What Are The Actual XBox 360 Faults?

Ok there are two apparent problems with the XBox 360 that have been causing the problems we've been hearing about over the past week. Problems such as the crashing of games and compatibility issues.

The major problem is the Power Supply. Not giving it enough room for ventilation causes it to overheat - now that's a definite problem as we could all set ourselves on fire. People have resorted to dangling them from string and whatnot - we're just going to create a special greenhouse for ours and leave it outside.

Now - the other problem. We lied. There's not one, there's about another fifty odd, the other problem is the culmination of many others and can be found here at ActiveWin.

What is the list? It's Microsoft's complete support knowledgebase article list for the XBox 360 and contains problems like:

Xbox 360: You cannot see or play previously downloaded premium content when you are not signed in to Xbox Live how annoying!

Xbox 360: You cannot recover, migrate, or manage your Xbox Live account: The password that you entered is incorrect doh!

Xbox 360: You cannot complete account migration until you enter your Passport Network credentials (yup seems you need to have a passport account to use live!)

Xbox 360: Closed captioning does not appear when mute is turned on how funny!

Xbox 360: The power supply light is not illuminated We have many answers for this, try turning the console on!

Xbox 360: The screen freezes Shit! They're not talking about what happens to your car in winter either!

Xbox 360: Console automatically turns off AAAAAH!

Xbox 360: DVD movie does not play correctly Nothing new here!

Xbox 360: Four lights flash red on the Ring of Light You're fucked!

Xbox 360: Three red lights flash on the Ring of Light You're not too fucked!

Xbox 360: The console automatically restarts Nooooo!

Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 Memory Unit is not listed as a storage device Pointless!

Xbox 360: The display is unclear when you use the Xbox 360 with a television display Thats going to cause a few problems...

Maybe this is why those guys smashed that XBox?
Still don't get it.

XBox 360 UK Countdown T-04 Days - Justification of Purchase

By all rights I should not be excited about the XBox 360.

I don't remember if I was the only one at work that day when the first XBox came out that was putting out messages of doom to each person who purchased one, but I did it. I did not like the console or the prospect of it until a year later when Live appeared and the limited green console was launched.

As a gamer I should have loved the console. Halo is an amazing game, it had an incredible Buffy game - and for gods sake DEAD OR ALIVE 3! To the day I have only put it down to my own stubbornness and odd Nintendo fanboyism as the reasoning to denouncing the machine. I had some problems with the PS2 and loved the DreamCast, and no quarms with Microsoft. To the day I am still one of their biggest defenders.

What I am getting at anyway is the justification of my upcoming purchase. I am looking especially forward to Friday when I shall hopefully collect my 360 and get to finally play a game I've wanted to play since June 28th 2000. Perfect Dark Zero, this is once again connected with the fanboy style roots but is also something I do believe has been shaken off in the past years.

It is almost a sense of console maturity that I can now appreciate other consoles without prejudice and dislike. I know I have my fair share of pops at Sony products but I do own a PS2 and PSBrick all the same but still do not have a PSP - thats more a justification on the monetary side. I do not believe it to be a worthwhile investment.

Which rounds up this article, which is longer than I intended it - there are hidden away in those paragraphs my reasons for getting the 360:

- A worthwhile investment, look at everything you're getting for your money - aside from the raw power of the console it has something which I love - Media Centre integration.
- Console Maturity - I may patent this term! I have a more mature stance at how I see videogames and their home platforms. Merely having one console will not give you a complete picture these days.
- An exciting future, I won't have an HD set on launch and will not have one for a while. But I will be able to go back and play the games I have come to love with a new experience.
- A great promising lineup of games. Halo 3 will come eventually, DOA4 should appear soon, and I hope to god Ninja Gaiden will not be my reasoning for buying a PS3. I can imagine we'll see exciting new titles from companies such as Rare - with the hope of them resurrecting old franchises like Killer Instinct and Battletoads. Who knows, maybe even a Perfect Dark remake?

Are these good enough reasons for getting a 360? Well I believe so! Let me know why you are getting / or have got yours, or why on earth you think you shouldn't!

Was That "Smash My XBox" Clip Actually Funny?

Lets be clear - we don't really care what American's do with their spare time or money when they aren't shooting down their own choppers in Iraq or running into schools with handguns. We are happy to take anything from them that they invent - such as the 360, maybe not their sturdy vehicles that don't like driving round corners...

We've watched the SmashMyXBox.com clip several times now in an attempt to try and raise a smile, even maybe at the guy who begs them to give him a controller from the set they smashed up.

Fail. Nothing, it just doesn't seem funny.

Why is this? Well to be frank we don't know, it's probably because we don't hate the console. It's likely those that do will be in hysterics watching it, but its old hat really - we've had god knows how many series of Jackass and Dirty Sanchez now to the point where nothing shocks us anymore.

I mean God bless the chaps who decided to donate them money, the irony is that the two that smash it up are the geekiest looking of people I've ever seen, the ones you'd expect to be lining up really wanting it. The one who buys it actually looks like a mini Bill Gates as it is. Could be his son trying to get noticed by Daddy?


Conspiracy theorists... on your marks... get set... GO.

If it was us we'd have taken the money, bought the XBox and run. Failing that we'd have smashed up a fake one - a shell or a mock up! The really sad thing is they're going to do it to a Revolution, by then it's really going to be old hat. Maybe we should start taking donations to smash the smashers...

