Matt Gerlach : Xbox 360 Hardware

What is with the lack of updates?

gerlach — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:55:00 GMT

For my class, IST500, we have to write a posting atleast once a week, and I have been laking. It is not because I am lazy. I have published multiple posts here at this blog for a couple of years, with the high end being near 2-3 a day. I haven't been writing, because I haven't felt there is anything to add.

To me, having a blog is a great way to get information out, but it should be something that is either good for the community or stirs some sort of conversation. And, frankly, I feel like I have failed that here. I have published opinion pieces telling large companies how they can do better (Microsoft and F1), I have given a sort of exclusive with some games (playing gears early and creating a rough [very rough] layout schema for a map that no one else saw, three months before the game came out). Ive written how community members can get some hardware to transfer content from one HDD to another.

I can make lists for a while. But, in reality, there has not been much that I can add. You can get more exclusive info quicker via Larry Hyrb and his blog (majornelson.com), as well as Joystiq and Xbox.Joystiq.com.

Maybe its time to change content. Because...ill be posting more.

Twitter: twitter.com/matt_gerlach

Xbox Live: Mastaglach820

Me, My Blog, Why I haven't Blogged, and Rock Band

gerlach — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:04:53 GMT

Wow...it has been a WHILE since I have blogged. There are multiple reasons why:

School just takes up time
I don't want to blog unless I contribute at least an opinion, or if I give a heads up that not many will see. I am NOT here to post press releases. To me...that is pointless, I'll just head to the gamerscore blog for that.
I kinda got tired of it. I was at the point where I felt the NEED to blog. It got to the point where I didn't want to. So I didn't.
Swimming. I swim here at Syracuse. Coming back from practice all tired and such, and then having to do work was...too much.

Do I want to contribute more? Absolutely. Do I hope people at least kept me near the feed list? Yea, I hope they did. So here goes. This is something that has been on my mind since I read about it last week.

Rock Band and Nine Inch Nails: More Content to Come

Be Aware that the videos embedded below may contain profanity. I am 99% sure the profanity will not be in Rock Band.

First off I am a pretty big Nine Inch Nails fan. I own all (need to check that) 5 major releases from 1989's Pretty Hate Machine to 2007's Year Zero (with songs from Broken, The Downward Spiral (full), The Fragile (full), and With Teeth (full)). So to hear that February's OXM has news about a new Nine Inch Nails track pack I was extremely happy. That is probably going to be the first pack for Rock Band that I will purchase. But...I still have issue with the song choice. Note: It is guarenteed that I am buying these tracks the minute they release.

March of the Pigs: There will need to be alot of vocal editing for this song. Will they utilize a radio-friendly version that may be in existance? I would hope because in the explicit album version there are many foul words. Also, there aren't always heavy instrumentals. Yea, near the end there is but...the song seems a little unbalanced.
The Collector: This song will probably be good for the average person to like. It has more of a mainstream sound...but isn't that pre-fab Fallout Boy material. My issue is that it kinda lacks guitar. It has a nice base and drum track but the guitar seems stale. It may be different when playing but I feel there are better songs. More on that later. The video will showcase how the song is going to be played. You get a clear view of the drummer (Jerome Dillion) as well as Trent singing and playing guitar, with Aaron North also playing. Playing Bass is Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez with Marilyn Manson).
Perfect Drug: This song, I feel, may be the hardest for people to get used to. It has a unique sound, which I like. The song is catchy, im just not sure how it is going to play. It will be a little weird. Take a look at the video to get an understanding.

What I think Should have been included:

Getting Smaller (With Teeth, 2005) - It is a face paced song with a good balance of guitar, bass and drumming. A good amount of vocals as well. The unofficial video (Fight Club dubbed with "Getting Smaller") can give you an idea as to what the song sounds like).
Last (Broken, 1992). Overall a good rock song. Again, a good balance of the 4 parts. Video again is unofficial with the song dubbed over. Quality of the video is...meh.
Head Like a Hole (Pretty Hate Machine, 1989). The Live version would be even better, since the original has a bunch of synths but still a great rock song.

These are just a couple of ideas for me. Hopefully, ill be posting a bit more.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel : Reviewed

gerlach — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:02:47 GMT

I was able to get my hands on Microsoft's new Xbox 360 Accessory, the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. Microsoft succeeds with this racing wheel, truly putting you in the drivers seat for racing on the Xbox 360. For those dreaming of racing like Schumacher, but not being able to do so, here you go.

