Why should I let DS buy an XBox 360?

[InMySpareTime]

DS (13) wants to spend all his savings on a second-hand XBox 360. He is very determined about this purchase, but cannot articulate what it is about this console that is so special.
Can anyone on here please explain to me why this is the ultimate gaming experience, and why it will escape the dust-gathering fate of his existing consoles?
He has a PC (with Minecraft and an XBox live accounts), a Kindle Fire, a PSP, an IPod Touch, a Game Boy advance and a Nintendo DS.

[InMySpareTime]

I've had a look at the parental controls and am now satisfied that I can block unsuitable content and can limit time spent on it.
Talked it over with DH, and we've decided to pay 1/3, DS and DD pay 1/3 each, then there won't be issues over ownership and control!

[basgetti]

FishCanFly we've bought DS a used one from Game, comes with a year's warranty.

[prettybird]

Ds (14) was given an XBox 360 a number of years ago for Christmas. He was blown away as we'd always said we wouldn't buy him a console and he just had to make do with his cousins' cast-offs.

Last Christmas we let his gran buy him a year's subscription to Xbox Live Gold and we bought him a headset as part of our present to him.

He has spent more time than we'd like on it over the year - but he does talk and interact with his friends from school. He is also very active, playing rugby and cycling competitively and is conscientious about his homework, always doing that first (we don't even have to ask him).

This summer he decided he wanted an Xbox One and used up his savings and pocket money and birthday money (and our birthday present was £50 towards it) to get one. He also had to budget getting a game (FIFIA 15) to play on it .

He has one Over 16 game (Halo), which I permitted after watching him playing the game when we were staying at my best friend's place for a couple of days. He's not allowed COD, Assassin's Creed or Grand Theft Auto.

It is quite a useful tool for encouraging him to do tasks around the house. If he doesn't do them, I take (both) controllers and have now introduced a time lag before I give them back. No nagging about overflowing recycling bins - he's been warned about the consequences.

[FishCanFly]

We're thinking of getting a used xBox360 as well. Just not exactly sure if its safe to buy one from cash converters or better to save up for a new one.

[INickedAName]

(We have the wii too :))Dd has Xbox live gold, it's £5.99 a month, you get a free game on the 1st and 15th of the month though so it's decent value. It's cheaper to pay for a full year or several months but I worry it'll jinx us and the machine will conk if we buy a full year. Saying that the free game isn't always suitable for children, so that's a good point about blocking content. I know you can limit/control some things but not certain on that aspect, I've emailed a good friend who knows loads about Xbox so I'll let you know what he says.

[InMySpareTime]

Thanks, that's helpful. He has a Wii as well (I knew I'd missed one out somewhere).
I'm pretty sure it'll be the thin end of the wedge as once he's got the XBox he'll be after XBox live gold (can you set parental controls on that to block unsuitable games?) and some games to play on it. He says he'll only play for 30 minutes a day, I doubt that'll happen.
It's frustrating watching him try to explain why he wants an XBox, he keeps saying it's so he can chat to his friends, but he's on the phone to them all the time anyway, or they're at each other's houses. Is that not chatting? I feel like an old fuddy duddy but at the same time I want to be sure I can put safeguards in place to keep him safe online.

[INickedAName]

Could it be something as simple as his mates have one? I know it sounds silly but that was dds main reason for wanting one, so she could play over live while chatting to her friends. Dds is used for web surfing, researching homework info,you tubing, DVDs, Netflix so it's not become dusty, in fact it's used every day (she has the other things you've mentioned too) in one form or another.
She would like an xbox1 but won't be happening for a long time yet, but if she'd saved the money up herself (she's trying) I'd let her get one. She loves the 360 though and because she gets games for that with her pocket money etc the Xbox1 fund gets smaller and smaller.