What do you think people of the world? Are we once again alone in our opinion? Is it actually that funny or is it extremely sad that they sat out there for 55 hours just for another large anti climax in their lives?

Nintendo WiFi USB Dongle - Bloody Simple!

It's rare to get a piece of hardware for your PC and not need someone to come round and help you set it up or explain exactly what it is you've bought. This marvelous bit of kit from Nintendo and Buffalo does all the hard work for you!


Kev has no WiFi - Kev buys Mario Kart, Ratty has Wifi - Ratty buys Mario Kart. Problem: Kevin can't play Ratty unless he stands next to him. Ratty is already bruised after not giving Kev the toys he wanted for his Nintendog and doesn't want to stand next to him when he beats him at Mario Kart. Nintendo help... what can we do?

Bing! Nintendo tells Ratty to hop on down to the Videogames Centre in Bournemouth and pick up Kev his much needed WiFi adapter as an early Xmas pressie for him.

We are so amazed at how simple the little bugger is to setup. I went round Kev's to help him set it up because, contradictory to certain people's beliefs I actually AM A SOFTWARE ENGINEER and happen to know something about computers. This didn't matter, anyone who uses the computer to merely surf the internet or listen to a CD on their PC can set this up...

PROVIDED YOU HAVE WINDOWS XP - otherwise you're up shit creek and you have no arms

All you do is put the disk in, leaving the dongle unplugged, press next, or setup or something - its basically a one button operation - click it and go. Then wait until it tells you to plug in the dongle. Then it sets up Internet Connection Sharing and everything else by itself, no user intervention whatsoever. Finally when it's done a little Nintendo icon pops up in the system tray and when you connect your DS it partners with the PC and even knows your name - it reads it from the DS! Its wonderful!

I don't know how secure it is, during setup I don't recall seeing it say... "Setting up security bla" or anything similar. But it seems the Dongle may only let the consoles connect to it. Next time I am near one I'll try connecting to it with my WiFi phone if I remember to care.

Chaps without WiFi - get one, its just silly how easy it is to use!

Nintendo - bloody good show!

Ghost Recon 3 Could Be The Killer App We're Looking For

With people going on about Perfect Dark Zero not being the title thats going to be known as the Halo of the XBox 360 launch all eyes turn towards other 1st person titles like Quake 4. Which is great but we found that a bit dull.

OK Ghost Recon 3 isn't out till next year now but its looking absolutely amazing. C&VG have put up a video showing new AMAZING footage from the game and the levels of realism are incredible - even though the in game text reminds you its still work in progress. It does looks as though its going to be worth the wait, and the extra development time is making the game brill!

We haven't seen the night missions shown before now, they look great - the way people move look awesome and there's loads of A-Team style explosions. We get to blow shit up!

Internet Flooded With Tales Of 360 Crashes

Everywhere was talking about the wonders of the XBox 360 and now all we can see is people getting angry with it crashing...

Microsoft have called the incidents "isolated" and are offering out their technical support, but thats not going to help fat American child who just wants to get past the first level of Gotham and slag off every other human being on Live.


We hope our's doesn't crash next week, we were looking forward to playing against fat American child and calling his mum names. We made a child cry once, not in the Gary Glitter sense.

Here's a link to the now famous gallery hosting the pictures of crashed XBox's - which doesn't really look too different from when we put the disc in upside down in our XBox 180. Maybe thats the real problem.

Mario Kart DS Is Wonderful!

Yippee! A STUPID 2 days before launch in the UK we got our copy of Mario Kart from the states, we should've just waited for it to come out here.


BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! It's slick and amazing and I can happily say it's my fave Mario Kart yet. It's so easy to set up for online play - at least with my router anyway, I've just got off playing a couple of GP sessions with some people in the worldwide lobby. Gonna take it out later and find some hotspots - see if the stuff is true after all! Get yours this Friday - only £25!!!

So anyone in the UK wanna know anything about the compatibility - let us know in the comments. Think I pretty much covered it... American DS... American Mario Kart... English D-Link WiFi router... WEP Protection... IT WORKS

Well done Nintendo - 10 Kudos points!

Why Can't All Consoles Co-Exist?

Its the same old story of a man throwing himself under a tank, and while being seen by many and shocking every single one - he hasn't really made much of a difference to the overall cause.

He just made people stop and think for a moment.

We got off on the wrong front with blog thing Nintendo Centurm (oh if you have Internet Explorer, you're pretty much buggered - he only supports FireFox now) and to be perfectly honest we haven't considered going back in a long time. We don't know what, but something made us go back today and we felt shock and we did stop and think for a moment.


We were greeted with a full blown attack towards the XBox 360, driven purely by hatred for the machine and people who play it. Its such a shame because the site was OK, it had its ups and downs but it was going somewhere.

It fallen back down again now.

Why should we write this? Well we wouldn't normally but its because the chap who runs it is now verifying each comment posted, thus eliminating the freedom of speech. Much like the tank that runs over people. I know I am going to get blasted by him any moment now but I only hope sense is seen by not only him, but others who just can't look at other consoles and wonder what they could be playing. Why miss out on a fantastic experience?

Take a look at the post and see for yourself - am I wrong? I don't know anymore, its just distressing.

Excellent 11 Page XBox 360 Review

I am an avid reader of WinSuperSite written by Microsoft MVP Paul Thurrott, he writes some amazing articles and is very fair with comparisons to rival OS' and software.

