 titles that have come out between 2005 to now since getting the 360 early this year. I don't think I'll ever catch up. Same goes for the DS. Games come out faster than I can play through them. Who needs new games when there are so many budget titles out there to buy? I made an exception for UFC because I'm a MMA nut (I probably should have waited though. I love the game and it's one of my favorites but the online is broken, it would have been better to just wait it out but I bought it on impulse) and I made an exception for Blazblue because I expected it to become rare and expensive pretty quickly (I might be wrong on that one). And I might make an exception for MW2 since MW games don't drop in price like the others. But most of the stuff out there hits the bargain bin and I take advantage of that.

im not in to pirated games because, yes games new are expensive, but a lot of sweat and tears went in to every game, the more money they make on there game, the more money they will have to back on there next game, the more money the better games we all get. that is what i want the best games possible.

No.

Best lesson in life: Never trust people.

Just buy an arcade. They are cheap enough now. Plus then you get yourself a 3 year warranty, updated motherboard, wireless controller and games.

:)

my advice:

stop caring what other people do and just live your own life the way you see fit. unless she/he's purposefully trying to fuck something up of your's, leave it be.

OT: even though I've never owned a modded console, part of me is curious to see what they've got to offer lol.

Aside from the obvious answer which is:
Don't do it because pirating games is wrong and it hurts the industry that you supposedly love (which is my objective viewpoint).  Which in turn means that potentially many will suffer for your personal gain.

But if you don't want the anti-piracy thing:

Still no. Clearly the Xbox 360 is not the most reliable piece of hardware out there and given that this guy can't even take care of his console (broken USB thing is a sign), I would not think that it was in the best shape as is.

If you are that desparate, then send the first broken one to a local repair shop, because at least you know the only wrong with that one is the RROD.

I know you've received a lot of comments about your choice of piracy, but with my advice I also have to express that I don't condone your actions:

Also, lack of income is not an excuse. You own all 5 current gen consoles, so you've obviously bought each of them at least once, and that's a lot of money spent. You might argue that without doing that, you are excluding yourself from excellent games. But that's a sacrifice many make by being legit and keeping the gaming industry in the state of growth it's currently experiencing. If everyone behaved in the manner you do, then nobody would get the awesome games that you pirate to play. I'm not saying this to make you stop, it is your choice at the end of the day, but be aware about the potential implications of your actions.

Also, I've found that there is little incentive or satisfaction of playing games that are pirated, because you don't have a monetary value to attach to the game, so you've got no "I spent this much money to buy this, i'm going to finish it" mentality.

Seriously, I would buy a modded 360 for a $100. Who cares if its been banned from Live? Most games aren't even worth playing online.

Yes if its not modded.

Please dont mod systems or buy them, it is only distroying the industry, thank you

I agree that piracy does fall on the immoral side (the creator isn't getting compensated for a work that they didn't give you permission to use for free like they would with freeware). But you could use that exact same "destroying the industry" argument to make a case for banning bargain bins, sales (ie. black friday) and banning sale of second-hand games. And unless gamers have their head so far up the rear of game publishers, common sense says that it would be absurd to say that buying from the bargain bin or buying second-hand is immoral. I don't care if it makes game devs less money. I have a right to wait for the bargain bin (at least the creator is getting compensated) and I have the right to buy second-hand (the creator already got compensated at the point of first sale. Now they want a cut of the second sale? Screw that). I'm not about to buy full price for everything just for the hell of it. I'm not a philanthropist.

Bargain bins and used games aren't immoral, that's like saying buying anything from a pawn shop or any secondhand store is immoral.

It's true that developers don't see anything from second hand games but the user is still actually buying a license so it is fine.