ThunderPeel2001

NXE impressions?

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One more thing I like: Everything now has a "box cover," which is nice. And (some of) the game detail pages have backgrounds that reflect the game, which is cool. Always nice to have more context-sensitive visuals.

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Oh! I found something to do with your avatar: On any screen where your avatar is visible, move the right stick around. Not only will your avatar turn his head to match, but you can also get your avatar to make at least three different funny faces, and dance a merry jig. Nice touch!

It'd be nice if we could actually take control of the avatar and just run around the dashboard... an create a sort of personal room, ala Psychonauts/LBP. That'd be unuseful but awesome.

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...Except that the games list only shows your XBLA games and whatever game happens to be in the drive.

I think you're wrong there, but I'll have to check. I have a distinct memory of seeing box covers for several games I own.

Oh! I found something to do with your avatar: On any screen where your avatar is visible, move the right stick around. Not only will your avatar turn his head to match, but you can also get your avatar to make at least three different funny faces, and dance a merry jig. Nice touch!

Did you make it burp yet by pressing down on the right stick?

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As a counterpoint...if you're one of those people, like me, who thinks that 90% of the "marketplace" is a scam, then this change just seems like a way to fit even more advertising onto the screen at once.

90%!! I can see being annoyed at the non-games content (TV, themes, etc), and I can see you being ideologically opposed to DLC, but I would hardly call that 90% of the marketplace, with the huge amount of XBLA and Originals titles, and the sure-to-grow-quickly XNA section. Maybe 50% of it is a scam :).

I forgot about the "Spotlight" and "Events" screens in the new menu system, which I do wish I could turn off. I was happy to see the "hide this!" option on the welcome page, and then disappointed that I couldn't turn off other screens I had no interest in.

Did you make it burp yet by pressing down on the right stick?

Hah. Like pressing the "horn" button in GTA 1 and 2, when you weren't in a car.

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...Except that the games list only shows your XBLA games and whatever game happens to be in the drive. (This was also true in blades, and was an equally dumb decision then.)

No it doesn't, it shows every game you've ever played--whether it was just the demo of an XBLA title or a "proper" game on disc.

My Live account even shows stuff I used to play with the same username on a completely different machine a long time ago, including Dead or Alive 4 and MotoGP '06.

Sorry, sorry... :zip:

Given a moment's contemplation, it's only showing games which I've demo'd first and then played in full later. So you're quite right; didn't mean to troll. :getmecoat

Oh! I found something to do with your avatar: On any screen where your avatar is visible, move the right stick around. Not only will your avatar turn his head to match, but you can also get your avatar to make at least three different funny faces, and dance a merry jig. Nice touch!

Click the right stick for added belch sophistication.

Edited by Wrestlevania

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90%!! I can see being annoyed at the non-games content (TV, themes, etc), and I can see you being ideologically opposed to DLC, but I would hardly call that 90% of the marketplace, with the huge amount of XBLA and Originals titles, and the sure-to-grow-quickly XNA section. Maybe 50% of it is a scam :).

Well, 90% was just an estimation. Last time I looked it seemed like the XBLA titles appeared to number in the hundreds, while the combination of movies, tv shows, and absurd "theme packs" for games numbered somewhere in the thousands. I agree - there are some diamonds in the rough, the marketplace itself is useful, and in the grand scheme of things this is a minor annoyance. I could still do without the NASCAR-ification of the console OS, though. :mock:

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Since I've now decided I absolutely need a bigger 360 HD... does anyone know anything about newer models coming out or impending reductions in price? It seems that with the new Netflix thing and all the other goodness they're pushing, now would be the time for a price drop/newer model.

Anything on the grapevine before I splash out on something I can't quite afford?

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I bought a cheap WD 120 GB HD and put sectors 16-20 (I think) of a real MS 120 GB on it. Works fine and saved me about 1000 NOK. :)

It's ridiculous how expensive those official HDs are.

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I could still do without the NASCAR-ification of the console OS, though. :mock:

I think you're trying too hard with this whole thing, is all.

There's far too few double-embossed gold gradients and water droplets for it to be NASCAR, too. So, points lost there.

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Anything on the grapevine before I splash out on something I can't quite afford?

We've just had the latest round of aggressive repositioning from Microsoft in the UK, which is why machines are going for £129 now.

