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Strangely enough, when I first inserted our Call of Duty 2 disc into the Xbox 360, we got an error stating that the DVD would only be playable on the Xbox 360. Basically, either the disc didn’t realize that it was in an Xbox 360 - or the Xbox 360 didn’t realize that it was, in fact, an Xbox 360. Huh. A quick reboot fixed it, but this is curious nonetheless.
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This may sound like a minute detail, but it is just so elegant. The Xbox 360 can be powered on with either the bonus media remote (included in the first 1 million premium packages) or any controller. With the controller, you simple hold down the Xbox 360 logo button in the center, and both the controller and system turn on. The Xbox 360 Ring of Light begins rotating around the power symbol until it syncs with the controller(s), at which point the sections of the ring stay lit depending on the number of controllers connected. It’s so cool that it makes us smile.
A lot of portable audio players can be connected to the Xbox 360, but the iPod is undoubtedly the most popular and also the one that requires a few extra steps in order to get it working on the 360. Unfortunately, if you don’t visit the Xbox support pages, you won’t know why some songs don’t play or have a big red circle with a strike through it. Turns out an additional codec is required in order for the 360 to play AAC files from the iPod. Luckily the Xbox Support pages can help us out here. You will need a memory unit if you don’t have a hard drive.
- Go to the Xbox Live area of the Xbox Dashboard and select Xbox Live Marketplace, Game Downloads.
- Select All Games, Alphabetical List of Games.
- Select Optional iPod Support twice (once from Xbox Live Marketplace and again from the Xbox Guide screen), then Confirm Download.
- Once your download is complete, select Done and press BACK or B three times to return to the Xbox Dashboard.
Now why Microsoft didn’t just include this codec with every Memory unit sold or every Hard Drive available is beyond us, but now we can enjoy our full music collection on the new Xbox with no problems.
Read More 
| Xbox Support
Latest Gear Live Videos
Possible Solution To Xbox 360 Freezing Problem
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Most people have heard or read about the freezing issue some people have experienced with their new toy, freezing after a minimal uptime. Everything has pointed to a faulty power supply, and while Microsoft has not issued a statement as of yet, Goldeneyemaster from Gamespot forums took things into his own hands to come up with a solution to the problem: suspend the power “brick” in the air to allow it to dissipate heat through all of its sides. Now you can go about this various ways, you could actually suspend it in the air by means of strings or just get a box with an open top and place it on top. Whatever way you go about it be sure to tell us if this worked for you and what you did. Lets see how creative we can all get with this.
Read More | Gamespot Forums
Playing Geometry Wars and Halo 2 On A Best Buy Building
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Xbox 360,
As confusing as the headline is, that is exactly what we did outside of the Bellevue Best Buy. My boy Jason hooked up a projector and Xbox to a spare car battery, and we had an instant time killer on the outer wall of the store. The sleeper hit of the evening was Geometry Wars, followed by Halo 2 and Fusion Frenzy (Sumo and “Jump Duck” reigned.) We witnessed several near-collisions by those driving through the parking lot who had to grab a peek at the gigantic gaming set up. We have a couple more images after the jump.
Click to continue reading Playing Geometry Wars and Halo 2 On A Best Buy Building
Civilization IV Patch 1.09 Released
Posted by Benjamin VanWinkle Categories: PC, Simulation, Strategy,
The first patch for Civilization IV is now available - version 1.09. The file is huge - 24,834,449 bytes - it took about a half an hour to fully download it on my high-speed cable modem connection.
To update your game, click on the Advanced button in the Options menu, then click on Check for Updates. The patch will download, then the updater will pause to request permission to exit out of the game to install it. Installation takes a few minutes, and apparently does not require a re-boot. At the end of the process the program asks if you want to use an application called XFire, which is supposed to facilitate easier multi-player games. I haven’t tested it yet and therefore can’t vouch for it, but I installed it.
Here’s an excerpt from an official release by Dennis Shirk of Firaxis Games:
Some of the highlights include multiple AI improvements and tweaks, worker behavior tweaks, MANY game play improvements (ex Animal Husbandry reveals horses), promotion tweaks, a softer pillage sound (requested by many, many people), fixed diplomatic exploits (gold for gold, peace treaty exploit), multiplayer tweaks (Hot seat, Lobby, etc.), memory, caching and performance improvements, etc. There were also a number of video card specific fixes.
http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/firaxis_note_01.htm
Xbox 360 Demo Sells Itself Short
Posted by Chris Cardinal Categories: Home Entertainment, Video Games,
*Phew.* It’s a good thing I didn’t rush out and freeze for a day to buy something that can’t even stay online for more than a week at my local Wal-Mart. Camped in a nice, cozy, lexan-encased display case, no less. No, I’ll leave that task to Andru, thankyouverymuch. And in case you were wondering, the TV was on—the Xbox 360 wasn’t. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of things to come for the new console.
Over at Playfeed we have a few Xbox 360 entries, with more on the way:
- Camping Out for Xbox 360
- Bill Gates Crashes the Xbox 360 Launch Party
- Playing Geometry Wars and Halo 2 On the Side of a Best Buy Building
- Rob Stevens Is The Man
Now that we finally have 802.11a going full force, expect Media Center impressions soon enough.
Okay, so the plan was that I would camp out and brave what felt like sub-zero temperatures to secure our spot in line at Best Buy. Lucky thing, too, as I got there 26 hours before launch and there were already 60 people in front of me. Had I waited until the next morning, we might have been screwed - or Cored. So Rob shows up the next morning to hold our spot in line, and I head off to take my baby boy to a doctor appointment. Well, while I was there, Best Buy gave out tickets to those standing in line. If you weren’t there, you weren’t getting a ticket. By the time I got back to the store a few hours later, the tickets were long gone - and I was apparently without an Xbox 360 after freezing to death. So what does Rob do?
This man hands me his ticket, citing the fact that he likely wouldn’t have much time to play it anyway due to school and work. C’mon now Rob, you know you would have made time. You are just a super guy. Others in line were selling their tickets for $150, and that number grew larger as the hours drew near to launch. This Thanksgiving, raise y our glasses to Rob Stevens. He is, the man.
Read More | Super Rob’s Fortress of Solitude
Click to continue reading Rob Stevens Is The Man
Bill Gates Crashes the Xbox 360 Launch Party
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Xbox 360,
When the almighty Billy G arrived to greet the hundreds (and hundreds) of camped out fans, the media went crazy and almost trampled the poor guy. Still, he was able to shake hands with and talk to the first man in line, Dan Friedman, a 26-year-old gamer from Bellevue who happens to be a Microsoft programmer. He had been in line since Friday at 5 p.m. Gates hooked Dan up with $1,000 to spend on the console and accessories. He also spent time with the first 30 people in line, on the inside of the store where it was warm.
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