myxbox360

Xbox 360 Slim Vs Older Xbox 360 Models

2011-11-09T18:18:00.001-08:00

So, Microsoft has released a new version of Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Slim here and we'll see if it is worth buying over the original Xbox 360s.

Xbox 360 is a matte black case with two fans on the back, 3 USB ports and removable hard disk (of various sizes are 20GB, 60GB, 120GB and 250GB). Now the new Xbox 360 Slim has a glossy black finish, new angular design that looks amazing, the touch keys, 1 fan, built in 802.11n Wi-Fi, a built in 250GB hard drive, 5 USB ports.

now allows you to compare in more detail.

Thus, the original Xbox 360 models have a matte finish, which is good, but looking at the matte finish does not look as aesthetically pleasing as the glow that you'll find on the new Xbox 360 Slim, the reason behind the gloss is because Microsoft believes that the time to move away from the matte finish as the original Xbox and Xbox 360 and have a matte finish.

a new Xbox 360 Slim is touch-sensitive keys, which is standard on most new gadgets now, so it's only natural to move up from the old button style on Xbox 360.

Now the old Xbox 360 models may have had two fans on the back, but if you think about it, this position is the best place and most of them could not handle the amount of heat which is generated inside the Xbox 360 konzole.Xbox 360 Slim on the other hand, has a fan, but it is more then two fans found on the Xbox 360, and that is better positioned, which means it will keep your Xbox 360 Slim cooler, the best part oventilator the Xbox 360 Slim is the silent action ! more loud buzzing noise when playing games or watching movies!

Xbox 360 Slim has 5 USB ports compared to the 3 USB ports that you found on the old Xbox 360 models, one of the USB ports that you will find on the Xbox 360 S also has more power then the rest and it is especially there for use with the new hands-free system controller Kinetic!

Xbox 360 hard drive that is on the outer side of the console, and not all versions come with a hard disk! However, the Xbox 360 Slim comes with a built-in hard disk of 250GB! Now you'll be spending several years trying to even get close to filling the hard disk!

Another advantage of Xbox 360 Slim is that it was built in 802.11n Wi-Fi! which means that you no longer have to go out and buy wireless equipment, which means you can just pocket the money or go out and buy some more games! As you can see, the Xbox 360 Slim has won this battle, so make sure your age!

Xbox 360 Kinect Sports Games

2011-10-31T18:07:00.001-07:00

Kinect sports games are a number of interactive games that also provide lots of exercise. Using Xbox Kinect, you turn your cold area of life in the seat of action with events in athletics, soccer events, and a bowling alley, boxing, table tennis and volleyball. It was unlike anything developed before and you can even use the top-spin with him.

Kinect games are fun, intuitive, and one of the best entertainment options for family or friend gatherings. Even if you do not go, or goal, and just received a powerful inside the ring, it is entirely your only choice. In addition, it is also a great pleasure to watch Kinect games are being played by others.

Xbox Kinect offers a total of six fun activities for individual players and teams. This includes activities such as table tennis, football, boxing, beach volleyball, bowling and track and field events. All these activities provide many new challenges for players. It will not be long before you will find deeply absorbed in the game due to intuitiveness and interests.

Kinect games provide many activities for one player, comes with different levels of hardness to challenge your skills. You could also switch to party mode, where you can play against a friend or form a team of their own. It puts a personal avatar you in the spotlight. It also attracts a lot of press interest and recognition of members of one team. Your avatar can be decorated with your medals and awards to commemorate their victory.

Many people have claimed that the Xbox Kinect the most fun game they played on the Xbox 360. Every family that had played in a state of hysteria and stayed ecstatic at the end of it.

Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death (RROD) - Learn More About the 3 Flashing Red Lights on the Power Button

2011-10-28T03:10:00.001-07:00

Red ring of death (known as the RROD problem or E74 Error) is a nightmare for any gamer Xbox 360. In fact, it is very frustrating problem. This prevents you from playing your favorite games with peace of mind plus you can not use Xbox live membership without constantly dropping from online games and losing level progress.

When your Xbox 360 start showing 3 flashing red lights on the power button, then confirm that you are experiencing the red ring of death problem and the console encounters a general hardware failure. What makes RROD very frustrating problem is that the E74 error does not give you much to work with. You can get a general error not knowing the exact cause of your Xbox 360 is a failure.

After some research, which was discovered by an expert on electronics and video game repair industry is a major cause of red ring of death overheating problem. When your Xbox 360 gets overheated, the connection between the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and motherboard becomes loose. This causes the electrical connection failure and the console starts flashing 3 red lights, which means it got the RROD error.

How can you fix your Xbox 360 permanently?

Dealing with overheating is the first step to repair your Xbox 360 of those dreaded ring of death error. Believe it or not, it's a simple process and does not require technical skills or special tools to perform it yourself at kuće.Profesionalni Xbox repair guide with detailed video instructions will guide you step by step through the simple process of stopping the GPU from coming loose (as a whole problem). Within 2 hours from now, your console will work as good as new again, and those flashing red lights will be nowhere in sight.

Xbox 360 Console With Kinect - Where Fun Workouts and Exiting Game Play Meet

2011-10-20T18:57:00.001-07:00

To enter the world of Xbox 360

Take your game to the next level with Xbox 360! Microsoft gaming platform that is fun for the whole family! including your kids. Get Lost (which we found very easy to do!) The hours of the mysterious worlds of mythical creatures and the fire breathing dragons! Here's how it goes when you leave the normal world behind and enter the world of games!

To connect the Xbox 360 opens up the game for an alternative world of disc based games. Pop in one of the shiny discs quickly and you have entered into the world under the control of the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller.

Xbox controller is a well-organized unit that controls each game you play on Xbox 360. If you are new to this system is a little learning curve to get used to using controllers. Take him on a few buttons at a time and you'll do well. The keys are easy to reach location and it's only a matter of time and persistent practice before doing the controller well enough to enjoy any game you play.

Check out some cool features Xbox360 wireless controller:

pressure sensitive button allowed us to precisely control the action. The battle scenes can be fine-tuned by applying more or less pressure on the keys.
vibration feedback gave us even more sense when we feel every move.
wireless technology gives the Xbox 360 30 foot range. The game on the couch, or (who we kidding) until the close!

Xbox Kinect will get moving in the form

This special edition Xbox 360 is finished with the Xbox Kinect! Motion sensitive, funny activated 'gaming edition that everyone from the couch! Xbox Kinect sole function is to play and moving with interactive games that take you zipping series slopes of the mountain or playing ping pong with a dark-haired opponent!

Kinect work out the motion of bodies without the need for a controller. Swing arm hit the ball or kick your feet hit the football loptu.Kinect, though not without a few bugs, is surprisingly sensitive to movements.

Players are able to control your Xbox with a single gesture or shake of the hip! Wherever you decide that you take Kinect's fine with us! It can actually help you get back into shape and it starts again.

Your whole body can get a good run and you'll find yourself getting tuckered more than they used to. Take your time and stick with kinect and you'll notice your stamina and endurance improves enough to last through the whole game.

Xbox Kinect it turns to the next level by adding motion sensitive video cameras. Literally in the game! Camera eye senses movement and players' follow-the action. (This is always watching ...) video feature allows users to use video chat connects the players on the world.

Connect with other gamers with Xbox 360 Live

Xbox 360 includes a built-in Wi-Fi for easy connection to a network of games and players! Xbox LIVE offers players a wide selection of games exclusively for Xbox users only! Download games, meet friends and receive messages from other igrača.Mreža Xbox LIVE is an additional fee, but it is worth every penny, because it opens up possibilities of Xbox!

Xbox 360 makes a great media source for the whole family. Store media with tons of space on the larger 250 gigabyte hard drive, hidden games, and play high-definition movies with one remote control. Live streaming television gives you the ultimate control! There is always something to watch! Its fun and games!

Is used a lot and enjoy the Xbox 360 console

To get all the entertainment system could cost a fortune and will take up much space. The nice thing is all the games and entertainment in one place. That means fewer wires and less set-up time.

posting some of the services May take a little longer, but they are relatively easy if you follow the instructions. If you are not too technical and you need help be sure to ask some more technical you pomoći.Xbox 360 does a great job to provide everything you need to meet your and your family have to play in a sleek, glossy black package!

Hack Xbox 360

2011-10-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

How to hack Xbox 360 hard drive? well i try to share with you how to get more storage on your Xbox 360 rather than buying original Xbox 360 hard drive.

First is the HDD type, not all HDD compatible with Xbox 360. most gamer use WD scorpion.I also we this type of HDD to hack my Xbox 360 HDD. There are 2 type commonly use is BEVT and BEVS. Sample picture
Get the software to hack Xbox 360, you can downloaded it here: Bootable_USB_Drive_Creator_Tool.rar. This is software to boot your PC from MS-DOS, use USD device to make bootable device. then file 250 Gigabyte as dump file for WD WDD 250 gigabyte. Be sure to rename the HDDSS_250GB.BIN to HDDSS.BIN if you are hacking a 250gb drive. Please note that there are several dump file to use based on HDD capacity, such as 20, 60 and the biggest is 320 Gbyte. Herewith snapshot of file USB Drive Create Tool so you can create USB drive as bootable device. Click start to make your USB drive as bootable device.
When all device ready, connect your WD HDD into PC to start hack Xbox 360 HDD, don't forget to disconnect all DVD and HDD of your PC so only your USB and WD HDD on your PC.
Turn of you PC and it should come on MS-DOS prompt. type hddhackr and display on your computer should be like this.
All been well hddhackr will have listed all the drives in your system, in my case the drive I want to hack is number 5 because I put my WD HDD on slot number 5.
After entering the number you will be asked if you want to dump, flash or restore the firmware, select F to flash.Type in the name of the security sector you want to flash, this will be HDDSS.BIN if you have followed this tutorial.\You will get a message saying that the information in file HDDSS.BIN does not match the drive’s firmware info. "Do you want to flash the Xbox 360 compatible firmware"
Say yes to this:
Your WD HDD should be ready used for Xbox 360 and you already hack Xbox 360 HDD

Fix the Xbox 360 2 Red Lights Error

2011-10-10T22:25:00.001-07:00

Xbox 360 is known for its excellent graphics, design and incredible sound Holders Games pitches. However, besides the fantastic things also comes with a bunch of unwanted stuff. These are things that Xbox players fear the most. It is observed that the long hours of play causes the Xbox to break down and has 2 red lights flashing near the power button. It is a common problem, but the new Xbox owner does not know what to do when he / she comes across these two flashing red lights. Do not worry, this sign only indicates that the console is overheated due to long hours of playing

Having a console in a well ventilated area is key. You may not keep the console wrapped in a cloth or paper. It must be allowed a free space to breath. Another culprit that can cause this problem of dust. Dust can get jammed around the vents on the console. These holes are meant to be hot air from the console, but if it is clogged with dust in the vents where the heat does not escape. This causes heat to be trapped inside the console and eventually cause damage to hardware with 2 red lights showing.

Prevention, as we now know is quite manageable. However, in case you still encounter two red lights error you need to know exactly how to fix it. Fixing 2 red lights problem is a great thing to be done within a few hours, without any technical knowledge what so ever. All you need do is pick up Ana Xbox 360 repair guide that is readily available on the market and follow the detailed steps to solve problems 2 red lights error. It is very simple and can be done from your home with a regular home alata.Bolji choice would be to see an illustrated guide for more information. If you are among those who are comfortable doing things on your boat you can get the console to Microsoft and to fix them. Even so, let me tell you that this option will take up to 5 weeks and also up to $ 100. I hope the above statement you is quite familiar with the Xbox 360 2 red lights error.

The History of the Xbox 360 - Where It Has Come From and How It Has Progressed

2011-10-04T07:44:00.001-07:00

Xbox 360 Core:

The basic Xbox 360 uses the cheapest edition of the Xbox 360 which was later replaced with "Arcade." It was published in many nations, but it was not available in Japan until 2 November 2006.Osnovna console came bundled with composite video leads, can only standard TV resolution. It is still capable of the same high-def resolutions (up to 1080i), as well as other models when connected to separately sold components of the line. In October 2006, 1080p support is added for all models of the system updates, including the "core" using wires or components, or a new VGA cable (although 1080p via component was not widely supported by the TV). You can also set up its own hard disk in the console. Unlike all other SKUs, it shipped with a wired version of the Xbox 360 controller instead of wireless versions found in other SKU.

Xbox 360 Pro / Xbox 360 Premium:

Xbox 360 Pro, which is also called the Premium package is the same as the Xbox 360 Arcade, and a hybrid composite and component cable, which helped a lot with the image quality. Also the hard drive that you removed, the original standard is 20 GB, but the standard is 60GB. This is to save the game points, your profile, music, movies, anything. This hard drive came with many game demos, a video and arcade game Hexic HD for free! In the summer of '07, the Xbox started to get another motherboard called the Zephyr, it is the most advanced HDMI and a better GPU heatsink. Although this package does not include an HDMI output, it did not arrive with the HDMI link. As already 7th September, the most up to date Xbox 360 started to come with the latest Falcon Motherboard This includes a new 65-nm central processing units, making them more secure, and not as hot from the old system. At first August '08, twenty Gigabyte edition was discontinued and was exchanged for 60 GB hard drive version at the same price. Holiday 2008 consoles have been placed with the Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Kung Fu Panda price cuts that were in place on the 4th September 8 reduced price of $ 349 to $ 299 .. Xbox 360 Pro, after his suspension, retailed for $ 249.99 until stocks are gone.

Xbox 360 Elite:

Xbox 360 Elite come with 120 GB HDD and the matte finish crna.Elite trade package also includes a controller and headset, which is the same as the Xbox and a matte black boje.Prvo Issue Price is $ 479.99 USD, 549, $ 99, £ 299.99, and AU $ 729.95. Elite has been placed in stores in Europe on August 24, 2007, Australia 30th August, 2007 and North America 29th April, 2007. These elite (and other Xbox 360 models using the Falcon) can be identified with the older versions has been re-designed power connector and power supply rated to 175 W. In 2009, the Elite models using the Jasper chipset has become available. It can also be found of his power, which is rated at 150W and has a 12.1 12V rail. Holiday 2008 console is bundled with Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Kung Fu Panda.Xbox 360 Elite's price went from $ 449 to $ 399 4th September 2008. With the announcement of the new Xbox 360 Elite 250 GB model fall in the price of U.S. $ 249.99 for the consoles that are still available until the stores are exhausted.

Xbox 360 Arcade:

Xbox 360 Arcade to replace the "Xbox 360 Core" as the entry level Xbox 360 23rd October 2007, while keeping the core cost of U.S. $ 279.99. This is a publicly by Microsoft president of entertainment devices division Robbie Bach to the Financial Times, 18th October 2007, officially announced the 22nd October 2007, although it was available in stores far earlier. It includes a wireless control pad, AV cable, HDMI output, 1.2, 256 MB memory unit and five Xbox Live Arcade titles: Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship Edition and Uno on CD, which included and "Welcome Video" and several game trailers / demos. Similar to its predecessor, "core", it had no hard drive. That is required for the Xbox backwards compatibility software. In autumn 2008, with the introduction of audit Jasper motherboard, the memory device is taken from the package and replace with 256 MB of internal memory chip. It was later upgraded to 512 MB chip in the 09th Summer Holiday '08 consoles are bundled with Sega Superstars Tennis. the price reduction on the 4th September 2008, Arcade dropped from U.S. $ 279 to U.S. $ 199 U.S.. in the UK to the 2009 Elite price drop and end the "Premium" Pro SKU, Arcade price advanced from GB £ 129.99 £ 159.99 GB do. Xbox 360 to launch the redesign, Arcade dropped in price U.S. $ 149.99 for the rest xboxs' while stocks uze.Arcade was replaced on the U.S. $ 200 price level of 4 GB Xbox 360 S.

Xbox 360 Elite super:

Xbox 360 Elite comes with a 250 GB hard drive and 2 wireless controllers at a special limited edition console. Also called the Xbox 360 Elite Console Super retailed at U.S. $ 399.99, GB £ 249.99 and $ 599.00 AU from 10/11/09.Call of Duty: MW2 package includes a limited version of the black console with a Modern Warfare 2 brands. Other packages included basic Elite finish and come with 1 or 2 games, with someone you have Forza Motorsport 3, and with others you can get Halo 3 and the percent in March '10 -. When Final Fantasy XIII is released, they released yet another package that is the same as Call of Duty one, but it came with FFXIII games instead. Unlike other super elite, this Xbox and accessories are the same white color scheme as the "Pro" model. This package also has an exclusive download objects, so you can dress your avatar, and had a special brand HDD. In April 2010, Splinter Cell: Conviction Super Elite package with special printing on the Xbox and the same extras as the other packages is passed along from Splinter Cell. Convictions game

Xbox 360 Slim

Xbox 360 slim is the latest xbox 360 made by Microsoft, and the differences between old Xbox 360 is in Xbix 360 slim have 1 chip which contain GPU and GPU, also Xbox 360 slim already built in WiFi. This Xbox 360 is an answer of all RRoD problem which happened with old Xbox 360 and seems that Microsoft done right answer since we haven't got any report RRoD on Xbox 360 SLIM

Xbox 360 Slim (HALO REACH Bundle)
Figure I already put above. this Xbox 360 Slim comes with game HALO REACH and also with new design of "HALO REACH" with silver color, different with Xbox 360 slim which comes with black color. With storage 250 Gbyte, I would say this is the most Xbox 360 console that gamer will buy.

MOD Your XBox 360 and Download Games For Free!

2011-09-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Did you go to the store video games and realized that the shop is not what you want, and had to go to more than one store to find what you're looking for? Or you ordered something online, and shipping fallen behind a bit and you have to wait almost 2 weeks for your game? So is everyone else, and a way to save money and time to just take off their game. Most game systems out there today trying to be more than a gaming machine, they want to be a multimedia machine, and it is easier than you think.

Xbox 360 hard drives from 20 GB to 120 GB, giving you plenty of room to store stuff on here. By downloading your games, you can save gas, and all transportation costs (both increased). You can put on all new titles such as Halo 3, Ninja Gaiden II, and Mass Effect, and you can also download other system games like dobro.360 can also play downloaded PS2, PSP and Xbox games, and you can play downloaded movies and music.

You will not have to put in any discs, you will not have to put any chips in the 360, you just need to download, play or watch, and enjoy new multimedia machine that you just created. For half the price of a 360 game, and download unlimited games from 4 different formats, all movies and music you want. It's like going to a game store and buying one game, and the next time you go to the store video games do anything you want for free, no questions asked.

Enjoy!

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Xbox 360 Game Review

2011-09-23T01:36:00.001-07:00

Year Call of Duty hits the shelves, and this year was no different. Welcome to the seventh War Call of Duty series, this time we are transferred back to the Cold War, and we can play missions based on real life events.

I played all the previous COD games, and you certainly will not find me waiting outside the store in 12 games in the night waiting for the game to be released. However, you will find me to play the very next day, it's safe to say that they do not live to play COD, but also thoroughly enjoy it.

I must admit that I personally bought this game just to play online and have it played for more than two weeks before I finally took a look at the campaign. Within the first 30 seconds of the film opening the campaign, I was hooked. The campaign is simply the best since the COD franchise as the narrative is easy at any Hollywood offers us this year. I also enjoyed the end of the plot of the campaign as it was really engaging to the last bullet was fired.

As with many of the Call of Duty game play multiple characters, black OPS you to switch between the two and it allows you to see the story from different perspectives, which gives the player a very satisfying conclusion.

One of the main problems I have with all the Call of Duty game is that campaigns are fairly short, it took me about 6-7 hours of gameplay to complete the Black Ops, Black Ops, however, does not end on a high note, where as I believe Modern Warfare 2 is ended abruptly.

Game play, graphics and cinematics are generally level with the previous Call of Duty games and fans of previous games will love to play Black Ops. The campaign is great, but the main part of the game in my opinion is a multiplayer mode available to all Xbox Live players. I personally took a dislike for most of the cards on the Black Ops, but after repeated playing I soon got used to them and started to enjoy them more. But I do not like on-line maps Modern Warfare 2

I was also beginning to love that weapon at their disposal to begin with, but again, I warmed to them after the re-use one of my favorite weapons for online play on the AK47-U, which is in the right hands (not mine) is killing machine.