He's written a lovely detailed review and is well worth the read. He looks at everything... EVERYTHING and even if you don't read the entire thing its worth checking out the final page for his final thoughts and reservations.

Cheers Paul!

Decent James Bond Game Hopes Destroyed

When EA announced that they'd be publishing Free Radical's games everyone quietly hoped that they'd do the right thing and ask them to have a go at using the now vast amounts of James Bond IP and make a decent game. One that say may reflect the wonder we all witnessed with Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64.

For those who forgot - Free Radical consist of Dr Doak and a few elite chaps who are responsible for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark who broke away from Rare before it became a part of the towering mass known as Microsoft.

Thing is they've just announced to the world that they're now getting Ubisoft to publish their next offering, which is currently unknown but could be Timesplitters 4. It does seem that the closest we'll ever get to a Goldeneye again is Timesplitters 2 now.

They do promise a Revolution title, which could end up being a port of whatever game they're making but we can hope it will use the controller to the max!

gritty

NTL Remove Console Service - Give Us 10MB Broadband Instead

I have 3MB broadband already, the 8MB Bulldog service looks shit and I've seen far too many people now get seriously pissed off with them to warrant moving.


Now my lovely letter has come in from NTL and they've told me

- I'm getting 10MB next month, 512kb Upload
- They're cutting the cost to £34.99 in Jan 2006
- The cap goes from 30GB to 75GB, which I've never noticed anyway and I download loads!

But then we get the weirdest, but most welcome spiel in the world:

"With the popularity of home networking there is less demand for our consoles gaming service. Therefore, as part of our new 10Mb Broadband service we are removing our XBOX and PS2 consoles services, and the £2 charge will be removed from your bill in December if you are on this service."

People never wanted the NTL gaming service to start off with - yeah lets pay you more money for doing nothing for us! Apart from that they plug some old games you can download like N64 / PS1 fave LEGO RACERS!

YESSSSS!!

Bournemouth's Got XBox 360 Demo Pods!

Get down to Gamestation or GAME in Commercial Road and play on a 360 now!

We've had a quick shot at each of the three games available to play:

- King Kong
- Call of Duty 2
- Kameo

All of them don't look as good as we'd hoped, but they're all jaggedy and look like a PS2 game in places - due to the Anti Aliasing not being on, at least that's what we've been told! We don't really care, we went through the entire Microsoft blurb on all of the different menu's that told us stuff we already knew.


We also pressed every single button on the controller and brings us to the best two things we experienced from the demo pods:

1) The Pads are nice, light and sexy - they're actually really good
2) The menus and startup sequence are FLASHY and slick and look good on the Samsung Hi Def tellys that come with the pod.

Want a review? Ok if we have to, here's a copy of a text message we sent a fellow XBox fan (well a PC geek who plays on their XBox maybe once a week, if someone else does) after we ran out of GameStation...

"360 plays nicely, pads are incredibly light, games slightly underwhelming, but they do seem to have anti aliasing turned off, dodgy. Menus look silky smooth! Sexy!"

Next time... we show you how to steal things from computer games shops

What IS Windows Live?

Bill has been talking about it during the XBox 360 launch... Its going to be Microsoft's attempt at making a simplistic version of all of its important web services. Its basically a direct attempt to googalise Microsoft but do it without ad support and make it integrated with all of their other stuff. Taking a successful brand extension - XBox Live - and applying the same logic to another brand, hoping that customers will notice the name similarity and find the two synonymous.

Messenger Live for example will eventually integrate with XBox live - something we've all been waiting for really.

Here's the Beta site for Windows Live, looking nice and tidy. Here's some ideas they have.

The best quote when they're talking about Messenger Live:

"plus new ways to connect and share documents with almost magical ease"

UPDATE - Spong have reported on Windows Live. Now, we're not picking on Spong - we never do. We just don't agree with half of the things they say...

Nowhere have we found anyone say that XBox Live is going to become Windows Live. Nowhere.

"Speaking on the eve of the Xbox 360 launch, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates outlined how Xbox Live would evolve into Windows Live, using Windows Messenger as a conduit. The Xbox team showed limited Live integration with Messenger back at E3 in 2003, and even that limited showing caused something of an outcry"

You can actually use Windows Messenger on the XBox, you just get the Media Center Extender from the states and use it on a modded or US console. The Windows Live ideal is much more than what has simply been said here, and will in reality be extended towards the XBox - not from it - using the features available from Windows Live on your XBox.

Desperately Trying To Not Talk About The XBox 360

It is actually impossible today to get away from ANYTHING XBox 360 related, the Internet is full of launch details from the US. This isnt fair for the following reasons:

- We don't get ours till next week
- We don't get ours till next week
- We don't get ours till next week

Anyone remember the Gamecube?

XBox Live Site Is Buggered Already

The consoles haven't even come out yet and we're getting problems...

Logging into My Live on live.xbox.com:


Trying to look at our GamerCard:


This could just be last minute hiccups with the wonderful Microsoft ASP.net enhanced site they're running or "upgrades" - WE DON'T KNOW

What we do know is that the more important parts of the Internet, (such as Eliza Dushku sites) are still in total, complete and utterly unstoppable operation. Thanks Internet.

Thinternet

Can Infinium Do Anything?

Another one has quit.

Saying that we can't remember if anyone else ever did quit the company but hey! We're the media!

