------------------------------------------ ===== Microsoft X-Box 360 Launch FAQ ===== ------------------------------------------ Microsoft Hardware FAQ Version 0.88 27nd November 2005 Copyright 2005 Mikael Forsgren (foppe_v @ hotmail.com) =============================================================================== = Contents = =============================================================================== 0. Introduction 1. What is the X-Box 360? 2. Specifications 2.1. The Hardware 2.2. 2 Systems released 3. Launch Information 3.1. Launch Dates, Packages and Prices 3.2. Launch Titles 3.3. Launch Dates 4. Accessories 4.1. Accessories 4.2. Cables 4.3. Controllers 4.4. X-Box Live 4.5. Personalize 4.6. Storage 4.7. Wireless 4.8. 3rd Part 5. Games 5.1. Released Games 5.2. Unreleased Games 5.3. WTH did he say? 5.4. Backward Compatibility 5.4.1 Backward Compatibility USA list 5.4.2 Backward Compatibility Europe list 5.4.3 Backward Compatibility Japan list 5.4.4 Backward Compatibility Australia list 6. Your TV 6.1. 720pi? 1080i? 6.2. What Video cables will I use? 7. Installing your X-Box 360 7.1. Place it out 7.2. Connecting the unit 7.3. Starting it up the first time 7.3.1 Offline Profile 7.3.2 I Am a Member of Xbox Live 7.3.3 I Want to Join Xbox Live 7.4. The dashboard 7.4.1 Xbox Live 7.4.2 Games 7.4.3 Media 7.4.4 System 8. Xbox Live 8.1. The Golden Silver 8.2 Xbox Live Arcade 8.3 Xbox Live Marketplace 8.4. Launch Marketplace 9. Media 9.1. Music 9.1.1 Official Supported Music Players 9.1.2 How The Heck Do I Stream Music From USB? 9.1.3 How The Heck Do I Stream Music From my PC? 9.2. Pictures 9.2.1 Official Supported Cameras 9.2.1.1 Unofficial Supported Cameras 9.2.2 How The Heck Do I Stream Pictures From USB? 9.2.3 How The Heck Do I Stream Pictures From my PC? 9.3 Use DVDs and CDs 9.3.1 DVD Movies and Audio CDs 9.3.2 Burned Music CDs 9.3.3 Burned Picture CDs 9.3.4 Burned Music And Picture CDs 9.4 Movies 9.5 Dashboard Themes 10. The rest 10.1. FAQ 10.2. Credits 10.3. Legal Information 10.4. Email Policy 10.5. Version Information =============================================================================== = 0. Introduction = =============================================================================== The X-Box 360 is the first of the next generation gaming system to be released with at least 6 months before Nintendo or Sony is releasing their Revolution and Playstation 3. The reason why Iīm making a X-Box 360 FAQ is to make some people less confuse about things that have to do with the X-Box 360. =============================================================================== = 1. What is the X-Box 360? = =============================================================================== The X-Box 360 is Microsoftīs second attempt to release a gaming system and rule the world... The first X-Box was not a flop but still not a big success. Now people will start to send me angry emails saying that Iīm a big idiot, but if you look at the aw facts youīll see that a big cut of the systems was modified and used to play illegally downloaded games and used as media centers to play movies on, This is something that Microsoft discovered, and decided to make it harder to do the same thing with the X-Box 360. They have gone down on a lower level this time to prevent piracy, and why would you modify your X-Box 360 to be a media center when itīs already a media center from the box? And this is the really first step into trying to include the High Definition into the gaming world. =============================================================================== = 2. Specifications = =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 2.1. The Hardware - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The specs are truly looking good, and are getting fanboys drooling all over the world. But remember, itīs the games that decides if the system is great or bad. Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU : 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each : 2 hardware threads per core - 6 hardware threads total : 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core - 3 total : 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread : 1 MB L2 cache CPU Game Math Performance : 9 billion dot product operations per second Custom ATI Graphics Processor : 500 MHz : 10 MB embedded DRAM : 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines : Unified shader architecture Polygon Performance : 500 million triangles per second Pixel Fill Rate : 16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA Shader Performance : 48 billion shader operations per second Memory : 512 MB GDDR3 RAM : 700 MHz DDR : Unified memory architecture Memory Bandwidth : 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth : 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM : 21.6 GB/s front-side bus Overall System Floating-Point Performance : 1 TFLOP Storage : Detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive : 12X dual-layer DVD-ROM : Memory unit support starting at 64 MB I/O : Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers : 3 USB 2.0 ports : 2 memory unit slots Optimized for Online : Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music : Built in Ethernet Port : Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G : Video Camera Ready Digital Media Support : Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD : Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCīs : Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive : Custom playlists in every game : Windows Media Center Extender built in : Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers HD Game Support : All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing : Standard definition and high definition video output supported Audio : Multichannel surround sound output : Supports 48 KHz 16-bit audio : 320 independent decompression channels : 32-bit audio processing : Over 256 audio channels System Orientation : Stands vertically or horizontally Customizable Face Plates : Interchangeable to personalize the console Parental Controls : Parental Controls to restrict the games and movies that are played : Xbox Live controls to manage Friends List, voice and video communication, and Gamer Profile sharing Physical Specs : Height: 83 mm : Width: 309 mm : Depth: 258 mm : Weight: 7.7 lbs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 2.2. 2 Systems released - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft decided to release two versions of the X-Box 360. The ordinary System (called Premium) and the Core System. To say it easy, the Premium system is a X-Box 360 with some accessories while the cheaper Core system only has what you need to start and play the X-Box 360. Some say that the Premium system is the luxury model. Iīm saying that the Core model is released just so Microsoft can say that the releaseprice was lower, and to trick player that know nothing to later buy the accessories for a higher price. The difference between the systems are: X-Box 360 Premium X-Box 360 Core Console with Console Premium Chrome Finish Hard Drive Wireless Controller Wired Controller Xbox Live Headset Component HD AV Cable Composite AV Cable Ethernet Cable The first launch of the Premium version will also get a Bonus Media Remote. Itīs smaller and have fewer buttons then the official one. So exactly what can you do with your ordinary and Core system? X-Box 360 X-Box 360 Core Play X-Box 360 games Yes Yes Watch DVD movies Yes Yes Play Music CDīs Yes Yes Connect an MP3 player Yes Yes and listen to music* Connect a Digital Camera Yes Yes and view pictures* Listen to music and view Yes Yes digital pictures from a Windows XP-based PC Use up to 4 wireless controllers simultaneously Yes Yes Play X-Box games Yes No/Yes*** Save games and content Yes No/Yes**** Game online with Xbox Live Gold** Yes No/Yes**** Join Xbox Live Silver for free Yes No/Yes**** Voice chat with friends over Yes No/Yes***** Xbox Live * Not every single MP3 player and Digital Camera is supported ** 1-month trial of Xbox Live Gold included *** Only Yes if you have bought a hard drive. **** Only yes if you have bought a hard drive or memory unit. ***** Only yes if you have bought a headset and hard drive or memory unit. So once again, you can play games with the Core system. You canīt save, but you can play your games. =============================================================================== = 3. Launch Information = =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 3.1. Launch Dates, Packages and Prices - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The North American launch date is November 22 2005. The official price will be 399.99$ for the Premium system and 299.99$ for the Core System (some stores will just drop the 99 cents on the price). I think that Microsoft are officially only releasing the Core and Premium system, but a lot of resellers are adding games and accessories and are making their own bundles/packages. I will try to list the most known bundles just for fun. Xbox 360 Premium System -399.00$ Xbox 360 Game Console Wireless Controller Combination High-Definition Component and Standard A/V Cable 20GB Hard Drive Ethernet Cable Headset Bonus Media Remote Xbox Live Silver Xbox Live Gold 30-Day Trial Xbox 360 Core System -299.00$ Xbox 360 Game Console Wired Controller Composite A/V Cable Xbox Live Silver Xbox Live Gold 30-Day Trial Xbox 360 Ultimate Bundle (EBGAMES) -699.92$ Xbox 360 Premium System Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition Call of Duty 2 Kameo: Elements of Power Project Gotham Racing 3 Extra Wireless Controller Play & Charge Kit Extra Rechargeable Battery Pack Xbox 360 Core Bundle (EBGAMES) -599.93$ Xbox 360 Core System Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Edition Call of Duty 2 Kameo: Elements of Power Project Gotham Racing 3 Extra Wired Controller Memory Unit Xbox 360 Core Bundle (GAMESTOP) -689.91$ Xbox 360 Core System Perfect Dark Project Gotham Racing 3 Condemned GUN Call of Duty 2 Extra Wired Controller Memory Unit 1-Year Product Replacement Plan Xbox 360 EA Bundle (GAMESTOP) -839.90$ Xbox 360 Premium System Madden NFL 2006 Tiger Woods 2006 NBA LIve 2006 Need for Speed: Most Wanted FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup Extra Wireless Controller Play & Charge Kit G-Pack Travel Case 1-Year Product Replacement Plan Xbox 360 Silver Bundle (GAMESTOP) -839.90$ Xbox 360 Premium System Perfect Dark Project Gotham Racing 3 Condemned GUN Call of Duty 2 Kameo Extra Wireless Controller Play & Charge Kit 1-Year Product Replacement Plan Xbox 360 Ultimate Bundle (GAMESTOP) -1189.84$ Xbox 360 Premium System Perfect Dark Project Gotham Racing 3 Condemned GUN Call of Duty 2 Kameo Quake 4 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland King Kong NBA 2k6 Madden NFL 2006 Extra Wireless Controller Play & Charge Kit Xbox Live 12 Month Card 1-Year Product Replacement Plan Ultimate with Dell Plasma Screen (GAMESTOP) -3689.83$ Xbox 360 Premium System Perfect Dark Project Gotham Racing 3 Condemned GUN Call of Duty 2 Kameo Quake 4 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland King Kong NBA 2k6 Madden NFL 2006 Extra Wireless Controller Play & Charge Kit Xbox Live 12 Month Card 1-Year Product Replacement Plan Dell 42-Inch Plasma TV REMOVED Xbox 360 Omega Bundle (GAMESTOP) -2000.00$ Xbox 360 Premium System Perfect Dark Collector's Edition Project Gotham Racing 3 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Dead or Alive 4 Call of Duty 2 GUN Quake 4 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Condemned Madden NFL 2006 Kameo Amped 3 Ghost Recon NBA 2K6 NHL 2K6 Ridge Racer 6 Top Spin 2 Need for Speed: Most Wanted Tiger Woods 2006 FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup Extra Wireless Controller Extra Wireless Controller Extra Wireless Controller Wireless Network Adaptor Memory Unit Fuego Faceplates Play & Charge Kit Rechargeable Battery Xbox Live 12 Month Card 1-Year Product Replacement Plan They removed the Omega bundle because some of the games included in it (4 I believe) got a later release date. It also existed a Omega Bundle with the Dell plasma screen (like the Ultimate pack from Gamestop) for a price of 4499.68$. It now seems that Gamestop still has a Omega bundle that is exactly the same as the Ultimate pack, but it will be shipped some month after the release. Xbox 360 Customer Choice Bundle (Walmart) -689.06$ Xbox 360 Premium System One additional wireless controller A Play and Charge Kit Live 12-month Gold Card Your choice of a faceplate Three games Xbox 360 Game Bundle (Walmart) -579.06$ Xbox 360 Core System One additional wireless controller A Headset A 64 MB Memory Unit A Play and Charge Kit Your choice of three games Xbox 360 Live Bundle (Walmart) -579.16$ Xbox 360 Core System One additional wireless controller A headset A 64 MB memory unit A Play and Charge Kit Live 12-Month Gold Card Your choice of two games Xbox 360 Pro Bundle (Walmart) -719.24$ Xbox 360 Premium System One additional wireless controller A Play and Charge Kit Live 12-month Gold Card Wireless Network Adapter Your choice of two games Xbox 360 Bundle (Costco) -479.99$ Xbox 360 Premium System One additional wireless controller A Play and Charge Kit Project Gotham Racing 3 The European launch date is December 02 2005. The official price seems to be 399,99 Euro (279.99Ģ) for the Premium system and 299,99 Euro (209.99Ģ) for the Core system, unless itīs a bad translation done by Microsoft... Xbox 360 Premium System -279.99Ģ Xbox 360 Game Console Wireless Controller Combination High-Definition Component and Standard A/V Cable 20GB Hard Drive Ethernet Cable Headset Bonus Media Remote Xbox Live Silver Xbox Live Gold 30-Day Trial Xbox 360 Core System -209.99Ģ Xbox 360 Game Console Wired Controller Composite A/V Cable Xbox Live Silver Xbox Live Gold 30-Day Trial The Japanese launch date is December 10 2005. The official price seems to be 37,900 Yen and it seems that they will only release the Premium system. Xbox 360 Premium System -37,900 Yen Xbox 360 Game Console Wireless Controller Combination High-Definition Component and Standard A/V Cable 20GB Hard Drive Ethernet Cable Headset Bonus Media Remote Xbox Live Silver Xbox Live Gold 30-Day Trial The Australia/New Zealand launch date is March 02 2006. Everybody seems to forget Australia, even I did >_> Since Iīm not trusting the Australian version of xbox.com (they say that NO game will support HDTV down under o_O ), Iīm going to list more launch data later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 3.2. Launch Titles - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USA: Amped 3 Call of Duty 2 Condemned: Criminal Origins FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup GUN Kameo: Elements of Power Madden NFL 06 NBA 2K6 NBA Live 06 Need for Speed: Most Wanted NHL 2K6 Perfect Dark Zero Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition Peter Jackson’s King Kong Project Gotham Racing 3 QUAKE 4 Ridge Racer 6 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland Europe: They believe these games will be launch titles Amped 3 Call of Duty 2 Condemned: Criminal Origins FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup GUN Kameo: Elements of Power Madden NFL 06 NBA Live 06 Need for Speed: Most Wanted Perfect Dark Zero Peter Jackson’s King Kong Project Gotham Racing 3 Quake 4 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland Japan: Unknown. Australia: Unknown. Games that Microsoft thought would be US launch titles but got a later release: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Dead or Alive 4 Tom Clancyīs Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Top Spin 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 3.3. Launch Dates - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The X-Box 360 must be the first gaming system (if not THE first, one of the first) that releases games and accessories weeks before the gamint system. This way people could feel the controller and look at the DVD disc long before they discovered that they wouldīnt get the gaming unit until January thanks to the shortage. I will try to list the official dates for the things that was released before the system, but they can be +- some days depending on where in USA you live. Some stores started to sell some stuff earlier, som stores started to sell some stuff later. This is the American dates. 11/8/2005 Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable Xbox 360 Live 1 Month Gold Card Xbox 360 Live 3 Month Gold Kit Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Kit Xbox 360 Headset Xbox 360 Faceplate Silver Xbox 360 Wired Controller Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable Kameo Elements of Power 11/10/2005 Xbox 360 G-Pak Travel Case 11/14/2005 Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack Xbox 360 Network Adapter Wireless Xbox 360 Faceplate Woody Project Gotham Racing 3 11/15/2005 Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Need For Speed: Most Wanted FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup 11/16/2005 Xbox 360 VGA HD/AV Cable Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit Xbox 360 Live Marketplace Points 1600 Xbox 360 Faceplate Hot Rod 11/17/2005 Mad Catz Xbox 360 Headcom Pro 11/18/2005 Xbox 360 Memory Card 64MB Xbox 360 Hard Drive 20GB Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Plantronics Xbox Live Headset GameCon X10C Peter Jackson's King Kong Perfect Dark Zero Regular Edition Perfect Dark Zero Limited Collector's Edition NHL 2K6 NBA Live 06 Madden NFL 06 GUN Condemned: Criminal Origins Call of Duty 2 11/21/2005 Logitech Xbox 360 Harmony Remote Control 11/22/2005 Xbox 360 Premiun Unit Xbox 360 Core unit Ridge Racer 6 Quake 4 NBA 2K6 Amped 3 =============================================================================== = 4. Accessories = =============================================================================== Microsoft are releasing a bunch of new accessories and it can be hard to know what you really need. Iīm going to list them and their official launchprice here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.1. Accessories - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Random accessories that doesīnt fit in another category. Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit -19.99$ This thing lets you recharge your Wireless Controller. It comes with a NiMH rechargeable battery pack and a charging cable that you can hook up to your X-Box 360. You will be able to get more than 30 hours of play per charge. Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack -11.99$ Extra battery to your Play & Charge, so you donīt need to have one for every wireless controller. You need a Play & Charge to charge this NiMH battery cell and you can get up to 25 hours of play per full battery charge. Does this mean that you will get a better battery in the Play & Charge Kit? Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote -29.99$ This is THE tool if you want to be lazy in the sofa. It lets you controll your TV, X-Box 360 (turn it on/off, A, B, X, and Y buttons are included for basic control of the system, even without a controller), your Media Center PC and it can almost give you a cold Coke. You get a nice and easy access to your digital movies, music, and games library. And the buttons are backlight so you can see them in the dark. Xbox 360 Limited Bonus Media Remote -XX.XX$ This one follows the first launch of the Premium system and canīt be bought. See it as a collectors item. This one is like a budget version of the Universal Media Remote and you can only access your X-Box 360 and Media Center PC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.2. Cables - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cables you need to connect your system to a TV/Monitor. Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable -39.99$ This is THE cables you want if your TV have support for HD. Itīs a eight-foot long shielded cable with Component (Y, Pr, Pb) high-definition video output, which means that you will get High-definition gaming output of 720p or 1080i, and progressive-scan DVD playback in 480p. It can also be used as composite cable for standard TV output, if your TV doesīnt support high definition. Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable -29.99$ A eight-foot long shielded cable for your TV. Used for S-Video users, but it can also be used as composite cable for standard TV output. You also get Digital Optical Audio output and Stereo Audio output, which is perfect if you want to run the sound in another system. Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable -39.99$ A eight-foot long shielded cable to be used on your monitor or HDTV with VGA input. It is a DV-15S Standard VGA Connector and it supports video outputs settings of 480p, 720p, or 1080i. Xbox 360 Advanced SCART AV Cable -35.99$ A Scart cable thatīs probably eight-foot long (I canīt confirm it at the moment) which is perfect for your TV that has a Scart connector. This baby is only sold in Europe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.3. Controllers - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The official controllers. Xbox 360 Wired Controller -39.99$ Take the X-Box COntroller S, give it a little more ergonomic form, add a glowing Guide button in the middle, place the Start and Back buttons on each side of the Guide button, move the Black and White buttons to the shoulders, add a Integrated heatset port, make it as a USB-controller and you have a X-Box 360 controller. Oh, the cable is 9 foot. Download drivers to your PC with XP, and you can use it on your PC. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller -49.99$ Take the Xbox 360 Wired Controller and cut the wire. This is the result. It uses two AA batteries that last around 40 hours. When they are getting low, they will tell you it, so you can easily connect your Play & Charge in good time. It uses a 2.4GHz technology that has 30 foot range, you can use up to four controllers at the same time on one X-Box 360 system. You can use up to 20 controllers at the same time withouth them interfere with each other, perfect for LANīs at home. You can adjust the vibration feedback to save battery life. And the best part is that you still can use the headset for X-Box Live, even if it is a wireless controller. I just have to add one thing about the Guide button. With it, you can access the dashboard whenever you want. This means that you can stream your own music instead of playing the one in the game, it lets you look at pictures when you take a pause from playing (looking at a scanned guide?), and it allows you to enable a chat communication with your friends online, even if you are playing a offline game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.4. X-Box Live - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things that makes X-Box Live easier. Xbox 360 Headset -19.99$ This is THE X-Box Live accessorie. It lets you talk and listen to people using X-Box Live. Plan how to fight your enemy with your team, shout at your enemies or just talking with your friends when you are playing. Need help with a specific part of a game? Press the Guide button on your controller, look if your friend is online and ask him what to do. Use it to leave messages to your friends over the Xbox Live Message Service and listen to messages that your friends have left to you. Just plug it into your controller and itīs ready to go. It has in-line volume control and mute switch so you can adjust the headset volume and switch mute on and off easily. It has a noise-canceling microphone, which improves game response to voice commands, and gives you a crisp and clear voice communication with your friends. Xbox Live 12-Month Premium Gold Pack -69.99$ This package gives you a 12 month Xbox Live Gold membership and a Xbox 360 Headset. You also gets a 20$ Xbox 360 Game Rebate Card and 200 Microsoft Points. Xbox Live 3-Month Premium Gold Pack -39.99$ This is a smaller version of the Xbox Live 12-Month Premium Gold Pack. It gives you a 3 month Xbox Live Gold membership and a Xbox 360 Headset. You also gets a 10$ Xbox 360 Game Rebate Card and 100 Microsoft Points. Xbox Live 13-Month Gold Subscription Card -49.99$ This is like a Xbox Live 12-Month Premium Gold Pac without the premium. So the only thing you will get is a 12 Month Xbox Live Gold membership with one bonus month. Itīs nice that you doesīnt need to get a new headset every time you want to renew your Xbox Gold membership ;) Xbox Live 3-Month Gold Subscription Card -19.99$ It gives you 3 extra months with Xbox Live Gold. Xbox Live 1-Month Gold Subscription Card -7.99$ It gives you 1 extra month with Xbox Live Gold. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.5. Personalize - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just Faceplates that lets you customize the front look of your X-Box 360. Xbox 360 Faceplate (Hotrod) -19.99$ A darkblue faceplate with s lighter blueflame on it. Xbox 360 Faceplate (Silver) -19.99$ A faceplate in silver. Xbox 360 Faceplate (Woody) -19.99$ A faceplate that makes it look like your system is made of wood. Just a note, matching Xbox 360 dashboard themes are available online or at participating retail kiosk, just to personalize the inside of your X-Box 360. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.6. Storage - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You need one of these to save your game and to use Xbox Live. Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB) -99.99$ Letīs you save in your games, save your Xbox Live profile, trailers, demos and your own music that you can use as custom music in games. With the harddrive, you can also play your old X-Box games and download Xbox Live Arcade games. It comes preloaded with some bonus content, including Hexic, a Xbox Live Arcade game. Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64 MB) -39.99$ Letīs you save in your games and saving your Xbox Live profile. The X-Box 360 has two memory ports, in case you need more then one. It also includes a portable carrying case that will fit you keychain, so itīs harder to loose it. If you take it to a retail kiosk, you can mostly download things to it, like new dashboard themes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.7. Wireless - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Donīt want any cables? Make your X-Box 360 wireless. Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter -99.99$ Plug in this baby into one of the USB ports, and you have done your system wireless. Itīs small, takes the power from the USB port so no power adapter is needed, and it uses dual band 5GHz and 2.4GHz 802.11 A, B and G protocoll. Use it to connect to Xbox Live, stream music and photos from your XP PC, and watch movies from your XP Media Center PC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 4.8. 3rd Part - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many 3rd parts developers will make accessories to the X-Box 360. Each company will probably release a big flush of own controllers that are cheaper, have a different form, have turbo buttons, have rubber grips and other crazy things. The same thing with the headset and cables. Everything from AV cables to controller extension Cables. This is things I will not take up here. I will only take up things that are...different. Intec Game Holder 2-Pack Xbox 360 -19.89$ This gameholder lets you put 10 game cases vertically. Itīs build in "X-Box 360 Style" to make it look better near your gaming system. It comes in a 2-pack. Intec Vertical Stand with Game & Memory Storage Xbox 360 -19.89$ This will keep your X-Box 360 in a vertically position and have room for five game cases on each side of the unit. It also have place for two memory cards. It is made in Chrome finish. Intec A/V Selector & Storage Xbox 360 -49.82$ This thing comes with two integrated storage compartments to store the remote control, memory cards and other accessories. Features component video, RCA and S-Video input and output jack connections, and two optical inputs and one optical output to support audio and video demanded by HDTV. It also features broadband Internet connections to support online gaming. Intec Pro Gamer's Case Xbox 360 -49.82$ This is a aluminium case holds your X-Box 360, two controllers, attachments and even games. Great if you want to transport your unit somewhere. =============================================================================== = 5. Games = =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.1. Released Games - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a shortie of what the Launchtitles are for games. Once again, this is for USA. Amped 3 A snowboarding game from Indie Built, Inc. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Crude humor, Mild violence, Suggestive themes. Players 1-2 Co-op HDTV 720p *Content from Marketplace *Friends Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Call of Duty 2 A World War 2 shooter from Infinity Ward. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Blood, Mild Language, Violence. Players 1-2 System Link 2-16 HDTV 720p *Players 2-8 *Friends *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Condemned: Criminal Origins A action game from Monolith Productions. Game Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup A soccer game from EA SPORTS. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) for Everyone. Players 1-4 HDTV 720p *Friends *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i GUN A shooter from Neversoft. Game Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol. Players 1 HDTV 720p Storage Device Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Kameo: Elements of Power A Action game from Rare. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Animated Blood, Violence. Players 1-2 Co-op HDTV 720p Storage Device Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Madden NFL 06 American Fotball from Tiburon. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-4 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i NBA 2K6 A NBA game from Visual Concepts. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-4 HDTV 480p Storage Device *Friends *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i NBA Live 06 A NBA game from EA Canada. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Need for Speed: Most Wanted A racing game from EA Canada. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Mild Violence. Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Storage Device *Players 2-8 *Content from Marketplace *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i NHL 2K6 A NHL game from Kush Games. Game Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) for Violence. Players 1-4 HDTV 720p *Players 2-8 *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Perfect Dark Zero A shooter from Rare. Game Rating: M (Mature) for Blood, Language, Violence. Players 1-4 Co-op HDTV 1080i Storage Device *Players 2-32 *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition Same as Perfect Dark Zero with some extra. Perfect Dark Zero special edition comic booklet, Hong Kong Sunrise. A collectible Perfect Dark Zero Glyph Card. A bonus disc with: The Art of Perfect Dark Zero video feature. Kepi & Kat music track from the game. Perfect Dark Zero Gamer Tiles to customize your identity on Xbox Live. Perfect Dark Zero Heads-Up display (HUD) UI Skin to customize your Xbox 360 experience. The first chapter from the new novel, Perfect Dark:Initial Vector. Peter Jackson’s King Kong A action game from Ubisoft France. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Blood, Violence. Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Project Gotham Racing 3 A racing game from Bizarre Creations. Game Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) Players 1-2 Co-op System Link 2-8 HDTV 720p Storage Device *Players 2-8 Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i QUAKE 4 A shooter from id Software. Game Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Ridge Racer 6 A racing game from NAMCO-HOMETEK, INC. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p *Content from Marketplace *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 A golf game from EA Redwood Shores. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-4 HDTV 720p Storage Device *Players 2-4 *Friends Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland A skateboarding game from Neversoft Entertainment. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Blood, Crude Humor, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence. Players 1-2 Co-op HDTV 720p *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.2. Unreleased Games - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a shortie of what the at the launch unreleased titles are for games. College Hoops 2K6 A basketball game from Visual Concepts. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Dead or Alive 4 A fighting game from Team Ninja. Game Rating: M (Mature) Players 1-4 Co-op HDTV 720p *Players 2-16 *Co-op *Voice Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Dead Rising A actiongame from Capcom Production Studio 1. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Demonik A actiongame from Terminal Reality. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion A actiongame from Bethesda Softworks. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i FINAL FANTASY XI A MMORPG from Square Enix Co., Ltd. Game Rating: T (Teen) for Animated Blood, Violence. Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Frame City Killer A actiongame from Namco Hometek, Inc. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Full Auto A racing game from Pseudo Interactive. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter A actiongame from Ubisoft. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1-4 HDTV 720p *Players 2-16 Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Saint's Row A actiongame from Volition. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Test Drive Unlimited A racing game from Eden Games. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1-2 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i The Darkness A adventure game from Starbreeze Studios. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i Top Spin 2 A tennis game from Pam Development. Game Rating: E (Everyone) Players 1-4 HDTV 720p Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i The Outfit A actiongame from Relic. Game Rating: RP (Rating Pending) Players 1-4 HDTV 720p *Content from Marketplace Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.3. WTH did he say? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you have taken a fast look at the shortie list, you will ask yourself "WTH does he mean with this?". SO here Iīll explain what I really meant up above. The first row is the title of the game. The second row tells what kind of game it is, and whoīs developing it. And remember I said developer, not releaser. The third row is the ESRB rating. This means that kids are not supported to play games that are rated 17 years. The ratings are Everyone (age 6+), Everyone 10+ (age 10+), Teen (age 13+), Mature (age 17+) and Rating Pendent (which means they havīnt rated it yet). The rows after this is different depending on what game it is, but mostly it starts with how many players that can play it. The ones with a * in front means that it is used for online play. Iīll list them all below so you can see what they really means. Players 1-2 This tells us how many players that can play on one system at home. Each players must have one controller. Co-op This means that the players can play cooperative. With other words, you are all on the same team trying to beat the game. HDTV 720p This shows what TV mode the game is supposed to be played in. It can be 480i, 480p, 720p or 1080i. But it doesīnt really matter since the system transform the output to fit your TV. System Link 2-16 This means that you can use more then one X-Box 360 to link to eachothers, allowing more players to play against eachothers at home. Storage Device This means that the game was developed with the thoughts that the users have a harddrive in their unit. Supports: 480i 480p 720p 1080i This means that the game can be run in all TV modes. Stupid to write since the unit is doing this itself, no matter what game it is. *Content from Marketplace This means that you can download extra stuff to your game from the marketplace. Some are free, some cost you cash. *Friends This means that you probably can have a friendlist in the game for your online friends. *Players 2-8 This shows how many players you can play with online. *Voice This game supports that you can talk directly to your friends when you play with them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.4. Backward Compatibility - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Backward Compatibility, you can put in your original X-Box game and play it on your X-Box 360. Not only that, every game will be playable in high definition. This means that every original X-Box game will be upscaled to 720p and 1080i and taking advantage of X-Box 360’s anti-aliasing capabilities. With other words, we will se a picture that is clearer and crisper than what the original X-Box could handle. This sounds like heaven, but there are some small things that you must think of... 1. You need a harddrive. Since X-Box 360 is using software to emulate each X-Box game, they need somewhere to store the software. It would fill up a memory card fast, so a harddrive is the only way. Since most people are getting a harddrive with their units, itīs not such a big problem. 2. Not all games are compatible. The software preinstalled on all harddrives (it doesīnt matter if you buy the Premium version or buying the harddrive separatly) are today supporting 200+ games for the North American version. The European version is having fewer games supported, and the Japanese version have twelve (12) games supported as it is now (The lists is listed below). So what will you do if your game is not on the list (for example Burnout 3)? The answer is easy, update the software and hope that itīs included in the next release. Microsoft will continue to add games. And itīs easy to update. Pop in your disc in your X-Box 360, connect to Xbox Live (Gold or Silver doesīnt matter) and it will download it if itīs there. If you havīnt Xbox Live, you can download a file to your computer, burn it to a disk and install it from the disk. Xbox.com will also give you the possibility to send you a CD for a nominal shipping and handling fee (some time after the launch date). There is a possibility that updates can be included in games that you buy, but itīs to early to tell now. 3. Games using Xbox Live. It will be possible to play X-Box games supporting Xbox Live with your X-Box 360 Live account. And you can play cross-platform. So you can play Halo 2 on your X-Box 360 against your friend that only owns a X-Box. But there is a negative thing... You canīt transfer downloaded content from your X-Box to your X-Box 360. This means that you must download it again. All free downloadable content for original Xbox games plus premium content for Halo 2 will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace for free. But if you payed for some premium content you must pay for it again if you want it on your X-Box 360. 