Results tagged “xbox” from The Daily Nugget

Microsoft announced that preorders for Halo 3 have surpassed 1 million copies. I preordered my copy several months ago and can't wait for the game to ship in late September. It's on like Donkey Kong, but with better graphics.

Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing game like a Ferrari is just transportation to the grocery store. To call this a racing game is to deny the fact that it is a car racing simulator disguised as a game. The first time you smack the side rail and hear the sound of metal crushing you realize that this isn't your dad's car racing game. This is real. I loved Championship Sprint as much as the next guy, but this is so much more than that. If you have an Xbox 360 you need to run out and get this game!

Microsoft announces the release of an Xbox 360 Elite console which will retail for $479.99, is black in color, and boasts a 120GB hard drive and an HDMI connection.

Straight out of 1981, Galaga hits the Xbox Live for $5. I remember that I used to pump about $5 a week into that infernal machine, so paying that much now sounds reasonable. Of course, if you don't mind playing it on your computer screen, and you already own the ROM, you can play it on Mame32 for free.

The official response from Microsoft regarding the recent Xbox 360 hack:

The core security system has not been broken. However, it is reported that the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked, which if accurate could allow people to play illegally copied games. Our security team is aware of this and we are investigating potential solutions to this issue. The Xbox 360 platform was designed to be updated, and we are prepared to respond appropriately should any unauthorized activity be identified.

Everyone should keep in mind that Microsoft invests a great deal of time and effort to ensure that Xbox gamers enjoy the most powerful and exhilarating game experience available today. Genuine and unmodified Microsoft Xbox products provide gamers with the reliability, security, support and dynamic gaming experience that they expect. Microsoft works with a large group of legitimate business partners to sell and service genuine Microsoft Xbox products. Microsoft does not authorize or support any products or companies that modify or change the Xbox console in any way.

Reading between the lines you can tell that they're pissed. XBL auto-updates will surely go out to thwart this. It reminds me of the DirecTV programmers vs. hackers battle that raged for years until alas the DirecTV folks beat the pirates, or the lazy ones anyway. Stay tuned.

Check out this video of the first Xbox 360 firmware hack. Also, more details here.

Microsoft can't be too happy about this. A 26-year-old Placerville man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 14-year-old boy from Santa Rosa that he met through Xbox Live. Apparently he was trolling Halo 2 lobbies with the gamer tag "LuvYoungBoyz" and one young boy actually needed some lovin'. Perhaps now that pedophiles are on Xbox Live there may be less 12-year-old kids online kicking my ass 30 frags to nothing. This leveling the playing field.

After nearly one month of problems with my old Xbox Live account, the solution is "we can't fix it." Xbox Live support has given those experiencing the problem the opportunity to apply a one-year membership to another account, which I will do immediately. It's a shame that Microsoft couldn't fix what was obviously a software problem on their end. My new Xbox Live gamer tag is "Daily Nugget" in homage to this site. My alternate gamer tags, "Tdk01" and "Tdk1" are no longer valid and this will be my only gamer tag going forward. I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this and will miss "Tdk01" dearly.

Thanks to the Sarbanes-Oxley act Steve Ballmer did not receive a free Xbox 360 from Microsoft on launch day. Under financial disclosure rules, Microsoft would have to classify a free game console as income for Ballmer. The premium version of Microsoft's next-generation game machine carries a $400 price tag. Although the cost of the Xbox 360 pales to Ballmer's salary and bonus of nearly $1 million and his stock holdings of $11.3 billion (as of today's close), it would still have to be explicitly disclosed in SEC filings. In order to avoid this, executive management and insiders in the company probably did NOT get an Xbox while other "regular" employees most likely did. At least you can rest knowing that the Ballmer kids aren't playing an Xbox 360 in their 8,600 square foot home.

I am truly disappointed with the “bug” that has caused XBL Gold Subscription card users who use a Microsoft Passport account with another Microsoft Premium Service, such as MSN Music, Hotmail Plus, Etc., to receive the following error message:

"Your account has been suspended due to a problem with your payment option. Please use a different payment option or update your current information in Account Management."

This has occurred to several users, including several Zero Hour attendees, and we have been discussing the issue on the Xbox Forums. Sadly, initial users that experienced this issue were told by Xbox Live Support Staff to delete their accounts from their hard drive and recover them. Not only did this NOT fix the issue, but everyone’s saved games were lost without warning.

The consolidated Xbox Forum thread that is tracking this issue is located at the following link. The consolidated thread has links to all of the other threads regarding the issue as well as a list of users that are experiencing the problem.

The fact that the Xbox Live Support Staff have no idea how to deal with the issue and are giving users conflicting information is very frustrating. Not everyone that experiencing the issue is a member of the Xbox Forums, so who knows how many Xbox Live Gamertags are affected. Most disappointing of all is that it seems that the most loyal Microsoft users—those with other Premium services—are the ones experiencing the problem.

I was told by support that "they are working on the problem," but they don't know how long it will take to fix. I sent a letter detailing this problem to the Xbox Live Director of Programming, Major Nelson, to see if it will expedite a solution--we'll see if that makes a difference. Until then, I won't be able to answer any messages on or play on XBL. This totally sucks ass!

Two good things happened yesterday: 1) my mom came home from the hospital, eight days after her surgery, and 2) I picked up an Xbox 360 on launch day. My mom is home and being cared for by my aunt, who is visiting from Puerto Rico, and her health is stable. Once she gains a little more strength, likely in a couple of weeks, she'll begin chemo. Thanks again to all that have kept her is their hearts and prayers.