Looking at the history of Infinium:

2002 - We hear about Infinium
2003 - Infinium launch a website
2003 Q4 - Infinium change their website
2004 - Infinium show a Phantom and some stuff that comes with it
2005 - Phantom should be launched
2006 - Phantom should be launched

We can see many things have happened and some are still to come, it has the ability to be a wonderful console because just like the XBox 360 - we don't know very much about it.

Where Is Our XBox 360 Camera?

Originally thought to be ready for launch with the console, I happened to notice in the sexy preview catalogue that the camera's been shoved back to next year. This is a little bit of a shame but its not really important, considering that we've heard nothing amazing about it that no other camera peripheral can do or is capable of.

There may be some Eye-Toy style games coming, one of which is already built into the Jeff Minter visualisation tool whereby your movement can control or interfere with the visualisations you see on screen. There's also the possibility of Namco-cam style faces appearing over your character in game - if they can advance that to live video and even the forbidden face mapping features we've been wanting since Perfect Dark, we could have a useful toy to look forward to.

Otherwise its just an alternative to looking at naked fat people on Internet chat rooms.

What Can The DS Teach Us About World Of Warcraft?

How to defend yourself or another if death occurs during play...

Someone is suing Blizzard because their kid died "as a cause of" playing World of Warcraft. The child in question jumped off a building, not sure if this is because he believed a gigantic eagle would save him, or if he was enchanting as he fell...

His parents can learn all they need to know about the proceedings to follow by playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Capcom are streets ahead, they've been dealing with problems set about with Ghosts and Goblins since the dawn of time and knew the side effects these fellows can have.

The prosecution (they're the people on the kids side - see what you can learn) are rallying a load of other disgruntled parents to sue Blizzard and whoever else they can find, you can bet Rockstar will get some attention and a certain American solicitor who is certainly not worthy of his own Capcom game, yet.

The Superman Returns Teaser Trailer

My lord, Kal-El...

Take a deep breath, choose your format and watch this baby fly

I am in love. This is such a wonderful trailer, it shows little yet says everything. After watching it now eleven times I still find myself hanging on the words of Brando and loving the "Planet Krypton" John Williams track.

Perfection

Topic Of The Day: Nintendo's Parental Control Announcement

Every 10 minutes or so another site brings our attention to it and relays Nintendo's press release, or a site like SPoNG will get confused and fail to grasp the concept.

Nintendo are employing an intelligent parental control system for the Revolution - if the game is rated M and the machine is told not to play such titles then the user will not be able to play it, I'm guessing they'll need a code or something to progress. Much like today's titles on the XBox for example.

The viewpoint of sites such as SPoNG is that this is a stupid announcement to make and from a business standpoint doesn't make a lot of sense.

But it does, in the long run it could save Nintendo a lot of money - just look at the long haul court proceedings and loss of money over the San Andreas Hot Coffee scandal. Not only this, but it does EXACTLY what Nintendo wanted to do all along - promote the Revolution as an accessible machine that is suitable for ANY PLAYER. Its something they've been trying very hard to do in every department since the Famicom - the FAMILY computer.

Most normal gamers know this feature exists in current machines and really won't be affected by it in any sense at all. Now we're advertising the feature to people who may have been put off by this generations front page news stories on game related murder and random crap.

Digital Jesters Are AOK - Crazy Frog Racer GOLD

With all the news in the past weeks of Digital Jesters facing a number of problems, they're still ploughing through with game releases and have just announced that the upcoming Xmas hit "Crazy Frog Racer" has gone Gold.

There is a trailer here.

We still don't have a rock solid date, its just down for release in December and was scheduled for publishing from Ubisoft. The game should be a bit hit really as the "Annoying Thing" is set for a second wave this Christmas with toys and a new single.

Hate it or hate it, the frog's coming back for another swoop and at 20 quid it'll be a good stocking filler for the kids!

Microsoft Farting In Japan's General Direction... AGAIN

They say they want to give them the world, they want to sell more than 10,000 consoles a year this time round, but they just don't help themselves one bit.


Games that the Japanese may have been interested in have fallen further into oblivion with titles such as Ninety Nine Nights going to somewhere next year, and then this list appears:

Crimson Skies,
Fable
Forza Motorsport
Grand Theft Auto Double Pack
Halo
Halo 2
Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
Jade Empire
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden Black
Rainbow Six 3
Simpsons: Hit & Run

Now if I was Japanese I know the only games I would probably own are:

Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden Black
(Possibly) Jade Empire

So these are the only games I will be able to play on my 360. 12 games are currently backwardly compatible. 12. TWELVE.

It'd be interesting to hear exactly what MS has to do and who does it when getting these games sorted. Where is Dead Or Alive? Where is ANY SEGA GAME?

Glad I ain't in Japan, actually maybe I should be wishing I was in Japan.

Time To Pick At The XBox 360 Manual

This is the second time I've tried to write this now because the power keeps going off. So it's potentially shitter than the first time I wrote it, but another site will probably copy and paste it and make it their own again anyway.

By now the XBox 360 manual has been read by lots of people that don't work near one. Its all over the rather large Internet and can be found here, it contains nothing that we didn't already know. People can have seizures, you can put this cable in there, don't spray it with deodorant and set it on fire... you know the drill.

However we have found some interesting tidbits for us all to enjoy....

- The Headset has been made so that when you open your mouth the microphone touches your tonsils. (this could be to clean them) It also demonstrates a suggested haircut for maximum comfort.


- You can't strap an XBox 360 to your head. In fact they suggest keeping 20cm away from it!

