Remember that spiffy racing wheel that Microsoft announced a while back? You know, the one that comes with the special force feedback version of PGR 3. Yes ... that racing wheel! Over at Xbox Canadian Live they got their hands on one to demo, and the short and sweet version is that they absolutely love it. The force feedback option sounds extremely fun especially with Forza 2 when it drops. Though, I'm not a huge race fan, I could see this little accessory adding to the enjoyment of a game. Are you willing to drop some cash on this bad boy so you can experience what real racing feels like? Seriously, why wouldn't you purchase this wheel? (I guess you probably wouldn't purchase this if you're totally broke and hate racing games or despise wheels in general ... then I can cope with your decision.)
If for some odd reason you wish you could use your uncomfortable PS2 controller on your 360, then TeamXtender has an answer. TeamXtender is in the planning stages of creating an adapter that your Xbox 360 controller would plug into to allow full PS2 Dualshock support and would also allow keyboard/mouse connectivity. I'm in love with my sexy white controller, but would you be enticed by such an offering or are you like me and satisfied with the your current 360 controller?
One of our colleagues here at Weblogs sent us this link about using the 360 HD-DVD player as a cheap HD-DVD drive for PC. It looks like all you need is the right set of drivers and a playback program and voila! Instant, cheap HD-DVD goodness. The boys who discovered this solution -- UNEASYsilence -- were not satisfied with such an easy outcome, so they took the damned thing apart anyway. Check out the article if you'd like to see the Toshiba-powered guts of the HD-DVD player. Also worth noting, a Mac recognized the drive immediately, no drivers needed. Unfortunately, as there is no HD-DVD program available for the Mac, it will only play DVDs.
Gamertag Radio is giving away two, count 'em, two Xbox 360 wireless headsets. If you'd like a shot at one of them, all you have to do is be very good at Pac-Man. The best thing is that this is web-based Pac-Man at the GTR arcade, so you can even play from work (which we totally don't condone)! The headsets will be given to the top 2 Pac-Man players on the GTR leaderboard. You'd better hurry though, the contest is over on November 14th.
It's not every day that you get a chance to win something just for playing games, so you might as well give it a shot (of course, you could enter our contest, too). If you're interested in a free wireless headset, head over to GTR (make sure to register) and play some Pac-Man.
It's been a long time coming, but at least someone in the Weblogs network has gotten a 360 HD DVD player. Engadget unveils all the exciting and sexy photos of the box, the unboxing, and the player itself. And, just to allay our qualms about the device's encyclopedia-like size, they compare it to several other High Definition disc players including (gasp!) a PS3. Check out more pictures after the break.
Joystiq recently got their grubby little hands on the new Xbox 360 Wireless headset. Just to be nice to the Youtube generation, they've done away with the need for silly printed words and have created a video review of the device. For the record, I didn't really want one of these. I didn't really see the point. But now ... now I want one with a furious passion. Still, there are a few things to consider. One, this headset uses proprietary wireless technology (read: not Bluetooth), so you'll only be using it for your 360 (why, oh why can't someone make a Blutooth adapter?). Second, seeing how it wraps around the ear, I'm not sure how comfortable it would be for those of us who wear glasses. Three, it retails for $59.99 (though it can be found for less). Ouch. Still, it is a sexy little piece of kit. Anybody out there pick one up yet? What do you think?
Hot on the heels of the confirmation of downloadable movies and TV shows on Marketplace comes this picture from a recent Microsoft press event. If you look closely, you'll notice that the hard drive has an entire 70 gigs free. In other words, that larger hard drive rumor has surfaced yet again. Given all the recent announcements, it's fairly safe to assume a larger hard drive is coming. It's just a matter of when. We're betting that you won't see these larger hard drives before Christmas. Microsoft might announce them -- especially in the wake of the Video Marketplace -- but we doubt they'll release them. Why not? Because Microsoft wants to sell as many 360 HD DVD players as possible, and a larger HDD plus Video Marketplace is in direct competition with that. Of course, this brings up an interesting quandary: knowing that you'll be able to download HD movies and (probably) get a bigger hard drive, are you still interested in the HD DVD player?
The bulky Xbox 360 power brick (aka El Jefe Grande) is big by any definition. Big enough to make your puny DVD player power supply run and hide. Big enough to club a baby seal to death in a pinch. All that's missing to secure its status as the king of gargantuan AC adaptors is a big stand-alone price tag. Enter the Intec Xbox 360 Power AC Adaptor, which, for the Kong-size cost of $100 ( wall plug not included!) adds an internal cooling fan and a few LED lights to your factory power brick, without shaving an ounce off the original's famous form factor. When I first heard about this thing, I assumed Intec was charging power supply snobs a premium for a sleeker, less obtrusive unit, but who was I kidding? This baby is big 'n' beautiful, and it has a fan that supposedly makes your 360 run better. The only question: Is anyone out there a big enough sucker to actually buy it?
So you've decided to cut the cord and purchase the new Xbox 360 wireless headset this weekend, good for you! But did you know about the snazzy new battery indicator that was enabled through the fall update?
Well, our friend Major Nelson informs us that you'll be able to check not only your wireless controller's battery life, but the battery life of your new wireless headset too. And all of this battery information is easily accessible through the Xbox guide and is displayed in convenient icon form. So I ask, are you planning on picking up the new wireless headset and freeing yourself of the wires?
