BudgetConsoles.co.uk

Hey all,

Just thought I’d check in and answer some of the questions that we’ve been receiving via the site. Sorry if you don’t see your question here, we promise we’ll be trying our best to get around all of them as quick as possible.

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James UK Asks: I just bought a Wii from Amazon for £164.99, but now I realise that they have the Black Wii for the same price. Will they accept a refund?

BudgetConsoles: I think you are probably best contacting Amazon for more information on this one. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help you out. They do have a returns policy that can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=502480. Anyway, what’s wrong with the white Wii?

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Blue Flame: Thanks for helping me find a good price for my Xbox. Can you please help me with finding some cheap software for it?

BudgetConsoles: Hiya Blue Flame – why so blue? Haha okay.. poor attempt at humour! There are sites out there that can help you find cheap prices for your software. One that springs to mind is http://www.gamepricehunter.co.uk for UK, and http://www.gamestracker.com for USA. Two great sites for getting good prices for software. If you are based in the EU, try http://www.budgetgaming.nl. As for our own software compare service, watch this space

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Alison Johnson: Do you have to pay to play multiplayer on Xbox?

BudgetConsoles: Hi there Alison. Yes and no. There are some games that allow local multiplayer games such as Fifa 10 or Streetfighter 4. But the real fun comes in when playing multiplayer over Xbox Live. This means that you can play your friends over an Internet connection. You do have to pay, I think it’s around £5 per month but you can get decent deals online. You can either buy a years membership from vendors such as Amazon, or just pay Microsoft direct. Xbox Live is something that I’d recommend though, especially if you have a network of friends also using the service. It’s much more than just a multiplayer gaming service. For more info on Xbox Live, visit: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live

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Xbox Sadness: I bought my Xbox 360 second hand, and now after an online update it doesn’t work anymore! What’s going on?

BudgetConsoles: Hiya, this is more common these days. First of all, you should try contacting Xbox support and explaining your situation. What may have happened, is the previous owner of the console may have altered the xbox so that he/she could play copied games for free. Don’t get excited at the games for free option, it’s obviously illegal and can leave you in sticky situations similar to that of the one you’re in now. It is my understanding that you still should be able to use your Xbox 360, but just not online with Xbox Live. Try checking with the previous owner if you can. If the Xbox has been illegally tampered with, then you may have to buy a new Xbox 360 if you want to play online. Sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to hear. The BBC recently posted this article on the subject. Hope things work out for you!

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TriggerHappy: A friend told me that Xbox 360 and PS3 users will be able to play eachother on the same servers for COD Modern Warfare 2 – is this true?

BudgetConsoles: Hi there Trigger Happy – a question that rather surprisingly has come up a few times. It is my understanding that this will not be happening. If something like this went ahead, eventually people would start claiming it was easier to win on one of the consoles. There would be some sort of console war haha! Can you imagine? I don’t think this will be happening

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Okay, that’s your lot for now!! Thanks for all of your emails so far, keep them coming in!

To do so, get in touch via our  contact us page!

Thanks

-BudgetConsoles.co.uk

Well, I just cancelled my £45 a month fee to the local gym. I’m gonna try and save some money and use Wii Fit instead! Why not? Many of you are doing the same thing out there. So far I’ve been using it daily for nearly two weeks. I’ll be sure to post how I’ve done on here.

It obviously works, so why not save some money on your gym memberships and invest in Wii Fit instead? Save money, and you can do it from the comfort of your own living room. Not to mention its’ quite fun! Get the family involved!! Not only will you be saving money, you’ll be getting fit at the same time!

Man, if you would have told me 10 years ago that your gaming console will be helping you keep fit, I’d have laughed in your face! How times have changed!!!

Useful links:
Nintendo’s Official Wii Fit Site
Wii Fit over on Nintendo.co.uk
BBC Wii Fit Article

Looks like the Nintendo Wii price has dropped a little as of late. This Christmas we expect prices to be around £100 for the console with motion plus included! This is great news for people wanting the still very popular Nintendo Wii. Of course, we’ll keep you updated on that (hey, it’s our job!).

