Xbox 360 Reviews and New Releases

Its finally happened, just four months after release, it seems the XBox 360 has now been officially hacked to play backup XBox 360 software. A group of hackers, headed by a guy affectionaly known as TheSpecialist have found a way to use an exploit on the firmware of the DVD drive, of all things.

Although not officially released yet by the group, the information on how to carry out the firmware hack will no doubt begin to filter out onto the internet at some point very soon. A video clip has been released which shows the group loading a backup copy of PGR 3 into the hacked XBox 360 and then booting the unit up. After a few seconds and a little bit of DVD lens activity, the game springs to life with not so much as an XBox 360 mod chip in sight!

Having looked closely at the video myself, it has be said, it looks genuine and there is no good reason to doubt its authenticity. The video clip shows the disk being loaded, then the XBox 360 being booted up and then the camera slowly pans up, following the line of the video cable from the XBox and to the TV set without any special effects or camera cuts.

A statement from Microsoft stated that the security of the XBox 360 is second to none and it would leave hackers completely baffled. They almost went as far as to state that the XBox 360 was un-hackable. Of course, this is a foolish thing to do, as it only encourages more hackers to attempt the challenge and gain the status that goes with such an achievement. Just four months after the XBox 360 is released, we seem to have seen its first hack. Im sure there will be many more XBox 360 hacks to follow, possibly also with the release of the long awaited XBox 360 mod chips.

If the claims that the video and information about this hack are true, this is set to wipe the smug grin completely off Microsoft's face. What MS seem to forget is that although they are the richest company on the planet, and therefore can afford to employ some of the worlds best boffins, that doesnt mean to say that they are the only smart guys in this world. Some people do it for high wages... but some do it just for kicks.

Microsoft were left with egg on their face having claimed the security on the original XBox console was tight, yet a short time after release, we saw the first devices which could bypass Microsoft's security measures and allow playback of imported and backup games on the XBox. Of course, there are legal implications with this.


Watch this space for the latest on the hacking of the XBox 360 console as this is set to rock the gaming world. You can find more XBox 360 accessories here:

http://www.uk-consoles.co.uk/shop/xbox-360-c-22.html


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You can check the latest news on Hacking the XBox 360

Barry - UK Consoles
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In a recent issue of Time magazine, Microsoft's hard-hitting billionaire announced his battle plan for sparring with Sony in the next generation console wars of the entertainment industry.

His weapon? The sequel to Bungie/Microsoft megahit, which has pulled in a staggering amount of sales, selling well over 6 million copies to date, the space Epic that will hit shelves with the title:

Halo 3.

Bill Gates was positively glowing when he announced that Halo 3 was going to pose big problems for Sony and the rival system to the XBOX 360, the Playstation 3. On the launch date for the PS3, Bill Gates plans to release Halo 3 on the raving masses, and he expects this to be a solid blow to the Xbox's cheif competitor.

Said Gates, "The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], they walk right into Halo 3."

Unlike the original "Halo", which was on the epic flagship lineup for the original Xbox, Halo 3 will be a part of what Microsoft considers "the all important second-wave".

Will it be a death blow? Probably not. But rest assured, this move is throwing the console war into high gear. Sony Executives and stockholders have a lot to worry about, and in the coming months we should really see things heating up.


About the Author
SEVEN is a mysterious and influential member of the Microsoft and Bungie Community. He has recently set up a Halo forum and a Halo 3 forum for members to discuss the latest bungie happenings.

All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. This article takes an in depth look at how the two systems compare.

Graphics: Everyone has seen an Xbox and a PS2 in action and we are all waiting to see which of the two next generation consoles for the two systems will have the edge when it comes to graphics. We have all seen the screenshots of the games on the two systems but what about actual gameplay graphics. Despite the hot debate, when you look at the numbers the two systems use a different but equally effective method of delivering graphics processing power. The XBOX uses a custom ATI processor with 48 graphics pipelines and the PS2 has a custom NVIDA graphics processor with an estimated 24 pipelines. The numbers are misleading because the PS2 piplines are more powerful than the XBOX pipelines. In the end the two different graphics processors will deliver about the same amount of power, we can expect to see impressive results from both sides.

Games: Both systems have several franchise titles such as Halo2 for the XBOX and Gran Tourismo for the PS2 that you will see in the next generation systems, but what other games can you expect to see. If you are a fan of genres such as role playing that are dominated by Japanese and other foreign developers such as Square, you should look forward to the PS3. There is no indication that the XBOX 360 is going to gain much more support from foreign developers and buyers than the original XBOX. An article on GameSpot.com reports that only two percent of Japanese gamers are interested in buying an XBOX 360, with sixty percent looking forward to the PS3 and eight percent to the Nintendo Revolution. Overall you can expect to see more games on the PS3 than the XBOX 360, reflecting the selection for the current generation systems. Only time will which console will have the quality of games which all of us are been expecting

Media Type: Will the media storage type be a factor in the quality of the games? Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is Sony's next high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will be stored on the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs. The Xbox 360 games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which store 9 gigs. Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more data, but at the current stage of game development, any game developed will fit just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is not a major factor but one that may come into play later on.

Processing Power: How do the two systems compare when looking at brute processing power? The PS3 uses a Cell processor with a PowerPC-based core with seven synergistic processing units while the Xbox comes with a Custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three dual-threaded cores that can handle six total threads at a time. An important comparison to look at is the number of dot product calculations per second the systems can perform. The reason this number is important is because it is used extensively during gameplay in 3d math to calculate various things such as vector lengths, projections, transformations, and more. Both systems are clocked at 3.2 Ghz. The PS3 can handle 51-billion dot product operations per second and the Xbox can handle 33.6. There is a debate over which system has more brute processing power and these numbers can be confusing to the average person, but overall it seems that the PS3 has an edge over the Xbox when it comes to overall processing power.

Media Type: Since PS3 is owned by Sony and BLUray is Sony's next high definition storage medium, the PS3 games will be stored on the BLUray discs which hold approximately 54 gigs. The Xbox 360 games will be stored on Double Layer DVDs which store 9 gigs. Obviously the BLUray discs can store a lot more data, but at the current stage of game development, any game developed will fit just as well on the 9 gig DVDs, so this is not a major factor but one that may come into play later on.

Games: When considering games, you have to look at the XBOX and the PS2. The XBOX is very popular in the US and has a few great franchise games such as Halo, but the PS2 has an international reach and several popular game franchises such as Gran Tourismo that the XBOX has yet to beat. The XBOX 360 will need to appeal to foreign game developers and consumers to compete with the PS3. Only time will which console will have the quality of games which all of us are been expecting

Controllers: The controllers on the two systems retain the basic shape from the original systems with some modifications. The PS3 controller has the most dramatic change; it has a streamline shape that looks more like a stealth airplane than a game controller. The XBOX controller is basically the same shape as the previous system with a different color scheme. From the pictures released, it seems the XBOX controller will be more comfortable and natural to use. The PS3 controller looks like it would just slip out of your hand but we will not know how the controllers feel during actual gameplay until we get our hands on them.


About the Author
Tony James is an author and webmaster. He currently runs the website Freeware Games.net