It's official, the people at Stootsi.com are nuts about the Xbox 360. We've covered them selling wireless controls and Live headsets, and the Live Vision Gold bundle in the past. Now they're doing it again. The Live Vision Camera deal apparently sold so fast that Stootsi decided to offer it a second time for all the people who missed out. They are currently selling the Xbox Live Vision Camera Gold bundle for $54.99 plus $5 shipping. So, you can grab this for $59.99, $20 off the retail price. Just for a moment, let's peruse the contents of this pack:
Vision Camera
Live Headset
1 Year of Xbox Live Gold
200 MS Points
Two Live Arcade games (Totem Ball and Robotron 2084)
That's a lot of stuff for not a lot of scratch. If you've got the cash and you don't have a Vision cam, this is a hell of a deal. Anybody plan on getting it? You've got just over 22 hours to pick one up.
The Xbox 360 HD DVD player is not yet physically available, but that hasn't stopped it from selling out. Amazon.com is now sold out of its initial pre-orders of the device, available November 7th. Without jumping into the console wars -- i.e. by buying the HD DVD player you're proving that the PS3 isn't too expensive -- we'd like to pose a question. Have you ordered the HD DVD (or are you planning to)? Were you interested in HD DVD before, or is it because you already have a 360 and the player is (relatively) cheap? Personally, I'm not that interested in HD DVD, but having a player available for $199 dollars almost makes me want one. How about you?
Update: Reader, TrooperKal, has pointed out that Amazon now has the HD DVD player back in stock. Better get it quick if you want one.
"Attention Amazon.com customers: Great news Xbox 360 fans - Amazon.com has secured extra allocation of theXbox 360 HD DVD Player and are once again taking pre-orders. Supplies remain limited though, so pre-order yours today."
Gamertag Radio's resident code sleuth, Pinksage, found an interesting tidbit inside the Zune.net source code. It looks like links to various Zune related websites. They're all pretty normal except the last one on the list which reads, "gamercard.zune.net." -- check out a screen shot here. We had a pretty good idea that the Zune would play nice with our 360, but the idea of actual Gamercard integration never crossed our minds. Because we're also super sleuths (and because we love you) we stuck gamercard.zune.net into our favorite web browser. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist. At least, it doesn't exist yet. That won't stop us from speculating though (does anything?). Let's say you connect your Zune at your favorite WiFi cafe. You see that your buddy is playing Gears of War a week early. Naturally, you send him a Live message that you'll be right over, and off you go. We don't know how many of these features will actually be supported, but frankly, we're frightened. This kind of functionality could turn us into one of those annoying Blackberry people that are never disconnected. What do you think? If you're in the market for an multimedia player, would Gamercard/Live functionality convince you to pick up a Zune?
The Datel Xport 360 showed up at Best Buy un-announced and caused some confusion with Datel's other data transfer solutions. Xbox-Scene has a forum post with details on the new device, which should let you back up your 360 hard drive with ease. Datel does come up with some decent stuff and I'd like to thank them for not bombarding us with a stream of press releases and viral ads. But it would help sales if they let people know when they have a new product.
Those that use Nyko's Intercooler 360 may want to consider this post at XboxAddict. Supposedly, the Intercooler is actually competing with the 360 for power. The Intercooler runs off the same electricity as the 360, so the console may not have enough juice to run properly -- and could break down. Also, a Microsoft customer service rep said that the Intercooler may even leave scorch marks on the console. While Microsoft warns against the use of 3rd party peripherals -- because they don't make MS any money, natch -- they do recommend the Pelican Fan Stand as a replacement. The Fan Stand utilizes a USB port rather than sharing the 360's AC input.
A number of readers responded in our recent post about Nyko products, saying that they were pretty shoddy, and this isn't the first time we've seen problems with the Intercooler. Anybody out there experience problems with their Intercooler?
Someone over there at Stootsi.com must be a 360 fan, because it seems like they have a deal on 360 peripherals every other day. Today's deal is an Xbox Live headset for only $8.99. After $5.00 shipping, it's $13.99, saving you $6.00 (plus tax) off of the retail price. Sure, it's not as comfortable as my favorite, the glasses-friendly GameCom X20, but at $13.99 the price is right. You've got just over twenty hours before this deal is history, so if you need a new headset, you'd best get cracking.
If for some odd reason you wish you could use your uncomfortable PS2 controller on your 360, then TeamXtender has an answer. TeamXtender is in the planning stages of creating an adapter that your Xbox 360 controller would plug into to allow full PS2 Dualshock support and would also allow keyboard/mouse connectivity. I'm in love with my sexy white controller, but would you be enticed by such an offering or are you like me and satisfied with the your current 360 controller?
It's official, the people at Stootsi.com are nuts about the Xbox 360. We've covered them selling wireless controls and Live headsets, and the Live Vision Gold bundle in the past. Now they're doing it again. The Live Vision Camera deal apparently sold so fast that Stootsi decided to offer it a second time for all the people who missed out. They are currently selling the Xbox Live Vision Camera Gold bundle for $54.99 plus $5 shipping. So, you can grab this for $59.99, $20 off the retail price. Just for a moment, let's peruse the contents of this pack:
The Xbox 360 HD DVD player is not yet physically available, but that hasn't stopped it from selling out. Amazon.com is now sold out of its initial pre-orders of the device, available November 7th. Without jumping into the console wars -- i.e. by buying the HD DVD player you're proving that the PS3 isn't too expensive -- we'd like to pose a question. Have you ordered the HD DVD (or are you planning to)? Were you interested in HD DVD before, or is it because you already have a 360 and the player is (relatively) cheap? Personally, I'm not that interested in HD DVD, but having a player available for $199 dollars almost makes me want one. How about you?
Someone over there at Stootsi.com must be a 360 fan, because it seems like they have a deal on 360 peripherals every other day. Today's deal is an Xbox Live headset for only $8.99. After $5.00 shipping, it's $13.99, saving you $6.00 (plus tax) off of the retail price. Sure, it's not as comfortable as my favorite, the glasses-friendly GameCom X20, but at $13.99 the price is right. You've got just over twenty hours before this deal is history, so if you need a new headset, you'd best get cracking.
