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Team Xecuter Xbox 360 Connectivity Kit Review
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Maxconsole.net managed to get a hold of the new Xbox 360 Connectivity from Team Xecuter, and they ran it through a few tests. There are two items included in the kit: a hard drive adapter, and an optical disc drive adapter. The hard drive adapter is a fairly standard connectivity kit for the Xbox 360 hard drive, except that it allows both USB and SATA connectivity with the same cable. The connector also features an LED to let you know its operating, but it is hardly the clean solution that the Datel kit is. However, the second part of the set is more interesting; it is an optical drive adapter that allows the user to remove the DVD-ROM drive from the Xbox 360 and use standard PC power to connect it to the host computer, so that the Xbox 360 doesn’t have to be near the PC and powered on to work with the DVD drive. The connector has a toggle switch to allow selecting either normal or debug mode (for using the drive without any add-on software) and has a SATA connector to allow firmware manipulation, so that gamers can have access to their legitimate Xbox 360 software backups. Maxconsole gives the kit a favorable review, only dinging the optical drive adapter for not supporting USB at this time, and the complexity of the firmware patching process, which is more of a software issue than anything else. The kit retails for $29.95, and is available now.
Read More 
| MaxConsole
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Second Xbox 360 Firmware Hack Released
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Commodore4Eva, the hacker behind the modified firmware releases on the original Xbox, and the Xbox 360 Samsung drives, has released a firmware that allows Xbox 360 users with the Hitachi DVD-ROM drive to play backup software. Both current drives should now be able to be modified to run backups, and there are several firmware swapping mod solutions on the way that will take advantage of this. This particular firmware is for the 47D version of the Hitachi drive, and a release for the 46 version should be coming soon. The hack is definitely not one for novices, and of course, will void the warranty of your Xbox 360.
Read More | Xbox Hacker
Microsoft Clarifies How System Cache Is Cleared
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
A post on the Xbox Team blog seeks to clarify what exactly the system cache clearing code will and won’t do on an Xbox 360 system. The official Microsoft line on this code is as follows:
The HDD cache clearing feature is a part of the Xbox 360 technical support process and is only supported in those instances. While the cache clearing operation will not harm or render your console inoperable, it should only be used when instructed by the Microsoft customer support staff. As always, any gamers experiencing any issues with their console should contact 800-4-MYXBOX instead of attempting to troubleshoot on their own via this feature.
According to Indiegames, the cache clearing code:
- Will clear out the temporary copies of achievements and gamertiles on Memory Units or Hard Drives (note these get re-downloaded when re-connected to Xbox Live)
- Will clear out Game Updates stored on Memory Units or Hard Drives. (note these will get re-downloaded when launching that Game while connected to Xbox Live)
- Will not clear out system updates.
- Will not clear out the game areas of the hard drive where game titles cache their own information
So, the cache clearing code may help some users in certain circumstances with Xbox Live Marketplace content, but certainly does not seem to be a way to troubleshoot problematic games, since they apparently store their information in a different area of the Xbox 360 hard drive.
Read More 
| Xbox Team
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Undocumented Xbox 360 Dashboard Feature Allows Cache Clearing
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
According to some crafty users on the NeoGAF forums, there’s an undocumented feature in the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update - a cache clear. The instructions are listed from the post below
Go to the system blade and then memory. Press Y on either the HDD or a MU and then press X, X, Left Bumper, Right Bumper, X, X. Once you do this a blade will pop up saying: This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices. Do you want to continue? Pick yes or no.
Of course, Microsoft officially wants you to use this option only when instructed by technical support, so proceed at your own risk. Users on the NeoGAF forum suggest that this may help to fix load time issues that have been encountered by folks after playing many games or playing games that load lots of info to the cache (Oblivion, for one). After clearing your cache and re-running a game, you might notice quicker load times. Best of luck, if you decide to try it.
Read More | NeoGAF Forums via 1up.com
Sony’s Ken Kutaragi - PS3 Upgrades Possible
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 3, Rumors,
Spong.com is reporting on an interesting interview in the Japanese site PC Watch with PS3 boss Ken Kutaragi. The long and short of the article is that Sony really seems to still be running with their “The Playstation 3 is a computer” line. In the interview, Kutaragi suggested that - much like PCs - the Playstation may see regular upgrades in terms of hard-drive size, or even writeable Blu-Ray disc drives. One has to wonder on that second point - when are you going to want to transfer 40-50 GB off of your PS3 (other than, of course, to “legally” make “backups” of your games and Blu-Ray discs)?