Most of my game is online and I can not say a bad word about how everything runs very smoothly, without much lag or getting kicked from the game lobby for time outs and other errors.

Total Black Ops is not re-invent the wheel or do anything spectacular at all, it is still a very strong stand-alone game with cinematics to rival any Hollywood film blockbuster.Online game is better than the campaign and after months and still plays to watch forward to join the game lobby and putting some streaks together to kill. Overall I give Call of Duty Black Ops 9 / 10

Choosing The Best Headphones For Xbox Live Gaming

2011-09-16T06:37:00.001-07:00

Xbox Live on Xbox 360 game console is a great system that really adds a new level of experience to the console games and in my opinion has the best multiplayer games of any console. But I really make the most of this remarkable facility and enjoy a full one additional thing you need - and this is the top spec games set to use headphones while playing

But what really means the top spec with a product like that? What features should you be looking for that are the best products? The aim of this paper is to answer such questions and give the reader all the necessary information to help them buy the best gaming headset for them to use while playing with the Xbox Live system.

The first and most important thing is comfort, and you should not forget that when looking at all the other more techy stuff. If you'll be wearing them for any length of time, then it would be a distraction if they are not very comfortable.

Personally, I prefer to go for a Bluetooth wireless headset, although there are some really great products out there with the wires, I just do not want to chance getting caught wire and giving it a drag to come off.

Independent volume control is a good feature, so you can adjust the volume of the game and chat volumes separately. And some of the best places will also automatically increase the volume of chat during the noisy moments in the game, so you do not have to do it yourself, and you can still hear clearly what people are saying about you.

feature that feeds back into the microphone out of his ear is still a nice thing to look for, so you can always hear what you say too much because it can be a little weird otherwise.

How to Burn Xbox 360 Games Using ImgBurn

2011-09-12T02:56:00.001-07:00

ImgBurn is a free tool that allows you to burn all types of CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs. It works for PC CD, music CDs, and even the Xbox 360 game, and here's how to burn your 360 games with him.

Before you can take any game Xbox 360, you must first obtain ISO and DVD files that will be used to burn the disc. These files are essential and can be ripped off or play a CD or downloaded from the Internet. After the ISO file to DVD for the first game you want to record, then you need to install on your system ImgBurn. It's pretty simple and the software can be downloaded from imgburn.com.

Once you have the software installed, then you need to open. DVD file to play. For this, you will break the number of layers that need to be copied to the clip board with Ctrl + C to copy it, then open ImgBurn and find the "Options" panel at the top of the screen. Open the Options window, and then find the "layer break" setting, where they will have to stick with that number CTRL + V.

Once you have pasted the code layer break in settings, you can quit and return to the main ImgBurn (the layer break, where the burner stops burning a single layer and moves to the next layer of double-layer DVD). On the main screen, then you need to click on "Save to Favorites" button, which will then open a new screen that will ask you to open the ISO file. Open the file that you have the game, and then proceed to change the "write speed" of the 4X. This will give the highest success rate. After that, you only need to click the big button at the bottom left of the screen to burn it.

Here is summary that you must do to burn Xbox 360 game using IMGburn:

1. Download the program IMG Burn

http://www.imgburn.com

2. Get a DL-DVD (Im using phillips-dl's but thats your choice)
3. Open IMG Burn
5. Click Write to a Disk
6. Click at the top on Tools
7. Choose Settings
8. Choose the write tab
9. Set Layer-Break To 1913760 (See Image)

10. Select the .dvd file for burning
11. Burn on 2.4x Speed
12 Enjoy Playing Your Game!!!

Ps3 Vs Xbox 360

2011-09-07T19:44:00.001-07:00

Are you interested in buying a new generation of consoles, but are not sure which one would you buy? Are you sure the features of each? You've come to the right place. Next-generation consoles such as Xbox 360, Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii all have different features and they appeal to different audiences. You can read about below to find some very important differences, and whether they suit your needs or not.

Wii: Wii is made by Nintendo It has WiFi and a different control system that is used by adding a sensor bar on top of the TV .. The sensor bar uses a laser to determine the position of the Wii-mote in hand, and in turn, can perform different actions in games with different movements trun.Nintendo Wii-Wii console has been hailed as the game starts again with a few like-minded fitness attachments, including Wii and the Wii Fit.Igre usually aimed at children and young people to provide entertainment for the whole family, however, more serious games such as Call of Duty and Resident Evil is manufactured for use on the Wii. If you are looking for a unique gaming experience you can not get from any other game system, Nintendo Wii can be for you.

360: Xbox 360 is made by Microsoft as the first of a new generation of consoles to be released. There are many improvements over the first generation of Xbox, including a better controller and Xbox LIVE, which is Microsoft's system for delivering content. Using the Xbox LIVE, you can rent movies, buy more games, and soon, streaming movies from Netflix via Xbox 360 konzole.Xbox 360 includes a detachable hard drive that can hold games, movies and music, which is more than the Wii, such as its memory blocks built in. If you're a serious player, who plays hardcore mature games, you might be interested in the Xbox 360 titles such as Halo 3, Gears of War, and Assassin's Creed.

PS3: Sony Playstation 3 is the last of the console is released and remains the most expensive. One factor that figures into the price of the Sony PS3 is the ability to play Blu Ray movie discs. These discs are what most PlayStation 3 games are used as a format, so that given the enormous processing power and capacity of Blu Ray, the games are able to reach a quality of visual experience. Players who are interested in a few PS3 exclusive titles like Metal Gear Solid 4 and God of War 3 might want to check out the PlayStation 3 It also includes the hard drives of different capacities, but it is not as easily accessible as the Xbox 360 hard disk.Playstation Network also offers free game demos and the ability to purchase online game, similar to the Microsoft Live service.

As you can see, each of these consoles offer unique features that can be found with this brand. If you have an adventurous game, consider owning more than one of these consoles.

Kinect for the Xbox 360

2011-09-05T21:04:00.001-07:00

If you have Xbox fan at all you've heard about the new Kinect for Xbox 360 and his game changing ability. Gives you the ability to control your game just move, Kinect is available as a peripheral for those who already own the Xbox or comes included in the new Xbox Kinect package for those who are new to the platform. Kinect seems to be the closest the game has gotten even bringing players into the game. But how it all works?

There are three essential components Kinect camera, microphone and software to tie everything together. Each of these is essential for Kinect experience.

There's a trio of hardware innovations working together within the Kinect sensor:

Color VGA video camera - This video camera aids in facial recognition and other detection features by detecting three color components: red, green and blue. Microsoft calls this an "RGB camera" referring to the color components it detects.
Depth sensor - An infrared projector and a monochrome CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor work together to "see" the room in 3-D regardless of the lighting conditions.
Multi-array microphone - This is an array of four microphones that can isolate the voices of the players from the noise in the room. This allows the player to be a few feet away from the microphone and still use voice controls.

Kinect camera differs from the earlier motion sensing camera that you do not use any texture or color to tell apart all the various objects in his visual field. Much like dolphins or bats use sonar rather than vision to measure the world around him, Kinect camera sends continuous near infrared beams of light that is almost invisible, and then measures the time it takes for the light to return after bouncing off the object. This essentially makes the camera continuously updated 3D picture of the entire room, including a fine image height, width and depth of each of the specific object within-including you! Kinect camera is exactly the height and width to within three millimeters, and the depth within one centimeter.

The next step in the process, the software translates what the camera sees in the game-specific commands, detect and identify human players, and can even read their thoughts in some cases. Different games and applications to identify different movements more easily than others. Racing games, for example, have an easier time determining the movements of races, because that is what they seek. Games are better in identifying moving subjects. Golf Games and Grand Theft Auto is the only one in the universe who can identify the golf swing. Oh, and do not worry, Kinect can not actually read your thoughts.

Kinect microphone designed to listen for commands from the entire room, so anyone can jump and play together. This does not just pick up the sound of close to it, but there is a wide field audio recording that can allow the entire family, the entire dorm room, or anyone gathered around the Samsung LCD TV in the living room to participate in the action.
Herewith example of Kinect usage

Kinect can be use for jogging because it can detect our leg movement

Kinect can detect whole part of your body so you can play volley ball

You can also play with "virtual pet" on Kinectmals

How to Prevent Red Ring of Death on Your Xbox 360 in 2 Easy Steps

2011-09-02T06:42:00.001-07:00

Everyone will go through it at some point, the red ring of death (RRoD) is a very scary thing for most, mainly because the red ring of death. This mostly happened on old/fat Xbox 360 console and I haven't found the red ring of death (RRoD) in Xbox 360 slim. But there are ways to prevent or at least extended your Xbox 360 from the red ring of death (RRoD) . I'll tell you some of these things:

Why do Xbox 360 flash 3 times to you?

Console, mainly because it overheats, it overheated because it was too much heat is released in the area is too small, this area is near the CPU and GPU, which are essential for the Xbox 360 run. It ca be due to other reasons, but that's the main reason.

3RRoD can caused by many things, but mostly due to Solder Joint on GPU- due to lack of air circulation system and very small of head sink in GPU.

How to prevent it
Here some things that I do to prevent this from happening:

Make sure your Xbox 360 is on his side, has put it vertically, covering one of 360 major holes in the bottom, it will result in more heat, I love to do is put on two stacks of video tape, so the side facing the floor is covered floor. Make sure your Xbox 360 has enough space, make sure your Xbox is not the case under the DVD player or anything, the best place for it on the floor with two piles of video tapes on him. And make sure it is out of direct sunlight. This will make the minimal chances of overheating. Make sure your game CD's are clean, dusty and dirty CD can cause friction between the Xbox 360 and games cause disk read errors and maybe a problem with the laser disc tray. Make sure your game CD is free of dust and dirt. Make sure your game CD's are clean, dusty and dirty CD can cause friction between the Xbox 360 and games cause disk read errors and maybe a problem with the laser disc tray. Make sure your game CD is free of dust and dirt .... I hope this gives you as much time as possible to get the red ring of death, it might prevent him from everything, I hope so. Thank you for reading and happy gaming.

PS3 Slim Review

2011-08-21T21:14:00.001-07:00

Late last month, Sony rolled out new PlayStation 3 repeat a successful line, called the PS3 Slim. Needless to say, it is much like its older brother, the PS2 slim, in a concept that is smaller than its predecessor. However, some new items are added to the console, along with some controversial deletions.

New PS3 Slim with a matte finish

As you can see, there are a lot changed on the new console. Instead of piano gloss black, matte boji.Puno you do not like it better, but I do. This is due to the fact that the original PS3 is dust and fingerprint magnet. I hope to finish the new fairs better than the original.

PS3 "Fat" vs. PS3 Slim

In a different finish, this model weighs a little less good, there really are buttons instead of the sensor for power and eject, a lack of PSU switch on the back of the console. It's not really pro or con, just different. As with other PS3, it comes with its usual wireless controller, adapter, power cable and USB charging cable.

Good

The new model comes with an upgrade thanks to Sony. One of the most important will be the new CPU / GPU.Novi processors are now in the 45nm process, and then consume less energy. I saw the numbers in the range 70-100 W during game play less than the release of 60 GB model. This is why consoles can not afford to be so small. It will probably have a better future than the PS2 slim because of heat issues that plagued him. Also, due to the redesign, the CPU and GPU, said to be faster now, however, I found little difference except the console menu appears Snappier. This is something you can keep an eye on and probably later. PS3 games still do not fully take advantage of the current cell architecture, so the toss-up.

following that will definitely benefit those who will use the console as an entertainment device. Audiophiles, rejoice! PS3 now supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA audio. Those with high end receivers will be able to appreciate the benefits of the new audio formats. It really adds value back to Blu-ray group who just want to watch movies. With the price at $ 299, its a good piece of that just for this.

Best HDMI Cable for Xbox 360 - Discover The Shocking Truth Inside Here

2011-08-10T01:50:00.001-07:00

Search around for the best HDMI cable for Xbox 360?

Well, look no further I have searched the internet and collected information on the best HDMI cable for Xbox 360 Not only did I discover that the cable is the best HDMI cable for Xbox 360, but I'll share with you is to get the best prices and deals

Now there are 2 sets of cables HD who stand out from the rest of the pack.

the original Xbox 360 HDMI AV Cable by Microsoft
HDMI cable and adapter for the Xbox 360 by KVE

Both are designed to give your games and movies available for high definition picture and Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sound. Although they are designed the same as the performance of each set is different. I'm about to break down and compare and analyze each set for you right now, so you can make your own decision based on what I share with you.

The original Xbox 360 HDMI AV Cable by Microsoft

1) Price = You can buy this set for about $ 40 U.S. dollar and about $ 10 dollars used.

2) This item is the real creator of Xbox and Microsoft, so you can rest assured that you are receiving top quality products.

3) comes with separate audio and video connections, so you have the ability to manage audio on your home surround sound system (other power cords in the running threw their Audio TVs speakers or audio output separately, which will result in costs more money in the first place)

4) Play your games and movies in the highest 1080p

HDMI cable and adapter for the Xbox 360 by KVE

1) Price = The fraction of the cost for the official best HDMI cable for Xbox 360 is hard to go wrong with this item. You can get your hands on this for as little as $ 5 new or used.

2) This cable is not all that expensive is not official, so you do not have to worry about not getting the same equipment.

3) The only difference is that they are forced to buy an optical audio output, if you want your sound player has thrown their homes surround sound system.

4) Since the third Party Supplies you can not expect a guarantee or reliability of the official cable but only a few negative reviews.

5) Some cases people have reported cutting their sound and the system reboots when changing channels HDMI.

Xbox 360 Elite 250GB Vs PS3 Slim 250GB

2011-08-07T22:19:00.001-07:00

A lot has changed since Sony introduced the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 console. The game library expanded, prices have fallen, and even system configuration options have expanded considerably. Players can now find the entry in the console world for as little as 80, and if you want top shelf, they have two options reasonably priced at around 250

In one corner we have the premium Xbox 360 console, 250GB Elite, and others have chosen the PS3, Slim 250GB. Now that Sony has made the PS3 price in line with the Xbox, it is no longer a factor. So, what about the design of the unit? Both companies have an updated style with black matte finish, but the PS3 console has a modern flare.Xbox 360 console, on the other hand, it seems outdated and still has tremendous strength to the bricks.

Most players care more about features and availability of game than the design. Significant features of the PS3 console as Blu-ray playback, Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth. Unfortunately, all three of these features continue to be significant omissions from the Xbox 360 console. However, the Xbox 360 consoles fail to differ with unparalleled online gaming service. Hardcore gamers want Bluetooth, Blu-ray, and the Wi-Fi, but they are unlikely to relinquish them to achieve the ultimate online gaming experience.

Xbox 360 console, and manages to out due the sheer size of its game library, and it remains to be fully compatible with games designed for older Xbox konzole.PS3 no longer able to backwards compatibility. Another point in favor of the Xbox 360 console that has a much better option to download game content, but the PS3 console meter that can boast a better exclusive downloadable content. In addition, Sony has started to catch up in an exclusive department of the game, so it is no longer a clear victory for the Xbox, because for so long.

In terms of graphics and performance, there remains the question of potential compared to the actuality. There is no doubt that the PS3 console can achieve quality, such as in Uncharted, the Xbox simply can not match the Sony technology for cell processing. The downside is that it only takes advantage of Sony's exclusives, and most other games look superior to the Xbox. So where it all leave us? We think that the Xbox is still the right choice for the hardcore gamer, if they must choose between the two, the PS3 is better for a person sees it as part of a larger entertainment center.

What Is Special About The Xbox Kinect

2011-08-04T16:50:00.001-07:00

One of the most impressive companies on this planet is Microsoft. They have created a Windows OS, many pieces of great software and they are now operating in the video games. For quite some time, video-game industry was dominated by Nintendo and Sony. In 2001, Microsoft joined the gaming industry with its Xbox game system on 2005 and it is very challenging with 2 at the time.

The newest battle between the three companies located within the active video games niche market. People like the concept of the game moving and bouncing around in front of the television. Serve those desires, Microsoft has launched a supplement for the Xbox 360 system called Kinect.Xbox Kinect a robust discussion and recognition of motion of a machine that lets you play video games just by using your body.

The reason why Kinect unique is that it is the only console that is 100% wireless, you are the controller, no device added to your body. Competitors Nintendo Wii and Move and use the remotes. This gives Kinect unquestionable advantage over their Conpetitor.Many people must do to have fun, the better. Moreover, given the Kinect advantages when it comes to certain games.

To exercise Kinect titles Xbox has a huge advantage over other gaming consoles. Since there is no controller that are involved, you'll be able to make full use of your hands and your whole body. Additionally, this means that the Xbox Kinect fitness video games may provide more exercise than any other game consoles. While using Xbox Kinect you can comfortably do workouts like pushups, ab crunches, and more. As for other video game consoles, and are related to just doing exercises that are friendly controller.

Xbox 360 Kinect may have an advantage when it comes to exercise game, but it also has a disadvantage when it comes to shooting video games. Using the game controller to record video games feel a lot better than playing your hand. Simply put, the game controller gives the impression of a real gun while his hand just feels uncomfortable.

With that said, the Xbox 360 Kinect is a solid system. Personally, I think over time Kinect will improve how we play with our console. Old gaming system only use their hand to play whereas Kinect require whole part of our body to play.

Kinect require both our leg to play

Kinect can played both of our children

We even can borrow tiger inside our house
I would say Kinect can change how we threat our console. We can do activity inside our house with our family but I am not saying Kinect better than doing activity outside because sometime we need to do "real" sports outside house and Kinect is a gaming system which can offer new way to spend your time.

Xbox Keeps Freezing? Find Out Why it Does and Your Options to Fix it

2011-08-02T20:17:00.001-07:00

Since it is the most popular game system, Xbox 360 is fun to play, but when it goes on the freezing and the Xbox keeps freezing it can be very frustrating especially after you fork over $ 200 to $ 400 to.When your xbox 360 start freezing usually it will ended with RRoD problem due to overheating. You will lucky if warranty still available so you can ask microsoft to change your xbox 360.

Why does your system overheat you ask? Well, it revolves around the design of heat sinks on the chips (GPU) on the motherboard. Also, another flaw in the design of the slim design of the system. The air flow is restricted and therefore can cause overheating also because microsoft only equipped with 5volt fan instead of 12volt

Now we asked the question, how to fix freezing on xbox 360? Well there are two simple ways to prevent overheating in the first place. If you already have experience with common errors involving overheating 2 red rings, 3 red rings, freeze, and E73 and e74 error need to fix it.

The first two things you can do to prevent overheating or freezing is by keeping xbox 360 away from other things so that there is enough space to promote proper ventilation and also by adding intercooler. Second thing is to open up the system and clean out the dust you have in it. Dust can cause poor airflow within the system and will cause it to be warmer and at the end your xbox will freezing.

If you have problems and Xbox 360 keeps freezing and all the error codes as said earlier, but we need to do more a little more work to do prevention. They are the weak link in the Main Board of overheating that occurred over months or years of use. There are 4 ways to solve this problem.

Easiest and definitely the most expensive way is to simply buy a new console to take advantage of better design of heat sinks and chips in newer systems.
Send to Microsoft to repair it yourself. This can only work if you're still under warranty and have 4-8 weeks time to wait. Also remember that the hard drive before sending it.
Send to Microsoft to repair it yourself. This can only work if you're still under warranty and have 4-8 weeks time to wait. Also remember that the hard drive before sending it.
Last option is to fix it yourself. I personally have done it myself when I got the 3 red rings. I was out of warranty, and considered himself semi savvy with electronics. It is quite easy and the system itself is the same night. I just followed the guide and select a few parts from my local hardware store and that's it. This is a nice option for those who want it done quickly and cheaply.

Looking for an Xbox 360 Slim Hard Drive? Read This First!

2011-07-31T22:34:00.001-07:00

Xbox 360 slim hard drive is a new piece of technology that has only recently hit the market, and it's making a lot of noise. There are a lot of people with questions, concerns and information about how to best take advantage of it. To make sure you're really going to be able to play at the next level, you're going to want to learn as much as you possibly can on the Xbox 360 slim hard disk. The more you know, the easier it will be understood that this is going to benefit your gaming experience.

