So, its only 2 more days until us chaps in "little ol' england" get the XBOX360. Well, we would if we had pre-ordered. It appears that Europe as a whole will only get a total of around 300,000 units for sale on launch day this friday. Pants!
In preparation for the event, I am summarising the stories since the US launch a few weeks ago so you can all be "well informed" and "make the right choice" before buying.
Fact#1:
There have been issues with the 360 crashing which appear to be maily due to the external AC power adapter overheating. The fix for this is to put it on top of a cardboard box! "No recalls!" shouted Micro$oft, "Par for the course!" said a M$ support person, "Pants!" we say!
Fact#2:
You can install the Windows Media Connect application from Micro$oft to stream "multimedia" from your XP machine to the 360. However, this only covers Music and Photos. If you have Windows XP Media Centre Edition installed, you will be able to use the video and PVR functions from the 360 - but at the moment there is (absolutely) no way to stream or play Divx/Xvid files on the 360. This looks interesting though - a little hacking to run XP MCE apps via the 360. Or maybe using VLC to stream any content through a web interface is the way forward.
Fact#3:
The Free60 project is already up and running to attempt to get Linux running on the Xbox360. They have found out lots of information about the internal hardware and its hacking restrictions that have been imposed. A clever chap called "The Hypervisor" is guarding the (bill) gates and seems to have butt-fucked any chance of a modded 360 (so far). So don't wait for a modded version people! See this article at Engadget for a run down on the internal structure of the 360. Still, nothing is impossible - but I have yet to see a 360 ISO file turn up on "the torrents".
Fact#4:
The DVD player functionality has already been panned. It plays "backup DVDs" ok but also has quite bad "artifacts" and "smearing" on screen, even from retail DVDs. Stick with the £40 "Happy Shopper Matsui DVD Player" from Tesco methinks.
Fact#5:
Xbox 360 does allow you to plug in USB devices to access files such as music and photos. It will not allow you to play videos from that device though. You can connect your iPod and play music from it whilst playing a game, but you cannot rip music from the iPod (or any other USB device) to the 360's hard disk. This still has to be done by putting in your CD and ripping the tracks to the XBox hard disk in WMA format. Also, some MP3 devices are having issues being recognised by the 360, but this is mainly due to the fact that they are not *proper* USB Mass Storage Devices and may use their own internal disk format.
Taoski's Parting Comment:
"Whilst the 360 may appear to be the best thing since sliced bread, for me, the fact that there are *issues* connecting it to a PC to stream movies to it is a big no-no. I currently use my (modded) Xbox primarily as a media player using the excellent XBox Media Center application. Without that functionality in the new device - I will be scuppered."
"It does appear that it will be a long time before a modded version of the console comes out but I have been away from online gaming for many years and feel the need to get a *real console* that plays *real games* so I can play against *real people*. Plus I should be teaching my kids the real value of things now they are getting older. Nothing comes for free - and if its worth having, then its worth working for."
"I have yet to see a 360 in action pre-release day despite a trawl of my local gaming stores at the weekend. No doubt I will see Project Gotham playing and then obsess about getting one like I do with most other things. But for now I will stick with my current Xbox which does all I want it to and whilst the graphics on games like Burnout Revenge still amaze me - thats enough for me."
Taoski says "RELAX" (and wait until next year to get a cheaper bundle).
Technorati Tags: xbox, xbox360, microsoft, uk
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Xbox 360 Round Up
So, its only 2 more days until us chaps in "little ol' england" get the XBOX360. Well, we would if we had pre-ordered. It appears that Europe as a whole will only get a total of around 300,000 units for sale on launch day this friday. Pants!
In preparation for the event, I am summarising the stories since the US launch a few weeks ago so you can all be "well informed" and "make the right choice" before buying.
Fact#1:
There have been issues with the 360 crashing which appear to be maily due to the external AC power adapter overheating. The fix for this is to put it on top of a cardboard box! "No recalls!" shouted Micro$oft, "Par for the course!" said a M$ support person, "Pants!" we say!
Fact#2:
You can install the Windows Media Connect application from Micro$oft to stream "multimedia" from your XP machine to the 360. However, this only covers Music and Photos. If you have Windows XP Media Centre Edition installed, you will be able to use the video and PVR functions from the 360 - but at the moment there is (absolutely) no way to stream or play Divx/Xvid files on the 360. This looks interesting though - a little hacking to run XP MCE apps via the 360. Or maybe using VLC to stream any content through a web interface is the way forward.
Fact#3:
The Free60 project is already up and running to attempt to get Linux running on the Xbox360. They have found out lots of information about the internal hardware and its hacking restrictions that have been imposed. A clever chap called "The Hypervisor" is guarding the (bill) gates and seems to have butt-fucked any chance of a modded 360 (so far). So don't wait for a modded version people! See this article at Engadget for a run down on the internal structure of the 360. Still, nothing is impossible - but I have yet to see a 360 ISO file turn up on "the torrents".
Fact#4:
The DVD player functionality has already been panned. It plays "backup DVDs" ok but also has quite bad "artifacts" and "smearing" on screen, even from retail DVDs. Stick with the £40 "Happy Shopper Matsui DVD Player" from Tesco methinks.
Fact#5:
Xbox 360 does allow you to plug in USB devices to access files such as music and photos. It will not allow you to play videos from that device though. You can connect your iPod and play music from it whilst playing a game, but you cannot rip music from the iPod (or any other USB device) to the 360's hard disk. This still has to be done by putting in your CD and ripping the tracks to the XBox hard disk in WMA format. Also, some MP3 devices are having issues being recognised by the 360, but this is mainly due to the fact that they are not *proper* USB Mass Storage Devices and may use their own internal disk format.
Taoski's Parting Comment:
"Whilst the 360 may appear to be the best thing since sliced bread, for me, the fact that there are *issues* connecting it to a PC to stream movies to it is a big no-no. I currently use my (modded) Xbox primarily as a media player using the excellent XBox Media Center application. Without that functionality in the new device - I will be scuppered."
"It does appear that it will be a long time before a modded version of the console comes out but I have been away from online gaming for many years and feel the need to get a *real console* that plays *real games* so I can play against *real people*. Plus I should be teaching my kids the real value of things now they are getting older. Nothing comes for free - and if its worth having, then its worth working for."
"I have yet to see a 360 in action pre-release day despite a trawl of my local gaming stores at the weekend. No doubt I will see Project Gotham playing and then obsess about getting one like I do with most other things. But for now I will stick with my current Xbox which does all I want it to and whilst the graphics on games like Burnout Revenge still amaze me - thats enough for me."
Taoski says "RELAX" (and wait until next year to get a cheaper bundle).
Technorati Tags: xbox, xbox360, microsoft, uk
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6 comments:
I really should have trademarked the term Round Up. I could be getting rich. Rich, I tell you!
Never EVER EVER did I think I would here the words
"Nothing comes for free"
Come from Mr Schencks mouth, whats happening Tao, must be that crap job...
I'll stick to getting a PSP for Xmas then!
Then again, brand new PSP's are "borked" with regards to homebrew stuff and movies too.
Best to try and get hold of an older model with an older firmware.
Anyway, you don't play your GBA - so why would you want a PSP?
My GBA don't get much lovin cause its so dammed dull that I need to be sitting on the kazi to get light on the screen. Some backlit action would be so nice!
new post, tosser.
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