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I bought a cheap WD 120 GB HD and put sectors 16-20 (I think) of a real MS 120 GB on it. Works fine and saved me about 1000 NOK. :)

Thanks for the tip! I've been looking at bigger drives, but even on Ebay the bigger sizes are at stupid prices. I wasn't aware this was possible, and set to googling:

Dabs have a drive that should work with the latest version of this for setting it up (Note, there are RST and LATS versions of that drive, and it's nigh impossible to tell which you'll get. 0.91 works with both apparently, but earlier versions are LATS only. I have no fecking idea what LATS and RST mean, but beware.)

Hardware hacks ACTIVATE :tup:

(Note: I see tags burgeoning. It was me who put the "technology is gay" tag in, and I meant no homophobia with it. It's a

, and most of my gay friends use the word "gay" as a pejorative now and don't mind me doing it either. Still, I should have thought before tagging. Sorry :getmecoat) Edited by Nachimir

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So, is this one of those things that after done you have to worry every time an update is released?

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I doubt it. I can't see how or why they would go to the effort of finding people who perform this hack and ban them, as it's really not in the same ball park as mod chipping or game copying and has none of the same intent.

It will still work with XBLA and everything in exactly the same way, it's just a way of making a cheaper 120GB drive look like an officially signed one so the 360 will talk to it. I'm going to do it; I'll let you know if I suddenly get banned from Live.

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I did it back in March and still no bannage.

(Note, there are RST and LATS versions of that drive, and it's nigh impossible to tell which you'll get. 0.91 works with both apparently, but earlier versions are LATS only. I have no fecking idea what LATS and RST mean, but beware.)
Mine's an RST and it worked fine. If you can't find hddss.bin, drop me a PM.

The only annoying thing is that it's set up to run from a floppy drive. There are less and less motherboards with floppy connectors every day... :tdown:

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Yeah, I've been looking into this "avenue". The problem (for me) is twofold:

1. The hddss.bin is unique to every HD. Microsoft could easily shut down all the ones that have been shared in the past (and let's face it, everyone who's done this hack will be using the same code).

2. I don't want to lose what's currently on my 20Gb HD and there's a few rumblings of certain saves not transferring properly -- PLUS you need to buy one of those transfer leads, too.

Other than that... I'm very tempted to save some money.

(Also, I put the "homophobia is gay" tag there because a. there was homophobic tag and b. -- and this was the clincher -- I thought it sounded rather funny/clever/weird. No hard feelings, I hope.)

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I definitely like the NXE better than the old one. But it's strange that it offers to launch Fallout 3, which I have for the PC not XBox.

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2. I don't want to lose what's currently on my 20Gb HD and there's a few rumblings of certain saves not transferring properly -- PLUS you need to buy one of those transfer leads, too.
I used the special version of Xplorer 360 mentioned on that site Nachimir linked to. It lets you copy from the original 360 HD to your computer's HD and then to the new fakey-360 HD without having to buy the special lead.

Of course, the new one has to be formatted correctly by the 360 first, but it's certainly possible to transfer everything over using just your computer.

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Slashdot called, it wants your comment back. Sheesh. You're actually deleting anyone on your friends list who uses an avatar? Glad I'm not your friend! Were you making the little "nuh uh uh, don't go there" triple snap of your fingers while deleting each of them, for offending you with their avatar?

Lol, nice retort, I wish I knew what that website was so I could be offended.

I don't really use much of the online content stuff except for XLA titles and avatars have given me an excuse to get rid of a lot of random people I don't even play with online. As reactionary as my first response was I'm finally getting comfortable with the new system. I'm still not happy with it, the support for themes is pretty rubbish and they publicised 'improved' support for computer screens was non-existent. The 'cleanliness' of the new interface isn't there for me either, in fact I'm finiding it harder to use as they have moved stuff around so much. Also becuase of the earliness of it it crashes a lot of games that I play in areas that didn't used to.

I've yet to check out whether it still supports my old IPod too.

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Well I took the plunge and upgraded to a 120gb drive*. (I just didn't want to have to faff around taking stuff apart and hoping I didn't lose everything.) It turned out Argos had the best price, oddly enough.

Anyways, I LOVE being able to install my games on the HD. The 360 is SO much quieter and the games definitely run quicker, too (not lighteningly fast, but about 10% faster, I reckon, which is enough).

I can't wait to get back to Mass Effect with reduced noise and loading time :tup:

* (Next week: "Microsoft release new 500gb upgrade for the same price as their old 120gb HDDs!" :shifty:)

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Mass Effect will still have those ridiculously long lift travels made because of the long loading times though. I wish Bioware would release a patch for it where you could skip the rest of the lift travel once the new area has loaded...

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I would say definitely not. It might be "Recommended" but it will never be a requirement, because MS made the decision to splinter the userbase with their 'Core/Arcade' bundle originally.

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