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[ihaveabu]

also, if i get the core system, there's no way to save games is there? i'd have to get either the mem card or the hdd?


where is the edit button?  

[qifanxi]

Your spelling & grammar are despicable, but I'm feeling generous today so I'll bite:

1. There are no BIOS mod chips. Only DVD-ROM firmware hacks and mod chips exist right now. That means you can make and run backup games, but unsigned (i.e. homebrew) software will not run on the 360 yet.

2.  No. All Xbox 360 executables are signed with a different key for each type of medium they can be run from. That means demos you download from Xbox Live are signed with a key allowing them to be run off the hard drive. Full games are signed to run only from a DVD.

3. No 3rd-party hard disks have been known to work with the 360 yet.

4. Current firmware hacks cannot be detected by the DVD-ROM drive's own firmware read functions. If the CPU tries to ascertain the contents of the drive's firmware memory, the drive will give incorrect information to the CPU. That doesn't mean Microsoft won't implement an alternate method of detecting hacked Xboxes in the future. Use Xbox Live at your own risk.

5. If you study your history carefully, you'll know that later iterations of the original Xbox were more reliable, but also implemented better anti-hack mechanisms. Microsoft is slated to roll out with a new version of the Xbox 360 with CPU and GPU made from a 65nm fabrication process (compared with the current 90nm process) in February. Less power consumption, less heat output, less fan noise, possibly with an unhackable DVD-ROM drive. It's your choice whether to buy now or later.

6. Yes. Xbox 360 will work on standard definition TVs.

7. You're actually asking two different questions here. Firstly, you want to know if an Xbox 360 can output both NTSC and PAL video. This is important if, for example, you live in Canada and imported an Xbox 360 from Japan. Japan TVs accept PAL input and Canadian TVs accept NTSC. Can the Xbox 360 switch between the two?The answer is no.

Secondly, you want to know if Xbox 360 games are region-locked, and whether or not such region-locking is circumventable. This is important if you want locally-purchased games to work in your imported Xbox 360. Answer: not all games are region-locked. There is no way currently to circumvent region-locking for games that are locked.


I think that's all. My fingers hurt. Cheers

[tnbigdawg]

0. Please search, read pinned topics, read rules, you belong in the newbie section.
1. No true modchip yet. FW hacking is done by either software(connection the drive to the PC) or firmware chip. Please refer to #0
2. No. Please refer to #0
3. No, we all agree. Please refer to #0
4. Not to be discussed. Please refer to #0
5. If you want a 360 now, you get it now. If you want a 360 later, get it later. Referring to #0 won't help since this is a personal question you should ask yourself given the way you've asked it on here.
6. Yes, why not?
7. Not a definitive answer but I believe they can't play one another. Please refer to #0
8. Please refer to #0
9. Please refer to #0
10. Please refer to #0
11. Please refer to #0
.
.
.
.
.
You catch my drift?

[ihaveabu]

QUOTE(qifanxi @ Nov 19 2006, 08:11 PM)

Your spelling & grammar are despicable, but I'm feeling generous today so I'll bite:

1. There are no BIOS mod chips. Only DVD-ROM firmware hacks and mod chips exist right now. That means you can make and run backup games, but unsigned (i.e. homebrew) software will not run on the 360 yet.

2.  No. All Xbox 360 executables are signed with a different key for each type of medium they can be run from. That means demos you download from Xbox Live are signed with a key allowing them to be run off the hard drive. Full games are signed to run only from a DVD.

3. No 3rd-party hard disks have been known to work with the 360 yet.

4. Current firmware hacks cannot be detected by the DVD-ROM drive's own firmware read functions. If the CPU tries to ascertain the contents of the drive's firmware memory, the drive will give incorrect information to the CPU. That doesn't mean Microsoft won't implement an alternate method of detecting hacked Xboxes in the future. Use Xbox Live at your own risk.

5. If you study your history carefully, you'll know that later iterations of the original Xbox were more reliable, but also implemented better anti-hack mechanisms. Microsoft is slated to roll out with a new version of the Xbox 360 with CPU and GPU made from a 65nm fabrication process (compared with the current 90nm process) in February. Less power consumption, less heat output, less fan noise, possibly with an unhackable DVD-ROM drive. It's your choice whether to buy now or later.

6. Yes. Xbox 360 will work on standard definition TVs.

7. You're actually asking two different questions here. Firstly, you want to know if an Xbox 360 can output both NTSC and PAL video. This is important if, for example, you live in Canada and imported an Xbox 360 from Japan. Japan TVs accept PAL input and Canadian TVs accept NTSC. Can the Xbox 360 switch between the two?The answer is no.