4. Saves. As with X-Box contents, you canīt transfer saves from your original X-Box. So you must complete the games again. 5. Xbox Live. All current Xbox Live accounts transfer seamlessly to X-Box 360 as Xbox Live Gold accounts. You'll keep your gamertag and the friends, stats, and reputation that you've built up over the years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.4.1 Backward Compatibility USA list - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember, this is the Launch list, more games will be added later and probably have when you are reading this. AirForce Delta Storm Alias Aliens versus Predator Extinction All-Star Baseball 2003 Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding Army Men: Sarge's War Atar Anthology ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II Barbarian Barbie Horse Adventures Wild Horse Rescue Batman Begins Battle Engine Aquila Battlestar Galactica BMX XXX Brute Force Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures 06 Cabela's Deer Hunt 2005 Season Cabela's Deer Hunt 2004 Season Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Call of Duty: Finest Hour Casino Chicago Enforcer Circus Maximus Close Combat: First to Fight Colin McRae Rally 4 Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers Commandos 2: Men of Courage Conflict: Desert Storm Constantine Crash Twinsanity Crash Nitro Kart Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Dark Angel Darkwatch Dead or Alive 3 Deathrow Digimon Rumble Arena Dinotopia Drake Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002 Euro 2004 F1 2001 Fable Fable: The Lost Chapters Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin' da Rules FIFA Soccer 2003 FIFA Soccer 2004 FIFA STREET Fight Night 2004 Fight Night Round 2 Ford Mustang Ford vs. Chevy Forza Motorsport Frogger Beyond Futurama Fuzion Frenzy Genma Onimusha Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Grand Theft Auto 3 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt. Grooverider: Slot Car Thunder Half-Life 2 Halo Halo 2 Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone He-Man: Defender of Grayskull Hitman: Contracts House of the Dead 3 IHRA Drag Racing Sportsman Edition IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 Jade Empire James Bond 007: NightFire Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis Kabuki Warriors Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer kill.switch Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events LOONS—The Fight for Fame Manhunt Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 Max Payne Max Payne 2 Medal of Honor European Assault Medal of Honor Frontline Medal of Honor Rising Sun Mega Man Anniversary Collection Metal Arms: Glitch in the System MicroMachines Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Monster Garage Mortal Kombat: Deception MTV Music Generator 3 Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit MX World Tour: Featuring Jamie Little Namco Museum NBA LIVE 2004 Need For Speed Underground 2 NFL Blitz 2002 NFL Blitz 2003 NFL Blitz 2004 NHL 2004 NHL Hitz 2003 Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden Black Outlaw Golf 2 Outlaw Volleyball Pariah Phantom Crash Pinball Hall of Fame Pitfall: The Lost Expedition Predator Concrete Jungle Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Pro Race Driver Pump It Up: Exceed Pure Pinball Puyo Pop Fever Quantum Redshift Rayman Arena Raze's Hell Red Dead Revolver Red Faction II RedCard 2003 Robotech: Battlecry Rocky Legends Rogue Ops Samurai Jack Samurai Warriors Scooby Doo! Night of 100 Frights Scrapland SEGA GT 2002 Shadow The Hedgehog Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures ShellShock: Nam '67 Sneakers Sniper Elite Soccer Slam Sonic Heroes Sonic Mega Collection Plus Speed Kings Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom SpyHunter 2 Spyro A Hero's Tail SSX 3 Stake Star Trek: Shattered Universe Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Star Wars: Starfighter Special Edition Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Street Racing Syndicate Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse Super Bubble Pop Super Monkey Ball Deluxe SX Superstar Tecmo Classic Arcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Test Drive: Eve of Destruction Tetris Worlds The Great Escape The Hulk The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Simpsons Hit and Run The Simpsons Road Rage The Terminator Dawn of Fate The Thing Thief: Deadly Shadows Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Tork: Prehistoric Punk Toxic Grind Ty The Tasmanian Tiger Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan Urban Freestyle Soccer Vexx Volvo: Drive for Life World Series Baseball 2K3 Worms 4 Mayhem Worms Forts: Under Siege WWE Raw 2 XIII Yourself!Fitness ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.4.2 Backward Compatibility Europe list - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember, this is the pre-Launch list, more games will be added later and probably have when you are reading this. Alias Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction All-Star Baseball 2003 Amped ATV Quad Power Racing 2 Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2 Barbie Horse Adventure Batman Begins Battle Engine Aquila Battlestar Galactica BMX XXX Brute Force Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Chaos Bleeds Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Call of Duty: Finest Hour Colin McRae 4 Combat Elite Commandos 2 Conflict: Desert Storm Constantine Crash Bandicoot: Twinsanity Crash Nitro Kart Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Curse - The Eye of Isis Dark Angel Darkwatch Deadly Skies Deathrow Dinotopia Dead or Alive 3 Egg Mania Euro 2004 Fable Fable: The Lost Chapters FIFA 2003 FIFA 2004 FIFA Street 2005 Fight Night 2004 Fight Night Round 2 Forza Motorsport Freedom Fighters Futurama Fuzion Frenzy Genma Onimusha Goblin Commander Grand Theft Auto III Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt. Half-Life 2 Halo Halo 2 Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone Hitman: Contracts House of the Dead 3 Jade Empire James Bond 007: Nightfire Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death Jurassic Park Genesis Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Loons Fight for Fame Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Manhunt Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Medal of Honor 3 Rising Sun Medal of Honor Frontline Medal of Honor: European Assault Metal Arms: Glitch in the System MicroMachines Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Mortal Kombat: Deception MTV Music Generator 3 NBA Live 2003 NBA Live 2004 Need For Speed: Underground 2 NHL 2004 NHL Hitz 20-03 Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden Black Outlaw Golf 2 Outlaw Volleyball Pariah Phantom Crash Pitfall: The Lost Expedition Predator: Concrete Jungle Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Pro Evolution Soccer 5 Pro Race Driver Puyo Puyo Fever Quantum Redshift Red Dead Revolver Red Faction II Robotech: Battle Cry Rocky: Legends Rogue Ops Samurai Warriors Scooby Doo: Night of 100 Frights Scrapland SeaWorld: Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures Sega GT 2002 Shadow the Hedgehog Shellshock: Nam '67 Sid Meier's Pirates! Simpson's Road Rage Simpsons: Hit and Run Soccer Slam Sonic Heroes Sonic Mega Collection Speed Kings Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Spy Hunter 2 Spyro: A Hero's Tail SSX 3 Stake Star Trek: Shattered Universe Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Star Wars: Clone Wars Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 Street Racing Syndicate Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse Super Bubble Pop Super Monkey Ball DX SX Superstar Tecmo Classic Arcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Terminator: Dawn of Fate Tetris Worlds The Great Escape The Incredible Hulk The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer The Thing Thief: Deadly Shadows Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Toxic Grind Ty The Tasmanian Tiger Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2 Urban Freestyle Soccer Vexx Worms 4: Mayhem Worms Forts Under Siege WWE Raw 2 XIII ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.4.3 Backward Compatibility Japan list - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember, this is the pre-Launch list, more games will be added later and probably have when you are reading this. Crimson Skies Fable Forza Motorsport Grand Theft Auto Double Pack Halo Halo 2 Halo 2 Map pack Jade Empire Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden Black Rainbox Six 3 The Simpsons Hit and Run ...yes it is 11 games and one package with maps for Halo 2... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 5.4.4 Backward Compatibility Australia list - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The AUstralian version of xbox.com seems to list the same list as the European list. But since I canīt really trust it yet (it says that NO games have HD support o_O ), Iīm going to say that we hope it will be at least the same as the European list. =============================================================================== = 6. Your TV = =============================================================================== So you got yourself a X-Box 360. And you have a TV. But how will you hook it up to get the best picture? How can you hook it up? What is HD and what is 720pi and whatever everybody is talking about? I will try and answer everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 6.1. 720pi? 1080i? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p are different TV standards. 480i and 480p is not High Definition. 720p is not really High Definition, but almost. And 1080i and 1080p are High Definition. Itīs like saying that the higher number, the higher resolution is it using, and the better picture weīll get. 480i: This is your basic non-HD TV-screen. It blurr the picture a little, which is why you got a better picture with your games on a TV instead of on your monitor some years ago, before the graphic cards got better. 480p: This is a progressive scan type, which means it gives a clearer picture/text. If you donīt have an HDTV, this is probably what you want your games to run in. 720p: This is not considered to be "true" High Definition because it can not produce a extremely high resolution. When I wrote this, I didīnt knew that I would get so many mails about this. Some saying Iīm wrong, some saying itīs correct, some saying itīs almost true. So what is correct? 720p is great. and so is 1080i. And 1080p is even better. But for games with the TVīs today, 720p is better then 1080i in most cases. So if you get a TV today, get one that at least supports 720p. If you get a TV in the future, get at least the second generation of 1080p. This IS a standard today. Most DLPīs, LCDīs and Plasma-TVīs can handle this. This is better on bigger TVīs then 1080i, since 720p are showing moving images better. 1080i: This is true High Definition. Too bad nothing can run it perfectly. Itīs using a big 1920 x 1080 resolution o_O Most HDTVīs are supporting this standard. About nothing can run it perfect, the way it draws the picture makes it leaving small trails (or as people calls it, a ghost effect) if the picture is moving fast, on bigger TVīs. If you have a smaller TV, say 28"-34", you will not see it. So what does this have to do with the X-Box 360? You see, the X-Box 360 supports the 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i standards. Most games will prefer to run in 720p (Perfecr Dark Zero is the first one that prefer 1080i). But what if your old TV doesīnt support it? This is the big thing with the X-Box 360. It will scale up or down the picture to give you the best you can get on your set. Yes the picture will look worse on 480p then on 720p, but itīs better then having no pictures at all. Now you think that upscaled pictures mostly are ugly. You are correct. And Microsoft know this, so thereby they have spent alot of money to make the upscaling beautiful. And they did it. Iīve got some letters saying that 720 is always better then 1080. This is up to everyone to see what they like best. But I still believe that if you have a smaller TV like said before, 1080 seems to look better. But try both and discover what yourself like most. I will probably get more letters now, but wait some years until 1080p is standard. 