I was holding out in hopes of a few games coming out for the wii that the fam would be interested in playing but I just can't get over the magnitude of cool games on the Xbox 360 that are out now and what is coming...

Gamestop has a 360 premium with free viva pinata which is one of the games we want...

On top of that, I'm interested in colin mcrae, forza 2, pgr3, GHII, Kameo, Blue Dragon, Eternal sonata, Gears, Table Tennis, and several others.

I was going to wait for a price drop, but I've got about 70 bucks worth of gamestop credit and they are running a buy 2 get one free special on used games tomorrow so I thought I would pick up a few original xbox and xbox 360 games.

I'll still get a wii at some point just so I can still play some of Nintendo's finest, but I want a 360 so bad I can taste it.

Is it worth it? 

dude make up your own mind, its your money. If its worth it to you get it. just think about 360 quality issues and remember $50 a year to play online.

I would wait until the holidays if you can't make up your mind. Then more games will be out and reviewed. I would take the 70 credit and start saving 10 bucks a week until november. By then you should have 200 more dollars and a better idea of which system you want. I mean, isn't the Elite version $479? That isn't a staying price, and I bet they lower it before the holidays.

I'm just tired of my PS2 and Gamecube. I'm looking for some new games to play and the PS3 obviously is lacking in that department at the moment. I don't have an HDTV so the hi def players matter not to me. I'm not concerned about the "quality" issue as it comes with a 1 year warranty now (no longer 90 days). The 50 online cost is irrelevant because I won't be playing Xbox gold. Just the silver (free) and downloading some content via microtransactions. There are a few games on the near horizon for the ps3 I would love to have but 599 isn't going to happen. 399 is already 100 bucks more than I am really interested in paying for the hardware in the first place. It's not so much an affordability issue as it is I just don't like paying that much for the console. If I KNEW the premium would be 100 bucks cheaper this fall or around christmas, I'd wait. The eb games folks at my fav store (yeah, i know, they are clueless most times) told me today that their local microsoft rep said to expect a $50 price drop before christmas but no more as their lineup through the holidays was stellar and the need to cut isn't there.

Is there any game on the 360 you absolutely have to play now? If you want Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, GTAIV, and titles such as that, they don't come until fall season, so you might as well wait. The 360 is also supposed to get 65nm CPU and GPU in the fall, which means quality will go up, and possibly a price drop. Even 50 bucks off is good enough with the new hardware coming. Wait it out if you can. I am. Hopefully the PS3 sees a price drop in the fall, too. That'll make things interesting.

Get the 360. Wii is gonna be a bit of a wait, and it's not like it's got a lot of availability anyways. Double check the reviews for the games that you will be getting, pick up some controllers and your 360 and have a blast. Just start saving for the Wii and make sure you start looking before the holidays. If you think it's bad now, just imagine what the holidays will be like.

 Get the 360 but also get a store warranty so you get a brand new one if it red rings instead of the refurbished stuff from MS...

One word of advice is check the BC list before you buy some original Xbox games just in case they aren't supported. Other than that I would say if you are tired of waiting theres probably no better time to get into the 360 than right now a lot of good earlier launches have some price cuts now. As far as the whole red ring thing goes I wouldn't worry about it, if something does happen MS will take care of you. My friend's broke down twice sent it both times past warranty, MS repaired it, he got a fan which MS advised not to use for it, ended up bricking it, sent it back, MS repaired it and gave him a new 1 year warranty.

Get the 360, if you don't like it cheuck a glass of water over it and say it red-ringed on you. Get a brand new 360 and sell it on eBay, by the next console you're intereted in.

If you're interested in Viva Pinata, get it. Seriouisly, that is one of the most engrossing games I've played in awhile. I'm 25 hours in and still don't have some of the stubborn pinatas. It's one of the most underrated games I've seen in quite some time. People call it a "kids game" but it's far more in-depth than that. It's a great game to kill time with and enjoy it. On top of that, you have the rest of the 360 lineup. If you don't buy Dead Rising, you're really shorting yourself. Then there's Gears, Rainbow, SC, GRAW, etc. In short, if you want to game, the 360 is a great route. The Wii doesn't suck either but it's an entirely different gaming experience. Less single player, more group activity.