Secondly, you want to know if Xbox 360 games are region-locked, and whether or not such region-locking is circumventable. This is important if you want locally-purchased games to work in your imported Xbox 360. Answer: not all games are region-locked. There is no way currently to circumvent region-locking for games that are locked.
I think that's all. My fingers hurt. Cheers

thanks for the reply!

if i get one, it'll be pretty soon.

how likely is the firmware hack going to brick the system?

also, if i get the core system, i won't be able to save games right? does the console have any kind of storage, or do i need to get a memory card or the hdd?

[tnbigdawg]

QUOTE(ihaveabu @ Nov 19 2006, 11:24 AM)

thanks for the reply!

if i get one, it'll be pretty soon.

how likely is the firmware hack going to brick the system?

also, if i get the core system, i won't be able to save games right? does the console have any kind of storage, or do i need to get a memory card or the hdd?

Human error is what causes a bricked system (I would say)99.99% of the time. The other 0.01% is due to a system malfunction or bad programming(such as the earlier Birdy flasher) during the flashing process which is rare.
So in other words, do read up before you do anything to void your warranty.

You won't be able to save games unless you have a memory card or HDD(a 20gb Microsoft one).

[ihaveabu]

that's such a rip off. $100 for a 20gb hdd. wtf is that?


are all 360 games dl dvd9's?

[dabears1]

from what i have seen , yea most are dvd9's. you are better off getthing the preim 360. that way you wont pay an extra 100 for the hd and any other acc you might want to buy.  xbox live works on the modded systems but can or might be pick up ny M$ and then you are screwed. so do as many say use live at your own risk. thats what i am doing

[qifanxi]

You're losing quite a bit of detail while playing games through a standard definition TV, but HDTVs will lighten your wallet significantly. A middle-of-the-road approach would be to buy or build a Xbox 360 VGA cable to hook up your Xbox to a standard PC monitor.

As for the 4:3 aspect ratio- all games are designed to scale between the two resolutions. You won't be missing half of your health bar in Halo 3 because you're choosing to play on a non-widescreen TV

[ihaveabu]

it would look better on a computer monitor?

[qifanxi]

QUOTE(ihaveabu @ Nov 20 2006, 03:24 AM)

it would look better on a computer monitor?

Yes. Computer monitors can output higher resolutions than your standard-definition TV.

[tnbigdawg]

QUOTE(ihaveabu @ Nov 19 2006, 06:01 PM)

me and a friend of mine are both getting the 360 sometime soon. we decided to split a gamefly membership and wait until more secure modding arrives.

if i flash, and something goes wrong, that would suck.

would games look like shit on a tube? i have a 4:3 regular tv. i really should work on getting something better....

There's really no such thing as "more secure" hacking. If you've bricked your drive, that's because you did something wrong or your configuration isn't capable to do the flash and you attempted anyways.

As far as how a game looks on a standard definition TV, well let's just say there's a big difference. I have a SDTV bigscreen in my room and the graphics look pretty good but it is nothing compared to the LCD HDTV upstairs(hooked up with component inputs).

[ihaveabu]

QUOTE(qifanxi @ Nov 20 2006, 03:28 AM)

Yes. Computer monitors can output higher resolutions than your standard-definition TV.

that makes sense. i have had experience using rca to vga converters for ps2. it doubles the native resolution of the ps2 and it makes the games look better, but from experience, it tends to be glitchy.

[aacore]

Well if you want to look at quality.  If you have a standard tv and a hidef tv available hook them up and see the results.  Its a huge difference.  are there any adaptors for component to vga/dvi??  Never seen one.  My video card has a external piece that connects to the video card & allows me to put in component in it.  Im going to try this cause i hate playing games on my small tv.

[ihaveabu]

QUOTE(qifanxi @ Nov 20 2006, 04:17 AM)

Here and here.

They're not component-to-VGA adapters. The Xbox 360 A/V port has pins that carry the VGA signal. You just need a cable that uses the right pins and terminates in a female VGA port.

could i just buy one of those vga cables? i don't have to do that mod on engadget.com right?

[qifanxi]

I'm a hardware enthusiast, so I usually prefer do-it-yourself projects over pre-made components. If you've never done any soldering before, I recommend you just buy a cable.

Do be aware that some of the cheaper cables won't have a optical audio port. It's not important if you don't game with 5.1 surround sound.