Xbox 360 Hacks - News, Hacks, Cracks, Mods.

Microsoft has confirmed that it has no immediate plans to include Wi-Fi in the Xbox 360 console even though it continues to push its online gaming service. “It’s down to cost” a spokesperson for the gaming division said before suggesting gamers can spend an additional $79.99 (£60) for the Wi-Fi dongle if they want wireless connectivity.

“We currently include an Ethernet cable and 1 month’s free subscription to the Xbox Live service. We don’t want people not interested in wireless connectivity having to pay for a technology they don’t want.”

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I have had this happen to a few games, the last one being “Prey.” (also listed in the article). The disc was nicked up inside the case, but it still played.

If you’ve purchase a copy of the Halo 3 Limited Edition Tin then you may want to have a check inside before you take it home because there could be some very nasty scratches on the disc, according to several reports from Neogaf user (I do not know what retailer is going to let you open it on the spot to look).

The pictures that were released show some very deep scratches that appear to be fatal. It’s because the tin case has a plastic foam pad which is used to hold the disc into position, but it’s not doing the job correctly and the DVD’s are left crashing around the case which results in these harsh scratches.

One user reported that he had purchased 3 copies (already? Release date is 25th!) of the Limited Edition, and all copies contained loose discs that were scratched to death.

There was a similar problem with the Prey Collectors Edition, but this problem appears to be more fatal. We’ll try to get in contact with Microsoft to see if they’ve had any reports on this yet, if we find out anything then we’ll be sure to let you know here.

If you’ve had any problems with your Limited Edition copies of Halo 3 please leave a comment below.

On the eve of Halo 3’s highly anticipated release, Gameplayer sat down with Shane Kim, the Coporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, to get the last word on the game before it hits the public.

“But on a retail side, no retailer is going to run out of stock – I think there were some supply issues back when Halo 2 came out, because no one could have predicted that it would do as well as it did. But I know that if I’m a retailer, then I’m not going to run out of stock of Halo 3.”

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From engadget.com:

Blink and you might have missed it: at Tokyo Game Show Microsoft is showing off the Hori Ace Combat joysticks that were announced a couple of months ago for the Xbox 360.

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Full Story: engadget.com

Finally, a flight stick for one of the best air-combat series on the planet.

Robinsod already released the schematics and documentation to perform the ‘Timing Attack‘ that will allow you to downgrade any Xbox360 kernel to an exploitable kernel (which will allow you to already run Linux and also Homebrew application when they come out) earlier this week. Today he released a package of software tools that together with the Infectus modchip and his PIC interface (if you can’t make this yourself, Team Infectus is working on a prebuild daughterboard) will allow you to perform this hack yourself.

This is from Robinsod on XBH

Download ‘DownTools’: here
Download Downgrading Doc: here
PIC Interface Schematics/Sources: here

Though all evidence would point otherwise, the Xbox Group Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg on kotaku.com says:

We have made all the improvements in our manufacturing process… All the consoles on the market have those improvements…. [We will] repair the console sent to us with these improvements. It should be similar to buying a new console off the shelf.

Then how come people getting these improvements are still getting failures?  Why is it a Halo III edition failed right out of the box, and one after ten minutes?  I don’t think it is the manufacturing process, because if you use bad equipment, then the process is not at fault.  What is at fault is the high heat output from components inside the unit, not the fault of robotic arm that places them on the motherboard to be wave-soldered.

With a 33% initial failure rate (totally unacceptable even by RADIO SHACK standards), they need to be more careful about what they say, because it is not much better than it was before.

Microsoft has clarified to Pro-G that it will only ban the Xbox Live accounts of Microsoft employees that are playing Halo 3 early. Regular consumers will not, as previously reported and feared.  So, you won’t be losing your Xbox Live account due to some dumb resellers.

Original Story from ProG: With a game as eagerly anticipated as Bungie’s Halo 3 being shipped to retailers worldwide in advance of its next week’s release, it’s no surprise that a few resourceful folk are going to get their hands on it early. Chalk it up to the persuasive powers of smooth talking or the much more likely scenario of some poor hapless employee not paying attention to the bajillionth green Xbox 360 game case they’ve seen, but it’s going to happen one way or another.

However, Microsoft appears to be taking a much more confrontational stance than most this time around. According to Pro-G, the company will be punishing gamers for the mistakes of their local retailers. The site reports that anyone caught playing Halo 3 before its official release will be banned from Xbox Live.

So, there you have it, another confirmation that you won’t lose your Live Play if you are playing H3 early, unless you are a Microsoft Employee.

We are happy to finally release to market the new version of the Blaster 360. The Blaster 360 NE (Next Edition) is a marked improvement over the original.

* Steamlined internal design
* Much lower manufacturing costs - we pass the savings to YOU !
* Extensivley tested on ALL Hitachi and Samsung (inc Hitachi 46 and 47)
* Color co-ordinated cables making installation a snap
* No cutting of the Xbox case or shell
* No need for a seperate PSU - saving you more money and time
* High Quality Manufacturing
* Inlcudes free T10 screwdriver & 360 Case Unlocking Tool ($10 Value)

From Team Xecuter:

From majornelson.com (M$ owned blog):

First off, let me get this out of the way right up front: This is not the ‘fall dashboard update.’

Today the team is releasing a minor system update via Xbox Live. Over the next few hours, when you sign in to Xbox LIVE, you’ll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. What’s in this update? Much like the update last month, the only thing this minor release will do is prepare your Xbox 360 for the Big Button Pad that is being released this holiday. Why do we need to release this update now? Simple: The certification team needs time to test the new controller against the retail hardware/software combination before it hits stores.

One more thing: no new features beyond this big button pad support are included in this update and, once again, this is not the ‘fall dashboard upgrade.’ When I have firm details on the next major update, I will share them.

Note: If you plan to run the ‘Timing Attack’ to downgrade your kernel, or have iXtreme DVD firmware? It is suggesedt you do NOT update for now until people have analyzed the new update. A small update just before a major Halo release brings up fond memories… The new dash/kernel version is 5787.

“Halo” and “Halo 2” have sold more than 14.8 million copies worldwide (Xbox and PC versions). It’s expected that by the end of the year fans will have spent more than $1 billion on the “Halo” franchise.

The “Halo 2” release on Nov. 9, 2004, set entertainment history by generating $125 million in U.S. sales in its first 24 hours.  The launch of “Halo 3” on Sept. 25, 2007, is expected to once again set entertainment sales records by selling more in the U.S. in one day, than any movie in history (the current record held by “Spider-Man 3” at $151 million), and selling more in its first week than any album.

“Halo 3” is the most anticipated game in video game history, and pre-sell numbers showcase the excitement, reaching 1 million in the United States alone in late July, two months before the launch. The Legendary “limited” edition has sold-out in Japan on just the preorders.

Participants in the multiplayer beta logged more than 12 million hours of online gameplay. That’s the equivalent of 1,400 years of continuous play by a single person. They downloaded more than 350 terabytes of data, equivalent to more than 82 million digital song downloads with an average size of 4 MB.

Of the 7 million members on Xbox LIVE, the largest social network on TV, more than 5.5 million have played “Halo 2.”

Nearly three years after the release of “Halo 2,” more than 300,000 unique gamers continue to log on to Xbox LIVE every day to play it.

Want more?  Go HERE