- The ring of light, already applauded for its intuitive / innovative use of lights will alert you when the XBox 360 is on fire by flashing red - on the left.


- You can't phone anyone or cook them dinner or gaming pleasure could be disturbed. In theory you can't even play XBox Live or stream media from your PC across a wireless network...


- They tell you how to position the console, finding a suitable location like you would a sofa - except DFS let you pick where to put it and don't care if all four legs aren't on the floor.

- In a stroke of genius and what must be the work of hip, street, fun loving J Allard they've called the remote "shorty". He's really got his black man Westwood style slang mixed up here. Or he hates small people.


- They really hate children and pets. They can't stress enough how much of a problem they are when concerned with the console - even to the point where you may have to remove cables when the machine is switched off. Later they show you how to ruin their enjoyment more by locking them out of everything but Blinx games.

- Don't put it near a "stove" or amplifier! Which is a bit difficult when our optical lead is only 1 metre long! I thought stoves went out in the 18th century, but this could be a warning to barn folk.

- There's also some general living suggestions "Avoid Smoke and Dust"

- While with earlier diagrams they happily make every look to scale, it goes out the window when they bring in TV connection diagrams and cram everything into half of the page!


- You don't get a rechargable battery pack with the controller, but you do get information on how to dispose of regular batteries without mutilating them or anyone else. Page 7 has the worlds biggest diagram to help you with this. Also there is a company called WEEE which sounds fun to work for.


- Taking a wireless controller on board a plane with the batteries still in could be considered a terrorist offence.

- They promote anti-fatness, informing you that having a healthy lifestyle will prevent a long word from happening.

There's loads more stuff to pick at like the fact that the DVD logo is always massive and they don't tell you to (or even how to) play a game until page 11. While they tell you lots of rubbish info you can be sure that 90% of camera owners reading the manual won't realise they need a cable to plug it in. (And may even try plugging it into the MP3 player first)


(For Planet XBox 360) END HIGHLIGHTING HERE, RIGHT CLICK AND PRESS COPY

When Copy And Paste Goes BAD - The Bastards of the Internet

We've been offline all day because Bournemouth has become apocalyptic.


So we totally missed out on the worlds most stupid plagiarism event ever.

Bastard "Lee" or "L.C" from Planet Xbox 360 has copied our gigantic list and posted it on their site, which of course we wouldn't mind because they get millions more visitors than we do. But we mind because what he didn't do was give us ANY SORT OF THANKS and passed it off as his own work.

The good side to this is that someone's pointed this out in the XBox forum and ripped the list apart. Where we said the list is probably wrong, inaccurate and incomplete - they've published the list as a definite. "These are the games you may want to trade in". Even the Guardian is linking to their site and not ours. What mum told us about the world is true after all - we're not cut out for it.

This is how copy and pasting something without reading anything about it can go bad. Hopefully Lee will get fired from this non paying job and he can go back to his regular daytime job of copying and pasting words from newspapers to create elaborate death threats to the queen.

artists impression of "L.C" when he was writing his article and thinking of us

Remember kids, we're not pissed off - we're just really pissed off.

17/11 UPDATE

We have recieved an email from Lee (now wishes to be LM not LC) who has apologised (we accept) and confessed that he's only really just starting out. He also added that that picture isn't a good representation of him, but we don't know any better until we recieve proof. Additionally the said article has been removed from Planet XBox 360 which is a bit annoying because now it looks like we're talking a load of balls. Unless you look at what remains of the story in their forums...

America Gets More 360 Launch Games Than We Brits

Yes it seems to be negative XBox 360 news day here at GAME OVER, YEAH today.

The Internet has announced the lineup for launch day here in the UK and over there in the states and they won.


The difference in titles? They get 3 more than us and they're games we weren't actually going to bother with anyway:

- Ridge Racer 6 (hasn't been good since 1938)
- NBA 2006 (do we need 2 NBA launch titles?)
- NHL 2006 (its a hockey game I think)

So there you have it, otherwise the launch titles are copy and pasted below from SPoNG:

Games:

Amped 3 (2K Sports)
Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
Condemned: Criminal Origins (SEGA)
FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup (Electronic Arts)
GUN (Activision)
Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)
Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios)
Peter Jackson'’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie(Ubisoft)
Madden NFL 06 (Electronic Arts)
NBA Live 06 (Electronic Arts)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Electronic Arts)
Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Quake 4 (Activision, id software and Raven Software Corp.)
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06(Electronic Arts)
Tony Hawk'’s American Wasteland (Activision)

Accessories

Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB)
Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64 MB)
Xbox 360 Faceplate
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
Xbox 360 Controller
Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit
Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack
Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter
Xbox 360 Headset
Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote
Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable
Xbox 360 Advanced AV Cable
Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable

Early adopters will no doubt join Microsoft in a bubble of relief to see that the three key first-party titles, Kameo, Perfect Dark and Gotham have all made day one launch. We'’ll bring you full coverage of Xbox 360 launch from three continents in the coming weeks. Set your browsers to stun and let us know if you have specific queries in the forum below.

Oops look at that, we copied too much. We aren't posh, popular or nearly funny enough to have a forum so if you have anything shitty to say write it down and glue it to your window.

