Big Joe's Blog » Gaming

New Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster plays both real and virtual guitar

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:58:35 +0000

Mad Catz and Squier’s are introducing a new Rock band 3 Stratocaster Pro guitar controller that, well, allows you to simultaneously play Rock Band 3 on Pro Expert and rock the same tune through an amplifier. Sounds good huh. Click below for details.

Courtesy of Engadget

Read Here

New US Xbox 360 service website launched

bigjoe — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 03:53:44 +0000

Microsoft just launched a new website for US Xbox 360 owners who have to send their console in for repair. The new website, service.xbox.com, allows US console owners to register a box, attach a Windows Live ID, schedule a repair and track a repair status. The site will also keep keep tabs on your warranty as well as give you $5 credit towards an “Out-of-Warranty” repair just for signing up. The new automated repair website should make dealing with customer service a little more bearable and give those who have to send their 360 away some amount of control.

Speaking of which, we so have to shoot Richard an email about this new service.xbox.com website. Kidding! He already knows about it …

[Via Gamerscore Blog]

Ten New Titles Approach the Xbox Live Arcade Horizon

bigjoe — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:42:41 +0000

Microsoft has yet to announce an Xbox Live Arcade release for tomorrow, all but confirming a second straight week of, well, nothing (unless you count Lumines add-ons). Perhaps to offset our prolonged disappointment, Microsoft sends word that 10 new titles are “approaching” the virtual download service. M’kay…

Beginning in February (not necessarily the 7th), either 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures, Alien Hominid HD, Band of Bugs (NinjaBee’s fast-paced strategy game), Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Catan, Eets: Chowdown, Luxor 2 (Zuma clone), Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, or Worms will begin a new wave of eclectic offerings, which may or may not unfold during consecutive Wendesdays. It’s a jumbled heap that Microsoft isn’t ready to sort out for us. Frustrating as that may be, Microsoft suggests we take solace in the simple comfort that “every Wednesday [regardless of a game release or lack thereof] is an opportunity to share in the Xbox Live Arcade experience with friends and family.” Nah, just gave us new games – on time!

HowTo: Custom Black 360 Controller

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:36:05 +0000

Once the presents have all been unwrapped and the guests have all gone home, there’s no better way to while away the holidays than potentially dangerous DIY projects. Alcaron over at Alcaron’s Projects (weird place to find him, huh?) has posted a guide to coloring your Xbox 360 controller that involves dangerous fumes, potential melting, and chemical bonding processes. If you can’t fatally screw this one up you’ve got issues.
Pretty nice results! The trick is substituting paint with Plastikote vinyl dye, which costs about $5 and is absorbed into the plastic, avoiding the buildup you get with a paint application. Alcaron has posted a step by step guide on his site, though of course it’s always more amusing to gather the parts and try to figure it out for yourself. Michael Fahey

Noir 360 – Wireless Controller [Alcaron's Projects - Thanks to Her Royal Highness Chilly, Empress of All Games]

Install an SATA drive in your 360

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:34:27 +0000

Xbox modders extraordinaire, Xbox-Scene, have posted a method for installing an SATA hard drive into your 360. Before you run out to buy a 100GB hard drive to slap into your 360, you should know there are a few caveats. First, it must be a Western Digital BEVS brand hard drive. Second, you’re still limited to 20GB of space (essentially, the hack copies the ID information from an official hard drive). Also, it’s not a one click solution, so you’ll need some technological know-how to make this work. In fact, just looking at the instructions makes us nervous. Still, if you’ve got the L337 5K1LLz and you don’t want to waste 100 bucks on an official Microsoft drive, you may want to check it out.

It’s worth noting that when Microsoft releases a larger hard drive, the hack will be able to utilize the same amount of space. Hit the “read” link for all the details.

Source

LiveEye keeps track of your gaming habits

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:32:24 +0000

Ever wanted to see what games you played, when, for how long, and what you achieved? The fellas over at 360FriendSpot whipped up a website that does just that called LiveEye. You’ll have to sign up for the service, but once you do you’ll be able to see all your stats in bar graph form and even other LiveEye users. Now you have an accurate representation of how many days you’ve spent (or wasted …) on your favorite 360 game. Enjoy.

[Via Digg]

Rumor: Achievements Unlocking Rewards for Gamers?

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:31:10 +0000

Deacon Blade of Unscripted360 broke a very interesting story this morning. Apparently, he and some fellow MVPs came across at “torn document” that contained intriguing ideas for the future of the Xbox 360, and more importantly, its Achievement and gamerscore system. According to Deacon, Xbox is working alongside sponsors to initiate a program in February to reward gamers for their Achievements. Participation is free of charge, and the number of prizes are limited, although you will need to register to get in. We don’t know if this will be limited to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, or open to Silver as well, but don’t be surprised if only paying customers are eligible. Gamesaving was also brought up on the document as a “top priority”, and will supposedly be taken care of.

All in all, the release of this information seems a little fishy. It’s very likely that Microsoft gave the go ahead for its high ranking community members to give a few tidbits of information without revealing much more than the concept. Deacon, and the others at the event probably know more than they’re letting on regarding the program, and just want to leave people wanting more and thus building hype. Well, it’s working. We’re excited about this opportunity for casual and hardcore gamers alike to get free stuff for playing games, what about you? And how do you expect Microsoft to circumvent the current, albeit neutered, gamesaving from exploiting the idea of rewards?

Source

Xbox Live Underachieves?

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:25:53 +0000

Xbox Live is, without a doubt, the best iteration we’ve ever seen of the things it tries to be. However I am haunted but its shortcomings and failures, and eagerly await someone – even Microsoft – to capitalize on the limitless potential of the merging of social environments with gaming culture.

Source

State of the 360 Fanboy Union

bigjoe — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:24:35 +0000

Taking a cue from our president, eToychest writer Chris Chester delivers his State of the 360 Fanboy Union Address for 2007, and explains why the future of Microsoft’s console is looking exceptionally bright.

Source

Xbox 360 HDD cache clear code discovered

bigjoe — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:51:12 +0000

HEXUS.gaming reports that a cache clear code has been discovered for the Xbox 360 hard drive via the dashboard's system blade. To perform the function, access 'memory' in the system blade, and then highlight the hard drive. Now press: Y, X, X, LB, RB, X, X. The following message should appear: "Do you want to perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices?"

If you initiate maintenance, the hard drive's cache will be cleared, including all software updates. Theoretically, this function could be used to un-update Oblivion in order to regain access to the unlimited gold and item duplication glitches.