Inside of the Wheel's box was the steering wheel itself, a sturdy piece of hardware that can be placed on your lap, or clamped to a table. Outside of the steering wheel and the clamp, you also received the pedals, which communicated to the steering wheel via an RJ-11 cable. I know, this makes it "wired", but you hardly ever notice the cable. Finally, you received a power supply. The power supply is for the wheel's Force Feedback feature. I'll explain more about that later.

The Wheel and Pedals

The wheel made by Microsoft is one sturdy piece of hardware. The pedals sport that same sturdiness, while still acting very similar to that of real pedals. As you can see in the wheel pictured above, the top part of the wheel is composed of a black rubber-like material.. This rubber type material assures you, that you will not lose grip.. When you are taking a chicane at 180 miles per hour, you are not going to slip, and lose the grip off this wheel. The wheel also features Formula 1 styled shifting with the paddle shifters. Holding your hands in the "right" position for racing, the paddles are right there for easy gear shifting.

The button layout on the Wireless Racing Wheel is very similar to that of previous Xbox racing wheels. It sports the X,Y,A,B buttons on the right side of the wheel, as well as the D-pad on the left. It also sports the same layout of the Guide button, with the back button on the left side and the start button on the right, as does every Xbox 360 Controller.

The pedals, seen above, also feature that race look. They feature a similar "no-slip" design much like the steering wheel. Like a car, they are not overly easy to push down. While it is nowhere near difficult to push down, the wheels do give slight resistance. This enhances the feel that you are in a race car. Both pedals feature a spring, that created this slight resistance. My overall feeling about the pedals, are that they enhance the experience of racing.

Setup

The setup for the Wireless Racing wheel, is very easy. Once you unpack everything, you connect the pedals to the Wheel via the RJ-11 cord, and the respective slots. At this point, you can select to either plug it in with the power supply, or place batteries (either AA, or a rechargeable battery pack), into the side of the Wheel, to give it power. You can now sync your steering wheel to the Xbox 360, in the same ways as you would a wireless controller. Hold down the wireless synchronization button the the Wheel until the green light flashes, then go and press/hold the wireless sync button on the console. The setup guide that comes with the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing wheel, illustrates just how easy it is to set up, arguable, one of the greatest console accessories.

The Wheel (No Force Feedback)

The Wireless Racing wheel can be used when not plugged in. The only downfall to not being plugged in, is that you can not utilize the wheel's Force feedback feature (more on that below). The force feedback would be too large of a drain on the wheel's battery life, and it would force you to switch batteries at too fast a rate. If you want to just drive around and have fun, there is no issue with you going without force feedback. If you want to just hop on TDU, and drive around Hawaii, the wheel without force feedback is not bad at all.

Force Feedback

The team did a great job designing the wheel and pedals. The team also made it easier for everything to connect. But, the crowning achievement of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel is the Force Feedback feature. Force feedback can only enabled if you plug the Wireless Racing Wheel into the outlet. The negative is that you add another wire, but the benefits far outweigh it. Force feedback creating the illusion, through resistance in turning the wheel, that you are actually driving. When you are on the throttle, or the break pedal, you will notice that is is harder to turn the wheel. The opposite can be said when you are off the pedals. Force feedback, is the true reason why this wheel has taken steps that no other wheel has. With correct game support (developers can patch a game to include Racing Wheel support), there is no more of that unrealistic driving where you can easily flip the wheel from side to side. No, when you are racing with force feedback, it is almost a workout trying to keep the car from spinning, and forcing it to turn while on the throttle.

(If you are going to race hard, with force feedback, I recommend getting a table and using the clamp)

My Experience with the Wheel

I was able to play with the wheel for about two to three weeks before writing this review. I wanted to give you an overview of the wheel, how it feels, how it is set up, and give an overview of THE feature that the wheel posses that sets it apart from everything else, force feedback. I feel like I accomplished that with the first part of the review. This part, is all about my individual experience with the wheel.