What XBox 360 Games ARE NOT Backwards Compatible

It seems the Internet is full of sites devoted to telling you what games are backwards compatible, and then let you figure out for yourself what is not. Well we stole that list of games from a site and compared them with another list we have all of the available XBox 180 games on it and this is what we got: (we've highlighted the ones we are shocked at)

007: Agent Under Fire - Electronic Arts
007: Everything or Nothing - EA
2002 FIFA World Cup - Electronic Arts
4x4 Evolution 2 - Gathering of Developers
Aggressive Inline - Acclaim
All-Star Baseball 2004 - Acclaim
All-Star Baseball 2005 - Acclaim
Alter Echo - THQ
AMF Bowling 2004 - Bethesda
Amped 2 - Microsoft
Antz Extreme Racing - Empire Interactive
Apex - Infogrames
Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis - TDK
Arctic Thunder - Midway
Armed and Dangerous - LucasArts
Arx Fatalis - Dreamcatcher
Auto Modellista - Capcom
Azurik - Microsoft
Backyard Wrestling - Eidos
Bad Boys: Miami Takedown - Crave
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance - Interplay
Batman: Dark Tomorrow - Kemco
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu - Ubi Soft
Batman: Vengeance - UbiSoft
Beyond Good and Evil - Ubi Soft
Bicycle Casino 2005 - Activision
Big Mutha Truckers - THQ
Bionicle - Lego Media
Black Stone: Magic & Steel - Xicat
Blade II - Activision
Blinx: The Time Sweeper - Microsoft
Blood Omen 2 - Eidos
BloodRayne - Majesco
BloodRayne 2 - Majesco
Bloodwake - Microsoft
Bloody Roar Extreme - Konami
Breakdown - Namco
Broken Sword: TSD - Dreamcatcher
Bruce Lee: Quest Of The Dragon
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Electronic Arts
Burnout - Acclaim
Burnout 2: Point of Impact - Acclaim
Burnout 3: Takedown - EA
Cel Damage - Electronic Arts
Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver - Bam!
Chessmaster - Ubisoft
Chronicles of Riddick - Vivendi Universal
Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 - Codemasters
Colin McRae Rally 3 - Infogrames
Conflict: Desert Storm II - Gotham Games
Corvette - TDK
Counter-Strike - Microsoft
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex - Universal
Crash Nitro Kart - Black Label
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller - Sega
Crimson Sea - Koei
Dakar 2 - Acclaim
Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix - Konami
Dark Summit - THQ
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 - Acclaim
Dead Man's Hand - Atari
Dead or Alive Ultimate - Tecmo
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball - Tecmo
Dead To Rights - Namco
Def Jam: Fight for NY - EA
Defender - Midway
Deus Ex: Invisible War - Eidos
Dino Crisis 3 - Capcom
Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure - Activision
Dr. Muto - Midway
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair - Ubi Soft
DRIV3R - Atari
Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the GL - Ubisoft
Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes - Atari
Dynasty Warriors 3 - Koei
Dynasty Warriors 4 - Koei
Enclave - Conspiracy
Enter the Matrix - Atari
ESPN College Hoops - Sega
ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 - Konami
ESPN Major League Baseball - Sega
ESPN NBA 2K5 - Sega
ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 - Konami
ESPN NBA Basketball - Sega
ESPN NFL 2K5 - Sega
ESPN NFL Football - Sega
ESPN NFL Prime Time 2002 - Konami
ESPN NHL 2K5 - Sega
ESPN NHL Hockey - Sega
ESPN Winter X-Games Snowboarding 2002 - Konami
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick - THQ
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel - Interplay
Fatal Frame - Tecmo
FIFA Soccer 2005 - EA
Finding Nemo - THQ
Ford Racing 2 - Gotham Games
Freaky Flyers - Midway
Full Spectrum Warrior - THQ
Furious Karting - Infogrames
Galleon: Islands of Mystery - Atlus
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy - Midway
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder - Ubi Soft
Ghost Recon 2
Ghost Recon 2: Expansion Pack
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance - Acclaim
Gladius - LucasArts
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters - Melee - Atari
Grabbed by the Ghoulies - Microsoft
Group S Challenge - Capcom
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload - Majesco
Gun Metal - Majesco
Gunvalkyrie - Sega
Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban - EA
Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets - Electronic Arts
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup - EA
Haunted Mansion - TDK
Headhunter: Redemption - Sega
High Heat Baseball 2004 - 3DO
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - Eidos
Hunter The Reckoning: Redeemer - Vivendi
Hunter: The Reckoning - Universal
IHRA Drag Racing 2004 - Bethesda
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb - LucasArts
IndyCar Series - Codemasters
IndyCar Series 2005 - Codemasters
I-Ninja - Namco
Inside Pitch 2003 - Microsoft
Intellivision Lives - Crave
Jet Set Radio Future - Sega
Kakuto Chojin - Microsoft
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders - Microsoft
Knight's Apprentice - XS Games
Knockout Kings 2002 - EA Sports
Kung Fu Chaos - Microsoft
Legacy of Kain: Defiance - Eidos
Legends Of Wrestling - Acclaim
Legends of Wrestling II - Acclaim
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude - VU Games
Links 2004 - Microsoft
Loons - The Fight For Fame - Infogrames
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - Universal
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - EA
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - EA
Lotus Challenge - Xicat
Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter - Universal
Mad Dash Racing - Eidos
Madden 2002 - EA Sports
Madden 2003 - EA Sports
Madden NFL 2004 - EA
Madden NFL 2005 - EA
Mafia - Gathering
Magic The Gathering: Battlegrounds - Atari
Malice - Bethesda
Marvel vs Capcom 2 - Capcom
MechAssault - Microsoft
Men of Valor - VU Games
Mercedes-Benz World Racing - TDK
Metal Dungeon - Xicat Interactive
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - Konami
Metal Slug 3 - SNK
Midnight Club II - Rockstar
Midtown Madness 3 - Microsoft
Midway Arcade Treasures - Midway
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 - Midway
Midway Arcade Treasures 3 - Midway
Minority Report - Activision
Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma - Atari
MLB Slugfest 2003 - Midway
MLB Slugfest 20-04 - Midway
MLB Slugfest: Loaded - Midway