1080p will look even better then both 720p and 1080i ^^ ...why doesīnt it exist 720i? ...and I still get emails about this. Ask your TV salesman, they can help you, and they know more about this them me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 6.2. What Video cables will I use? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you got yourself a X-Box 360 and a HDTV. But what cables will you use to hook up the unit with your TV? I will list all possible solutions you can do. RF - Radio Frequency The RF is the round hole with a smaller round hole inside. This is what you hooked up your Nes with, if you are so old so you know what a Nes is. This is the worst you can use. Itīs so bad so it doesīnt even exist any Xbox 360-specific RF adapter, so you need to buy a adapter that converts composite or S-Video into a RF signal. But you will loose picture details if you do it. If your TV only supports RF, do yourself a favor and buy something that at least supports S-Video or composite, the change will be like comparing Super Mario Bros 1 with Super Mario Bros 3. Or use the VGA cable on your monitor instead. Composite This is a cable with three wires in one, ending with a white, red and yellow hat. The yellow one carries the video signal, and red and white carries the sound. This is a nice cable, and should be standard these days. S-Video This one is round and has some smaller sticks inside. It carries the video signal in more parts, which means that we get more details and a improved brightness. If your TV has both Composite and S-Video, choose S-Video. Scart A scart is a rectangle with 21 small dots inside. If you live in USA, there is a 83% chance that you have never heard about Scart earlier, since itīs only popular in Europe. And you know how hard it is to try a European standard to be standard in USA, itīs impossible. The thing with Scart is that it can send a RGB, Composite or S-Video signal. This means that it is as good as a Composite or S-Video, depending on what signal it carries. If it carries a RGB signal, it looks better then both S-Video and Composite. Since the European version is not released yet, it is unknown what signal it will carry. Component Component cables looks like a composite cable that have taken steroids. Instead of using one cable for the video, it uses three cables for video, which gives us a better pictures. It supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i, while Composite and S-Video only supports 480. Higher modes means a nicer picture. VGA Looks exactly as your monitor connector. It lets you connect your X-Box 360 to a monitor. A monitor can easily display 720p and 1080i with no problem at all, even if it is some years old. The negative part is that it is so small, a ordinary TV is in most cases bigger then your monitor. =============================================================================== = 7. Installing your X-Box 360 = =============================================================================== I will make a shortie on how to install your system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.1. Place it out - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First you must make sure that you place your X-Box 360 on a safe place. Place it somewhere where it is: Flat and level. Stable and not likely to tip over. Not likely that the unit can slip or slide off. Clean and free of dust and debris. And make sure that all four feet of the unit is in contact with the surface. Donīt place cables and cords so children and pets can trip over them. Donīt place the unit so any ventilation openings are blocked on the unit or the Power suply. Donīt place it in a sofa or othersoft surface. Donīt place them in a confined space, such as a bookcase, rack, or stereo cabinet, unless the space is well ventilated. Donīt place them near any heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or amplifiers. Donīt place them in smoky or dusty locations, this can damage it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.2. Connecting the unit - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have your unit turned off. Connect your AV cable into your unit and connect it to your TV. If you are using a HD, set the switch at the AV port connector to 480p, 720p, or 1080i, depending on what your TV supports. When you turn on your unit later, you can change your display settings from the System area. Select the appropriate screen size and resolution for your TV. Connect the power cord into your unit. Be sure to only use the official one that follows the unit. Insert the controller connector into a controller port. If you have a wireless controller, put in the batteries and hold Start or the Guide button until it starts. When you start your X-Box 360, press and release the connect button on the unit. Then press and release the connect button on the controller. The controller is now locked into that unit, even if you turn it off. You can do it again on another XBox 360. but then you will loose the lock on the first one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.3. Starting it up the first time - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you have hooked it up to a TV, all accessories are ready and you have eaten your food, itīs time to start your X-Box 360. Turn on the power, and it starts up. And you must choose a default language! Choose what you want, and press A. And now the unit is ready o be used. Now you are ready to make your own Gamer profile. It is with this that you can do everything with your X-Box 360. Keep your settings on the machine, play with your friends online, and so on. You can create a profile in three ways. The fastest is to choose Create an Offline Profile. If you already have an Xbox Live membership, choose I Am a Member of Xbox Live. Or if you are not yet a member of Xbox Live but know you are going to join, choose I Want to Join Xbox Live. Remember that your unit must be connected to the Internet with cable or DSL before you are using Xbox Live. After creating a profile, you can go to the System area of the Dashboard (the dashboard is where you are) to change the settings, like change language, time, audio, display, and automatic shutdown. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.3.1 Offline Profile - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choose Create an offline profile. Now you are at Gamer Profile Name, so enter a name for your gamer profile. While it's most convenient if this matches your gamertag—which you may or may not have yet—you can easily modify your gamer profile name later (The Gamertag is your oneandonly name when you are using Xbox Live). Now select a gamer picture. Take the one you like most, you can get more later. And you are done. Now you can play games or just look around on the dashboard. Or change some options. More info about the dashboard later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.3.2 I Am a Member of Xbox Live - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you already had a Xbox Live account on your X-Box? Collect some basic information. You must write your gamertag, your birthdate, and the e-mail address and password associated with your Microsoft .NET Passport account. And make sure your Xbox 360 console is connected to Xbox Live. From the initial setup Gamer Profile screen, select I am a member of Xbox Live. Select Gamertag and follow the on-screen instructions to activate your current membership. Sidenote: When you activate your existing Xbox Live account for use with X-Box 360, you are not creating an additional membership. You are simply adding to the one you already have. Youīll keep your gamertag, your friends list, and other key information. And youīll have full Xbox Live Gold privileges for the remainder of your membership period. As long as you maintain the same gamertag, you can play on both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 systems using the same Xbox Live membership. Youīll be asked to select preferences for language, country/region, time-zone, and Xbox Live promotions. You will also select your gamer picture and Xbox Live Gamer Zone. You can easily modify these settings at any time. And you are done. Now you can play games or just look around on the dashboard. Or change some options. More info about the dashboard later. By the way, it wonīt accept you if your age is below 18, even if you have had Xbox Live for some years... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.3.3 I Want to Join Xbox Live - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you want to join Xbox Live. Make sure your Xbox 360 console is connected to Xbox Live. From the initial setup Gamer Profile screen, select I want to join Xbox Live and follow the on-screen instructions. Here you will enter your gamertag (and choose a new one if your desired gamertag is not available) and supply information like the e-mail address and password associated with your Microsoft Passport Network account, your country/region, your language, your name, and your phone number. If you do not have a Microsoft Passport Network account you will have the opportunity to create one, which requires supplying a valid e-mail address and choosing a unique password. When prompted, select your desired membership type from the list of options. This means that you will choose a Gold or Silver membership. Xbox Live Gold memberships are paid memberships that require you to supply valid credit-card information. Follow the remaining steps: enter a contact address, choose a gamer picture and Xbox Live Gamer Zone, set your communication preferences for Xbox 360 promotions, and select a time zone and daylight-saving option. And you are done. Now you can play games or just look around on the dashboard. Or change some options. More info about the dashboard later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.4. The dashboard - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Dashboard is the control center for your X-Box 360. The Dashboard have four clearly defined areas that you can flip between using either the D-pad or the left stick on your Xbox 360 controller. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.4.1 Xbox Live - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From here you can: View and edit your gamer profile. Send messages and invites and chat with your friends. Check messages and invites from other players. Scan and add friends to your friends list. Visit Xbox Live Marketplace. Join or sign in to Xbox Live. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.4.2 Games - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From here you can: View and edit your gamer profile. See the games youīve played so far. Check out and download simple, fun games in the Xbox Live Arcade. Try demos from Xbox Live Marketplace. Watch trailers from Xbox Live Marketplace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.4.3 Media - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From here you can: View and edit your gamer profile. Listen to music and create playlists from a portable player. View pictures and slideshows, and set background images. Use a single mixed-media CD to watch a custom digital-photo slideshow with a custom soundtrack. Watch videos stored on your Hard Drive. Listen to music and view photos, live and recorded TV and movies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.4.4 System - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From here you can: Edit your console settings, including settings for display, audio, language, remote control, clock, and locale. Adjust your Xbox 360 Family Settings. Manage your memory, including moving or deleting saved games, profiles, and other items on Xbox 360 storage devices. Set up and test network connections. Manage a connection to a PC with XP or Media Center. Run the system setup you saw the first time you started your X-Box 360. =============================================================================== = 8. Xbox Live = =============================================================================== Iīve already told you how to join it, now itīs time to tell you what you can do with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 8.1. The Golden Silver - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To make it easy, it exist two levels of Xbox Live. One free, called Silver, and one that costs, called Gold. The biggest differences are that Gold gets access to new stuff earlier in the marketplace, that they can play games online and chat with more than one person at a time. I will list what the differences are below: Xbox Live Gold Membership: Play your multiplayer games online with the online gaming service. Use the new TrueSkill Matchmaking system to play against opponents with similar skills. Give player feedback to rate your teammates and opponents on their sportsmanship, abilities, and conduct to influence matchmaking. Play select original X-Box games online. Get access to exclusive Gold Member content. Engage in video chat (scheduled for 2006). Enjoy all the Xbox Live Silver features. Xbox Live Silver Membership: Go online free of charge. Register a unique gamertag and set up your individual gamer card to keep track of your gaming accomplishments. Engage in one-on-one chat with your friends vith the Headset. Access Xbox Live Marketplace, download and view demos, trailers, and purchase classic and casual games over Xbox Live Arcade using Microsoft Points. Preview Xbox Live Gold during free weekend trials. Download auto updates and free downloads for your Xbox 360 games. Access Xbox Live Message Center where you can send and receive voice and text messages from other members. Compare gaming stats and achievements against other Xbox Live members. Use your friends list to see who's online. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 8.2 Xbox Live Arcade - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here you can download arcade games to run on your X-Box 360. Some of them cost, some of them are free, and it exist free demos of most of the ones that costs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 8.3 Xbox Live Marketplace - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The marketplace. Here you can download trailers, demos, themes for your dashboard and player profile, Xbox Live Arcade, Game content and much more. You don+t know what game content is? it is upgrades and extras to your existing games. For example new maps in Halo, new cars in Need For Speed, new stars in sportgames and so on. And best of all, a Download history. So if you accidentally deleted something, you can mostly download it again for free. Free? Yes it exist both free stuff and stuff that costs to download. You are using Microsoft Points. You can get these by buying them in cards in a store, using credit card online or winning them online somehow. It seems that they cost 20$ for 1600 points, or 1.25 cents per point. One good question is how long stuff will stay on the marketplace. Will we still be able to download the trailer to Halo 3 when Halo 6 is released? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 8.4. Launch Marketplace - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will here list the Launch marketplace, so you know what existed when it was new. Amped 3 - Game Trailer (free) - 10 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 1 Theme (150 points) Call of Duty 2 - Game Trailer (free) - 7 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 2 Gamer Picture Bundles (40 – 80 points each) - 1 Theme (150 points) Condemned: Criminal Origins - Game Trailer (free) - 10 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 1 Theme (150 points) FIFA Soccer 06 Road to 2006 FIFA World Cup - Game Trailer (free) - EA Sports Trailer (free) - Game Demo (free) - FIFA Team Logo Gamer Pictures (60 points each) - FIFA Team Logo Themes (150 points each) GUN - Game Trailer (free) - 5 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 1 Gamer Picture Bundle (80 points) - 1 Theme (150 points) Kameo: Elements of Power - Winter Warrior Pack (200 points) - Game Trailer (free) - Game Demo (free) - 4 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 2 Gamer Picture 5-pack Bundles (80 points each) - 7 Themes (150 points each) Madden NFL 06 - Game Trailer (free) - EA Sports Trailer (free) - NFL Logo Gamer Pictures (60 points each) - Collection of All NFL Logo Gamer Pictures (500 points) - NFL Logo Themes (150 points each) NBA 2K6 - Game Trailer (free) NBA LIVE 06 - EA Sports Trailer (free) - Game Demo (free) Need for Speed Most Wanted - Game Trailer (free) - Game Demo (free) NHL 2K6 - Game Trailer (free) Perfect Dark Zero - Game Trailer (free) Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie - Game Demo (free) - Game Trailer (free) Project Gotham Racing 3 - Game Trailer (free) Quake 4 - Game Trailer (free) - 7 Gamer Pictures (20 points each) - 1 Theme (150 points) Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06 - EA Sports Trailer (free) Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland - Game Trailer (free) - 10 Gamer Pictures (20 points) - 1 Gamer Picture Bundle (80 points) - 1 Theme (150 points) Other (price unknown): - High Definition Music Video “Show Me How to Live” from Audioslave’s Live in Cuba DVD. - Music Video “Do You Want To” from Franz Ferdinand’s new album, You Could Have It So Much Better. - “Aeon Flux” HD movie trailer from Paramount. - “Pulse” HD movie trailer from Magnolia Pictures. - Penny Arcade Gamer Pictures and Themes. - Red vs. Blue Videos. - High Definition Movie Trailers and Music Videos. - Game Trailers for upcoming games. And these can be found at Xbox Live Arcade: - Bankshot Billiards 2 (1200 points) - Bejeweled 2 (800 points) - Gauntlet (400 points) - Geometry Wars Retro Evolved (400 points) - Hardwood Backgammon (400 points) - Hardwood Hearts (400 points) - Hardwood Spades (400 points) - Hexic HD (full version included free with X-Box 360 System) - Joust (400 points) - Mutant Storm Reloaded (800 points) - Outpost Kaloki (800 points) - Robotron 2084 (400 points) - Smash TV (400 points) - Wik: Fable of Souls (800 points) - Zuma (800 points) =============================================================================== = 9. Media = =============================================================================== Want to get your MP3īs to your unit? Or watching yor pictures? Change your Dashboard? Then read on. And yes, you can stream music and pictures from your PSP. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.1. Music - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you want to listen to ABBA when you play Perfect Dark Zero? No problems. First you need to get the music to your unit. There is 3 ways that I can think of doing that. 1. Rip it from your CD. This is so much faster then what it was on the original X-Box. 2. From USB. Connect your portable music player or memory stick and you can stream the music from it. It supports the MP3, Wav and WMA format. It also supports playlists in wpl and m3u format. You shall be able to download a patch that allows you to listen to ACC music, as long as it was NOT downloaded frm iTunes. But MP3 in your IPod works great. 3. From PC. Stream it from your XP SP2 PC or XP Media Center Edition 2005. Connect your X-Box 360 to your home network and you can stream your music. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.1.1 Official Supported Music Players - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the official Supported Music Players. More can work, and more will be added later. Apple: iPod (Not music from iTunes). Archos: XS10D, Gmini-XS 200. Canon; PowerShot SD 200 Elph, PowerShot SDA520. Casio: EX-S100, EX-Z55. Creative Labs; PMC, Zen Micro, Jukebox 2, Jukebox 3, Jukebox Zen, Jukebox Zen NX, Jukebox Zen Xtra, Zen Touch, MuVo NX, MuVo Slim, MuVo TX, MuVo TX - FM, MuVoē (1.5GB), Zen Nano, Zen Nano Plus, Nano 128, Nomad MuVoē (4.0GB). Dell: Pocket DJ, DJ2, Digital Jukebox. Fujifilm: E550. iRiver: H10 (5.0GB), PMC, IFP-790, IFP-890T (256MB). Kodak: Easyshare DX4330, Easyshare CX7430. Nikon: Coolpix 5600, Coolpix 4800, Coolpix E7900. Olympus: C-60 Zoom, U Mini-Digital S (TruePic Turbo), M:Robe, X-500. Panasonic: DMC-FX8. RCA: Lyra. Rio: Chiba, Carbon. Samsung: PMC, Digimax V50, Digimax 4010. Sony: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1, Cyber-shot DSC-P73, Cyber-shot DSC-T7, DCR-DVD403. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.1.2 How The Heck Do I Stream Music From USB? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Step by Step guide to stream from USB. 1. Connect a USB cable between the device and a USB port on your unit. 2. Configure the device to play through the USB port (Read the device manual if you donīt know how). 3. On your unit. select Media, Music, Portable Device. 4. Select the music or playlist you want to listen to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.1.3 How The Heck Do I Stream Music From my PC? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You need a PC with XP SP2 or A Windows Media Center-based PC. First you need to connect your PC with your X-Box 360 in the same network. You can do this with a Ethernet connection from the Ethernet port on the back of your X-Box 360, or with a wireless network. Then you must go to www.xbox.com/pcsetup and download/setup the Windows Media Connect software to your PC. When you are done, Select Media on your Dashboard, and then select music from your PC. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish Windows Media Connect setup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.2. Pictures - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you want to watch your digital pictures on your TV? Think how fun it is to show everybody those pictures of your brother when he cried after you beating him in Perfect Dark Zero? There are two ways to show pictures with your X-Box 360. 1. From USB. Connect your Digital camera or memory stick and you can stream the pictures from it. It supports the bmp, gif,jpeg, jpg, png, tif and tiff format. 2. From PC. Stream it from your XP SP2 PC or XP Media Center Edition 2005. Connect your X-Box 360 to your home network and you can stream your pictures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.2.1 Official Supported Cameras - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the official Supported Cameras. More can work, and more will be added later. Casio: QV-4000, EX-S100, EX-Z55. Canon: PowerShot SD 200 Elph, PowerShot SDA520, PowerShot A95, PowerShot S1 IS, IXY 50 (Japan). Fujifilm: FinePix 2600Zoom, FinePix 2800Zoom, FinePix 1300, FinePix 2400Zoom, FinePix 4700 Zoom, FinePix 6800Zoom, Finepix 6900 Zoom, FinePix A101, FinePix 4800Z, FinePix 4900 Zoom, Finepix S602 Zoom, FinePix 30i, E550. HP: Photosmart 315, Photosmart 735, Photosmart 935. Kodak: Easyshare DX4330, Easyshare CX7430, Easyshare DX 4900, DX3600, DX3215. Nikon: Coolpix 2500, Coolpix 5600, Coolpix 4800, Coolpix E7900. Olympus: D-40 Zoom, D-510 Zoom, D-520 Zoom, C-4040 Zoom, C-60 Zoom, U Mini- Digital S (TruePic Turbo), M:Robe, X-500, C-700 Ultra Zoom, C720 Ultra Zoom, D-100, D-370, D-380, D-550 Zoom. Panasonic: DMC-FX8. Samsung: Digimax V50, Digimax 4010. Sony: DSC-P9, Cyber-shot DSC-M1, Cyber-shot DSC-V3, DSC-P31, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1, Cyber-shot DSC-P73, Cyber-shot DSC-T7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.2.1.1 Unofficial Supported Cameras - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canon Powershot Pro1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.2.2 How The Heck Do I Stream Pictures From USB? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Step by Step guide to stream from USB. 1. Set up your digital camera for viewing pictures. See your camera instructions for details about how to view pictures. 2. With your console turned on, use a USB cable to connect your camera to a USB port on the console. 3. The console will detect your digital camera. Follow the on-screen instructions to access your pictures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.2.3 How The Heck Do I Stream Pictures From my PC? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You need a PC with XP SP2 or A Windows Media Center-based PC. First you need to connect your PC with your X-Box 360 in the same network. You can do this with a Ethernet connection from the Ethernet port on the back of your X-Box 360, or with a wireless network. Then you must go to www.xbox.com/pcsetup and download/setup the Windows Media Connect software to your PC. When you are done, Select Media on your Dashboard, and then select pictures from your PC. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish Windows Media Connect setup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.3 Use DVDs and CDs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section will probably not be read by many people, but stay, it has some nice info after all. FOr example, use burned CDīs with MP3 ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.3.1 DVD Movies and Audio CDs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open the disc tray. Place the disc on the disc tray with the label facing up (to the right if the unit is vertical). Close the tray. The DVD movie or audio CD will begin playing. Can somebody look if Audio DVDīs are supported? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.3.2 Burned Music CDs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open the disc tray. Place a CD-R or CD-RW containing MP3 and/or WMA media on the disc tray with the label facing up (to the right if the console is vertical). Close the tray. Go to the Media area of the Xbox Dashboard. Select Music, Current Disc. To play all tracks on the CD, select either Play All or Add to Current playlist. If you have an existing playlist open, Add to Current Playlist will append all tracks on your current CD to that playlist. Selecting Play All will clear a current playlist and create a new one consisting of all the files on the current CD. Can somebody look if a burned DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW with MP3 and/or WMA media are supported? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.3.3 Burned Picture CDs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems that it only supports discs with JPEG files... Open the disc tray. Place a CD-R or CD-RW containing JPEG files on the disc tray with the label facing up (to the right if the console is vertical). Close the tray. Go to the Media area of the Xbox Dashboard. Select Pictures, Current Disc. Pictures are shown alphabetically by file name. To watch a slideshow composed of all JPEG files on the CD, select Play Slideshow. To view a specific picture, use the controllerīs left stick to highlight the picture you want to see and then press A. While viewing a slideshow or a single image, use the left stick to call a toolbar with the following controls: Pause (only at a slideshow) Skip back one picture (not working on one picture) Stop (only at a slideshow) Skip forward one picture Shuffle pictures (only at a slideshow) Repeat slideshow (only at a slideshow) Rotate image clockwise Rotate image counter-clockwise Can somebody look if a burned DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW with JPEG files are supported? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.3.4 Burned Music And Picture CDs - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open the disc tray. Place a CD-R or CD-RW containing MP3/WMA/JPEG files on the disc tray with the label facing up (to the right if the console is vertical). Close the tray. To listen to the music, go to the Media area of the Xbox Dashboard. Select Music, Current Disc. To see pictures, go to the Media area of the Xbox Dashboard. Select Pictures, Current Disc. Can somebody look if a burned DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW with music/JPEG files are supported? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.4 Movies - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry guys, this is in next update >_> But I can tell that you need a Windows Media Center 2005-based PC to stream movies to your 360, and it seems to only support: Video: Windows Media Video (WMV) 7, WMV 8, and WMV 9. Maximum resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p). Windows Media Audio Standard or Windows Media Audio Pro audio. WMV content may be Windows Media DRM-protected. MPEG-1 with MPEG-1 layer I or II audio. MPEG-2. Maximum resolution of 1920x1080 (1080i). AC-3 or MPEG-1 layer I or II audio. WMV Image 1 (Photo Story 1 & 2), and WMV Image 2 (Photo Story 3). Audio: Windows Media Audio (WMA) 7 through WMA 9. WMA Standard content may be Windows Media DRM-protected. WMA Professional. WMA Professional content may be Windows Media DRM-protected. WMA Lossless. Windows Media DRM protected WMA Lossless is not supported. MP3. Other formats that have a DirectShow decoder installed on the host computer that outputs pulse code modulation (PCM) audio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9.5 Dashboard Themes - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press the Guide button, Personal Settings, then Themes. So easy is it to change Dashboard Themes o_O =============================================================================== = 10. The rest = =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 10.1. FAQ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q001 - Your FAQ sucks! A - Then read another one or make one yourself. Q002 - You canīt play games on a Core system! A - Yes you can. You canīt save without adding a memory card or a harddrive. And you canīt play X-Box 1 games. But you can still play most X-Box 360 games. Q003 - I canīt register on Xbox Live, HELP!!!! A - You are trying to register or transfer you account on the launch day. At the same time as another million American users. This means that the server got so hammered so it goes down from time to time. Try again later, and call the support. Q004 - I got a Core system and bought a harddrive. Itīs installed but it doesīnt work. Help me!!! A - It seems that some Core owners with a harddrive have a problem. The harddrive seems to work, but they canīt install MP3īs, photos or make a gamer profile. As now there seems to be no solution, so call the support. Q005 - What TV is best for X-Box 360? A - I have no idea, ask a seller. A TV that supports both 720p and 1080i cost more then a TV that supports only one of them. Q006 - WHERE CAN I BUY A XBOX 360?!?!?!?!? A - Look in the stores. Itīs a shortout now, because Microsoft have made so few units and wants a worldwide release. Q007 - Why are Microsoft giving away a million units to Paris Hilton? A - 9000 units was used in lottery. A few of these was giving away to Hilton & CO. All winners are humans, most gamers, so it exist as many 360 owners now as if they had been sold. Besides, 9000 units extra means that not every store will get even one extra. Q008 - Hideo said that Metal Gear Solid 4 will come to 360, is it true? A - Hideo Kojima said that the MGS4 Techdemo could easily be ported to X-Box 360. Not that he will do it. Q009 - My friend said that Rare will port Perfect Dark Zero to Revolution. Is it true, or is he a Nintendo fanboy? A - Rare said that they could port PDZ to Revolution without a problem. Some things would change, for example they would probably use the remote as a gun, making the game a little different to play. Q010 - X-Box 360 cost to much!!!! A - Microsoft are loosing money on every unit they sell. Think how much it will cost if they wanted to earn som money on each unit. Q011 - They are selling 360īs on ebay for 3050$!!! A - Supply and demand. This is how the world works. Q012 - How do I know if my TV supports HD? A - Read the manual. Use google. See if you have 5 inputs close to each other. Q013 - 3050$? A Premium was sold for 5100$!!! People are crazy!!!! A - See question 011. Q014 - Where is my free month of Live Gold? I canīt see any card? A - When you create a new profile, choose Xbox Live Silver, and it shall pop up that you will get a free month of Gold. If it doesīnt work, call the support. Q015 - Xbox is spelled Xbox, not X-Box!!! A - I know, but I like to spell it X-Box. My FAQ, my rules. Q016 - Where are the great graphics? It doesīnt look so great as I thought it would! A - First generation games are not even using 20% of the power in a unit. Besides, the 360 is using 3 cores. Making something run on 2 cores are hell, 3 is even worse. And think of the PS3, using 7 of them... Q017 - Where are my 20GB? I can only see 13!!! A - When you format a harddrive, you loose some space. This lost space is telling the unit what the stuff on the disk is. 13 is for the user to fill up, with pics, music, Live arcade and so on. 4 is "hidden" for gamesaves. the rest is for swap and lost. Q018 - I canīt copy music from my IPod! A - You can only stream music from a IPod. If the music is in MP3. No ACC here. Q019 - Where is the CD that allows me to play old X-Box games? A - Somewhere on Xbox.com in a near future. Q020 - My 360 stopped working!!! A - Are you blocking the ventilation holes? Have you placed your unit in a hot place? Call the support. Q021 - When is a new shipment coming? A - If you are lucky, before X-Mas. If you are unlucky, in January. Q022 - Why are Microsoft selling units in Japan and Europe instead of selling to everybody that wants one in USA first? USA ROX!!! A - 1. They want a release before X-Mas. X-Mas means more units sold. 2. Europe and Japan are paying even more for the units then what USA are doing. This means that Microsoft are not loosing as much money on each unit they sell outside USA. 3. The place down under are not getting it until March. Q023 - Microsoft are tricking you all, they are holding back many units! A - The shortage is true. Why would Microsoft hold back so many units if they knew that every unit they release before X-mas will sell? Q024 - Why are people doing so crazy stuff to get a X-Box 360? A - What crazy stuff? Buying it on ebay for thousands of dollar? Trying to rob stores on units? Trying to steal units from kids? Smashing windows because stores are not selling them one? Yes it exist examples of all these things. Why? Because they believe they will feel like a God if they have one on the Launch day. And they can tell their friends that havīnt got any unit that they are better then them. Q025 - I GOT MY XBOX 360!!!! I JUST HAD TO WAIT A WHOLE NIGHT OUTSIDE THE STORE IN COLD RAIN AND NO FOOD!!!! IM A GOD!!!! A - Nice for you. Q026 - Why didīnt you write anything about this or that? A - Because Iīm lazy. Thank you, now I must do a update. Q026 - How do I change themes on the dashboard? A - Push the Guide button on your controller and go to Personal Settings. Q027 - You said somewhere in you're guide that xbox 360 have sold out in most stores around America. Do you happen to know how much consoles were originally planned for the release date? Eg 2 million units? A - The numbers Iīve heard are that they released around one million units in USA. No idea how many of each sort it was. Iīve also heard that UK will only get 50.000 or 500.000 units at launch day, depending on where you read it. But I have no official numbers, seems impossible to find that. Q028 - You mentioned that Japan will only have 11 xbox games that are BC. Does that include Australia? I was kinda hoping 200 games being BC would apply for Australia as well as America loll. A - Microsoft have only released eleven games on the list, but they will probably add more before the Japanese launch (at least I hope so). My guess is that the Australian BC list will probably be the same as the European list. I guess so because we both have the same TV standard and the Australian xbox.com seems to list the same list. But what worries me about Australian is that if you look at the Australian version of xbox.com (www.xbox.com/en-AU) and look at Games - All Games, it seems that no games will have HDTV Support o_O I hope this is a error on the page. Q029 - I was reading your guide, and found it very informative. However, when I began reading what you were saying about 1080i being better than 720p. I understand you probably aren't an enthusiast, and I don't mean to insult you, because anyone with any knowledge of HD knows 720p>1080i. Especially when it comes to video games, with a great deal of fast moving objects, 720p reigns supreme. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=720p&oldid=28937514 Read up. A - Thanks. It is interesting reading, and we can all be wrong sometimes. I still believe that 1080i is better on smaller TVīs and 720p is better on on bigger TVīs. Itīs up to each user to see it for themself what they like most, so I demand that every user of a X-Box 360 look for themself what they like most. ...if they have a TV or monitor that supports it. Q030 - Hey man I read your FAQ and I really couldn't find anything that tells me how to put videos on the 360 hard drive. Is it possible to do that? A - Right now it seems that nobody knows how to do with movies. It seems that we canīt do it yet, but you are supposed to be able to stream it from your XP PC with Windows Media Connect. But that also seems to not work so well yet... So to be honest, have no idea yet. Q031 - Hello! My name is Mr.X and I love your guide. I love it so much so I want it on my site @ xyz.com. I have 250.000+ visitors every day. Can I host it? A - I have a policy to only host my stuff at CheatCC these days, because Iīm so lazy. So Iīm saying no, but you can use it as a base if you want, if you rewrite bigger parts of it and put the name Foppe somewhere in the credz ;) Q032 - Is Using the 360 or xbox to play dvd (movies) will reduce the life of the drive? A - It shall not do it. But since we havīnt tried it that much yet, we arīnt 100% sure about it, just 83%. Q033 - I read all the questions in your FAQ, but to be honest, I didn't read the ENTIRE thing, but I did read a heafty portion of it looking for the answer to this question; I can only seem to sonnect two controllers at once. Help! Thank you very much. A - This is a question that Iīve got a lot. To connect your wired controller, you need to use a USB port. The 360 have two USB ports in the front of the unit, and one on the backside. Now you will think that thatīs only 3 controllers. And you are correct. To use 4 controllers, you need at least one wireless. And if you want to stream music from one USB port, you need at least two wireless controllers. If you are using only wireless controllers and canīt get them to work, try to redo what you did to connect the first controller. With other words... Press and hold down the Xbox Guide button until the controller turns on. If your console is not on, press the Power button to turn