The wheel was unwrapped from the package in a matter of 15 minutes. I quickly set it up. I set the wheel on a table (no clamp, more on that later). I hooked up the pedals, and found an outlet to plug it in. I've heard a lot about the force feedback, and I wanted to have it from the start. Following the directions, before I synced the wheel to my console, I placed the special edition PGR3 in, which contains the wheel drivers. After doing such, I powered up the wheel, held the sync button and continued on to sync it to my console. NOW, the racing was going to begin.

I decided, that, to get a good handle on the new controls, that I will start out with a car with good traction on a track that didn't have overly sharp turns. I decided to start with the Lotus GT1 on Las Vegas' "Big Apple Loop" track. The track features a fairly easy flow for turns. The idea to start with a fast car with good grip, on an easy track was easily the best choice. With the wheel, I had to relearn the controls. Going from the joystick to the wheel, while not surprising, was a good amount more difficult. I attribute it to the addition of force feedback, but this is a necessary re-learning process if I am ever going to get that more realistic race experience.

After about a half hour of racing, I set a new lap time on the Big Apple Loop track and was ready to move on. I decided to progress down Las Vegas, which I consider to be the easiest tracks to learn, as I develop my wheel skills. After getting used to most of the tracks, I moved on the Nurburgring's Half F1 Circuit. The Las Vegas tracks prepared me for most of what you see on a track, so the next logical step was the Half F1 Circuit. Running with a fast car, with the in car view, and using the wheel really gives you that feeling that you are in the car. You hear the engine roaring, and the tires squealing as you fly around the turns and down the straight.

I do recommend that you use the table clamp that comes with the Wireless Racing Wheel. While it can be used on your lap, I found it difficult to keep the wheel in place as I raced with force feedback turned on.

The games to play with the wheel at this point are fairly limited. As of right now, Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing 3 (which you receive with the wheel), and EA's Need for Speed: Carbon, are the only two games that support the support the wheel to the fullest extent (force feedback). It has been announced that Atari's M.O.O.R game, Test Drive Unlimited, is going to be patched in order for there to be full support of the racing wheel.

The highly anticipated game that will truly show you the power of the wheel, is Microsoft Game Studios' (Turn 10) simulation racer, Forza Motorsports 2. This game sets out to be the best sim available on the console, or even on any gaming platform, with its life like physics and damage engines. The wheel was designed with Forza 2 in mind, so by no way will I be surprised if it works flawlessly, and to the best that it can.

A special thanks to Tony Hynes for helping out. Thanks again Tony. Everyone, have a happy holiday season, and a happy new year! Sorry for the delay of this review.

Xbox360 news straight out of Germany.

gerlach — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:15:00 GMT

Was reading Trixie's post about the news out of Germany regarding the Xbox360 and Games for Windows.

Microsoft announced that they will be expanding into Eastern Europe adding 4 countries (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland) this Autumn.

Microsoft also announced pricing and availability of some accessories for your Xbox360 console. Taken from the Press Release:

Xbox Live Vision camera for the Xbox 360 system
Chat via video, send photo messages, put your own face in a game, and customize your gamertag on the Xbox Live network. The camera will be available in the U.S. on Sept 19 and in Europe on Oct 6 in two packages:

Xbox Live Vision: This package includes Xbox Live Vision camera, one-month Xbox Live Gold Membership, Xbox 360 Headset, and free* downloads of two full-version Xbox Live Arcade games: the popular UNO® card game and TotemBall, the new 3-D platform game from Freeverse and Strange Flavour Ltd. that is a mixture of platform skills and puzzles (estimated retail price (ERP) $39.99 U.S.).
Xbox Live Video Chat Gold Kit: This package includes the Xbox Live Vision camera, a 12-month Xbox Live Gold Membership, an Xbox 360 Headset, free downloads of three full-version Xbox Live Arcade games—the popular UNO card game, TotemBall and the classicRobotron 2084 action shooter—and 200 Microsoft Points (ERP $79.99 U.S.).

Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel
For true racing enthusiasts who demand unparalleled driving realism at home, this innovatively designed wheel combines form and function with the latest technology in wireless and force feedback. Purchase the wheel and get a limited-edition force feedback version of Project Gotham Racing® 3 while supplies last (ERP $149.99 U.S., available in November).

Xbox 360 Wireless Headset
Providing the ultimate wireless experience, this headset integrates seamlessly with the Xbox 360 console to provide wireless voice chat capabilities, stylish design and superior voice quality over the Xbox Live network (ERP$59.99 U.S.**, available in November).

Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows
By plugging the compact receiver into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 port on a PC, use Xbox 360 wireless accessories on your Windows-based computer (ERP $19.99 U.S.**, available in late December).

Xbox 360 Faceplates
Customize your consoles with one of three new special-edition faceplates featuring images from your favorite games, including the Halo® franchise,Viva Piñata™, and Forza Motorsport™ 2 (ERP $19.99 U.S.**, available in early November).

Backward compatibility update...Come on (and) down(load)!

gerlach — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:35:00 GMT

*Cue Price is Right Music*

The Backwards compatibility update includes not 1...but 21 titles that everyone will see. But wait...theres more! For those gamers in Japan, there is an extra bonus of 6 extra games!

*End Price is Right Music*

Peter Moore promised it, and here it is.

June 2006 Back Compat titles added:

1.   4x4 EVO 2
2.   Amped® 2
3.   Bad Boys 2
4.   Big Mutha Truckers
5.   DOOM 3®
6.   Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
7.   Fatal Frame™
8.   FlatOut™
9.   Grabbed by the Ghoulies™
10. Intellivision Lives
11. LEGO® Star Wars®
12. Minority Report
13. MLB SlugFest 20-04
14. The Punisher™
15. RalliSport Challenge
16. Silent Hill® 4: The Room
17. Spawn® Armageddon
18. Spider-Man
19. Star Wars Battlefront™
20. State of Emergency
21. Zapper™

Additional Japanese-only titles:

Bistro Cupid 1
Flight Academy
Othello Seminar
Igo Seminar
Shogi Seminar
Mahjong Seminar

Thanks you to Major Nelson for the list. You can find his full post here.

Wait...was that another Xbox360 Dashboard Update?

gerlach — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 13:55:00 GMT

Yes, yes it was. No features have been added, just a little problem with the localized chinese language.

Official Statement:

"This small update improves character recognition for those users that are using the localized Chinese language version of the dashboard on their Xbox 360. This update is being delivered as a free update to all users worldwide"

Major's "Minor Update" Post

New Elle and Xbox.com articles.

gerlach — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:27:00 GMT

Got word from Elle, about a week ago (sorry for the delay) about some new articles that went up at Xbox.com.

First, we have Elle's "Spring Foward" article, on the "Spring" Update to the Xbox360 console. You can find the article here, and in the Elle Archive.

Elle also gave us a heads up about some other articles:

Hopefully, everyone is enjoying the new update.

Xbox news for the Month of May.

gerlach — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:20:00 GMT

******************************************************************************

Less than a month after E3, the buzz about Microsoft gaming continues to gain momentum. While others in the industry are clearly focused on launching computers, we are squarely focused on delivering next-generation games and entertainment. And with a growing list of games awards, coupled with our recent Xbox Live spring platform features update, the Microsoft gaming story is top of minds this summer and beyond.

Awards: Recognizing Gaming Excellence

Not only will Xbox 360 feature 160 games by the end of the year, those games– and their counterparts on Games for Windows – represent the finest gaming experiences available on any platform. Windows Vista and many of the showcase titles from first- and third-party publishers had an incredible showing, garnering a flood of awards and nominations.

For the full list of the awards and accolades received at E3, please check out. http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2006/06/09/535618.aspx.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Release and Spec Information

On May 23 at WinHEC, Microsoft took one step closer to final Windows Vista code with the release of Windows Vista Beta 2 for IT professionals and developers with MSDN and TechNet subscriptions. Windows Vista Beta 2 is a significant milestone for Microsoft and gamers, as the new operating system will offer innovative gaming features and an incredibly immersive entertainment experience for everyone from casual gamers to hardcore enthusiasts.

Microsoft also recently announced Windows Vista’s hardware specifications so that consumers can prepare for the launch of the celebrated operating system. "Vista-capable" machines must have at least an 800MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and a graphics card that can run DirectX 9. "Premium Ready" machines will need a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a graphics card that supports the new Windows Display Driver Model in order to run Windows Vista’s high-end features such as Aero-glass.

