XBOX360 USB Pro
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
September 12th, 2010 | 
Author: The (beta) Kinect Xbox360 dashboard v2.0.12416.0 with avatars has been leaked on the internet.
If you want to install this on your Xbox360, keep in mind it will disable your Xbox Live access until the dashboard is officially released. MS will only give LIVE access with this new dash if you are actually a beta-tester, anyone else will be refused access. And of course don’t run this update on a jtag’able 360.
How to install:
1.) Extract the contents of 20124160_BETA.rar
2.) Put the $SystemUpdate folder in the root of a CD or USB Stick (Must be FAT or Fat32 formatted)
3.) Insert the CD or USB Stick into your Xbox 360 console.
4.) You will be automatically prompted to update with a USB stick, with a CD / DVD it should say Mixed Media Disc, power down the 360 and power it on again. You should be ask to update before the 360 boots to the dashboard.
5.) Once the update is complete your Xbox 360 will restart then boot up to the new dashboard. Enjoy!
News-Source: digiex.net
Posted in 
From businessinsider.com:
[QUOTE]
Now that Xbox is a profitable, established brand, why not spin it out as its own company, where it has to fend for itself and it can innovate without worrying about the bureaucracy of a massive parent corporation?
We put the question to one of Xbox’s founders, Kevin Bachus. His response: Xbox is a really good fit for Microsoft, now more than ever, as tech companies start fighting for the living room, and expanding their mobile gaming on smartphones.
Today, Xbox has earned its own spot in the world of gaming. It doesn’t need Microsoft to gain consumer trust.
But, in a slightly ironic twist, Microsoft needs Xbox more than ever before.
While Xbox might look like an odd duck from the outside, it’s quickly becoming an integral part of the business. Spinning it out now, when it’s about to be more important than ever makes no sense.
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Full Story: businessinsider.com
From computerandvideogames.com:
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Valve boss Gabe Newell has called his company’s assumptions over Xbox Live “such a train wreck”.
When asked if its mistake on Xbox Live was to assume Microsoft would let Valve update its games more often, Newell said:
“We thought that there would be something that would emerge, because we figured it was a sort of untenable… Oh yeah, we understand that these are the rules now, but it’s such a train wreck that something will have to change.”
Microsoft has a notoriously closed approach to its online service compared to PSN, with developers allowed as little as one free title update (though there are exceptions) and limitations on the amount of free game content they can release.
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Full Story: computerandvideogames.com
Here are the US hardware sales for the month of August:
* Xbox 360: 356,700
* Nintendo DS: 342,700
* Wii: 244,300
* PlayStation 3: 226,000
* PSP: 79,400
From vgchartz.com:
[QUOTE]
The two HD consoles, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, have both released a new slimmer model in the last year. The PS3 Slim released in 2009, September 1 in America, September 3 in Japan, and September 11 in Europe. The Xbox 360S was released in 2010, June 14 in America, June 24 in Japan, and July 16 in Europe. It won’t be a perfect comparison as they were released at different times of the year, however they both did launch at the same price.
Taking a look at worldwide numbers with each region aligned, it shows the PS3 Slim had a much bigger opening than the X360S, with sales of 585,000 compared to 356,000. However the PS3 Slim with the much bigger opening had a much bigger drop off in its second week as sales become equal between the two, both selling 322,000. The PS3 Slim did pull ahead slightly after the second week and has increased to 75,000 in week seven. The gap looks like it will grow as PS3 sales increased each week and as the X360 will decrease for a couple more weeks, before the release of Halo Reach.
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Full Story: vgchartz.com
From seattlepi.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service’s code of conduct by publicly declaring he’s from Fort Gay – a name the company considered offensive.
The town’s name is real. But when Moore tried to tell Seattle-based Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live, they wouldn’t take his word for it. Or Google it. Or check the U.S. Postal Service website for a ZIP code.
Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges for a few days until Moore could convince them the location in his profile, “fort gay WV,” wasn’t a joke or a slur: It’s an actual community of about 800 in Wayne County, along West Virginia’s western border with Kentucky.
Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live said that was a miscommunication.
“Someone took the phrase ‘fort gay WV’ and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner,” Toulouse said. “Unfortunately, one of my people agreed with that. … When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.”
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Full Story: seattlepi.com
From computerandvideogames.com:
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Speaking exclusively to CVG, the trade body [BDA] dismissed Microsoft’s claims that the de facto gaming storage format to follow DVD will be online downloads and/or streaming.
Despite the trash talking, however, the Blu-ray Association said it would have no qualms accepting Microsoft into its ranks – in a kind of ‘discreet service available’ way.
“Any company willing to join [and adopt Blu-ray] would be welcome,” added Heaton.
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Full Story: computerandvideogames.com
From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
During the Xbox Live Enforcement panel at PAX this past weekend, director of policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, Stephen Toulouse (a.k.a. Stepto), recited “Stepto’s Law” for the audience. The complex formula is used to determine the validity of a complaint issued by a banned Xbox Live user. The law goes like this:
“The more convoluted, overwrought and lengthy the protest of innocence, the probability of it being bullshit approaches one.”
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Full Story: joystiq.com
From nexus404.com:
[QUOTE]
Ever wonder why Sony and Microsoft don’t have the ‘traditional’ D-pads on their consoles? Microsoft has (had) the infamous disc and Sony has just the four buttons arranged like a D-Pad. Nintendo actually has the traditional cross-shaped D-Pad patented. (See US Patent 4,687,200). That’s why Nintendo products use it and others don’t.
So, everybody hates the “disc” D-Pad that the Xbox 360 controller uses. And video game hardware is such a low-margin segment of the industry to begin with, so licensing the patent from Nintendo is out of the question. So they come up with this brilliant rotating disc thing that lets you use a “traditional” D-Pad without infringing on the Nintendo patent. Major Nelson confirmed in his online YouTube video that Microsoft has this “hybrid” D-Pad patented, so don’t expect others to use it.
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Full Story: nexus404.com
From eurogamer.net:
[QUOTE]
Credits earned by gamers before Halo: Reach’s official launch will be removed, Bungie has warned.
Bungie will reset Credits earned and any gear bought ahead of the Xbox 360 exclusive’s 14th September launch.
“Some of you are playing Halo: Reach a little bit early,” communications man Eric Osborne wrote in Bungie’s forum.
“It happens. With millions of copies out of manufacturing quickly making their way into the massive global retail chain, it’s not terribly uncommon for a few discs to ‘accidentally’ slip into a few lucky customers’ hands. Que sera.”
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Full Story: eurogamer.net