Easy to replace

Slim With Xbox 360 hard drive, you will be able to replace it as needed. This is something that not everyone feels comfortable with, but once you learn a few tricks, you'll discover that it really is not all that difficult at all. Now that the Xbox 360 Slim first came out, there was no official replacement drive for it. Some people have tried taking the drive from the original 360, or general hard drive and install it in your Xbox console.Xbox slim HDD is located on right side or your Xbox slim

Shopping Xbox Slim HDD

Now that the official Xbox 360 slim hard drive that you can buy, you can be sure that you are able to get the best possible gaming experience. For those who are fully able to cope with any technical, you might want to leave the Xbox installation disk to your friend who knows what he is doing. Then, finally will be able to enjoy your gaming console to its full potential.

How to Insert and Open Xbox 360 Slim Hard Drive
Small video from youtube will explain it

Burning Xbox 360 Games For Cheap

2011-07-30T05:41:00.001-07:00

If you already crack your Xbox 360 console, you can "make" your own Xbox 360 games and this requirement to make Xbox 360 game

1) DVD-recorder LG Electronics GH22NS50 22x SATA Super Multi DVD + /-RW Internal Drive - Bulk Software (Black) $ 23.99. This is a great entry-level drive, has all the necessary components for burning Xbox 360 games, including Dual Layer encryption and SATA ports. All the features you need to build a reputable company at a great price.

2) DVD-R Verbatim 4.7GB 16x 95 058 120 minutes-sided DVD-R, 25-Disc Speed $ 11.90. Verbatim DVD-R discs are some of the best discs that money can buy. When burning Xbox 360 games that do not want to skimp on the disc or you might end up with a skipping or disk error. Using Verbatim discs, and skips the error will not be a concern.

3) software Easy Backup Wizard -. The easiest and simplest way to copy and backup your video games! $ 29.00. This is simply the easiest program to use for burning Xbox 360 games (or any other game or DVD for that matter). This program is the best value for creating backups of your games, and can save you a bundle compared to the cost of copying, encoding, burning and encoding software. Instead, get all the features of a piece of software.

Xbox 360 RROD - Which Xbox 360 RROD Fix is the Best?

2011-07-29T02:28:00.001-07:00

So when I first started looking for a fix for my Xbox 360 RROD I was overwhelmed by all the information out there. There are a gazillion websites, each hawking their instructions (normally $ 24.95 ... you can get them for free), and then there are plenty of YouTube videos which claim to have discovered a cure čudo.Tri that I will review are what seem to be the most popular (and sometimes funniest ).

Number # 1 - Towel Trick - It goes something like this: You are a hard drive off, wrap the entire unit in a towel to prevent excess heat from escaping, turn the console on for about 15 minutes to cook (some guidelines recommend 1 hour), to shut down, unplug it for an hour, and then back as a magic act. But why? I have not heard a decent explanation yet. Here's one explanation ... "unit gets so hot it melts solder, which is bursting at the cause of red lights in the first place "..... Here are some potential hazards as pointed out in the same direction "can potentially cause damage to other parts of the Xbox ".... "The unit could catch on fire, it gets so hot." I must say that I would rate this as the second most ridiculous fix of the three considered. Recommendation:. Do not use this service

# Number 2 - Ice Bath - I do not want to explain how to do it. Basically, when Rubbermaid was filled with ice water, some vinegar is added, the Xbox 360 is turned off and immersed in a water / vinegar mixture. After many minutes the console is removed, drained of water and immediately plugged back in I need to say more. I actually heard a kid who has tried this and was very shocked. The fact that so many other repairs had been presented as a YouTube video. It is really very irresponsible and should be removed. This fix is the most ridiculous fix of the three considered. Recommendation: Do not even think about using this fix if you value your life

Number # 3 - X-Clamp Fix - This is the only legitimate fix I've found so far. It is as permanent as it gets. Do not use it, however, if your Xbox 360 is still under warranty. Send the console back to Microsoft and let them honor the warranty. However, if the seal is broken and / or is not under warranty to fix is your best bet. This is a fix in a nutshell, you open the console, remove the X-pipe, clean the old thermal paste, put new thermal paste on, replace the X-clamps with screws and washers, reassemble the units overheating, let it cool down and work on about 90% of the units. Recommendation:. Use the predicament

New processor for Xbox 360 Slim

2011-06-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Microsoft announces that they will launch new processor for Xbox 360 slim and it will called System-on-chip computer. This processor will consist of main processor (CPU), Graphic processor (GPU), memory and I/O into only single chip.

Main reason why Microsoft launches this processor is to reduce cost production, make it easier to produce and also make Xbox 360 slim more efficient because main process of console only happened in single chip and lead to power supply consumption.

What is benefit for Gamer? well or course the price of console Xbox 360 Slim will be lower than before and console dimension will be smaller so we can take it more portable. Aside for all advantages mentioned, some of them still doubt about this new Xbox 360 slim processor to play games as good as previous processor. Microsoft said that this new processor can work with latency and bandwidth same as before

Until now Microsoft hasn't mentioned when this new Xbox 360 slim processor will be available at store, if it is there we all hope it also come with discount

Intercooler for xbox 360 Slim

2011-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Nyko finally launch intercooler designed for Xbox 360 slim, this for gamer who is still afraid that their Xbox 360 slim will overheat. it is become interesting because this Xbox intercooler only turn on when you need it, meaning when your Xbox 360 overheat this intercooler will start automatically. this can be done because this inter cooler have its own sensor and can detect Xbox 360 Slim temperature.This will be useful for gamer who always push their Xbox 360 to the limit although Xbox 360 slim already have mechanism to prevent Xbox 360 slim from overheating.

The unit looks good, as you can see in the pic below–it actually almost looks like how the Xbox 360 Slim probably should have looked in the first place–and it’s available right now from a variety of places for a suggested retail price of $19.99. Considering it’s likely to keep your Xbox 360 a lot cooler, and many of its most common problems stem from overheating, it may be a good idea to pick one of these up as a preventative maintenance measure, if nothing else.

For those who like to see their Xbox 360 slim more exclusive can use this cooler but in my opinion we still no need this cooler because Microsoft already fix their Xbox 360 cooling system by using bigger head sink and better air circulation.Also placing this intercooler makes your Xbox 360 slim looks nice.

Xbox 360 Slim Air Circulation

2011-04-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

The main reason why Microsoft launch Xbox 360 slim is due to 3RRoD problem, aside offering low power consumption.In Xbox slim Microsoft use new air circulation technique whereas fan use to blow fresh air into Xbox GPU and CPU which now combined into single chip. As we know 3RRoD is the main disadvantages of Xbox 360, bad air circulation make GPU beaked so bad and make your Xbox 360 broke - I wonder why Microsoft didn't thy their product first before sell it into the market. Okay, end story for Xbox 360 "fat" and new era of Xbox 360 slim and this is illustration how does cooler system on Xbox 360 slim work.

Fresh air will goes into xbox 360 slim and make GPU+CPU and headsink cooler. This is same with all PC air circulation system whereas fan used to blow fresh air and not used to hot air out from system. As we know Microsoft set fan speed very low-- I wonder why Microsoft didn't put 12volt fan instead of 6volt fan, because many gamer can extend "Xbox 360 lifetime" by modding those fan into 12volt, this will make your xbox 360 keep baked for very long time and at the end will make RRoD problem, but this already recognize by Microsoft and they put system to prevent Xbox 360 slim form overheating.

Picture above shows how Air circulation of old Xbox 360 works. Hot air are suck from inside xbox out to open air, by using only 6volt fans this will not work properly and those "Hot air" will stay inside xbox 360 and make xbox 360 3RRoD and major 3RRoD is due to GPU overheat.
So I think what Microsoft do to overcome overheat problem on xbox already good by changing air Circulation system and also by using bigger head sink so heat from GPU and CPU will distribute more properly.

Xbox 360 slim no RRoD?

2011-01-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

Does Microsoft already fix RRoD problem on Xbox 360 slim? I check on several website and i found something interesting that Xbox 360 slim only shows "Green only" on Ring of Light as shown below

Does it means no RRoD problem again on Xbox 360 slim? or Microsoft just move the problem? meaning maybe we will not see RRoD problem on Xbox 360 slim but we will facing with new problem?

Xbox 360 slim have several differences compare with old Xbox 360 slim to avoid RRoD problem.

Air circulation system : Xbox 360 slim fan have difference mechanism from the old one whereas Xbox 360 slim blow head sink with fresh air, this will make head sink cooler rather than throwing hot air into open air. And as we know all computer PC use this mechanism
Overheat warning : Microsoft will not allowed Xbox 360 too hot. A warning will apprear when Xbox console becoming too hot, this will make your console stop working
GPU and CPU : as we known before Xbox 360 slim combine GPU and CPU into one chip and the most important is this chip equipped with good head sink, not like old Xbox 360 whereas GPU chip only use small head sink.

Halo Reach 360 case mod

2011-01-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

With the Halo Reach beta ending a while a back, and the game not slated to release until September Facebook of all places helped us find something to keep the excitement brewing. Kevin Napier, a.k.a CorpseFact0ry99 has taken an old school white Xbox 360 pro and turned it into something Halo Fanboys everywhere can begin salivating over.

Kevin took the design of the Halo Reach box art and laser etched it into the side of the case, backed by a clear pane displaying the inside of the 360. Halo Reach has also been indented into the case below the cut out, just in case there was any misinterpretation. The stale white case has also been coated with a glossy black giving the old school 360 a more updated feel.

He also assured us that as soon as the mod is completed we will be getting some more pictures to show off the Halo Reach case mod in its entirety. Once completed the mod will also be up for sale, Kevin also plans on producing a few more of these bad boys before it is all said and done.
Source: www.neverknowtech.com

Top Xbox 360 Games

2010-12-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

This year 2010 will end shortly and I wondered what is the top Xbox 360 games in this year. well based on my experienced playing games in 2010 and reviewed by some game website, I try ti summarize that is Top Xbox Games in 2010

Gears of wars 2 : I would say every 360 gamers know this game. Launced by epic games and publised by Microsoft games studios. It is the second installment of the Gears of War series. The game was officially released in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia on November 12, 2008. The game expands technically on the previous game by using a heavily modified Unreal Engine 3 engine.Taking the role of Marcus Fenix, you and a troop of elite, alien-killing super marines will shoot, punch, stomp, claw, and tear your way through the Earth itself in a jaw-dropping fight against the Locust Horde that infests the very core of their once peaceful planet.

Mass Effect 2:Game made by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC is the second stories of Mass Effect where taking story two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life. A new enemy emerged called Ciberus and player once again step into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, commanding their crew of some of the most dangerous operatives from across the galaxy on a mission so challenging that it's potentially suicidal. Featuring intense shooter action, a rich futuristic storyline, space exploration and emotionally engaging character interaction, the game delivers an unparalleled cinematic experience.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare: Game launched by activision and become the fourth stories of Call of Duty. I said this games is the first first person shooter which use modern combat situation, as we know the previous one use "classic word war situation". The single-player campaign is filled with tight gameplay and great moments you’ll want to play again and again, and the multiplayer is some of the deepest and most satisfying around. Call of Duty 4 is a great game that is highly recommended.
Halo Reach: Game made by Bungie taking story before HALO Combat Envolved and explained how human being met covenant. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the alien Covenant. Players control Noble Six, a member of an elite supersoldier squad, during the battle for the world of Reach. As the Covenant begin their assault on the planet, the UNSC begin their heroic yet ultimately futile effort to repel the alien invaders.The game easily the biggest and most ambitious Halo title yet, includes an intense, pulse-pounding Campaign, an addictive and frenetic Multiplayer, a riveting four-player Co-operative Firefight mode, the massive ForgeWorld experience, and a Theater mode to capture it all. With more modes, maps, missions, and features than ever before, Halo: Reach represents the complete Halo experience
BioShock 2: Game a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3. BioShock 2 puts you into the massive shoes of a drill-toting, Little Sister-guarding Big Daddy. You're told that you're an early model as apart of the Alpha series, you're faster than the newer Big Daddies and able to use plasmids. BioShock 2 puts players into the thumping boots of a Big Daddy. Not just any Big Daddy, either. This is Delta, a prototype protector who was designed to have a lasting bond with a single Little Sister for reasons too convoluted to go into here. Waking up long after the fall of Rapture, Delta discovers that Andrew Ryan is dead and the Libertarian utopia has become a Communist ruin, ruled over by Dr. Sophia Lamb. Lamb, a longstanding rival of Ryan's, has turned the Splicers into her "family," an army of deranged cultists who have freed themselves from Ryan's ideals and now strive toward creating their own twisted view of Heaven on Earth. Now separated from his original Little Sister, Delta strives to win her back from Lamb's clutches and escape Rapture. It's up to the player whether Delta's story will be one of mercy, or revenge.

Xbox 360 Kinect sell more than Playstation Move on this holiday season

2010-12-27T06:02:00.000-08:00

As inform in IDC research firm, seems that new haming controller from Xbox 360 called Kinect outsell compare with Playstation Move from Sony, where 2.5 million to 3 million Kinect controller sold and Playstation move sold arround 2 million until 2.5 million.

Kinect standalone sold around $150 and Playstation Move sold arround $50 and already available on store since September 2010. With this price differences, seems that price is not main concern for some gamer and i would like to said "new experience in gaming" become main reason.

Also inform by Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told CNET in an interview, said that KInect will hit 5 million unit sold until end of this year whereas Sony will not so lucky Playstation Move.

Sony again noted its sales of about 1 million Move units in the United States and Latin America during the product's first month of availability. Going forward, based on the fact that the Kinect was released just last week and will outsell Move this year, according to Pachter, those sales could be eclipsed quite quickly by Microsoft's motion-gaming peripheral. And much of that success is due to Microsoft's marketing efforts, Pachter says.

"Microsoft has a lot more promotion going on (tie-ins with Kellogg's and with Burger King), and I think that they will spend a lot more to make sure the public is aware," Pachter said. "The other thing Microsoft has going for it is that their redesigned Xbox 360 is an upgrade option for the installed base, and once a 360 owner decides to upgrade, the cost of Kinect is only $100. I think you'll see more than half of Kinect units sold as part of a console bundle."

Last sales comparison that I would like to mention is from research form Ipson that Kinect from Microsoft will be "big winner" compare with Playstation Move

Kinect motion tracking system from Microsoft for the Xbox 360 will be “the big game winner for U.S. 2010 holiday season”, managing to edge out the PlayStation Move system from Sony.

Ipsos also found that the overall buzz for Kinect is higher than for the Move, most likely because the no controller concept of the Microsoft device is seen as more revolutionary than the Move, which still has buttons and a wand like hand held physical presence.

But from all research firm and analyst, it is back to gamer to decide will buy controller and console type for this year holiday season...Happy Holiday!

Xbox 360 slim arcade bundle

2010-12-24T01:37:00.001-08:00

The new Xbox 360 250GB HDD console has been doing remarkably well across the world, having at times sold out in the US and boosted console sales in Japan. After launching that package, Microsoft launch slimmer xbox 360 slim, meaning xbox 360 slim with less package and we called Xbox 360 slim arcade and its is reported already sold around $199. It is assumed that the Xbox 360 Slim Arcade SKU will be packaged without any HDD and ship with an Xbox branded 4GB USB stick. Microsoft said Kinect would be available as a standalone device and as "part of a bundle with the newly designed Xbox 360 console.

But for gamer who want to play Xbox 360 plus Kinect, Microsoft is also offering a bundle that includes a new Xbox 360 "S" Arcade and Kinect with Kinect Adventures for $299 that comes with 4GB of storage space. Kinect Adventures will come with 20 mini-games and support up to two players at a time. 15 other games will launch with Kinect on November 4.

But is you want to find more about detail bundle of Xbox 360 slim, here is detail:

Xbox 360 2010 Holiday Bundle : This years 2010 Holiday Bundle includes a Xbox 360 250GB without Kinect, but it is the same console. It comes packed with Alan Wake and Forza Motorsport 3 which in our opinion is an amazing bundle from what has been offered in past holiday bundles.
Xbox 360 4GB Console without Kinect: This is the plain-jane Xbox 360 4GB which replaces the old Core/Arcade models. The Xbox 360 4GB Console comes with one wired controller, wireless 802.11n technology, and is whisper quiet much like all other Xbox 360 models
Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect: This is the flag ship Xbox 360 console which includes Microsofts latest Kinect bundle. Run and jump in your living room as you become the controller
Xbox 360 250GB Console without Kinect: This is the same as the 250GB console with Kinect, only without it. This is still an amazing console utilizing the newer Xbox 360 S format which runs quieter and cooler than previous Xbox 360 models.
Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect: This is the same Xbox 360 console as the 250GB versions with the omission of a 250GB Hard drive. This console has 4GB of on-board flash memory which is likely just enough for some game saves and music, but not nearly enough to copy full games to the hard drive for faster loading or a lot of HD Movie watching. This also includes the Kinect sensor.
Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo Reach Bundle: Custom designed with artwork inspired by Halo: Reach, in a brand new, leaner machine with Wi-Fi built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE. This limited offer also includes a copy of the gameHalo: Reach, two custom-designed Xbox 360 wireless controllers and a 250GB hard drive. Available for a limited time

HALO Reach cannot work on Xbox 360 Slim 4GB?

2010-12-19T00:51:00.000-08:00

AS reported by some website, seems that HALO Reach cannot work on Xbox 360 Slim 4GB and fail to recognize Xbox 360 slim 4GB as a flash drive. Seems this because on HALO Reach, there is Co-op feature where require more HDD space.

Error message mentioned that games don't have require hard drive to play HALO Reach, and we have put put larger HDD to play it.

Things that you should know before playing HALO on Xbox Slim 360 4GB

This issue only happened on Xbox Slim 360 4GB so you can play it on other type on Xbox 360
Adding USB hard drive won't help. So you have to put HDD on HDD slot in order to play it and if you live on UK you can but it on nearest store (already available on september 2010)
Standard mutiplayer isn't affected by this issue
It seems appear in other HALO series, such as HALO ODST

Best Xbox 360 kinect games

2010-12-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

Microsoft launch Kinect controller and can make us to use our body as a controller, so not only our hand control the game but all part of our body can control the game. Lets find out which game where the best Kinect games as mentioned by several source:

1. Kinect Sports

-Football (soccer): in this game you control a football player around a huge field. The objective is to score as many goals as possible by shooting the ball with your leg. The movement is automatic (you don't have to do any running) so you must only move your leg when you want to shoot. There is also the possibility of being a goalkeeper, in this case you must catch the ball (by doing the correct movement).
-Bowling: in this one you must make the "throwing the ball" motion and the game will do the rest. Looks interesting, although a little inaccurate at times!
Kinect Sports will also feature a volleyball, track and field, javelin throw and table tennis, and it's a good reason to purchase a Xbox Kinect device.

2. Kinect Adventures

This is a compilation of several Indiana Jones-esque on-rails games. In the ride you must duck to avoid obstacles, jump when needed and try to grab targets when they get close at you

3. Dance Central

Dance Central may look like another boring casual game, but this game could actually be the key to Kinect's success. It does exactly what you are thinking, monitor your dance moves and tell you if you are doing it right.

4. Child of Eden

Child of Eden is a game with a lot of potential. The premise is simple: a huge archive with the knowledge of all humanity has been infected with a strange virus and is at risk of being completely erased

5. Star wars Kinect

The dream of millions of Star Wars fans may soon come true if this game lives up to its potential. With all the power in your hands (literally), you'll be able to fight epic battles against other Jedis and use all your Force-powered abilities to win

Source : http://www.brighthub.com

USB storage on Xbox 360 slim

2010-12-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

Can we use USB storage in Xbox 360 Slim to save Xbox LIVE content?

Well according to joystiq Xbox 360 Slim can do it, we can save content from Xbox LIVE to our USB storage, this including Xbox LIVE game arcade, Xbox LIVE indie games, Games on Demand and title update. I suspect this why Microsoft doesn't put memory card on Xbox 360 slim because gamers can use USB storage instead.

Then what is maximum storage can we put on Xbox 360 sllim? We can put maximum two (2) USB storage with maximum 16 GB, so we will get extra 32 GB. Seems this because Kinect require more power from Xbox so if we put more USB storage, Kinect won't works properly.

It should be clear by now that Microsoft is simply pulling out of the Memory Unit business and not the highly lucrative Xbox hard drive business. With an artificial cap of 16 GB – still shy of the 20 GB hard drive that shipped with the original 2005 Xbox Pro and a fraction the size of the currently shipping 120 GB hard drive – USB storage support simply removes the onerous requirement for a Memory Unit on Xbox 360 Arcade units, and brings the Xbox 360 platform a feature that's been present on the PlayStation 3 since that console's 2006 launch.

