So what are the best accessories for the Xbox 360? For any gaming console, there are two kinds of accessories: the ones you really need to get any joy out of the system, and the extras that are just for fun. With their usual marketing savvy, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 with everything you needed to use the system available, and then over the last year, drip-fed the pure toys onto the market.
This year's Christmas present for the Xbox fanatic is the Xbox Live Vision Camera. It's available in two packages. The Standard Kit, at US$40, comes with a month's Gold subscription to Xbox Live, a wired headset, and Uno and Totemball from the Xbox Live Arcade. The US$80 Gold Kit comes with all that, a year's Gold subscription, 200 Microsoft points, and Robotron: 2084. A fully-functioning webcam, Xbox Live Vision allows video chat and personalised avatars. Games like World Series Poker use 'digimask' technology, that uses the camera to map the player's actual facial expression onto their avatar. It also allows for gesture-based gaming, promising the ability to, say, direct troops with a few finger-points, just like in the movies.
Filling the same functions for audio is the Xbox wireless headset. Given how much players thrash around in pressure situations, going wireless is worth the US$60. The headset, like the wireless controllers, works up to 30 feet from the console, which can support four headset-controller combinations at once. The headset allows for both in-game and private chat, as well as supporting voice-command-based gameplay. The headset is lightweight, fits over either ear, and comes with two sets of removable ear grips. It has an eight-hour battery life and comes with an AC charger.
If you're spending a lot of your gaming time immersed in Project Gotham Racing or Need for Speed, you've got to have the new wireless force-feedback racing wheel. Demonstrated at the 2006 E3, the system features standard gamepad buttons on the wheel itself, and floor-mounted accelerator and brake pedals. At US$150, it's at the top end of peripherals price-wise, but it's a top-quality product and comes with a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3. The game contains the drivers for the wheel: if you already own PGR3, you'll still need to install what's basically an update. There's a detachable clamp section so you can secure the dashboard to a desk, or just rest it in your lap.
With all the wireless peripherals, charging is a major factor with the 360. You want to be able to do it quickly and without losing playtime. There are two options for this. The first is the 'play and charge' kit. For about US$20, this allows you to charge your controller through the USB port, while you're using it. It takes longer for the controller to recharge, but on the other hand, you still get to use it. Or for US$30, you can go for the Quick Charge Kit. It's easy to use and even quite styly, and recharges batteries in about two hours.
If the Xbox 360's own 20Gb hard drive (which doesn't come as standard but should) is creaking at the seams on your system, you might want to consider getting an XSATA. At a reasonable US$40, this allows you to transfer files from your Xbox 360 to your PC, as if your Xbox was a USB drive. You can clear space by shifting saved games and cinematics to your computer, so you can load more fresh content onto your 360 without losing anything.
If you're looking for the best accessories for an Xbox gamer and they have 'everything', then any one of a plethora of licensed faceplates and controllers might just go down as a treat. Whatever your style of gaming, it will be a while before you run out of new toys for your Xbox 360.
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