on the console. Press and release the connect button on the console. Press and release the connect button on the controller. After the Ring of Light on the controller and console spin and flash once, the controller is connected. The quadrant that remains lit indicates the controller's position. And remember to insert the battery first. Q034 - When is the second shipment? A - It seems that the second shipment will be this Friday (25th November), with a new shipment every Friday. This is based on the info most stores are getting today (23rd). Itīs to early to know if this is rumors or truth. Q035 - WHere is the ACC codec you talked about? A - Use Xbox Live and go to Xbox Live Marketplace, then Game Downloads. Select All Games, Alphabetical List of Games. Select Optional iPod Support, download it and you can now listen to ACC files. Can only be downloaded one time for each gamer profile. Q036 - My X-Box 360 have stopped working, itīs just some red lights that works. Help me!!!!!! A - Those red lights tells you whatīs wrong, take a look in the manual. You can always try to remove all cables and put them in again. Be sure to put them in ALL the way in. Sometime you need to use some power to get it all in. If nothing works, call the support. Q037 - Does the premium bundle come with standard AV hookup or only the HD? A - Itīs a combination of the two. There is Red, Green, Blue, another Red and White for audio, and a Yellow added. To use it as a Composite, just put in the Red, White and Yellow. Q038 - Will playing the 360 on a non HD tv make it look like the old Xbox? Or will it still be super sexy graphics? A - It will look great, even without HD. Q039 - I tried out the backward compatabilty with Halo 2, but it said I had an important message from XBox Live and I needed to view it at the account management. I went to it and nothing showed up. What shall I do? A - It has to do with parental settings go to the dashboard, system settings, then family settings and mess around with the options. Q040 - Why didīnt you answer my mail or updated your FAQ? A - Because I have other things to do then to be online 24/7. Calm down and I will send you a mail. Q041 - why is the xbox 360 coming out on march 2 in australia why cant it come out before x-mas? A - Thatīs because Microsoft decided to release it in Australia / New Zealand the second March. Maybe they believed that they dad so few units to sell so they waited with the release down under until they was sure that everybody there would get one. Q042 - what online stuff is TOTALLY free? (i mean, is silver free?) A - Yes Xbox Live Silver is totally free. The only thing you need to pay is the internet bill. Q043 - Ive got a linksys wireless network card, will it work on my 360? A - To be honest, I have no idea. But you can look at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/connecttolive/webconnectivitywizard.htm if you get into trouble. Q044 - Are rechargeable AA batteries included with the wireless controller? A - Yes they are included. Q045 - Is there a way to directly connect your wireless controller to the 360, so you dont need batteries if you run out of batteries (i mean someting included) A - You need to buy a Play & Charge for this. With a Play & Charge you can connect your wireless controller to your X-Box 360 and charge the batteries in the controller. The batteries must still be in the controller. Q046 - Will it look better on a 17" monitor or on a 27" 480i tv? Is the VGA thingy included? A - You can run your games at 1080i on your monitor, so you get a higher resolution in a smaller place. It is really hard to say, since it does look better, but it is a smaller space, so you have to decide it yourself if itīs worth to do it. You must buy the VGA cable separatly. Q047 - Why are you always using 83%? (if you dont feel like answering then dont, the question is not pertinent anyway...) A - 83%? Do do mean the version number? I do know that there are so much that I could include, which I probably will include sometime in the future, so thatīs why Iīm putting the version number at 80-90 now. I want the FAQ to be mostly complete before I give it a 1.00-number. Q050 - Read the questin: Wich resolution is 720p using? A - 720p is using the 1280 x 720 resolution. Q051 - I just wanted to know if we could play Japanese games on a U.S 360 and vice versa. Rock on! A - You are not supported to do it, but people seems to have discovered that some US games are working great on Japanese units. Did they rush out the games so they forgot to add a region lock on them? Or was it a nice thing they did with the early released games? Call of Duty 2, Condemned, Gun, and Tony Hawk: American Wasteland are the games that seems to not have any region locks, maybe something for European gamers to test? Q052 - I am having problems connecting 2 differnt computers to the 360, my wife and my computer are both on the network, and we each have our own music on the PC's and want to use them to play. But my computer is the only one to ever show up. Any ideas, or can you confirm that its only 1 pc at a time? A - I have no idea. I think itīs strange that it only will support one PC. I know that itīs possible to have two X-Box 360 to share different media from the same PC, but I have no idea with more then one PC. Q053 - Is there a way to save the music and/or pictures on the 360 from your computer, instead of streaming them? That way when i go to other peoples house i have my music and pictures to use. A - You can save music from Audio CDīs, but not from MP3 CDīs. I guess Microsoft thought that there was a bigger chance that MP3 CDīs was more illegal then Audio CDīs. As for pictures, I donīt think so. I know that the 360 can read JPEGīs from a CD but I donīt think you can save them. Q054 - I really need to know which is the best Highspeed internet service to get for Xbox live. I know the differences in the prices but my problem consists of a different issue. it involves speed. If I get Verison DSL, it will be 50x faster than dialup. If I get Optimum online, it will be 150x faster than dialup! And in worse case sceneario, if I get Direct-way(DirectTV service) it will be 50x faster than dialup. but much more expensive. What I want to know is if I get a slower system, such as DSL, how will it affect my gameplay while on X-box live? Will it slow it down? Or will it be the same? And is Direct-way X-box live compatiable????? A - Dial-up (for example, 56K), ISDN, and satellite Internet services are not supported by Xbox Live. DSL or Cable are working great. The difference between using a DSL and something faster while playing Xbox Live shall be nothing at all. The game shall run as fast on each connections. The only difference I can think of is that you can have more heavily downloads with your PC at the same time as you play Xbox Live without eventually laggy gameplay if you have a higher Internet connection. So take it easy with all anime downloads while you play Xbox Live ;) Direct-way as in the company or as in putting the internet directly into your Xbox? If it is the company that sends Internet with your satellite disk, they are not on the official list of "Internet providers that supports Xbox Live" and Iīve heard stories about people having problem using Live with them. If you mean if the 360 is compatible with "Internet directly to the unit with no PC between" then yes, you can do it. Q055 - I've been playing Need For Speed: Most Wanted for a couple days and got about 5 accomplishments unlocked. The only problem was that it was on my offline account but I wanted to put it on my online account. I tried moving it to my online account and did, but the accomplishments didn't show up. The saved game moved and works on the online account, it's just that the accomplishments didn't. I was wondering if there was anyway that this could be possible, and if so, how? A - Honestly, I have no idea. Have you tried to start a new game with your online account, using it when you play offline and unlock some accomplishments? Q056 - does Project Gotham Racing 3 have co-op (It is listed in your guide as having it.)? I picked this game up on launch day, and so far I haven't seen the ability to do co-op, nor does it say that you are able to do it on the back of the game. If I'm wrong, could you tell me how to access this feature? A - I got my information from the official Xbox.com so I think itīs strange that itīs not correct. ...but they are also listing Tony Hawk as a singleplayergame that have coop, how can you have coop with one player? *looking* Ah, thatīs the problem. Your friend needs to have a profile on your 360. Sign him in, then choose the non-career races, and the second person should be able to join. I hope... Q057 - only thing i wanna say about the xbox 360 is that some of them crash after first use there have been reports of people playing it one day, turning it off and the next day they go to turn it on and it won't turn on. A - Yes Iīve heard strange stories about crashing units. Iīll dig deeper into it and add a Crashing-section in the next or nextnext update. Q058 - whats ACC? and can it play all old xbox games or just the ones you listed? Also why does it only play the games you listed A - ACC is a file format that Apple uses for their IPod. See it as another sound format, like MP3, MP2, Wav, OGG and so on. You can only play those games listed because Microsoft emulates the older games with software (like playing Snes roms on your PC) instead of emulate them with hardware (like the PS2 does with PS1-games). Instead of making a big emulator, they make many small emulators that only plays one game each. This means that they need to make a new emulator for each new game. This means that you doesīnt need to download the whole emulator each time they have added a new game, and they can make each emulator to emulate just that game nicely, instead of making a new game crash/making it impossible to play some other game, which can be the case with a big emulator. Microsoft are working on adding more games in the future. The fastest way to see is to insert your Xbox game into the 360, wait for the "Please insert a Xbox or 360 game", go to Xbox Live marketplace and it will show you a download if itīs done. If you donīt have Xbox Live, you can look at xbox.com for a download to your PC, so you can burn it and install it. Or letting them send a CD for a small price. Q059 - hey man i got a ? I was wondering i got the x box 360 and i got 4 wire controllers. I found 3 spots to put them in is there a 4th? A - You must have at least one wireless controller to have 4 controllers. Q060 - ŋ QUE VAS A PERDER SI PRUEBAS ? Siguiendo los pasos que proponen es de lo mas facil GANAR DINERO ^___^ A - ... Q061 - I saw that your guide said that with Xbox Live Gold, I could play select Xbox Live Xbox games. Does this mean I can't play Xbox Live Xbox games with Silver? A - You can not play games on Xbox Live without a Xbox Live Gold account. As a Silver member, you can try it with "Preview Xbox Live Gold during free weekend trials", but I have no idea when that is or how often it is. Q062 - What theme are you using on your Dashboard? A - None. I do not even own a X-Box 360, and I have no plans gettign one in the future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 10.2. Credits - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Provide credit where it is due." Microsoft - For making the X-Box 360 Xbox.com - The official site. Joystiq.com - One of the best places for online news. Danny Yu - For finding some bad errors. Paul - For lettign me know that Canon Powershot Pro1 works with the 360. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 10.3. Legal Information - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This information is provided "as-is". Use of any information in this document is entirely at your own risk. Neither the Author, or any site hosting this document is liable for any damage you cause to your X-Box 360, PC, animal or anything else after reading this document. You can find the latest versions of this FAQ at Cheat Code Central (www.cheatcc.com). The following sites have permission to use this guide: http://www.CheatCC.com If you see another site using my guide and it is not listed here, please contact me with the title "Faq stealing". 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Please appreciate that I am a very busy person, with a business to run, so if I don't reply promptly, please don't be upset. Any email that does not comply with these rules will most likely be deleted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 10.5. Version Information - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.88: Just updating the FAQ section and 10.3. Legal Information. And some errors. 0.87: More questions in the FAQ, more info about Australia (!!!), added a new section called 9. Media. 0.85: Seems that the FAQ section was lost...and a lot of useless space... Updated. 0.80: Everything!