Xbox 360 slim hacked?

2010-12-11T03:01:00.000-08:00

Modding Xbox 360 firmware already occur since first Xbox 360 launch on 2005 where by modifying your xbox 360 console you can download Xbox 360 games, burn into a DVD and play on your Xbox 360. This is illegal things and Microsoft declaring war against this piracy with some action such as bans Xbox modified firmware (some source mantion Microsoft bans more than 1 million xbox 360) and no warranty for modified firmware.

Xbox 360 slim which announced on June 2010 at E3 has new protection installed and this make all previous mods useless by using new DVD room and new system installed on Xbox 360 slim. But I found video on youtube where mentionxbox 360 slim successfully hacked, here is the link:

Xbox 360 slim hacked

Seems this is done by Team Executer, and they also plans to reales the hack in the near future to the public, but are finishing up the work. Now don’t forget copy right infringement isn’t exactly legal.Some things still remain unanswered; Does this patch require a moded box? And the video doesn’t show them logging into Xbox Live.

Xbox 360 slim sales double after Kinect launch in UK

2010-12-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

As reported by Eurogamer, Xbox 360 sales increase double in UK after Kinect launch on early November. Out of the three consoles, Xbox 360 is outselling both the Wii and the PS3. Though Wii is performing better than the Sony PS3, the gap between the 360 and PS3 is decreasing day by day worldwide. The publisher went on to tell EuroGamer that the Wii is outselling the PlayStation 3. While the Wii has had a disappointing year when compared to years past. Playstation 3 increase its sales after Grand Turismo 5 launch after several times of delay.
Generally, the Xbox 360 has been selling well for most of the year. Sales first increased when they introduced the new Xbox 360 S “Slim” model in June, which caused a steep price cut for the older white model. Sales momentum spurred by the unexpected price cut carried over to the new Slim model, and the Xbox 360 has been selling well since.

Microsoft Responds To 360 Slim’s “Red Dot” Claims

2010-12-07T03:43:00.000-08:00

Videos and screen shots have started popping up on the web showing the Xbox 360 Slim (which was revealed during this year’s E3) with the “Red Dot of Death”-Basically it’s an overheating issue- which has caused quite an outburst of fanboys. Today, Microsoft has responded to these issues with an email.

The email, which was sent to the folks over at Now Gamer, was a response to Now Gamer after the website had asked about the specific issue:
“We couldn’t be more proud of the consoles we are building now, as well as the new Xbox 360. This console is the culmination of years of continuous innovation in design, testing and learning. Today we are confident we are shipping a high quality product.”
If you remember recently, Gamer Syndrome was the first to report on a couple of screenshots which showed an Xbox 360 Slim with an overheating issue.

source : www.xbox-360.nowgamer.com

New HALO : Reach Xbox to Sport 360 Design, Custom Sound

2010-12-07T03:41:00.000-08:00

Microsoft will release a limited-edition Xbox 360 console themed around Halo: Reach this fall, it said Thursday night at Comic-Con International.
The Halo-inspired Xbox will be released on the same day as the new shooter, Sept. 14. It will have all the bells and whistles of the recently released Xbox 360 redesign, from built-in Wi-Fi to a 250-gigabyte hard drive. A new paint job and custom sounds trick out the machine with Halo flair. Bundled with two similarly customized controllers and a copy of the game, the package will cost $400.
Halo: Reach is the hotly anticipated next installment in Microsoft’s key game series. The first-person shooter serves as a prequel to the events of the original Halo.
Bungie and Microsoft say that they spent a great deal of time adorning the limited-edition box with visual and audio references to the world of Halo.

“We used the ONI as the backdrop for the console,” said Bungie designer Jim McQuillan to Wired.com in an exclusive pre-show interview. McQuillan was referring to the shadowy Office of Naval Intelligence, a key part of the fiction of the popular shooter series.

Players should think of the console as a real-life version of an in-game artifact, “the archive reader for the last remaining days of Reach,” said McQuillan. “We wanted something that felt high-tech, something that you would see rows and rows and racks of in a military installation.”
The console will appear inside the game, said Microsoft industrial designer Claire Gerhardt. “You have this console in your living room and then you go through the levels and you see it in a lab,” she said. “It’s badass.”
The sounds that the machine makes are also cued to the Halo world. For instance, when you press the disc eject button, you hear the sound of the Spartan character’s energy shields charging up — music to the ears of any Halo player.
The limited-edition Xbox also has a surprising custom paint job, says Gerhardt.
“One thing that’s interesting that you can’t see in any photography is that the console is painted with two different shades of gray,” she said. “Depending on how you hold the console, the metallic finish, the grays kind of shift.”

Sourece: www.wired.com

Xbox 360 slim CPU difference?

2010-12-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Major differences between old Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 slim is on its CPU and GPU where in Xbox 360 slim use 45 nanometer design with integrated CPU and GPU. This make total heat produce in Xbox 360 slim smaller so make possibility broke due to 3RRoD as happened in previous type.

Where the HANA-based video processor remains the same on the new Xbox 360 S model. The new CPU/GPU hybrid chip is built on a 45nm process technology from Chartered/GlobalFoundries and marks a significant change in the design of the system as a whole. The first Xbox 360s were built using 90nm processors (PowerPC) and 90nm GPUs (ATI Xenos) and over the years we have seen revisions of 65nm CPUs and 80nm GPUs, 65nm CPUs and 90nm GPUs and then eventually down to 65nm for both CPU and GPU with the Jasper motherboard. The new Valhalla motherboard used in the Xbox 360 S combines the CPU and GPU onto a single chip.So we can say Xbox 360 slim CPU is different with old Xbox 360 in architecture.

But how about its performance? Does Xbox 360 slim have more powerful performance?

Sadly I can say no improvement on performance in Xbox 360 slim, all use same core, clock speed and anti aliasing, seems that Microsoft launch Xbox 360 slim only to improve its reliability against overheating but not on its performance only adding some very minor things onto the system. All 360s will render and display exactly the same.

Hacking Microsoft xbox 360 Slim HDD

2010-12-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

One of the sad things in Xbox 360 slim is you cannot use old HDD in previous xbox 360 to your xbox 360 slim, this is quite frustrated because i have 2 Xbox 360 HDD (comes from my dead xbox 360 due to 3RRoD). The HDD on the new system is completely different than the previous iterations and is not a normal laptop HDD that can be easily removed via a bay in the back of the system and you only can transfer from old HDD xbox 360 to your xbox 260 slim HDD via transfer kit. You can read how to transfer it by visiting xbox website.

Seems that Microsoft doing this to prevent hacking on Xbox 360 HDD but I am sure that hacking this HDD is still on going. So whatever Microsoft’s intent was, this hack appears to work. I can say that if my Xbox 360 red-rings on me and Microsoft won’t fix it for free, I will be seriously contemplating purchasing the new Xbox 360 Arcade and putting my old hard drive in the new console.

I will post here for any update for hacking this HDD so I can play using Xbox 360 slim 250HDD with more cheaper price

Xbox 360 slim, what changed?

2010-11-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

When Microsoft announced Xbox 360 slim on Electronic Entertainment Expo this year, most people are surprised then asking what change compare with old xbox 360? Well i will try to describe changes on Xbox 360 slim.

1. Shape Xbox 360 Console

First is about size of console, "Slim" meaning this xbox is smaller than the old one and also with lower power consumption. Second about power and DVD drive buttons are also touch-sensitive, same with PS3. It’s a sweet feature that saves the console from wear-and-tear through repeated button mashing.

Xbox 360 slim have smaller shape

2. Power Brick

Which was one of the bigger issues with the original Xbox 360 model. It’s also shrunken down between one to two inches in size, and weighs a little less than the original brick. Still, size makes a difference in some entertainment centers, so take that for what you will.

Power brick also reduce in shape

3. Hard Drive

3. Additional ports

Xbox 360 Slim comes with two additional USB ports. The original console has three, so if you’re someone that likes to plug things in (like wired controllers, the Xbox Camera or a stereo headset) you’ll find plenty of room to do that here. It also works with the new USB hard drives that Microsoft introduced a little while ago, which you’ll need to use since the new model doesn’t come with memory card slots.

4. Built if WiFi

Xbox 360 slim already built if WiFi, so we don't need WiFi adapter again.

5. Kinect ready

I think the main purpose why Microsoft launch Xbox 360 Slim is to combine with Kinect, aside solving 3RRoD problem in old Xbox 360. Using Xbox 360 slim you don't need to use power adapter to use Kinect.

Xbox 360 new dashboard "Hub" looks impressing

2010-11-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

When Kinect launch in November 2010, Microsoft also launch new dashboard called "Hub". So what is difference between old dashboard and this new dashboard? on the main page you will found same page with old one where for example, you'll see there's games on display, alongside media applications, an avatar icon and in the bottom left the two "primary" functions, which control your friends and your own account.

In this new dashboard you will found more feature where Kinect have feature voice enable and we can control dashboard using our voice. When you are looking at the Kinect Hub, say “Xbox” and speech bar opens.When the speech bar opens, labels appear under the items in the Kinect Hub. These labels are the commands you can use to open that item. For example, you can say “Avatar Editor” to open the avatar editor.

So if you can to choose, just say it. Also you can control using hands, raise your hand until you see a hand icon on the screen. To select an item, hover over it for a couple of seconds.

Kinect power adaptor for old Xbox 360

2010-11-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

When Kinect finally arrive, some game asking “Does Kinect will works with my old Xbox 360?". Well only took a few days for Microsoft announced power adapter for the Kinect has become available at the company's online store for $34.99. Another question will be "Does I need to buy that adapter when I already brought Kinect?"

Luckily, If you bought the Kinect as a standalone accessory to your already owned Xbox 360 then you know that you also received a power adapter for the Kinect, since it can’t run on old 360s without it. But if you were to buy the new Xbox 360 Slim Console that came bundled with the Kinect then you will not be getting a power supply, instead it will run directly off of the console itself.

The adapter powers the Kinect unit for users with older (read: not slim) Xbox 360s, and is unnecessary for users of the newer Xbox hardware, which has a special powered Kinect port on the back. The adapter is included for users who bought the standalone Kinect accessory, but not in either of the two Kinect Xbox 360 bundles, since they both feature the Kinect port.

Xbox 360 sales doubles after Kinect launch

2010-11-17T05:08:00.000-08:00

It looks like Kinect is successfully attracting new and casual gamers, if recent Xbox 360 console sales are anything to go by. Sales of the Xbox 360 console have doubled since the launch of Microsoft's new motion-control tech earlier this month.Microsoft has already sold well over a million Kinects and hopes to hit five million Kinect sales by the end of 2010.
"We are appreciative of the response we have seen from consumers that has culminated in sales of more than 1 million units in the first 10 days on the market for Kinect for Xbox 360," said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.
"This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than 5 million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year."

5 Things that sucks from Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect

2010-11-16T19:38:00.001-08:00

Kinect, the official finally visited gamers who live in Amerikat States and beyond. Latest controller for the Xbox 360 that also offers a host of new features that can provide a different experience playing games.

But unfortunately, a number of gamers are not satisfied with the performance mereasa Kinect. Because the motion sensor device that has some annoying rules.

1. Need more space
Kinect mentioned in the manual, the device can work well at a minimum distance of 1.8 meters. This is of course very frustrating for some gamers who have limited space.

2. The room was enough light
To operate properly, Kinect also need a room with good lighting system. If not, then the sensor would be difficult to recognize the movement of players.

3. Do not sit
Basically Kinect was not designed to be played while seated. So, does require a strong body condition to be able to enjoy Kinect linger.

4. Adjust the speaker layout
The layout of the speakers inside the TV is also considered going to affect the performance of Kinect. As in the top or bottom. So to avoid it, gamers should be able to adjust the layout of the speakers.

5. Appropriate clothing
In addition to need good lighting, sensors Kinect can also be disrupted when gamers mengenaikan colored clothing that is similar to the screen back of the room.

Source: www.detikinet.com

Turn Kinect Xbox 360 features on or off

2010-11-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

You can choose to turn certain Kinect features on or off. For example, you might want to turn off the chat microphone or you might want to turn off the sensor, without having to unplug it.
1. On your Xbox 360 console, go to My Xbox, and then select System Settings.
2. Select Kinect Settings.
3. Select the item that you want to change.

* Sensor: Turn the sensor on or off.
* Chat Microphone: Turn the chat microphone on if you want to talk to players while playing a game, or if you are using Video Kinect. Learn about Video Kinect. If you turn off the chat microphone, speech recognition still works.
Note: When you are using the Kinect Guide, you can turn the chat microphone on or off by hovering your hand over the speech icon in the lower-right corner.
* Speech Recognition: Turn on speech recognition if you want to use your voice to control your Xbox 360 console. Turn speech recognition off if you do not want to use voice commands (you can still use the sensor for chat). Learn about speech recognition.

4. Select Off or On.

Source: www.support.xbox.com

Xbox 360 Kinect’s Game Launch Lineup Revealed

2010-10-31T05:31:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has just announced the 17 games that will be available on launch day with Kinect for Xbox 360, the tech giant’s highly anticipated controller-free gaming system.
Kinect, which launches on November 4, is Microsoft’s answer to the Nintendo Wii’s motion controllers, which helped turn that console into one of this generation’s most popular gaming devices. Both Sony and Microsoft have been playing catch-up with the PlayStation Move and Kinect, respectively.
Seventeen Kinect-enabled games will be available when the device makes its debut next month. Here’s the full list:

* Kinect Adventures:This is the game that is included with every Kinect device. It helps introduce gamers to the Kinect interface, letting them traverse the rapids, float around in space and challenge their friends to races, among other minigames.
* Kinectimals: Think Nintendogs, but with no controller.
* Game Party: In Motion: This includes a collection of party minigames like Darts.
* Harry Potter (harry potter) and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 The Videogame: You can now control Harry’s magic with your hands.
* Your Shape: Fitness Evolved: A fitness game from Ubisoft that is similar to Wii Fit.
* Dance Central: This game, made by the creators of Rock Band, tracks your dance moves. We’ve heard good things about this one.
* The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout: A game from THQ based on the TV show.
* DanceMasters: Konami’s version of getting your groove down.
* EA SPORTS Active 2: A fitness game with body tracking, heart rate data and the ability to share workout data. EA has gone all-out with this game, which sort of explains its $100 price tag.
* Zumba Fitness: See a pattern yet? This is a dance fitness game.
* Kinect Sports: Microsoft’s version of Wii Sports.
* MotionSports: This game from Ubisoft includes live in-game commentary and 40+ sports challenges.
* DECA SPORTS FREEDOM: While this game only has 10 sporting events, there is a focus on making it feel as real as possible. Figure skating should be interesting.
* Kinect Joy Ride: Controller-free kart racing.
* ADRENALIN MISFITS: This racing/battle game focuses on fantasy worlds.
* Fighters Uncaged: Fulfill your Fight Club fantasy without the bloody concussions and stitches.
* SONIC FREE RIDERS: Yup, Sega is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog to Kinect.

Source: www.mashable.com

Xbox 360 slim: Better or Worse?

2010-09-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

One of the less surprising things to come out of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this year was the announcement of a new “slim” model of the Xbox 360. Microsoft has been planning it for some time, but we weren’t expecting it to launch so quickly, as it’s now available at (most) retail stores.

TechNewsDaily managed to get our hands on one to test it out, and see if it’s any better – or worse – than the current Xbox 360 model.

First off, it’s not entirely slimmer, just smaller. The unit is roughly about an inch and a half smaller in size, with a sleeker clear plastic build for its case. While we like the shiny black look, it’s susceptible to fingerprints, just like the older model PlayStation 3 consoles. Fortunately, you can wipe them off and go about your way (although they’ll be back, count on it.)

The power and DVD drive buttons are also touch-sensitive, similar to the PS3. It’s a sweet feature that saves the console from wear-and-tear through repeated button mashing.

Then there’s the power brick, which was one of the bigger issues with the original Xbox 360 model. It’s also shrunken down between one to two inches in size, and weighs a little less than the original brick. Still, size makes a difference in some entertainment centers, so take that for what you will.

Other hardware improvements

The hard drive included with the Xbox 360 Slim is much smaller than in previous models. Rather than an oblong, silver-colored device that snaps onto the top of a console, it’s a tinier, 2.5-inch diskette-style hard drive that’s a little harder to remove. And, yes, once you upgrade to the Xbox 360, you can transfer data from one console to another. You simply need to plunk down $10 for the transfer cable.

Now, let’s discuss one of the bigger problems that has plagued earlier Xbox 360 models – the “red ring of death.”

Older systems managed to overheat, and when they got too hot, the system stopped and three red lights flashed on the front switch. With the Xbox 360 Slim, such a danger is (almost) a thing of the past. A new Valhalla chip set enables the system to run much quieter than earlier models, although it does tend to get hot on the top vent, so watch your hands. If it gets too hot for its own good, the system will automatically shut down to avoid a “red ring of death.” While that’s something that saves you a costly trip to UPS to send the system back, it can also throw you off if you’re in the middle of a time-consuming game, like “Final Fantasy XIII” or “Gears of War 2.” To patiently wait for the system to cool down may be asking too much for more avid gamers.

Built-in Wi-fi

The newer system also comes with built-in Wi-fi. Before the release of the Slim, if you wanted to use Wi-fi, you needed to buy a separate connector for $100. It’s nice to have it included in the system, and connecting to our network very easily. Furthermore, the system is also “Kinect” ready, so you can attach the motion sensitive controller right to the system without the need of an additional power source. No word yet on how this will affect the heat output, but we’ll find out soon enough.

The Xbox 360 Slim comes with the system, necessary A/V cables and power brick, a wireless controller and the 250 GB hard drive. While that’s a pretty decent package for $300, keep in mind that the bundle doesn’t include any games out of the box (unlike the company’s Elite and Arcade packages) and also doesn’t come with an HDMI cable. So, if you want to go hi-def, you’ll need to either use the attachment from your previous system or fork over some money for a new one.

Overall, we do like the Xbox 360 Slim. It has its missing components (game, HDMI cable) and funky PlayStation 3-like shell, but it’s a more efficient machine than previous Xbox 360 models. And no more “red ring of death” either. It’s not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.

PlayStation Move vs. Microsoft Kinect

2010-09-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

1. Hardware
The Move utilizes a three-axis linear accelerometer and a three-axis rate sensor to track motion with an internal magnetometer, as well as vibration-based haptic technology. The Kinect uses a horizontal bar with an RGB camera, depth sensors, multi-array microphones and an infrared projector that combines with a CMOS sensor to see 3D under any lighting conditions. Both seem have advance technology from both company, but Kinect has fancier because it doesn't need batteries, games doesn't need put any hardware in their hand. So, i think it goes to Kinect
2. Interface Design
As Mentioned above,Kinect over handles gaming system where you don't have to put any hardware in their hand. For some people, button is your friend. Multiply button placed in move in order to ask several task. So in some case easier to push button rather than using voice command or moving your hand. So, I think now goes to Move
3. Originality
Microsoft announces Kinect earlier than Sony launches Move. Kinect competes in the same market, and should target the same type of buyers as the Move and the Wii, but it’s original, and its applications could go beyond just the gaming world. The Move is an incredibly advanced evolution of the gaming controller. Score is 2-1 for Kinect because this time i prefer Kinect win.
4. Number of Players
This was a tough one to call, because you’re trading off one thing for another. In theory, the Move should dominate this category for the simple fact that you can have up to four players at one time, while the Kinect is limited to two. In the real world, the Kinect will allow two players out of the box without additional purchases, while you would need to buy three more sets of Move controllers. Again, it goes to Move (score 2-2)

The most important off all, is both of peripheral not yet release to the market. So we will not know who will be the winner until we play it and fell it

Microsoft Xbox LIVE price raise?

2010-08-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has today announced that, as of November 1, 2010, it will be raising the price of Xbox Live subscriptions in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
In the United States, twelve months of Xbox Live Gold will now cost $59.99 instead of $49.99. A three-month subscription will cost $24.99 instead of $19.99, while one month will cost $9.99 as opposed to $7.99. In the UK, a month will cost 5.99GPB, in Canada it'll be $9.99CAD and in Mexico, twelve months is listed at 599 Pesos.
Is this because Kinect launch? Well Microsoft have to provide more on Xbox LIVE for this increment price for sure. If its true for those who haven't got XBOX LIVE gold, I suggest for all of you to purchase it immediately before 1 November 2010.