Spring Platform Features Update Brings New Features and Fixes

Earlier this week, Microsoft deployed its Spring Platform Features Update, a massive overhaul of Xbox Live features and other Xbox tools. While a complete list of updates is online at xbox.com, a small sample of the most popular features includes:

New background download manager gives gamers the ability to queue up and download six high definition items at a time including playable game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, music videos and movie trailers while actively playing games or browsing the dashboard. As an added benefit, if gamers engage in multiplayer gameplay while downloads are in process, the new background download manager will automatically pause the download queue until the multiplayer session is complete ensuring a continuously optimal gameplay experience.
Custom background music now continues to play without interruption during game loads and when transitioning from game to game or disc content.
During music play, the music playback screen now showcase the artist, song title and time remaining on the song along with a visualizer showing which song on the playlist or album is currently playing.
DVD movie bookmarking now allows gamers to pause a movie at any point, put in a game for gameplay and return to the movie at the exact point it left off.
Improved DVD movie playback for a smoother, higher quality viewing experience, including additional VGA support.

Xbox Live Marketplace Updates: From Cards to Pirate Ships

During E3, "UNO" (MGS) hit Xbox Live Marketplace, and has since become the single-most successfully-demoed game on the service. Its demo-to-purchase rate is between 40-45% (depending on the day), beating "Geometry Wars'" (MGS) previous record of 39%.

Two major game updates hit Marketplace in late May. Racing enthusiasts can now download a free "Project Gotham Racing 3" (MGS) expansion that adds several Cadillacs from the popular V-series to their racing stable, including the CTS-V, the XLR-V, and the STS-V. Meanwhile Bethesda added the Thieves Den content to their "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" offerings, allowing stealth-based characters to take over and command a pirate ship and crew!

Hot Summer Games

Gamers know a good thing when they see it, and they are turning out in droves to get their hands on the latest high definition games on Xbox 360. The top five selling Xbox 360 games sold in the United States in May were:

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Take 2)
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)
Fight Night Round 3 (EA)
Battlefield 2: Modern Kombat (EA)
Major League Baseball 2K6 (Take 2)

The overall software attach rate for Xbox 360 is still a record-breaking 4.5 titles per console in the United States, and accessory attach rate remains at a record-breaking 2.9 units per console as well. As we head into the summer months, Xbox 360 gamers can’t wait to get their hands on upcoming favorites like "Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2" (Electronic Arts), "NCAA Football 2007” (Electronic Arts), the Xbox 360 exclusive "Chromehounds" (SEGA), the Xbox 360 exclusive "Dead Rising" (Capcom), "Madden NFL 2007" (Electronic Arts), and the Xbox 360 exclusive "Ninety Nine Nights" (MGS).

Additionally, the NPD Group released the findings of their PC Game Revenue survey which revealed that total U.S. consumer spending on Games for Windows Games reached $1.4 billion in 2005. Online subscriptions to specific Windows titles, such as "World of Warcraft" (Blizzard), and gaming web sites accounted for $344 million of the total. NPD's Anita Frazier stated, "The big message from this study is that as many have suspected, the decline of retail sales of PC Games does not fully reflect what is going on in that segment of the games industry. The total PC games market is approximately one-third larger than what pure retail sales have suggested."

As we head into summer and holiday, it is clear that the Microsoft gaming story has become the measuring stick for the gaming industry – and it's only getting better.

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Special Thanks to Tony Hynes. Happy (late) Birthday again Tony!

Microsoft's E3 Keynote!!!!!

gerlach — Tue, 09 May 2006 20:03:00 GMT

Just too much to handle. Check out Joystiq.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/09/engadget-and-joystiqs-live-coverage-of-microsofts-xbox-360-e3-ev/

Microsoft and Xbox break World Water Balloon Record in Australia!

gerlach — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:12:00 GMT

Today, in Australia, Xbox staged a massive water balloon fight, in which over 2900 participants. How official was this world record? Yes, the Guiness Book of World Records was there...so it is official.

This event was staged to celebrate the launch of the Xbox360 console, that has done great since its launch selling more than 40,000 consoles. All I can say is that Aussies know their console.

There was a serious part to this, outside of actually setting a record. All participants had a sign up fee, where they received a shirt, goggles and entry to the event. $5 from every entrance fee was donated to the "Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club".

It was a great event, wish I could have took part in it. Major Nelson has photos of the mayhem, and Gamerscore Blog should soon as well. Will update when I have that

Major Nelson Flickr Photos and Blog Post

Gamerscore Photos and Blog Post

Xbox Users Group

MSN Money