The Xbox 360, what can I say, it is amazing! Even though I've only played it for a few hours I am very impressed with it. I am particularly excited about the High Definition resolution. The color and the detail in every game, particularly PGR3 is incredible. The backgrounds are so realistic that sometimes you crash from the distraction of neon lights, bridge scenery, and bystanders. People that say it is only a slight step up from the Xbox must not be playing the games in native 720p HD resolution. Once you go to HD you can't go back.

I am excited to play all of you all online on Xbox Live so please leave your Gamer Tags or send me a friend request on Live.

Earlier today in Virginia, a thief robbed an EB Games store by demanding two Xbox 360 systems at gunpoint. The police responded quickly and apprehended the thief shortly after the robbery. This is proof positive that mass hysteria has set in surrounding the release of the console and people are doing anything to get their hands on one. Crazy.

Few stores in the city will be open for the launch of the Xbox 360 console tonight at midnight. Best Buy, where I am getting my console, will close tonight at its normal time and simply will open early tomorrow for those lined up to get one of the 40 non-pre-ordered consoles that will be sold there. People who pre-ordered will go to the store before it opens to the pubic to pick up their systems. Many stores are bracing for the onslaught and excitement is in the air.

There are only three days left for what has got to be the most hyped video game console launch in history. Kids are already starting to lineup to purchase a console at the Best Buy in San Francisco to get one of only 40 consoles that have not been assigned to pre-order customers, like myself. That's a full three days before the Best Buy will open! Best Buy will not sell systems at midnight on Tuesday and will instead open to the public at 8:00AM. Is the hoopla worth it? Only time will tell.

I've been logging into the Xbox.com website almost daily to read the forums and news about the Xbox 360 launch. Well, I just tried to check it out and it looks like the Xbox.com website and the Xbox Live servers are all down for the count. My Xbox Live Gamer Card that is linked from the blog home page can't even be displayed right now! This is a pretty bad situation considering that the Xbox 360 launch is only one week away. If the Xbox Live servers can't handle the traffic now, how are they supposed to hang after the launch? Stay tuned.

Update: It was back up after a couple of hours. I don't know how long it was down, but it's not a good sign this close to the launch of the console. Hopefully it was just an isolated incident.

Although officially Best Buy isn't selling pre-orders for the Xbox 360, the San Francisco store is selling a bundle that comes with the premium system, an extra wireless controller, two controller play and charge kits, a faceplate, one-year Xbox Live subscription, and seven games for a cool grand. Since I was already spending close to $800 on the online order at EBGames, I figured this wasn't that much more money to spend for a guaranteed system on launch day morning. Besides, I was bound to buy seven games eventually. I cancelled the online pre-order that I made a few months back and will be at Best Buy at 6:00AM on 11/22 to pick up my system. This is much better than waiting for Fedex or UPS to deliver the online order, which may not get to my house until the afternoon, or worse yet, the next day. Ready to play on launch day.

The Xbox 360, Microsoft's next generation gaming console, will be released in a little more than two weeks on November 22nd. Leading up to the launch, you can sign up to My Xbox to get an Xbox Live gamer tag on the Xbox website. You should setup a profile now, since the gamer tag you want may go quickly. I've setup "Tdk01" as my gamer tag and linked the card to the blog in the left sidebar.

The new and improved Xbox Live system tracks Gamerscore and Achievements that you obtain when you play any Xbox 360 game (check out a sample, this one belongs to J Allard). Bragging rights can be truly earned in a particular game by simply comparing your gamer tag profile with your friend's. The Gamerscore and Achievements won't lie and will lead to a greater sense of both community and friendly competition.

Check out the Xbox website and get ready for launch day!

I just pre-ordered an Xbox 360 bundle from EBgames. The bundle comes complete with the premium system, an extra wireless controller with charger, media remote, hard drive, HDTV video cable, one month of Xbox Live Gold with headset, and four sweet launch day games. Add to that one-day shipping and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I won't have to stand in line at a store with stinky pimply ass kids in order to get my game on. Historically EBgames ships with enough lead time to ensure that you get the stuff on launch date or better. They made sure that I got my copy Halo 2 on the day of its release last year. If you haven't pre-ordered already, I suggest you hook it up!

I spent all day playing Xbox games that my friend Bruce gave me. The best games in the batch are definitely Burnout and Project Gotham. I am not usually a fan of racing games, but both of these are top notch. I am waiting to receive an Xbox MAME Emulator so that I may play arcade games on the Xbox. Cool!

My team came in dead last in our tournament with a score of +10 in a four-man best-ball scramble. The good news is that there was a pretty cool prize for last place--a Tiger Woods bobble-head and my very own USGA Rules of Golf book, funny. I guess I could get better at golf, but I'd rather my wife not be a golf widow.

Xbox Hack
Xbox modification chips are available for the Xbox--this will let you play "backups" of Xbox games. A friend of mine just installed one he got from Chipzone and says it's pretty awesome, he's already played a couple of backups without any problems. The installation is not trivial though, so only experts should apply.

I decided to throw an Xbox Party at home on June 30th. I went to a geek fest like this one a few weeks back and it was pretty awsome. It's basically a bunch of guys munching on chips and soda blowing each other up playing Team Slayer on Halo. If you don't understand that last sentence you probably don't want to be there.