Xbox 360 slim : Inside Kinect

2010-08-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

New Peripheral launched by Microsoft named Kinect will lead us to a new way how to play console, using our body as a controller making playing games become more interactive. Some people and Microsoft itself said Kinect is a revolutionary because it can combine three things:

Tracks your body with full depth mapping,
Responds to voice commands,
Standard video camera:

It's that it brings all of three of those things together for the first time. It's natural user interface in its infancy.

The Microsoft Kinect motion device as mentioned before is made up of three distinct subsystems that each marries hardware and software. 1. Movement Tracking, 2. Voice recognition and 3. The Motor

The movement tracking is tracked via an IR VGA camera and a laser that is projected across the field of play to track player movements. The camera uses ‘depth field.’ and filters to distinguish players from furniture and bodies appear a bright shade of red, green and things further away appear grey.

Kinect then transforms body parts into a skeleton with moving joints and is preloaded with 200 common poses, allowing to fill in the blanks if you make a move that obstructs the cameras view of your entire skeleton. All this is done at 30fps

For voice recognition Kinect has an ‘acoustical model’ for countries and individual regional dialects, built from 100s of hours of actors from round the world talking through various sayings.

The final part of Kinect’s technology is its motor. That controls the camera and allows it to move up and down to calibrate to each specific gaming space

Xbox 360 slim vs Playstation 3 slim

2010-08-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

1. Size

First is size,How do they compare side by side? Well, have a look and see. Seems that no much difference between xbox 360 slim and Playstation 3 slim, so both of consoles is a slim version. None of them can judge which is truly slimmer. (source: www. kotaku.com)
2. DVD drive
Xbox 360 slim have ordinary DVD drive and Playstation 3 have built in Bluray disk. In this case playstation 3 more could be called audio/video console because can play blue ray disk.
3. Connectivity
xbox 360 slim and Playtastion 3 slim both have built in WiFi (Microsoft just add this Wifi in xbox 360 slim and they don't have it in old xbox 360), meaning both console can connect to internet (LIVE and PSN) so long as we have router coverage. In addition Playstation 3 have 2 USB ports and bluetooth built in whereas xbox 360 slim have 5 USB ports and not built in bluetooth. So in summary both consoles have same score in connectivity
3. HDD drive
Xbox 360 slim have bigger HDD storage (250 gigabyte) compare with playstation 3 which have only 120 gigabyte meaning xbox 360 slim won in HDD storage.
4. Price
This is the most important one, how much it cost to have all advantages mentioned above. Well xbox 360 slim priced $299 in north America and Playstation 3 priced seems also $299 also in north America.

So final word from my, in my opinion although xbox 360 doesn't built in blue ray HDD still i would prefer xbox 360 slim rather than playstation 3 and also because in this year Microsoft will launch Kinect

Xbox 360 Slim hacked?

2010-08-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

As we now Xbox 360 Slim released by Microsoft some time ago using a new type of DVD drive and this is done so cannot be made to read the backup (DVD copied).
But it turns out that team Xecuter working together with Jungle & C4E has successfully hacked the Xbox 360 Slim drives. Officially, they say they have successfully patch drive to read backups. But they said much remains to be done to achieve a comfortable version of a public use.
Some people said this only rumors, so we have to wait several days/weeks to prove it.

xbox 360 power comparison

2010-08-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

One of the main reason why Microsoft several type of Xbox 360 is power consumption,whereas lowest power consumption will generate less heat and finally will preventing xbox 360 have RRoD problem. Below is comparison power consumption between xbox 360 slim and all type of old xbox 360

Seems that xbox 360 slim consume only 75% than xbox 360 Jasper in idle mode and ~80% when playing Gears of Wars 2. This maybe because xbox 360 slim only use one chip (compare with old xbox 360 using two chips) leading xbox 360 slim consumes less power. This difference also make xbox 360 slim fan produce less noise as mentioned below

Power difference also make Microsoft have to redesign xbox 360 power supply and this make bad news for us as the new power brick isn’t compatible with the old Xbox 360s. At 135W it isn’t enough to power even the Jasper Xbox 360 and thus you get a new power connector. It’s much lighter than the old unit and a bit smaller, but still larger than anything you’d get with a notebook for obvious reasons.

Xbox 360 slim also have different shape with old xbox 360 but we hope this new power adapter is reliable enough

xbox 360 slim feature & advantages

2010-08-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Microsoft already launches xbox 360 slim on July 2010. as you can see in picture above, xbox 360 slim have more sharp and old xbox 360. Seems that Microsoft trying to make the Xbox 360 more "family focused" not specific on hardcore gamer, moreover we have Kinect possible on September 2010. So what xbox 360 slim offer moves than old xbox 360.
1. Build in 250 GB hardrive. This will let user save not only games but also movie, music and many more
2. Build in WiFi. Something gamers have been crying out for since the original Xbox 360 does not include one and Microsoft's add-on device is priced extortionately.

3. Kinect Ready. Kinect allow user do something more interactive by using their bode rather than holding stick, xbox 360 doesn't need additional adapter compare with old xbox 360.

4. More USB adapter. xbox 360 slim have 5 USB adapter compare with old xbox 360 which only have 3 USB
5. Power supply. xbox 360 slim only need 135W, compare with xbox 360 jasper which need 150W
With several advantages above Microsoft put price $299, meaning user with get more but with same price?
Seems that Microsoft launch xbox 360 slim in order to cut production cost also because xbox 360 slim use only one chip where GPU and CPU are placed in one chip.
Finally we have to wait several months to know quality of this xbox 360, if it is good this will become main advantage for user as old xbox 360 have 3RROD problem

Xbox 360 slim differences with old xbox 360

2010-08-14T09:01:00.001-07:00

According to these specs, the "new S console" is about 17% smaller than the original and have touch sensitive button which make this new xbox 360 seems move advance than old xbox 360, but we still don't know it capability against "ring of light" and we have to wait several month to prove it

Xbox 360 slim have 3rod problem?

2010-08-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Microsoft already announced xbox 360 slim on July 2010. Biggest question from most of gamer is “Does this new xbox 360 still have 3rod problem?". 3rod mostly cause by overheating problem and seems that xbox 360 slim have notification when console already overheat so we can turn if off to prevent 3rod problem

Are notification above shows that xbox 360 slim still have possibility for overheating? Also we know not all 3rod problem cause by overheating, for other cause we have to wait several month to prove it.

Xbox 360 vs. Xbox 360 slim

2010-08-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Dimension
xbox 360 slim have smaller dimension compare with old xbox 360 where slim xbox 360 have wide 270mm, height 75mm, dense 264mm and old xbox 360 have wide 310mm, height 80mm, dense 260mm

Connection
Xbox 360 slim already built in WiFi 802.11 meaning you can connect with Xbox LIVE anywhere and no need LAN connection.

Storage
Xbox 360 slim have HDD which located inside xbox. not attached as "old xbox 360". Also xbox 360 slim have bigger HDD capacity (250GB)

Noise
Let's face it, the original Xbox 360 when turned on was like standing next to an air turbine on full blast.
Now Microsoft has turned down the noise considerably so you can hardly hear it. Thankfully that means no more having to turn up the volume, and hopefully the ability to leave it on downloading in the background

Kinect support
Kinect for Xbox 360 works on both consoles, however, if you plan to use it on the now older Xbox 360 console you will have to plug it in as there isn't enough power to run it off the console itself.

Games
It might have a shiny new look, improved storage space, and wireless connectivity, but you aren't going to get an enhanced gaming experience. The games the new model can play are exactly the same as the games the old model can play and vice versa.

Source: www.pocket-lint.com

Xbox 360 Motion Sensor Hands Could Read Code

2010-08-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Microsoft finally patenting Kinect motion sensor technology for the Xbox 360 console. In addition to playing games, Kinect sensors can also be used to read hand gestures like pattern of deaf communication.
This latest game controller basically uses technology that can capture (capture) a user's hand movement patterns through the camera on the Xbox 360. Each specific hand movements will be read as a letter like writing on the keyboard.
Microsoft finally patenting Kinect motion sensor technology for the Xbox 360 console. In addition to playing games, Kinect sensors can also be used to read hand gestures like pattern of deaf communication.
Microsoft reportedly has confirmed the latest Kinect ability to detect each movement the user's fingers and arranged into a word or sentence. But this technology has not been formally introduced. It is said that Kinect Anyar features would be present in the final year was 2010.

Source: www.detikinet.com

Xbox 360 slim motherboard

2010-08-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

The biggest difference between "old xbox 360' and xbox 360 slim is in xbox 360 slim GPU and CPU is consisting of one chip. Is this same with Valhalla?

Also this motherboard has two SATA connections. One is for DVD drive and the other maybe for internal HDD drive. Microsoft seems already re-design its xbox 360, this might to reduce hardware problem which happened previously and preparing for Kinect

Microsoft has apparently managed to combine the CPU and GPU onto a single chip which is also smaller than the original separate processors. That would mean it is significantly cheaper to make, requires less power to run, and produces less heat. The heat aspect has always been a problem for Microsoft, but needed to be dealt with properly if a slim version of the 360 was ever going to appear.

Combine CPU and GPU equipped with big Head sink and powerful fan from cooler master. I hope this can make xbox 360 slim chip coller enough when we are playing games, especially Gears of Wars where this make make some xbox 360 overheat

Microsoft Confirms Kinect Bundles, New $199 Xbox 360

2010-08-08T00:13:00.001-07:00

Ask the right questions, get the right answers. An internal marketing Q&A for Microsoft about confirm that Kinect will be bundled with consoles, and a $199 configuration of its new Xbox 360 will be available this fall.

In its document, Microsoft said Kinect would be available as a standalone device and as "part of a bundle with the newly designed Xbox 360 console," but "we have no additional details about pricing or retail strategy to share at this time." Kinect bundles already sprouted up at GameStop, earlier this week, an Arcade bundle for $299 and an Elite bundle for $399.

Source: www.Kotaku.com

Xbox 360 kinect feature and detail

2010-08-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

Kinect is a peripheral web cam on steroids that plugs into the console's USB port. equipped with a microphone so you can talk to the 360. If you are on Xbox Live or Windows Live Messenger, you can video chat with them. But you can also do some other neat stuff, like watch a video together. And as mentioned above, it can track you in real time thanks to motion sensing and the motorized tilt.
Kinect requiring at least 175 MB of available storage space the Kinect system software allows users to operate the Xbox 360 Dashboard console user interface using voice commands and hand gestures

Microsoft Kinect has Features
* Color VGA Motion Camera: 640×480 pixel resolution @30FPS
* Depth Camera: 640×480 pixel resolution @30FPS
* Array of 4 microphones supporting single speaker voice recognition
* Fully compatible with all Xbox 360 models*
* Revolutionary technology that includes body recognition

Source: www.trendgadgetcenter.com

Project Natal xbox 360

2010-04-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Project Natal xbox 360 detail
1. Sensor
The Project Natal sensor is an approximately 9-inch (23 cm) wide horizontal bar.
The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Project Natal sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions. The sensing range of the depth sensor is adjustable, with the Project Natal software capable of automatically calibrating the sensor based on gameplay and the player's physical environment, such as the presence of chairs
2. Software
Three technical demos were shown to showcase Project Natal when it was revealed at Microsoft's E3 2009 Media Briefing:

* Ricochet – a Breakout-like game in which the entire body is used to bounce balls at blocks.
* Paint Party – where the player can make throwing motions to splash or draw with paint onto a wall. He/she can choose colors using speech recognition, and can pose to make stencils.
* Milo and Kate – a full game in development by Lionhead Studios in which the player interacts with a young child (Milo or Milly, selected by the user at the start) and his/her dog Kate by performing real-life actions. Interaction was demonstrated only with Milo at this event.

3. Codename
The name Project Natal follows in Microsoft's tradition of using cities as code names. Microsoft director Alex Kipman, who incubated the project,[23] chose to name it after the Brazilian city of Natal, as a tribute to his country of origin and because the word natal means "of or relating to birth", reflecting Microsoft's view of the project as "the birth of the next generation of home entertainment". Natal also means Christmas in Portuguese.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

Project Natal 2 Xbox 360 is Already Under Research by MS

2010-04-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Microsoft hasn't even announced the price or official name of Project Natal, but that hasn't stopped them from working on Project Natal 2. Louisa Hearn, of the Sydney Morning Hearld, spoke with Hsiao-Wuen Hon, managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, about Microsoft's position as an innovator in a variety of fields -- or lack thereof.

Speaking specifically of Natal, Hon said, "when we do invent something first like the Natal kind of scenario, while we have a researcher working with the product group for the first version, we already have a researcher thinking about the second version down the road so we certainly hope we will continue to be holding that technology. I really love what Microsoft is doing." (emphasis added)

It is common for platform holders to begin work on their next console before the second one is even finished, but it is less common to see a peripheral receive the same treatment.

This lends credibility to the claim that Natal is almost a console of its own. If Microsoft is dedicated to the idea of a successor to Natal, then it will be interesting to see how the adoption of Project Natal affects its chances.

If Project Natal pulls a 32x, but proves the concept, then will Microsoft still push forward?

The article by Hearn also mentions Natal's potential as a Natural User Interface (NUI) device. It seems possible that Natal could find many uses outside of gaming and if it fails as a videogame controller, but succeeds in dealing with menus, then it could live on in many other ways. That is all speculation.

What isn't speculation is that Natal is yet to prove itself, and gamers are being asked to throw down the money to test the concept. With Microsoft's lacking record recently as an innovator, it will take a leap of faith by the consumer to invest in Natal.

source: www.360.kombo.com

Microsoft Patents Xbox Live 'Super Guide' System

2009-12-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

November 24, 2009 - Video game guides may be getting a massive upgrade.

A new patent filed by Microsoft's Director of Games Platform Strategy Andre Vrignaud (via Siliconera) reveals the company has been developing a new, in-game guide system for the Xbox 360.

The patent would allow players to access a database of tips and tricks while playing a game through Xbox Live. Players can then author their own guides by capturing screenshots, video clips and even add audio commentary. Developers will also be allowed to author their own guides, which can be featured higher than user-created ones.

This system would be a welcomed feature, particularly in games that require a lot of collecting. Think about how much time you would have saved if you didn't have to keep getting up and going to your computer to see what pigeon in Grand Theft Auto IV is next on your hit list.

Source: www.ign.com

Microsoft Licensed Unreal for xbox 360 Project Natal

2009-06-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest announcements at E3 was undoubtedly Microsoft's Project Natal motion-sensing system. Based on the many conversations IndustryGamers had with publishers and developers during the show, the game industry is quite enthusiastic about the possibilities both Project Natal and PlayStation Motion will create.

What you may not have known, however, is that Epic's Unreal Engine, which is already powering some of the biggest games in the business, was utilized by Microsoft to create some of the tech demos for the E3 Project Natal demonstration. Speaking to IndustryGamers as part of a larger interview, Epic VP Mark Rein noted with a grin, "I think [these technologies] will create great opportunities for us as an engine. The Paint Party game they showed and the other one [Ricochet] are both Unreal powered. Microsoft licensed Unreal Engine 3 for a whole bunch of games for that thing – you just saw the first two. We're really excited."

"We're going to work with Microsoft and share all that stuff they added into Unreal with our partners; not just Natal, but also things like avatar integration. We were like, 'if you're developing all this stuff, do you mind if we share with all our licensees to give them a big head start?' So Natal we're just over the moon about – it's the new platform and who's the first engine on it?" he said excitedly.

Although Epic is clearly involved with Natal from the start, Rein also said Sony's PlayStation Motion setup looked "quite cool." He added, "Again, I think that creates big opportunities. We're the biggest 3D engine on the platform, so hopefully lots of developers will want to make 3D things for that and [work with us]."

He noted that what impressed him about Paint Party is that you think about painting as a 2D experience, but "they actually managed to incorporate some of the motion sensing – like how it reacts depending on how hard you throw the paint – to make it easier and cooler for kids and families to play." Rein continued, "It really used our engine, like some of the particle effects, our 3D rendering, etc. The other game used our engine even more, since it's more into the screen 3D [motion]."

Source: www.en.gamers.com

xbox 360 Jasper new board

2009-06-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

A Japanese Arcade 360 SKU has been found to have a 4gbit Samsung NAND inside. The respective model was manufactured on April 9th 2009 and a number of others have confirmed this existence as well.
This new xbox 360 jasper board has Manufacturer april/09/2009 in JAPAN but still not yet confirmed does this type of xbox 360 is different with Jasper model.

Xbox 360 Jasper: No 3ROL/3RRoD again?

2009-06-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

The infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD) has plagued Microsoft since the launch of the Xbox 360. The symptoms are pretty simple: you go to turn on your console and three of the four lights in a circle on your Xbox 360 turn red. I've personally had it happen to two consoles and every single one of my friends who has owned a 360 for longer than a year has had to send it in at least once. By no means is this the largest sample size, but it's a problem that impacts enough Xbox 360 owners for it to be a real issue.

While Microsoft has yet to publicly state the root cause of the problem, we finally have a Microsoft that's willing to admit that its consoles had an unacceptably high rate of failure in the field. The Microsoft solution was to extend all Xbox 360 warranties for the RRoD to 3 years, a solution that managed to help most users but not all.

No one ever got to the bottom of what caused the RRoD. Many suspected that it was the lead-free solder balls between the CPU and/or GPU and the motherboard losing contact. The clamps that Microsoft used to attach the heatsinks to the CPU and GPU put a lot of pressure on the chips; it's possible that the combination of the lead-free solder, a lot of heat from the GPU, inadequate cooling and the heatsink clamps resulted in the RRoD. The CPU and/or GPU would get very hot, the solder would either begin to melt or otherwise dislodge, resulting in a bad connection and an irrecoverable failure. That's where the infamous "towel trick" came into play, wrap your console in a towel so its internals heat up a lot and potentially reseat the misbehaving solder balls.

The glue between the GPU and the motherboard started appearing with the Falcon revision

With the Falcon revision Microsoft seemed to admit to this as being a problem by putting glue between the CPU/GPU and the motherboard itself, presumably to keep the chips in place should the solder weaken. We all suspected that Falcon might reduce the likelihood of the RRoD because shrinking the CPU down to 65nm and the GPU down to 80nm would reduce power consumption, thermal output and hopefully put less stress on the solder balls - if that was indeed the problem. Unfortunately with Falcon Microsoft didn't appear to eliminate RRoD, although anecdotally it seemed to have gotten better.
Source:www.anandtech.com

Towel trick for Xbox 360?

2009-06-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

In some homepage, towel trick will fix xbox 360 which have 3ROL/3RRoD problem. But some gamer doesn't know that towel trick will only fix your xbox 360 for temporary. 3ROL/3RRoD happened due to bad solder/solder joint between GPU/ ANA Chip with motherboard. By doing towel trick if will make solder softer and can attach GPU/ANA chip again to xbox 360 motherboard, but it also make other solder part such as CPU, South bridge etc. become softer and cannot attach perfectly to motherboard. So by doing towel trick, maybe you can attach again GPU/ANA chip to motherboard but some chip cannot attach perfectly after towel trick. I don't recommend towel trick to fix xbox 360 console.

Xbox 360: Project Natal FAQ

2009-06-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Controller-free gaming and entertainment. This is the basis of Project Natal. There is no controller required. We aren’t just talking about gaming either, as you can fully navigate the Xbox 360 dashboard controller-free as well. There’s a sensor that rests above or below your television that tracks your body movement in 3D, recognizes your face (and logs you in to your profile just by face alone), and reacts to your voice commands.

Full-body play. You know how the Wii is pretty much restricted to your hands? Project Natal uses your whole body. That means you can do things with your head, hands, feet, torso, etc. Imagine having a boxing match where you actually block and swing with your hands, but dodge and weave with your torso. Or having a karate match using your feet and hands.

Personalized to you. Because Project Natal links your face and voice to your Xbox profile on the console, all you need to do is step in front of the sensor to log in and get access to your profile. You can speak to characters in games with your voice, and they’ll “know” who you are just by looking at you.