Kutaragi also goes on to say that “Speaking about the PS3, we never said we will release a game console…it is clearly a computer”. Granted, the whole distinction is a bit artificial at this point, but one has to wonder - if Sony’s intention was simply to release a high-powered Blu-Ray-capable computer, why didn’t it just release it under the VIAO line?
Read More | Spong.com
Most Mac Gamers Still Play on Their Macs (For Now)
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, PC,
Soon after Boot Camp was released (the software that allowed Intel-based Macs to run Windows) there was quite a bit of speculation about what this would mean for companies that specialize in porting games to the OS X platform. If serious gamers could simply boot their Macs to Windows XP to play games, wouldn’t this make porting games to the Mac obsolete? Well, for now at least the answer appears to be a solid “No.”
Macworld reports the results of a recent survey showing that more Mac users game on their Apple computers than use a PC or Boot Camp. Roughly 800 (out of 2,400 respondents) stated that they use their Mac as their primary gaming platform, with around 300 users reporting that the primarily play on a PC or a Mac running Boot Camp. Of course, these figures could be highly skewed by the fact that the majority of Mac users may still not have Intel-based Macs, which are a requirement for running Boot Camp and were only released early this year.
Read More | Macworld
PSP Epsilon BIOS Custom Flash Announced
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, PSP,
Reports of the first fully open custom BIOS firmware replacement for the PSP has been announced. The so-called Epsilon BIOS supposedly has cracked the PSP encryption methods to allow homebrew and unsigned code full access to the PSP, including running in kernal mode. Firmware revisions up to the latest 2.71 release are supported with this BIOS, and UMD .ISO booting from memory stick is included. The BIOS itself requires an original PSP firmware to operate, so the new release will work only in conjunction with the recently announced Undiluted Platinum modchip. This BIOS, plus the new modchip should allow all homebrew developers full access to the PSP hardware and firmware feature set.
Read More | MaxConsole
Ms. Pac-Man On The iPod nano
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Mods/Hacks, Portable/Mobile, Retro,
Remember all the rumors from a few days back about how Apple is possibly hiring game designers to work on iGames for the iPod? Well, they’re definitely going to want to send this guy a job offer. Some guy known only as “Scott” used his iPod nano, some enginuity, foamboard, and really tiny print-outs for a MAME cabinet to make the world’s smallest Ms. Pac Man machine. This thing has to be seen to be believed. It stands just over 5 inches tall, and “it works”.
The idea of one day carrying around an arcade in my pocket makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Mr. Smallest MAME cabinet in the world inventor, we salute you.
Read More | “Scott’s” Photo Gallery via Kotaku
Original Xbox hacker bunnie is weighing in on the supposed “competition” between him and The Specialist on Xbox 360 hacks as reported in the Wall Street Journal: on bunnie’s side, he certainly doesn’t see this as a battle to see who can come out on top, for him, if the goal of running homebrew software on the Xbox 360 is reached, everybody has won. He does drop some information on what’s currently going on in the realm of Xbox 360 hacking. He hasn’t been able to work on things for a couple of months, but it looks like there are some promising avenues that could lead to decryption key access on the Xbox 360, including some new ways of dissecting the Xbox 360 silicon in a non-destructive manner.
Read More | Bunniestudios.com
Read More | Wall Street Journal Article
Maxconsole has posted a review of the latest version of the open source handheld, the GamePark GP2X-F100. The GP2X doesn’t really seek to compete with the Nintendo DS or the PSP; it is a handheld, but the entire product is geared towards homebrew and open source development. Even the firmware source has been released for the console, for home gaming tinkerers to play with. The GP2X is the hardware sequel to the GP32, GamePark’s original handheld. There aren’t a lot of available commercial games for these devices, instead, the focus of gaming is on homebrew, emulators, and media player functionality. The media playing functionality is decent in the handheld, supporting MP3/OGG audio playback, and a number of video formats, including DiVX and MPEG4. Emulators have gotten a great deal of support from the homebrew community, and there are number of options available, including SNES, Genesis, MAME, and Playstation emulation. The emulation on the handheld is clearly better for lower powered machines, but with an open source community, this can be expected to improve over time. The fit and polish of the GP2X is decent, but not really up to the standards of Sony’s PSP or the Nintendo DS. Maxconsole has more in depth interactions and video of the machine in action on their site.
Read More | Maxconsole.net
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