Monopoly Party - Infogrames
Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition - Bethesda
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - Midway
Moto GP 2 - THQ
MotoGP - THQ
MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch - Gotham Games
MTX: Mototrax - Activision
MVP Baseball 2003 - EA
MVP Baseball 2004 - EA
MX 2002 - THQ
MX Superfly - THQ
MX Unleashed - THQ
Myst III: Exile - Ubi Soft
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup - EA
NASCAR Heat 2002 - Infogrames
NASCAR Thunder 2002 - Electronic Arts
NASCAR Thunder 2003 - Electronic Arts
Nascar Thunder 2004 - EA
NBA 2K2 - Sega
NBA 2K3 - Sega
NBA Ballers - Midway
NBA Inside Drive 2002 - Microsoft
NBA Inside Drive 2003 - Microsoft
NBA Inside Drive 2004 - Microsoft
NBA JAM - Acclaim
NBA Live 2002 - Electronic Arts
NBA LIVE 2005 - EA
NBA Starting Five - Konami
NBA Street Vol. 2 - EA
NCAA College Basketball 2K3 - Sega
NCAA College Football 2K3 - Sega
NCAA Football 2003 - EA Sports
NCAA Football 2004 - EA
NCAA Football 2005 - EA
Need for Speed Underground - EA
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 - Electronic Arts
New Legends - THQ
NFL 2K2 - Sega
NFL 2K3 - Sega
NFL Blitz Pro - Midway
NFL Fever 2002 - Microsoft
NFL Fever 2003 - Microsoft
NFL Fever 2004 - Microsoft
NFL Street - EA
NHL 2002 - EA Sports
NHL 2003 - Electronic Arts
NHL 2005 - EA
NHL 2K3 - Sega
NHL Hitz 2002 - Midway
NHL Hitz Pro - Midway
NHL Rivals 2004 - Microsoft
Nickelodeon Party Blast - Infogrames
NightCaster - Microsoft
NightCaster II: Equinox - Jaleco
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - Microsoft
Otogi: Myth of Demons - Sega
Outlaw Golf - Simon & Schuster Interactive
OutRun 2 - Microsoft
Pac-Man World 2 - Namco
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Sega
Phantasy Star Online Ep. I & II - Microsoft/Sega
Pirates of the Caribbean - Bethesda
Powerdrome - Bethesda
Prisoner of War - Codemasters
Pro Cast Sports Fishing - Capcom
Pro Evolution Soccer 4
Pro Fishing Challenge - Atlus
Project Gotham Racing - Microsoft
Project Gotham Racing 2 - Microsoft
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy - Midway
Pulse Racer - Jaleco
R: Racing Evolution - Namco
Rallisport Challenge - Microsoft
RalliSport Challenge 2 - Microsoft
Rally Fusion: Race of Champions - Activision
Rapala Pro Fishing - Activision
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc - Ubi Soft
Reign of Fire - BAM Entertainment
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: ToW - Activision
Roadkill - Midway
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown - Capcom
Robocop - Titus
Rocky - Ubi Soft
RollerCoaster Tycoon - Infogrames
Room Zoom - Jaleco
Run Like Hell - VU Games
Samurai Warriors - Koei
Scaler - GlobalStar
Scooby Doo: Mystery Mayhem - THQ
SeaBlade - Simon and Schuster
Second Sight - Codemasters
Secret Weapons Over Normandy - LucasArts
Sega GT Online - Sega
Serious Sam - Gotham Games
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury - Atari
Shark Tale - Activision
Shenmue II - Microsoft/Sega
Showdown: Legends of Wrestling - Acclaim
Shrek - TDK
Shrek 2 - Activision
Shrek Super Party - TDK Mediactive
Silent Hill 2 - Konami
Silent Hill 4: The Room - Konami
Silent Scope Complete - Konami
Simpsons: Road Rage - Fox Interactive
Smashing Drive - Namco
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix - Activision
Soul Calibur II - Namco
Spawn: Armageddon - Namco
Spider-Man - Activision
Spider-Man 2 - Activision
Splashdown - Infogrames
Splinter Cell - Ubi Soft
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - Ubisoft
SpongeBob Squarepants: The Movie - THQ
SpyHunter - Midway
SSX Tricky - EA Big
Star Trek: Shattered Universe - TDK
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Outcast - LucasArts
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - LucasArts
Star Wars: Battlefront - LucasArts
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - LucasArts
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter - LucasArts
Star Wars: Obi-Wan - Lucas Arts
Starsky & Hutch - Gotham Games
State of Emergency - Rockstar Games
Steel Battalion - Capcom
Steel Battalion: Line of Contact - Capcom
Street Hoops - Activision
Sudeki - Microsoft
Superman: The Man of Steel - Infogrames
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom - SNK
SWAT: Global Strike Team - Sierra/Vivendi
Syberia - XS Games
Tak 2: Staff of Dreams - THQ
Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus - Microsoft
Taz: Wanted - Infogrames
Tenchu: Return From Darkness - Activision
Tennis Masters Series 2003 - HIP Interactive
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Atari
Terminator 3: The Redemption - Atari
Test Drive - Infogrames
Test Drive Off Road: Wide Open - Infogrames
Tetris Worlds - THQ
The Bard's Tale - VU Games
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Guy Game - Gathering
The Hobbit - Sierra
The Italian Job - Eidos
The Sims - EA
The Sims Bustin' Out - EA
The Suffering - Midway
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 - Electronic Arts
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 - EA
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 - EA
TimeSplitters 2 - Eidos
ToCA Race Driver 2 - Codemasters
ToeJam & Earl 3 - Sega
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 - Activision
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2x - Activision
Tony Hawk's Underground - Activision
Top Spin - Microsoft
Total Immersion Racing - Empire
Totaled! - Majesco
TransWorld Snowboarding - Infogrames
TransWorld Surf - Infogrames
TriggerMan - Crave
Triple Play 2002 - EA Sports
Trivial Pursuit: Unhinged - Atari
True Crime: Streets of L.A. - Activision
Turok: Evolution - Acclaim
UFC: Tapout 2 - TDK
Ultimate Fighting Championship: Tapout - Crave
Unreal Championship - Infogrames
Unreal II: The Awakening - Atari
Van Helsing - Vivendi Universal
Vietcong: Purple Haze - Gathering
Voodoo Vince - Microsoft
V-Rally 3 - Infogrames
Wakeboarding Unleashed - Activision
Wallace & Gromit - Bam Entertainment
War of the Whiskers - New Kid Co
Whacked! - Microsoft
Whiplash - Eidos
WhiteOut - Konami
Wings of War - Gathering
World Championship Pool 2004 - Jaleco
World Series Baseball - Sega
Wrath Unleashed - LucasArts
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions - Activision
WWE Raw - THQ
X2: Wolverine's Revenge - Activision
Xbox Music Mixer - Microsoft
XGRA - Acclaim
X-Men Legends - Activision
X-Men: Next Dimension - Activision
Yu-Gi-Oh! Dawn of Destiny - Konami
Zapper - Infogrames