Project Natal sensor. Project Natal uses a fairly advanced sensor to do its magic. The Project Natal sensor combines an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and a custom processor that runs some proprietary software. Combined, you’ve got a sensor that tracks body movement, individual voices, and recognizes faces.

RGB camera. The Project Natal video camera is an RGB camera that delivers the three basic color components to the Xbox 360, enabling facial recognition and full body tracking.

Depth sensor. The Project Natal depth sensor is an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, which allows it to see the room in true 3D, as opposed to trying to guess from a 2D image. The cool thing about this is it works under any lighting conditions, although we aren’t sure about pitch black. Try it.

Multi-array microphone. Project Natal has a microphone that is able to locate voices by sound, and extracts ambient noise (like your crazy loud fridge.) This allows headset-free Xbox Live party chat, and is what lets Project Natal identify you by your voice.

Custom processor with Microsoft software layer. Controlling all this hardware is proprietary Microsoft software, which is what brings Project Natal to life, and according to Microsoft, is what differentiates Project Natal from any other product on the market.

xbox 360 Jasper Type

2009-05-31T06:08:00.001-07:00

For gamer who want to buy xbox 360 jasper, there are several xbox 360 bundle available.
1. Xbox 360 Jasper 120 Elite 120 GB Resident Evil Limited Edition.

XBOX 360 Elite Jasper (Red color Limited)with 3 USB port, 1 HDMI port
1 Wireless controller (red color)
1 Wired controller
120GB HDD
150 Watt PSU
AV HD Cable- Power
LAN Cable
1 Game Resident Evil 5
User Manual
HDMI kabel
Exclusive Resident Evil Premium Theme
Xbox 360 black wired headset

2. Xbox 360 Jasper 60 GB Resident Evil Special Edition

XBOX 360 Premium Jasper (White color)with 3 USB port, 1 HDMI port)
1 Wired controller
60 GB HDD
150 Watt PSU
AV HD Cable- Power
LAN Cable
1 Game Resident Evil 5
1 DVD Making of Resident Evil 5
User Manual
Voucher donwload Resident Evil Wallpaper

3. Xbox 360 Jasper 60 GB premium (usually this type also include 2 games (Lego Indiana Jones and Kungfu Panda)

XBOX 360 Premium Jasper (white color) with 3 USB port, 1 HDMI port)
1 Wireless controller
1 Wired controller
60 GB HDD
150 Watt PSU
AV HD Cable- Power
LAN Cable
User Manual

4. Xbox 360 Jasper Arcade 250 MB

XBOX 360 Arcade Jasper (White color)with 3 USB port, 1 HDMI port)
1 Wireless controller
150 Watt PSU
AV HD Cable- Power
LAN Cable
User Manual

Nyko Intercooler for Xbox 360 Jasper

2009-05-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

For Gamer which have xbox 360 jasper and wanna put Nyko intercooler on it to prevent your xbox 360 jasper from overheating should known that old Nyko Intercooler doesn't fit to xbox 360 jasper. This because xbox jasper has different power connector from previous type (xenon, zephyr and Falcon)

compare with old Nyko Intercooler.

dou you see 3 hole above in xbox 360 jasper Power connection? There are additional part which connect between 3 hole which doesn't fit with xbox 360 jasper power connection.
So be careful when you choose Intercooler for your xbox 360 Jasper

Xbox 360 Jasper free from 3ROL?

2009-05-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Is xbox 360 Jasper free from 3ROL/3RRoD? I think that is biggest question in our mind as gamer when Microsoft finally launches newest xbox 360
To answer that question first we have to look what is the different between xbox 360 Jasper with its previous xbox 360 type (Falcon, Zephyr and Xenon). From from GPU,CPU and eDRAM size we can see the difference.

For picture above xbox 360 jasper has the lowest size and it should produce heat smaller which makes xbox 360 failure (3ROL/3RRod or 1ROL/1RRod)

Second is how we treat our xbox 360. Well i think the newest xbox 360 will failure if you played it in very hot room and close all xbox 360 air circulation, right??
So several think that you should do to prevent xbox 360 from failure 3ROL.
1.Play your xbox in room with good temperature
2.Put external 12 volt fan with external power source on several part of your xbox 360. This is important because external fan will reduce your xbox 360 temperature and keep running although you trun off your xbox 360, as my xbox 360 below.

3.Play xbox 360 game from HDD. Install your game first will reduce heat which come from DVD room.

Xbox 360 E74 - What Causes it

2009-04-27T01:35:00.000-07:00

Xbox e74 problems are highly frustrating for gamers all around the world who have had to put up with faulty Xbox 360 consoles that just act like big, white paperweights. However, you don't have to put up with this any longer- today you are going to learn what causes these errors, as well as the steps you need to follow to fix them.

The cause of Xbox e74 problems is actually overheating, believe it or not. What is harder to understand is why does this problem occur in the first place with such a modern, well-built piece of gaming equipment? This is simple, that heat is easily able to build up rather rapidly inside the case, due in part to a lack of sufficient cooling devices such as fans and heat sinks. This heat then disrupts your components such as the graphics processor, hard drive or DVD drive, and causes them to malfunction eventually. Your console is then forced to display the e74 code as a warning that something quite major has gone wrong with your console.

Source: www.ezinearticles.com

One Minute Review: Jasper Xbox 360

2009-04-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

By now the new Xbox 360 you buy will be built around a chipset known as “Jasper.”

Jasper 360s feature a redesigned motherboard with 65-nanometer graphics and processing chips. The cooler running, less power-hungry sum-of-parts is meant to make the infamous Red Ring of Dead a thing of the past.

Looks as though Jasper-powered Xbox 360s are starting to trickle into stores as well as online retailers, according to the Xbox 360 DVD drive database. If you're going to shop for a Jasper-powered Xbox 360 for this Christmas, make sure the manufacturing date starts from 2008-08-06 upwards and is has a lot number of 8031 and higher. Hopefully this will spell the end of the RRoD problems for Microsoft.

How did you know it was a Jasper? As reported for months, the thing to look for when buying a new Xbox 360 is a power spec of 12 volts, which you can find by inspecting the box’s serial number cutout hole. It may take some finger wiggling to reveal the power rating - assuming, of course, the person selling you the unit allows you to handle the box in the first place.

256MB Internal Memory on Xbox 360 Jasper Arcade

2009-03-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

An unexpected bonus is that all Jasper based Xbox 360 Arcade systems come with 256MB of NAND Flash on board:

This internal Memory unit is placed due to NXE memory demand. So this memory can be used for installing NXE into xbox 360 or saving game file, because in xbox jasper already bundle with NXE feature.
But this internal memory also have disadvantage that Arcade systems will no longer ship with external Memory Units, as reported by at least one Jasper hunter. Assuming this is the case, the Arcade SKU is now equipped to handle various memory-required functions like game saves and NXE (128MB) without the use of an external memory device. Of course, this also means the advantages of the once-bundled Memory Unit must be sought at an extra cost. Microsoft has not confirmed the installation of internal memory for other Xbox 360 SKUs nor has it confessed to outfitting its consoles with the Jasper chipset

Xbox 360 Jasper: What's changed?

2009-03-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

MIcrosfot release new version of Xbox 360 named Jasper and I believe many people ask what is the differencies between Xbox 360 Jasper and the other type of xbox 360.
1. Re-design Motherboard These new consoles have a redesigned motherboard with the new 65-nanometer version of the ATI (now AMD) graphics chip that doesn’t run as hot as previous versions. There are other changes that improve the reliability and usability of the system as well.

2. Build in 256 Memory. The new versions of the Arcade unit also feature the addition of 256MB of internal memory. This memory is used for NXE (New Xbox Experience)

3. Power Supply. Also, they have a 150-watt power supply, less than the earlier versions with 175 watts. These power supplies have a different plug so that you won’t confuse them with older versions and plug the wrong one into a machine.

Recognize Xbox 360 Jasper (Part II)

2009-03-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

If you get a Jasper it's not guaranteed that you'll get a 150W power supply, Microsoft still has a lot of Falcons and Falcon-parts in its distribution system so some Jaspers have been sighted with 175W power supplies. If you end up with a 175W unit it's not a big deal, it's going to be slightly less efficient than the 150W unit and your system may end up drawing an extra few watts but it's not a big deal at all - you'll still be far cooler/more power efficient than a Falcon (and possibly be red-ring-free).
To prevent an under powered power supply from being used in the wrong Xbox, Microsoft keyed each of the three Xbox 360 generations differently. The picture below explains it all:

If you see one flat bar on top and a square peg in the middle of the power connector on the console itself you've got a 1st generation Xenon or Zephyr board, these machines use 90nm CPUs and GPUs. If you've just got a flat bar on top with no square peg in the middle, you've got a 2nd generation Opus or Falcon board, these things use 65nm CPUs and 80nm GPUs. Finally if you've got a flat bar split in two on top with no square peg you've got a Jasper, that's a board with a 65nm CPU and a 65nm GPU.

Source: www.anandtech.com

How To Spot A Jasper Xbox 360

2009-03-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

The easiest way to recognize Xbox 360 Falcon is by seeing amps rating which is listed above the power input, where 12.1 amps equals a Jasper unit (65nm CPU, 65nm GPU).
Also this particular Jasper came with a 175W power supply (like the Falcons used). They are probably trying to use up all the older PSU's and thus it was packed with the unit. Keep in mind that even if this Xbox only needs 150W it's not a issue to power it with a 175W supply, just like people who put 700W PSU's in their PC's for no apparent reason.

What is a Jasper XBox 360?

2009-03-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

“Jasper” is the codename for the latest version of the XBox 360 with a 65-nanometer(nm) CPU (Central Processing Unit - AKA The Brain) and a 65-nm GPU (Graphics Processing Unit - AKA The Video Chip) on a redesigned motherboard. The Jasper’s smaller 65-nm GPU will consume less power and run cooler compared to the previous XBox 360 “Falcon” model with a 90-nm GPU. This is the reason why knowledgeable gamers prefer a XBox 360 Jasper model instead of the older Falcon model. The earlier XBox 360 models “Xenon” and “Zephyr” that comes with a 90-nm CPU and a 90-nm GPU are more susceptible to overheating compared to the “Falcon” and “Jasper” models of the XBox 360. Overheating is one of the causes of the dreaded Red Ring of Death (RROD) on the XBox 360.

Source:www.vganswer.com

Xbox 360 GPU Hits 65nm With "Jasper"

2009-03-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

Since the Xbox 360 launched in November 2005, it has been plagued by an unusually high hardware failure rate. This has been contributed to the GPU chip warping away from the motherboard and causing the now infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD). Speculations to the actual failure rates have been anywhere between 16 percent to 33 percent; however, the official statements from Microsoft has been that repairs are at "a higher rate than we are satisfied with." In July of 2007, Peter Moore, then the Corporate VP for Microsoft’s Xbox division confirmed the extension of the Xbox 360’s manufacturer’s warranty for the Red Ring errors to three years.

Since its launch, the Xbox 360 has had four different motherboard revisions. While some motherboard revisions were limited to larger heatsinks, the addition of an HDMI port, or the shrink in CPU die size, this latest Jasper revision marks the first shrink in die size for the ATI GPU. The GPU size has been decreased from 90nm to 65nm while an additional 256 MB of on-board flash memory has also been integrated. According to Microsoft, 128 MB is needed for the installation of the New Xbox Experience, which means the integrated flash memory will be able to handle its installation natively without the need for additional storage peripherals. The power supply has also been reduced in power consumption from a previous 175W to a new 150W model and as a safety precaution, the new power supply is equipped with a different connector than the 175W model; backwards compatibility is not supported.

Only time will tell if the decreased GPU size will solve the heat problems that have plagued the system since launch. If you are interested in hunting for a new "Jasper" model, comments on Xbox-Scene points to a Lot number of 843X with a manufacturing date of 10-23-2008. The easiest way to identify the new motherboard is by the wattage identification on the power supply unit which should clearly state the new 150W specification.

Source: www.tomshardware.com

Recognized Xbox 360 Jasper

2008-10-11T02:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a thread over on 8bitjoystick, a number of us have been trying to track down any additional information that might help us ID these consoles, preferably without actually opening them and looking at the GPU directly. Here's what people found (we AnandTech, 8bitjoystick, Knoxximus, Jediman, and others in that thread).

1. Microsoft has registered a 150W PSU with a model number virtually identical to some of the 175W PSUs currently included with Falcon-based 360s. Both 110V and 220V models are listed.
2. The current output on that PSUs 12V rail is rated at 12.1A.
3. All of this is right in line with estimated power reduction from a die-shrunk GPU.
4. The 12V current demands of the console are clearly listed on the console itself, right next to the serial number. Falcon was 14.2A; earlier models (Zephyr and Xenon) were 16.5A.

Source: www.anandtech.com

Troubleshooting your Xbox 360 Power Supply when the light is orange

2008-09-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Introduction
Sometimes, the light on your Xbox 360's power supply may be orange. This article contains step-by-step guidance to help you determine your situation, and then guides you through ways to resolve the problem.
SYMPTOMS
While you are using the Xbox 360 console, the power supply light changes from green to orange.

CAUSE
An orange light is illuminated on the power supply for one of two reasons. Either the console is turned off or the power supply is disconnected from the console. This behavior is typical. It indicates that the power supply is in standby.

Even if the console is turned off, the power supply light may still be illuminated orange. This can occur if the power supply cord is not fully inserted into the power socket of the console.

If the power supply light is orange but the console will not turn on, there may be a problem with the console.

THINGS TO TRY
Here are some steps that you can use to try to fix the problem. If you cannot fix the problem yourself, please contact Xbox Customer Support by visiting the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.xbox.com/support/contact (http://www.xbox.com/support/contact)
1. Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
2. Disconnect the cord that connects the power supply to the console. To do this, follow these steps:
a.Unplug the power cord from the wall socket.
b.Disconnect the power cord from the console.
3. Reconnect all the cords, and then try to turn on the console.
4. If the orange light remains illuminated but the console will still not turn on, try the troubleshooting steps in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article. However, in that article, skip steps 2 and 4 because you have already tried them. After you have finished following the troubleshooting steps, please return to this article.
907588 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907588/) Your Xbox 360 console will not turn on
If none of these steps resolve your issue, your console may have to be repaired. If you want, you can start the repair process online.
MORE INFORMATION
The power supply has several built-in safeguards to help prevent damage to either the console or to the power supply itself. The power supply can turn itself off when there is too much current, too much voltage, or too high a temperature. Under these conditions, the light on the power supply will turn from green to orange or to red. Or, the light will turn off. When the power supply light is green, the power supply is working correctly.

To help the power supply work correctly, always try to use the following best practices:
• Make sure that all ventilation openings in the power supply are free to ventilate.
• Do not put the power supply on a bed, on a sofa, or on any other soft surface that may block ventilation openings.
• Do not put the power supply in a confined space, such as a bookcase, a rack, or a stereo cabinet, unless the space is well ventilated.
• Do not put the power supply on a stereo speaker, an amplifier, or a heat source such as a radiator or a heat register.
• Plug the power supply directly into a wall outlet. In other words, do not use extension cords or power strips.

Source:http://support.microsoft.com

Xbox 360 'Opus' Motherboard Discovered

2008-08-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Designed specifically to help Microsoft recoup losses on RRoD'd hardware that's been returned for repairs, the Opus chipset is a Falcon-generation mobo that'll snap into original Xenon Xbox 360s. Because it is installed in refurbished Xbox 360 launch chasses, the Opus lacks HDMI-out. It does, however, feature the Falcon-era HANA video chip that supports digital output, which means a really skilled modder could potentially retrofit such a connection.

The Opus also looks to be sporting the 65-nm CPU from the Falcon chipset due to the new-style heatsink mounted on chip. The Opus is, in essence, simply an HDMI-lacking Falcon chipset that'll fit in original Xbox 360 cases. Owners of pre-HDMI Xbox 360 consoles who send in dead systems for repair should expect to start seeing these guts in their repaired consoles.

Source:http://au.gear.ign.com

How to see if you have a 65nm xbox 360 (Falcon) console:

2008-08-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

First, get a flashlight that is very bright. Then put your console upside down (HD side down). You should be looking at an black or grey piece of plastic which is the bottom vent. Shine the flashlight directly into the bottom of the console (it works best to sit the flashlight on the plastic).

Then move the flashlight to the right side of the plastic. When you look inside of the console directly below the light, you will see a large white piece of plastic. This is the airflow shroud. You can see this highlighted in this picture:

90nm CPU Heatsink
\

65nm CPU Heatsink

Next, move the flashlight to the left a bit and look into the console again. You are looking for the large silver square that is directly in front of the airflow shroud. This piece will tell you whether or not you have a 65nm console.

Source:http://www.xbox-scene.com/

New Controller for xbox 360

2008-08-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

No sooner have we hated on the 360 pad's useless d-pad for the 1,165th time than we hear that a new 360 control pad is on the showroom floor at Leipzig. Microsoft, your sense of timing is impeccable. While the pad looks identical to the existing one, the d-pad is apparently much-improved, as it can now register movement in 32 directions, as opposed to the existing one's...4. That's the good news. The bad news? Well, the bad news is comical. Microsoft told Eurogamer the improved controller will only be available for a limited time, as it's a tie-in with Pro Evo 2009. And not just that, they say it'll only be available in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It'll be out on October 24, so if you want (or want to import one) one, get in early.

Nyko Intercooler 360 Review (Xbox 360)

2008-07-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the Xbox 360, if there’s one complaint we’ve heard more often than the rest, it would have to be overheating issues. This point should be clarified a bit as some reports have been wildly exaggerated. No, not all Xbox 360 consoles have overheating problems. And no, Microsoft has not issued any type of recall for the Xbox 360.

The fact is not every gamer has their console in a prime location. Some folks throw caution to the wind and pile A/V equipment (and pizza boxes) on top of each other, while others place their Xbox 360 in a cramped home theater cabinet. What if you’re playing Oblivion for 10 hours straight in a non-air conditioned house in South Florida? There are literally millions of variations for video game setups around the world and most of them aren’t ideal for a high-end consumer electronic like the Xbox 360. Any time a multi-core processor is involved, you can expect plenty of heat to be generated which mean ventilation is key.

It can be assumed that for the majority of Xbox 360 owners, overheating issues won’t become a major factor. As long air is circulating around the console, Xbox 360’s internal fan usually gets the job done. To date, we’ve only encountered one overheating problem, and that was in the extreme case when the temperature at one editor’s home rose to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Some advice…when it’s over 100°, skip the video games and try swimming!

That being said, after dropping $400 or so on a new console, many consumers would like a little bit of added confidence that their Xbox 360 won’t pull a burnout. Nyko has recently released the Intercooler 360, a snap-on cooling device that claims to increases air flow, thereby reducing heat throughout the Xbox 360.

Nyko’s Intercooler 360 shipped to stores at the end of March, and seems to be a hot commodity with most retailers being out of stock. The MSRP of the Intercooler 360 is $19.99; a relatively paltry sum as far as accessories go.

Measuring 8” tall by 2.5” wide by 2.5” deep, the Intercooler 360 is fairly impressive looking device. Its eggshell white molding matches the exterior of the Xbox 360 almost perfectly and, when attached, could be mistaken for a regular extension of the console.

Features:

* Powered by Xbox 360 console, no extra AC adapter needed
* Snap-on assembly for easy installation, no tools required
* Increases air flow and reduces heat throughout the Xbox 360
* Improved protection for internal circuitry
* Enhanced performance for your Xbox 360
* Cooler temperatures mean extended life and reliability
* Fits in entertainment centers with the console in either the horizontal or vertical position
* Auto or manual power on and off

The Intercooler 360 primarily consists of three 12V DC fans that are powered directly by the Xbox 360 console. The concept is relatively simple – by complementing the internal Xbox 360 fan, the Intercooler 360’s fans provided added airflow and ventilation.

Installation

With absolutely no tools needed, the Intercooler 360 is a snap (literally) to install. You must first disconnect the Xbox 360 power cord, video cable, and Ethernet cable from the back of the console. If you are using the Xbox 360 wireless network adapter, we recommend removing that as well – just to have a clean slate.
The male plug on the inside of the Intercooler 360 is then inserted into the Xbox 360’s power plug. Two sets of security pins at the top of the unit then are inserted into the vent holes on the back of the console. The security pins might need realigned slightly in order to fit, but for the most part the Intercooler 360 fits snug, and isn’t an eye sore.