Perhaps the Nintendo Wii U console that was announced at this years E3 is released, will push the price of the Nintendo Wii console down even cheaper. Who knows? But until that day, people in their thousands still get to enjoy the fun the original console has to offer.

With new titles such as Zumba Fitness still rocking the Wii, the Nintendo Wii continues to compete with other consoles available. Let’s face it, the Wii is FUN for friends and family, and as long as that remains there will always be a demand for it!

Nintendo Wii U Demo at E3

E3 did not fail to excite the gamers world wide this year! Some really exciting stuff has been announced, including the new Nintendo Wii U console. Although yet to be released, Nintendo managed to demo some of the Wii U stuff at this years E3. It looks as though Nintendo have some great potential here, it will be interested to see how this pans out!

No new consoles were announced by Sony or Microsoft this year. Microsoft seem to be concentrating hard on bringing Kinect to the more savvy gamers, instead of just the casual crowd. With titles like Child Of Eden which was released this week, Kinect is sure to woo the crowds over the next 12 months.

Our E3 highlights this year have to be Batman Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 & the Nintendo Wii U announcements.

It wasn’t all about games though. Microsoft also announced the integration of Bing into it’s dashboard, which will no doubt please most gamers out there!

For more highlights from this years E3, we recommend that you check out IGN’s channel on youtube. Well I suppose that’s it for another year for E3. I wonder what will be announced next year? The Xbox 360 720 perhaps???

Okay, I think it’s about time to clear this one up.

Playing multiplayer modes on the next gen consoles (PS3, Nintendo Wii & Xbox 360) can cost money. For all of the Nintendo Wii and PS3 owners, you’re in luck because to play multiplayer on your consoles you don’t have to pay anything for the privilege. If you’re an Xbox 360 owner, you can still pay local multiplayer for free (two controllers on one console), or via local system link (two xbox’s on the same local area network.. for e.g. in the same house). However, if you want to play online with an Xbox 360 you’ll need to bag yourself a gold Xbox Live subscription. This does cost money… I will explain how much later.

Okay, so right now you may be thinking that you’ll just go for the PS3 or Nintendo Wii because it’s cheaper, right? Well that depends on what you want. Ever wonder why you have to pay for Xbox 360 Live gold membership? Well to put it simply, because it kicks ass. The community on there is great, and personally speaking Xbox Live is the greatest online experience I’ve ever had. Why? Well it’s far more than just access to online multiplayer games. You really have to see it for yourself. Instead of listing all the cool things that you can do with Xbox Live, check out what Microsoft have to say about it: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/LIVE/

Microsoft even have the Xbox Live Manager keep a regular blog for the community. You can check out his (Major Nelson) blog here: http://majornelson.com/

So much does it cost? You can pay MS by direct debit, but the cheapest way of paying for Xbox Live Gold is by purchasing top up cards from shops like Amazon. At the time of this writing, you can pick one up from Amazon for around £34.99 (for one years access).

Okay, I know this is making us sound pro Xbox here…. but seriously, if you want the best online experience then we suggest you go for Xbox Live.

HOWEVER – we absolutely recommend playing with your friends over strangers any day. So, if most of your friends are already on the Nintendo Wii or PS3 network then perhaps it would be worth following your friends? It’s a tough decision, but lucky for me my friends are on Xbox Live.

Good luck, and I hope this clears things up about the cost of multiplayer these days!

Game on!

Price matching between retailers is something a lot of people either don’t know about, or just get a little nervous / scared about doing. So, what is Price Matching? Basicall, price matching is the process that retailers take when competing with prices. So lets give an example, you find a Nintendo Wii in Gamestation for £199, but you notice that your local Blockbusters is selling exactly the same product for £170. As long as you can provide proof that Blockbuster are selling the console for £170, Gamestation will always try and match or BEAT that price – saving you more money.

This method doesn’t always work, but it has had a really good success rate for me over the years. What I sometimes do, is look for a price online for a product that I want, find the best price and print it out. Take that print out into a vendor and ask if they can beat that price, you never know you might just save a few quid!! Try it for yourself, I bet you’ll be surprised.