We could be wrong, there could be some missing, some we're wrong on and more. But its certainly a bigger list than the list of games that are CURRENTLY supported. This list should get smaller over time as Microsoft pledge to support them all. There's some which don't come as a shock which offer unfortunate limited appeal to the general public like Toejam and Earl 3, but some games like the DOA's which really appealed to the japanese seem weird to have been left off.

We don't really care because we're not getting rid of our 180's, but its just weird! Feel free to correct us and add ones you think we missed in the comments thread, we may even update our list if you're lucky!

GAME Give You A Tin For Preordering An XBox 360

You know its a Monday when we resort to talking about Tins.

If you preordered your 360 from a GAME store, you are owed a TIN.


Its the size of a DVD, has a DVD in it (rated 18 - ooooh) and a little booklet with stuff in it about what you can buy. It shows the packs, what's in em, what games are coming out and what accessories are available.

What does it not do?

- Doesn't show the gigantic power pack - even as a separate accessory
- Doesn't give any release dates for anything apart from Battlefield 2, and that says March
- Doesn't have any decent boxart for Battlefield 2, Tiger Woods or NHL, its just rubbish words
- Doesn't have anything new on the DVD apart from some videos of games that we've already seen and J Allard talking about how wonderful his box is
- Doesn't tell us anything we don't already know
- Doesn't provide a nutritious alternative to Snickers bars


All in all it looks pretty and its made out of tin. We would bother selling on EBay like these monkeys if it didn't have that purple GAME logo plastered all over it and didn't have that fake glossy paper smell that we get high on.

Will We Get Our XBox 360 At Launch?

Dear Anyone Who Works At Microsoft,

ARE WE GOING TO GET OUR SHITTING XBOX WHEN IT COMES OUT?
We're getting bored of people posting different numbers on the Internet and we don't know how many we're going to get.

We even found this teasing note in our postbox this morning from someone and it really confused us. Mainly because it's a Sunday and there is no post. Does anybody actually know or do we have to pretend we know until they actually come out? 12 sounds like a good number and so long as we get ours we don't care. Help please.

Nintendo's UK WiFi Site Is Coming...

There's a placeholder up for Nintendo's UK WiFi Connection, it looks a bit rubbish but hopefully it'll be replaced rather quickly with a site of sexy goodness.



Unfortunately there is no date or anything else but hopefully we can expect something similar to the US one with info on what games are available, more details on the hotspots and ID linking.

EBayer's Hilarious Nintendo Revolution Scam

Well its only been a day since the Internet was raving about a said "idiot" who bought some information about where to get a free XBox 360 for over $300.

The joke was really on anyone who called that chap an idiot really cause he's blatantly NOT going to pay. Look, he's only been there for 3 days and has got one of those shitty id's that only have a rating of 1 and probably has a stash of other EBay usernames.

Anyway, now its the turn of Nintendo. Some chap's decided to see how much he can sell a PICTURE OF THE REVOLUTION for.

So far its at $20! He should probably stick to selling proper amusing crap like this.
UPDATE - It somehow sold for $75. How do things like this happen?

its amazing how kitchen utensils always speak the truth