The Xbox 360 power cord is then inserted into the female port of the Intercooler 360. Nyko recommends to first power up the Xbox 360 and then flipping the power switch on the Intercooler. After the initial power up, the Intercooler 360 automatically shuts off when the Xbox 360 is powered down. You always have the option of manually turning the Intercooler 360 on/off, but it isn’t necessary.

The removal process is just as easy as the Intercooler 360 pulls right off. For most, there won’t be a need to remove the accessory, except for cleaning purposes. Nyko recommends using a dry cloth – no chemical based cleaning agents.

Performance

Nyko is dead-on in their claims of increasing air flow. It is immediately noticeable how much heat is dissipated using the Intercooler 360. The internal Xbox 360 fan, which gets the job done in most situations, tends to blow air at a modest speed. The Intercooler 360 pushes air at a comparable speed to a high-end PC. As you’d expect, the addition of three fans also mean increased noise. Some consumers claim that the Xbox 360 is already loud, and adding the Intercooler 360 certainly isn’t going to help. It is a give and take situation – the side effect of increased air flow is fan noise. If you’re experiencing overheating issues, then we’d expect that a slight increase of noise is a fair tradeoff in keeping the Xbox 360 cool.

According to Nyko’s reports, the Intercooler can cool the Xbox 360 as much as 10 degrees or as little as 1 degree, depending on the area of the console. Obviously, this temperature will differ depending on the surrounding room temperature. The Intercooler 360 isn’t an air conditioner, so its cooling effect is only as a result of increased airflow – just like a room fan.

While we didn’t have the luxury of using a pyrometer to accurately measure temperature changes, our readings did show a fluctuation of at least a few degrees in each of 15 areas of the Xbox 360 console. There’s no doubt about it – the Nyko Intercooler 360 increases airflow and reduces the console’s internal temperature.

The Bottom Line

For the most part, the Intercooler 360 performs as advertised. We still question the overall need for this type of accessory, especially when providing proper ventilation for the Xbox 360. Still, not all gamers are able to adhere to ideal A/V conditions, and so the Intercooler 360 could be the answer.

Visually, the Intercooler 360 aligns with the Xbox 360 perfectly and doesn’t look gaudy. We did experience some slight spacing issues when attaching both the Intercooler 360 and the Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter, but they will both fit with minor adjustments.

Expect the noise level to rise, thanks to the three additional fans running in concert with the Xbox 360. While the fan noise isn’t any louder than that of a high-end PC, it might be an annoyance to some gamers.

If your Xbox 360 happens to be in tight quarters, or if you live in an overly hot location then Nyko’s Intercooler 360 might not be a bad investment. It definitely increases the airflow through the Xbox 360, and for $20, it’s cheap insurance. If airflow isn’t an issue in your home entertainment setup, then this is one accessory that you can probably skip on.

Source:http://hardware.teamxbox.com

How to Open Your Xbox 360

2008-07-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

You are going to need a few tools to get your Xbox 360 apart for this project: A set of Torx screwdrivers/wrenches; a small, flathead screwdriver; a pair of needle nose pliers; and a long, thin pick or flat metal rod.

While it may seem a bit daunting at first because the Xbox 360 has no outside screws, cracking the console open is relatively easy. Even if you have a limited amount of patience you can get the case apart in about 30 – 45 minutes. First of all, you will want to remove the faceplate from your system. This is a simply a matter of squeezing the sides of the faceplate while pulling outward until it pops off. You can also use the USB door hole or get your fingernails into the seam at the base of the faceplate and pull.

Now that the faceplate is removed, pull the grey plastic base plate at the bottom of your console out and, looking through the small ventilation holes on the side of the case, locate each of the six retaining tabs. Using a small metal rod (I used a utensil for eating crab…works like a charm), push each of tabs inward as you gently pull down on the plastic base plate. If you haven’t already, remove the hard drive on the top of your system and repeat the same procedure to remove the grey plastic plate located under the hard drive.

With both of the grey plastic end pieces removed, you can now open the case by separating the bottom of the case from the upper portion using your screwdriver to pry apart the two halves of the case. There are three tabs in the front of the case and a row of tabs on both sides of the back of the case. Start with the front of the case and release the tabs and gently pry the case open. Once you have the case partially open in the front, move to the back of the case and depress the tabs in the back and pull the case apart.

With the bottom of the plastic clamshell removed you will see the stamped steel inner case that actually holds the Xbox 360 hardware. There are 14 screws in the bottom of the steel case. 6 of these screws (with the larger, flatter appearance) are long and screw through the case, holding the top portion of the clamshell in place.

Do not remove the smaller, rounded screws at this time. These smaller screws, as well as the 8 black screws in the middle of the case, hold the motherboard in place. For now, remove the 6 larger screws and turn the case over and remove the top.
Once the top of the case is removed, you will see the large CPU heat pipe heat sink, DVD drive, and a large white shroud that ducts cool air across the CPU/GPU heat sinks. The DVD drive easily lifts out of the way revealing the large, flat, aluminum GPU heat sink. You can either disconnect the SATA and power cables from the drive or the motherboard. Next, remove the white plastic shroud by lifting it up and away from the heat sinks and fans.

Next, on the front of the case you will see the USB RF unit and “ring of power” light assembly. Remove the two small screws in the RF unit and pull the assembly away from the case to disconnect it from the USB connector. You are now ready to remove the motherboard. Turn the assembly over and remove all of the remaining screws from the bottom of the steel case and remove the motherboard.

Source:http://www.hardocp.com

Xbox 360 Modification (Lian-Li PC-XB01Modding Case Details)

2008-07-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

XB01 was first shown at the 2008 CES show in USA, and this concept got a lot of feedback and user suggestions. At the 2008 Computex in Taipei, the final vision of the PC-XB01 Xbox 360 modding case was ready for shipping.

Xbox360 is a superb video game console and Lian Li wants to make it even better. Lian Li designers designed the case around the Xbox360 main board, and created the XB01 for Xbox 360 owners who want an Xbox 360 with better cooling performance and that works silently.
Not only does it work silently and with better cooling, it is all aluminum, in metallic finishing.
Rounded edge, in brushed aluminum with anodized finishing, it can be place up-right or flat-down on the table top. The high quality finishing will fit in most user's living environments.
XB01 will help Xbox 360 to have better cooling performance, and running silently. User don't need to worry about overheating problems anymore.

Some Features:
* There is a 120mm exhaust fan at the rear of the XB01 to replace the original 2x70mm cooling fan, the 120mm fan can move the heat faster at lower speed, and with less noise.
* XB01 has a 12cm fan, with high airflow but it only needs to run at 1500RPM to cool down the Xbox 360 effectively.
* The Xbox 360 DVD-drive has been relocated to the side, allowing maximum opening for the graphics chipset heatsink and it will also allow users to change the heatsink.
* There are sound insulation foam sheets around the DVD drive to reduce the noise.
* Huge aluminum airduct that covers the Xbox 360 heatsinks, the cold air will pass through the cooler to remove the heat.
* There are water tube openings at the rear of the case, allowing users to upgrade their Xbox 360 to liquid cooling solutions.
* The XB01 includes two fan converters for the different versions of the Xbox 360.
* There are aluminum flippers to cover and protect the front connectors.
Lian-Li PC-XB01 Xbox 360 Lian-Li PC-XB01 Xbox 360

Source: http://lian-li.com.tw

Reparing Xbox 360 E68

2008-07-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

Xbox 360 1ROL (e68) is caused by harddisk error of your xbox 360 and is it quite simple to fix this error.Things that you have to do is
1. Turn off the console.
2. Remove the hard drive.Press the tab on the front of the hard drive, and then lift the unit from the console.
3. Reattach the hard drive, and then turn on the console.Position the hard drive over the hard drive bay with the narrow end (the front) pointed toward the front of the console and the broad end (the back) pointed toward the back of the console.
4. Obtain the latest automatic update for the Xbox 360. To do this, connect to Xbox Live.
5. If you continue to experience this behavior, contact Xbox Customer Service or if your console is not under warranty again you can fix it by ourself.
Things to do is you have to open your xbox 360 hardisk and you need is:
* TORX #6 screwdriver
* TORX #10 screwdriver
I got this tutorial how to open xbox 360 hardisk from www.xbox-scene, you can see mote detail in that website.
Remove the Xbox360 Harddrive-bay from you console and you'll find 4 TORX#6 screws (red circles below).One of them is behind the microsoft logo-sticker

Once the screws are removed, you can remove the top and you'll get something like shown below.

4 more screws to remove, this time they a are TORX#10. Remove all 4 screws shown in red circles below.

After you open your hardwisk you will see several pin on your hardisk, place jumper between two pin as shown in picture below

After you put jumper, put again your xbox 360 hardisk ot its place and its screws. Attach xbox 360 hardisk to your console and turn on the console.

Source Open xbox 360 hardisk:www.xbox-scene.com

Turok Unlockables

2008-07-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

Triple Kill (20) - Kill 3 opponents within 4 seconds of each other in a ranked match
Thorn in Side (20) - Kill the Flag carrier 5 times in a ranked match
Co-Op 1 (30) - Finish Co-op Map 1
Co-Op 2 (30) - Finish Co-op Map 2
Co-Op 3 (30) - Finish Co-op Map 3
Hometown Hero (25) - Return 5 Flags to your base in one public game
Arch-Nemesis (15) - Kill the same player 5 times in a row without killing anyone else in between during a public match
Crack Shot (15) - Kill 5 opponents in a public game with headshots
Accuracy Award (20) - Achieve an accuracy of 75% or greater with at least 20 shots fired in one ranked match
Great Round (15) - Finish a public DM match with a Battle Rating of greater than (10)0
Grab Bag (10) - Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match
Unbreakable (30) - Play through a ranked match without dying
Pacifist (15) - Play a public match with no shots fired or kills awarded, capturing the flag at least twice
Dino Hunter (15) - Kill (20) - Dinos in one public game
Exterminator (15) - Kill (20) - Bugs in one public game
Resurrection (15) - Finish a player match free-for-all game with at least 10 deaths and 10 kills
Gamesman (15) - Play a full round of each gametype in public or private matches
Retribution (15) - Knife kill your Rival in a public match
Primitive Weapons (15) - Play a public match using only the bow or knife, earning at least 10 kills
All-Purpose Warrior (30) - Win 10 public games of each team game option - Small Team, Large Team, Co-Op
Medal of Citation (25) - Achieve 100 player kills in ranked matches
Medal of Commendation (50) - Achieve 500 player kills in ranked matches
Boomstick (10) - Destroy a dilo with the stickygun during a public match
Arsenal (20) - Kill at least one enemy with every weapon in the game during public play
Massive Battle (10) - Participate in a public 6 on 6 team game
Buddy Blowout (20) - Play a full 8 on 8 private team game
Multiplayer First-Class (35) - Finish a ranked match with 100% accuracy and at least 5 kills
Multiplayer Master-Class (40) - Finish a ranked match with all headshots and at least 5 kills
Practically Canadian (20) - How aboot defending your flag, eh? And that's in ranked matches, sorry.
Big Game Ribbon (20) - Whoa momma!
Angler Ribbon (20) - Fishing anyone?
Sell Your Shotguns (35) - Complete "Mother Superior" without using the ORO Shotgun
Dino Dominance (25) - Knife kill 50 creatures in the Story Mode campaign
Turok Service Ribbon (40) - Complete the Story Mode campaign and unlock Inhuman difficulty
Turok Campaign Ribbon (60) - Complete the Story Mode campaign on Inhuman
Sniper! (40) - Head shot 10 enemies in a row during the Story Mode campaign
Impaler Ribbon (10) - Pin an enemy to the wall with an arrow in the Story Mode campaign
Turok Defense Force (25) - Successfully fight off 20 Raptor mauls during the Story Mode campaign
It's A Trap! (15) - Get dinos to kill 5 soldiers by sticking them with the flare in the Story Mode campaign
Loud Love (15) - Kill 3 soldiers with one ORO Copperhead Rocket Launcher shot in the Story Mode campaign
5, 4, 3, 2, 1... BOOM! (15) - Kill 3 Soldiers with one Frag Grenade in the Story Mode campaign
Pincushion (25) - Pin 50 enemies with the Bow in the Story Mode campaign
Man or Animal (30) - Record 100 stealth kills of soldiers with the ORO P23 Combat Knife

Source: www.gamesradar.com

GRID Unlockables

2008-07-06T23:27:00.001-07:00

Things to Achieve
1st and 2nd at Global (25) - Get a 2-1 at Global Level
Airborne (15) - Get the car airborne for 1 second
Back To Front (10) - Cross the finish line in first place in reverse
Beat Codies (30) - Beat the developer or anyone who has beaten the developer online
Car Wreck (5) - Cause insane damage to your car
City Slicker (20) - Race in every city
Combo King (20) - Get a x50 Drift Multiplayer
Corporate Power (10) - Fill all your sponsor slots
Driver for Hire (10) - Race for a team from every region
Filthy Rich (25) - Earn enough to buy a brand new Lamborghini Murcielago GTR
First Wheels (5) - Buy your first car
First Win! (10) - Win your first race
First Xbox LIVE Win (10) - Win your first ranked Xbox LIVE race
Five Xbox LIVE Wins (30) - Win 5 ranked Xbox LIVE races
Flashback & Win (5) - Use the Flashback feature and win the race
Full Rep (10) - Earn the full reputation available on EXTREME difficulty
Gentleman Driver (30) - Win an entire GRID World Event without making contact with other cars
Global License (20) - Unlock your Global License
Globe Hopper (30) - Race at every location
Gotta Drive 'Em All (30) - Drive every car 30 points
Hard Charger (20) - Win a 12 car race starting from the back of the Grid
Head 2 Head (30) - Win your first Head 2 Head race
High Mileage (30) - Drive 750 miles in a single car
Hire & Fire (10) - Hire a new teammate with a higher rank than your current one
Hot Lap (20) - Beat the original lap record on any track
Keep Drifting (10) - Drift your car for 5 seconds
Keep Rolling (10) - Roll your car 20 times
Last Man Standing (20) - Be the last survivor of a single player Demolition Derby
Le Mans Legend (30) - Win a Le Mans 24 Hour race on Pro Mode.
Le Mans Rookie (15) - Complete your first Le Mans 24 hour race
Long Haul (40) - Drive a total of 1000 miles
New Kid on the Block (5) - Complete your first race
Online Elite (30) - Obtain the 'Elite' rank in the Xbox LIVE game mode.
Online Legend (50) - Obtain the 'Legend' rank in the Xbox LIVE game mode.
Power Seller (25) - Sell a car for more than you paid for it
Record Breaker (10) - Complete a lap of Okatama Grand Circuit in under 90 seconds
Road Block (10) - Be involved in a 3 car pile-up
Seasoned Pro (30) - Win all Event Trophies
Short Haul (30) - Drive a total of 500 miles
Speed Demon (10) - Reach 200mph in any car in a GRID World race
Spin & Win (10) - Complete a 360º spin and still win the race
Stick Shift (10) - Win a race using manual transmission
Sunday Drivers (30) - Finish a race at least one lap ahead of the rest of the field in GRID World or Race Day
Team Win (20) - Take your team to win its first Event
Top of Team Leaderboard (35) - Top the Team Leaderboard
Top of the Tree (35) - Top the Driver Leaderboard
Touge King (20) - Win a Touge Event on EXTREME difficulty
When Will I Be Famous? (20) - Get onto a Hall of Fame Leaderboard
Winning Streak (15) - Win all races in an Event
You Again? (20) - Lap an opponent in a 12 car GRID World race

The Xbox 360 GPU

2008-07-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

Another powerful asset in the Xbox 360 is the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). The Xbox 360 boasts the new, custom-built 500-MHz ATI Graphics Processor card with 10 MB of embedded DRAM. While the 500-MHZ graphics processor is powerful, and 10 MB of DRAM provides ample memory for the GPU to do its job, the most innovative thing about this card is that it is built on unified shader architecture.

Shaders are computer programs that determine the final look of what you see on the screen when you're looking at computer animation. Shaders take rendered 3-D objects built on polygons (the building blocks of 3-D animation) and make them look more realistic. There are two types of shaders: pixel shaders and vertex shaders.

Pixel shaders alter the lighting, color and surface of each pixel. This in turn affects the overall color, texture and shape of 3-D objects built from these pixels. Pixel shaders help "smooth out" 3-D objects, giving them a more organic texture.

Vertex shaders work by manipulating an object's position in 3-D space. "Vertex" refers to the intersection of two coordinates in space. The machine maps the position of an animated object in 3-D space by giving it a value. These values are the x, y and z coordinates. By manipulating these variables, a vertex shader creates realistic animation and special effects such as "morphing." To read more about vertex shaders, see What are Gouraud shading and texture mapping in 3-D video games?

In real-time graphics, like the kind you see in video games, shaders work with the graphics processor. The shaders make billions of computations every second to perform their specific tasks. These computations are performed in steps through a series of computational components. Think of an assembly line. In the world of hardware, these assembly lines are called pipelines.

Traditionally, pixel shaders and vertex shaders have dedicated pipelines because each one has very specific and differing needs. As we learned before, the new ATI graphics card in the Xbox 360 has unified shader architecture. What that means is that now, both shader types share the same pipelines. ATI figured out a way at the hardware level to address the needs of both types of shaders using the same pipeline.

The apparent advantage of sharing pipelines is to add more assembly lines, making computation that much faster. ATI claims that this unified shader architecture allows for 48 billion shader operations per second. The Xbox 360 is the first device to use this type of architecture.

Source: www.electronics.howstuffworks.com

CPU: The Heart of the 360

2008-07-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

As with any computer, the CPU is the heart of the Xbox 360. Microsoft has outfitted the 360 with a 165-million transistor, multi-core processor running three 3.2-GHz PowerPC cores.
Each core on the chip functions as a separate processor. Recently, hardware manufacturers have started combining several cores, or processors, onto one chip. This is a multi-core processor. Multi-core processors offer a combination of tremendous computing capabilities and efficient power consumption. They split
heavy work loads over multiple powerful processors rather than giving all the work to one super-powerful processor.

The other interesting thing to note about the Xbox 360 CPU is that each core is capable of processing two threads simultaneously. Think of a thread as a set of instructions for a program's job. The core processes these instructions and does the heavy lifting to get the job done. A conventional processor can run a single execution thread. Because the Xbox 360 cores can each handle two threads at a time, the 360 CPU is the equivalent of having six conventional processors in one machine.

What this means when you are playing video games is that the Xbox 360 can dedicate one core entirely to producing sound, while another may run the game's collision and physics engine. The system may allocate an entire processor just to rendering hi-def graphics. It's really up to the game developers how the system's considerable resources are used. With a multi-core processor, the system is powerful enough to pull off the computational demands needed for an amazing gaming experience without even breaking a sweat.

Source: wwww.electronics.howstuffworks.com

A Guide to Xbox 360 Live

2008-06-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

So many people are confused as to how to get on LIVE I'm going to start to try to compile a complete guide to how it works- more will be added to this in the future.

GAMERTAG : Deltatri3

First things first- the most common question- how do I pay? Well you need a Visa, Mastercard or American Express card! Easy as that, if you don't have one then its tough luck basically!

1 - Getting Started

1.1 - HOW TO PURCHASE XBOX LIVE

There are 2 different ways to purchase Xbox LIVE- one more expensive than others and 2 options once that time you go for is over. Yes it costs money but Its worth it for the added benefits compared to the PS2 network.

1. Buy the Xbox LIVE starter kit- you can get this in any game store practically. With this you get a headset (one of the comfy official ones trust me you need it for all the hours your going to put in), you get a demo disk which installs the LIVE software onto your Xbox and gives you demos to play (currently Moto GP and Mech-assault I think). You also get a scratch card with a code entitling you to one year's Xbox LIVE subscription. This is by far the cheapest option and the one I would recommend.

2. Using the 2 month free trial - you can get this with a number of games at the moment which entitle you to a free 2 months online gaming- you still need a headset though to get the full experience which you can purchase for a hefty £19.99 from HMV/Game etc. You STILL need a Visa or MasterCard to sign up and really I would hesitate to use this option unless you only plan to use Xbox LIVE for 2 months and no more. You are charged automatically after the 2 months and as such have to be careful. And you need an Xbox LIVE game that the trial came with to install the Xbox LIVE software if you don't already have the LIVE option on your Xbox dashboard already as the older Xbox's don't. (just go to Xbox LIVE option in the game you have and it should start installing from there) so you cannot just get a card without one of the newer games.