If you’re thinking of doing this, here’s a few tips:

• Look happy. Using this method sometimes requires the retailer employee to be in a good mood. Make them feel good, and you are on your way to saving cash
• Try to pick companies that appear to be competing with eachother, for e.g. Gamestation and CEX
• Remember that Gamestation, Gameplay and GAME are the same company. This can sometimes work in your favour because it gives you an idea of how flexable they can be with prices between their brands
• If you are providing print outs of prices online, try to pick the more ‘well known’ retailers. Don’t pick some silly price from a guy selling a product on eBay, because this probably won’t work and you wont end up saving any money

Anyway, I think that’s enough for now. Give price matching a try, we reckon you’ll be happy with the results!!!

Good luck

It’s that time of year again folks. The Nintendo Wii is starting to sell more rapidly as we approach Christmas. If you are hoping to secure yours before they sell out of stock, we advise that you be more safe than sorry and get it ordered. Careful though, don’t get ripped off. It would seem that the best offers this year are either online, or 2nd hand consoles. To find the best price online, let us help you find the cheapest Nintendo Wii Console. If you are looking to grab a 2nd hand deal, we advise you take a look in your local Game or Gamestation.

Good luck on the price hunt!

Kinnect will cost around £129,99, according to a recent Microsoft announcement.

Here’s what Microsoft had to say about it: “There will be a whole new wave of consumers looking for all new ways to experience games and entertainment. To be able to do that with the console plus the sensor and the game at that value is pretty unprecedented.”

There are going to be some bundles available with the Xbox, Kinnect, and Kinnect Adventures. Others are to be announced closer to it’s release in the UK.

We’ll be sure to post more information and the best prices on this as soon as we can!!

Looking to buy Kinect? Compare Kinect prices here

There are a few of these knocking about these days for the Nintendo Wii. Some of these are wheels for Mario Kart Wii, Tennis Racquets, even baseball bats! The cheaper versions are obviously cheaper than their official counterparts, but are they any good? Well we decided to put them to the test.

To cut a long story short, the offical versions are good and are of better quality, but if you want to save a bit of cash, the cheaper versions are actually not that bad at all. We tested them with Wii Sports and Mario Kart. I’d say if you have the extra cash, get the official ones… but if you want to save a bit of cash get yourself the cheaper versions. If you have kids that use your Wii on a regular basis, then that’s another reason to invest in the cheaper versions because let’s face it, Wii stuff gets thrown about a bit by kids.

The new Xbox 360 will be available soon. When we get our hands on one, we’ll be sure to post a review…. biggest question at the moment will be; Is it worth the money? More on that to follow, but first.. here is what Microsoft have to say about their new beast machine:

• Xbox 360 S console: The new console is sleeker and quieter than current Xbox 360 consoles, with a stylish design that will be the centerpiece of your home entertainment system.
• Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive: The internal 250GB hard drive allows you to save your games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos, and other con­tent available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
• Built in Wi-Fi: The new Xbox 360 is the only console with 802.11n Wi-Fi built in for a faster and easier connection to Xbox LIVE. Download or stream HD movies, TV episodes, and games from Xbox LIVE Marketplace in 1080p and 5.1 surround sound from anywhere in the house. Compatible with b/g/n networks.
• Kinect ready: Coming this holiday, Kinect will make YOU the controller. With a dedicated, specialized port, the Xbox 360 250GB is built to connect seamlessly with the Kinect sensor— and have you up off the couch and into the world of Kinect in no time.
• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller: This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller features the Xbox Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries.
• Xbox 360 Headset: Strategize or trade taunts while playing games, and chat with your friends on Xbox LIVE.
• Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable: Use your Xbox 360 on standard-definition televisions using this connection over traditional composite connectors. Play high-quality audio with the included stereo connector.
• Xbox LIVE: Xbox LIVE brings a whole world of entertainment possibility right to your Xbox 360. Play with friends online, and watch streaming movies and TV from Zune and Netflix, all in crystal-clear HD. You’ll find loads of your favorite music from Last.fm and the ability to connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter right on the best screen in the house.
• Warranty: One year limited warranty on console.

Hmmmmm, I wonder if it will be worth the extra money? As far as we can tell so far it just looks a bit more sexy with no massive improvements. Time will tell huh?