After the year or 2 months are over you can go onto 2 options- the annual renewal, available at £39.99 or Monthly renewal at £4.99. It doesn't take a genius to work out that the annual renewal is cheaper and as such you have to notify Microsoft to go onto the annual repayment as they automatically start charging for the £5 renewal I have been told.

In the future Microsoft is looking to get over the barrier of the Visa problem by implementing a scratch card idea (available like phone top ups I assume) but I guess since not much has been said about that lately that its likely to be brought up at X04 this year.

2 HOW TO CONNECT?

This is a tricky question for me to answer fully as I only have experience using the one type of connection myself. That happens to be the most popular here in the UK. NTL home packages are cheap and you get everything you need supplied. Now I only want to write about things that I think I know about so I'm hoping to fill this section with other peoples experiences as there are many different providers and as such many different experiences. For more general information look at Xbox.com/uk/LIVE for more information although they tend to be a bit bias (i.e. saying direct connection only available through telewest which simply isn't true) if you have your own experiences then please e-mail me at deltatri3@ntlworld.com and ill be sure to add them.

2.1 NTL

They offer 3 different speeds at the moment- 128k, 600k and 1mb connections.

DO NOT go for the 128 connection - pay the extra £10 to get the 600k (unless you like your games laggy as hell!)

I have 600k and it does fine for every game to present (although hosting 16player games is sometimes a bit of a lag fest- depends on network condition that day and time. Installation is free and you also get the modem for free. Ask for either the NTL 120 home modem or the 200 model as both of these have both a USB port (enabling you to connect you pc to the modem) and an Ethernet port (which is what the Xbox requires).

I do a DIRECT CONNECION and this is not the only way to connect but I find it the best way I have tried. For an extra £5 a month NTL will con you into paying to connect to Xbox LIVE through a router they supply- this means that you can have your pc and Xbox on at the same time but in my experience using a router is bad news and can see you refused access to many games.

Also to have your pc online at the same time, simply buy and install a regular network card into your pc. Run a Cat 5 Ethernet cable from your Xbox into the back of the network card and connect the modem regularly through USB. Then set up a shard network depending on your operating system and make sure any firewalls are configured to allow connection sharing also.

3 Xbox LIVE 3.0

Xbox LIVE 3.0 has just launched but not many games support its features yet- here is a list of what is to come.

3.1 Voice Mail in UIX Friends- NOW AVALIABLE

The Voice Mail feature allows users to include voice mail when they send or accept game invitations and friend requests. Users can include up to 15 seconds of voice data with each invitation or request to provide more context for the recipient.

3.2 Title Managed Storage

Title Managed Storage allows a game to store information on the Xbox LIVE storage servers. The feature is divided into two parts: global storage and per-user, per-title storage. Global storage is read-only to the title and stores matchmaking queries, rosters, weather data, and so on. Per-user, per-title storage provides 32 KB of storage for each player of the title, to store playbooks, settings, and so on.

3.3 Family Title ID

Family Title IDs allow title-managed storage, teams, and messages to be shared across a family of titles. A given title can belong to as many as four title families. The way in which storage, teams, and messages are shared across the title family is up to the publisher and title developers. For example, a publisher with multiple sports titles could have a developer use a Family Title ID that allows a user to create a team that spans all of the publisher's sports titles.

3.4 Teams

The Teams feature allows players to form teams within a title that persist between game sessions. Titles expose this functionality using the XOnlineTeamXXXX and XOnlinePeerXXXX functions. The infrastructure, permissions, display, and role of teams depend on the design of the title.

3.5 Competitions

Titles can use the Competitions feature to run automated in-game single-elimination tournaments. The participants in a tournament can be either teams or individuals. Tournaments are created either by the title publisher or by the players themselves.

3.6 Messaging- Update: now you can sync ure msn messenger with ure Gamertag- a 1st step.

With Messaging, titles can send and receive any kind of game-specific message (including voice and text attachments) using the XOnlineMessageXXXX functions. Messages can be sent between teammates, friends, or players.

3.7 New Xbox LIVE Statistics Features

The updated Stats APIs enable titles to group users into dynamic teams, called "units". Each unit can contain up to four players. Users can compare how their units rank against each other on the new Unit Leaderboards. Also, titles are now able to resolve contested stats using the Xbox LIVE Arbitration servers. Additionally, titles can now post all of the stats for a game session with a single write call.

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4. FAQ's

With Xbox LIVE there are many questions that have to be answered. I will attempt to answer most common ones below but if there are any others then please e-mail me and ill try to add it to the article ASAP. Xbox LIVE is constantly evolving so if you notice one of my answers is incorrect then please contact me and ill change it.

4.1 Why are they selling the Communicator separately?

The Xbox LIVE communicator is now on sale separately for £19.99 rrp, it's being sold for 2 reasons
1. Incase you break your existing one
2. Because continuing after a 2 month trial without purchasing a LIVE starter kit means you will want a headset- essential for games such as Splinter Cell PT as it requires a lot of communication.

4.2 What is XSN sports.

It's a method of competing against other Xbox LIVE users when playing XSN branded sports titles such as Top Spin, Amped and RalliSport Challenge 2. It's being faded out now however, since its been sort of a flop and EA are really wanting to take over the sports section surprise surprise.

4.3 Will there be extra costs for some games?

An important Question, typically MMORPG's charge a monthly subscription to play online, such as Phantasy Star Online and the upcoming True Fantasy LIVE Online. At the moment there is rumors going around that EA will charge a subscription to play its more popular sports titles online, but this is just a rumor at present.

4.4 What is "Premium Content" and how much does it cost?

Premium content works in the same way as regular downloadable content, except it is much more higher quality, and thus comes with a standard charge. This is usually around $5 US or approx £2.99 in the UK. Some are more worthwhile than others. PRG2 is the most recent addition, and for the £2.99 you gain a whole new track and a new selection of cars. This type of content is optional.

4.5 Will I need a credit card to use XBL? What about debit cards?

You need a VISA or MasterCard to sign up, you cannot use Switch/Solo cards unfortunately, and you need one to sign up, even if you purchase a starter pack im afraid.

4.6 Is Xbox LIVE broadband only? What about 56K dial-up users?

In theory you can use a 56k connection through a network, but DO NOT!. You will have lag and people will hate you for bringing lag to their games. Xbox LIVE is designed for Broadband only!

4.7 Does Xbox LIVE work with AOL Broadband?

From aol.co.uk apparently you can now, please read the statement from that site below.

You can now enjoy the ultimate gaming experience through AOL Broadband by plugging your console into a global network of broadband gamers. Both PS2 and Xbox offer a service that allows you to link up your games console to the Internet to pit your wits against gamers from around the world. When you subscribe to AOL Broadband you can visit AOL Keyword: Online Games Consoles to view a dedicated support area on how to set up and make the most of your Games Console online.

4.8 How much bandwidth will I need to play on XBL?

A 600k (512) is the minimum I would recommend.

4.9 Will Xbox LIVE work behind my firewall?

Yes, but it is different for everyone, and configured differently for each different software. I personally use ZoneAlarm and Norton Internet Security at the same time and I can still log onto Xbox LIVE.

4.10 Are games hosted on MS servers or on my Xbox?

Generally you have to host your own games. If you want to do this a lot consider getting a 1mb connection to be able to host larger games.

4.11 How many Gamertags can I have?

Just the one I am afraid and choose it carefully as you generally cannot change it unless you have a very good excuse.

4.12 How does the XBL feedback system work?

It doesn't. Microsoft dont throw people off, they want their money. Only in extreme circumstances would this have any effect.

4.13 Can more than one person play on a single Xbox with Xbox LIVE?

Yes, but that depends on which game you are playing. PGR2 allows for 2 racers in split screen for example- but only under the game Gamertag.

4.14 Can I use my MODDED Xbox on Xbox LIVE?

Yes but don't! If you get caught (and its easily done) then your Xbox will be banned from Xbox LIVE.

4.15 How does the Communicator work?

You talk into it.

4.16 Is there ANY way for guests to use a Communicator?

Only through a 3rd party headset that supports it.

4.17 How do I add a Gamertag to my Friends list?

There are many different methods, look in your Xbox LIVE instruction manual for how to add Gamertags from the dashboard, lots of games have lists of people you have recently played against, but consult their individual manuals for advice.

4.18 How does the INVITE feature work?

Again this is different for every game, consult your games manual, but it usually is a very easy process.

4.19 Will I be able to play people in other countries?

In most games yes, some older titles don't allow it, but generally its better to play people from your own country as it

4.20 Why not just stick with free services like XBconnect?

Because there is less cheating and lag, and everything runs smoother generally. Xbox LIVE games were designed to be played on the LIVE network and that is what they are fully optimized to do. Also you get downloadable content exclusively on LIVE.

4.21 How does Xbox LIVE compare to Sony's offerings?

Your asking a bias person, but from what I have played of ps2 online, not very well. There are great advantages to a closed network, less hacking/cheating most importantly. Plus its broadband only while Sony's offering is not.

Source: www.darkzero.co.uk

Three Red Light Fix - Xbox 360 XClamp Replacement

2008-06-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

Requirements

8x 5mm Machine Screws – 0.8mm x 10mm (B&Q Code: AVF-069918)
24x 5mm Flat Washers (B&Q Code: AVF-064968 – sold in packs of 60ish)
Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste (available in most good computer stores – eg. PC World)

Removing the heatsinks

On the bottom of the motherboard, you will see two silver X-shaped brackets:

Pry off each corner of the brackets with a small pair of pliers. Take care not to use excess force that may damage the board. Once you have removed two corners, the last two should be easy. Once you have removed both brackets, turn the board over, and you will be able to lift off the two big heatsinks:

Above: GPU heatsink (left) CPU heatsink (right)
Now you can see the GPU (left) and CPU (right):

The next thing we need to do, is replace the current thermal paste (the grey stuff you see over the two chips) with Arctic Silver 5 paste.

Replacing the thermal paste

Firstly you need to remove the current thermal paste that is on the heatsinks:

WD-40 works well in removing the paste. Simply spray some on the heatsink and wipe off with some tissue until it’s all gone.

Now you need to remove the paste from the chips. Spray some WD-40 into a tub and dip a cotton bud into it. Now gently wipe off all of the paste around the chips until they both have a mirror-like finish:

Now add a small drop of the Arctic Silver 5 paste to each chip, and spread it across evenly using a piece of card:

Replacing the brackets

Remove the ‘legs’ off each of the heatsinks using a ¼” socket:

Check that the screws that you have fit into the holes in the heatsinks. If they don’t, check that you have the right size screws. Don’t leave the screws there yet.
Onto each screw, place one washer. Now while holding the motherboard up on its side, place one screw through each hole where the brackets where. Insert them so that the screws come out next to the chips so that the heatsinks could be placed on top of the screws (so the head of the screw is on the bottom of the motherboard).
Now place two washers onto the ends of each screw. So the layout is now:
Screw – Washer – Motherboard – Washer – Washer.
Now heres the hard part:
While holding the screws into place and ensuring the washers don’t fall off you have to place the heatsinks into place and screw them down. Do this for both of the heatsinks, but do not tighten the screws down tightly just yet.
Now place the motherboard back into the casing, connect the Ring of Light board and plug in the power and video leads – don’t screw the motherboard down (don’t plug in the fans of the DVD drive either).
Now turn the Xbox on (yes, without the fans – it’s alright). The three red lights should flash. Keep the console turned on until the lights change to two red lights:

Wait five minutes then turn it off. Unplug the power and video cables and leave the console for 20-30 minutes for it to cool down.
Once the console is cool (touch the heatsinks to test), take the motherboard back out of the casing and screw down the screws we put in fairly tight – but don’t overdo it! Now re-assemble the console and try it out. Your Xbox 360 should now be working as good as new.

Source: www.se7ensins.com

The differences between old and New (FALCON) Xbox 360

2008-06-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of changes, the only torx driver we used was a T12 and the torx screws on the bottom of the console are now a mixture of gold, silver and black whereas they used to be just silver and black. Other than those changes, the entire process can be completed just the way we diagrammed it over two years ago.

With the tops off our Xboxes, we can look at some of the changes first hand:

Old Xbox 360

New Xbox 360

The new Xbox 360, the additional heatsink you see at the top of the image was originally added in an earlier model of the Xbox 360, it makes another appearance here in the Falcon
The cooling setup is definitely less beefy than with the original console:

The original Xbox 360, note the heatpipe running through the CPU heatsink on the right. The GPU heatsink is on the left.

The new Xbox 360, note the lack of a heatpipe going through the CPU's heatsink (right) and the additional heatsink for the GPU (bottom right).

It's amazing how little has actually changed with the internal design of the console, obviously some components have changed (e.g. DRAM) but the general layout remains the same after two years.

Source: www.anandtech.com

Microsoft's Xbox 360 goes 65nm: Falcon Dissection and Power Consumption

2008-06-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Die shrinks are big deals in the PC industry; transitioning to smaller manufacturing processes means faster switching times and greater transistor density, usually resulting in cooler, faster and more feature-filled CPUs and GPUs.

Intel just recently began its transition from 65nm to 45nm transistors with the release of its Penryn based Core 2 CPUs. The benefits of smaller manufacturing processes are made clearly visible by the Penryn example; despite having 50% more cache than its predecessor and more features (e.g. SSE4), each Penryn die measures 107 mm^2 compared to a 65nm Conroe at 143 mm^2. Transistor density also went up tremendously, as Penryn crams 410 million transistors into less space than 291 million transistors with Conroe.

We just saw a more dramatic showcase of the improvements smaller transistors can bring to GPUs with AMD's new Radeon HD 3800 graphics cards. The RV670 GPU is built off of TSMC's 55nm process and very similar, architecturally, to the 80nm R600 used in the Radeon HD 2900 XT. The die size and transistor density have both improved tremendously thanks to the new process, as has power consumption. The table below should give you some hard numbers to look at:

n both examples, the move to a smaller transistor feature size results in a tremendous increase in transistor density on the order of 90 - 100%. On the PC side, these increases are nothing new, Moore's Law has been hard at work for decades now and we keep reaping the benefits in the form of better, faster, cheaper products. With Game Consoles however, the story is a little different.

Game console hardware must remain largely unchanged throughout the life cycle of the system, which these days is somewhere in the 4 - 5 year range. The whole point to a closed game console system is that you have one spec of hardware to develop for, introducing faster CPUs and GPUs in the middle of the life cycle just wouldn't fly. Since adding features and performance isn't possible, the only real benefits to process shrinks for chips in game consoles are cost, heat and noise reduction, all of which are still important.

Microsoft just recently dropped the price of its Xbox 360 and around the same time, rumors crept up about a quiet introduction of 65nm CPUs into the bill of materials. The original Xbox 360 manufactured from 2005 up until August of this year all used 90nm chips; the CPU, GPU and eDRAM were all fabbed on a 90nm process, which was state of the art at the time. However, as you've undoubtedly noticed with Intel's recent move to 45nm, 90nm is more than dated now.

A move to 65nm would undoubtedly reduce power consumption, potentially make the console quieter and obviously make it cheaper to produce. With the Xbox 360 there's also another side effect that many surmised would result from a move to 65nm: increased reliability.

source: www.anandtech.com

The Xbox 360 ANA Chip ( Handle 360 Upscaling)

2008-06-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's odd to see it—a tiny little chip—but this may be one of the secret weapons the 360 has against the PS3. The PS3 has no internal hardware scaler, which means games that are 720p native can only be shown in 720p or 480p; there is no scaling up to 1080p or 1080i. This causes people with older HDTVs to have issues with the available resolutions, and keeps them from playing the games in anything but 480p. It's a vexing problem for a system that's supposed to be HD, and this issue is one of the most challenging that Sony faces. I ask the Microsoft guys how important it was for them to include a scaler in the 360.

"It was a critical design decision; we wanted the 360 to be high-definition, not just 1080p or some other standard. That's why we included component cables in the box; there is no HDTV that doesn't have a component in," said Greenberg.

They assume that Sony didn't include a hardware scaler to keep costs down, but get a little cagey when I ask how much it costs to put Ana into the 360. "This isn't a $1,000 scaler," Henson says, "but it's a good one."

It was apparently designed at the same time as the GPU, and the effortless scaling with different televisions was something that was important from the early design stages of the system. I ask if they think this is something that Sony can fix in software.

"It'll be hard," Greenberg answers, "and compatibility testing would be tough with existing software. I think as they update the hardware they'll add a hardware scaler."

I've had the same thought before, but it certainly doesn't make me happy as a first-generation consumer. It will be very interesting to see how Sony ends up fixing this, or if they think it's a problem at all. For the time being, most games will be 720p native, so the majority of HDTV owners will be able to play them. This is an issue that you may or may not care about. Or maybe you have a 1080p set already and this doesn't bother you. It's hard to know just how many people this affects, but you should be aware of which resolutions your television can handle when choosing which system to buy.

Source: www.arstechnica.com

Recognize Xbox 360 DVD

2008-06-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

This post to used to give information that will help you determine which version DVD drive you have in your Xbox 360 as well as information about each drive. The photos below should assist you in identifying your drive version without opening your Xbox 360 by comparing the DVD drive trays.

Hitachi

The Hitachi GDR-3120L has shipped with numerous firmware revisions during its tenure. Auto-flashers and scripted firmware tools have made firmware modding the Hitachi very easy. But, unlike the Samsung drive, it is possible to brick your Hitachi drive if care is not taken to ensure you are following the correct procedures.

Some revisions include: 46DH, 47DG, 47DJ, 59DJ ,78FK

Samsung

There are currently two revisions of the TS-H943 drive out in the wild; the MS25 and MS28. Virtually impossible to brick by flashing the firmware, this drive is the most forgiving and easy to work with drive to date.

The MS25 is a very popular drive due to how easily you can flash the firmware.

The MS28 requires hardware modifications and special techniques to allow flashing the firmware. Other than these extra steps it is virtually the same as a MS25. Nevertheless these steps can complicated making it considerably more difficult to work with if you are not familiar with the techniques.

Phillips

This is not a standard 360 DVD drive it is the one that comes in the add on HD DVD unit. We have little to report about this drive at the moment (05/08/07) It is very quiet. It was designed to fit in the footprint of the standard 360 DVD so it makes us wonder if we will see one in a "special" console coming soon.
Hope you will know DVD type of your xbox 360 without opening your xbox 360

How to Enter Cheat Codes with the Xbox 360 Controller

2008-06-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

Introduction to the Xbox 360 controller.

The Xbox 360 controller is used during gameplay and cheat code entry [ view Xbox 360 Cheats], on the following page the image below will be referenced to describe how Xbox 360 cheats are entered.

Many times abbreviations will be used in cheat codes, an example of this is saying press LB , meaning press the Left Bumper . (#3 on the image)

1. Left Trigger - Indicated as Left Trigger or LT in cheats. Sometimes used as a button for cheat code entry.

2. Right Trigger - Indicated as Right Trigger or RT in cheats. Sometimes used as a button for cheat code entry.

3. Left Bumper - Indicated as Left Bumper or LB in cheats. Used as a button for cheat code entry.

4. Right Bumper - Indicated as Right Bumper or RB in cheats. Used as a button for cheat code entry.

5. Back Button - Indicated as Back Button or Back in cheats. Some cheats require the Back Button be pressed before or during cheat code input.

6. Start Button - Indicated as Start Button or Start in cheats. Some cheats require the Start Button be pressed before codes are input.

7. Left Thumbstick - Indicated as Left Thumbstick or Left Analog in cheats. In some cheats can be used as a directional, but not always. Can be used as a button as well.

8. Directional Pad - Indicated as Directional Pad or D-Pad in cheats. This is the most common directional input method for cheat codes.

9. Right Thumbstick - Indicated as Right Thumbstick or Right Analog in cheats. In some cheats can be used as a directional, but not always. Can be used as a button as well.

10. A, X, Y and B Buttons - Indicated individually as the respective button. For pure cheat codes, this is the most direct input method, normally used with the D-Pad.

Source: http://vgstrategies.about.com