Xbox 360 Preview Options

[michael]

As part of our training for the launch, myself and a couple of other employees were invited to Microsoft's Reading Office for an afternoon to experience Xbox 360. We basically sat through a few seminars detailing the power of the machine and, more importantly for MS, the new features on Xbox Live. In between each lecture, we were let loose on ten 360's running on HD televisons with a selection of games. I went there expecting to be amazed at the games, but what I wasn't prepared for was the detail of customisation that the 360 was capable of. You really can make the machine as individual as your Cocker. There were the obvious wallpaper and graphical themes but then it went deeper with the demonstrators connecting digital cameras to download images or connecting an iPod to play music through your games. It even recognised the playlists that were on the iPod, something you can't do on a PC without iTunes. Music from any device can be played in ANY game. Connecting the 360 to your home network allows you to play movies or recorded TV programmes if you have a TV card an Win MCE. Whilst doing any of these things, you can still log into the new-look Xbox Live to send or receive messages, download free games from the Arcade portal or buy and trade your Xbox points in the Marketplace lobby. I can't give too much away as they probably bugging my room, but one of the coolest features I saw was the Player profile. How many times have you had to sit in front of a multiplayer Halo screen waiting for Russboy to sort out his gay controls? No more. Your Player profile applies to all your games. If you like inverted controls for your FPS games and enjoy listening to Wagners Flight of the Valkyries when you play, that's what you'll get on all your FPS games. Can't be bothered with the ambient chatter on your RTS games? They're gone, no matter what you play. Project Gotham 3 looked and raced like a dream and Perfect Dark Zero is...wait...can you hear that? I..arrrghhhhhh!

[paul]

Just found this:

Xbox 360 crashes may be caused by PSUs overheating
Posted on Mon 28 Nov 2005, 8:22 PM

As reports of Xbox 360 units crashing or freezing continue to emerge from North America, some console owners are claiming to have found the cause of the problem - and its solution.

Apparently many Xbox 360 owners are attempting to hide the console's large power supply unit out of sight, and placing it in areas where there is not enough ventilation as a result. Just as when a PC crashes if it gets too hot and there's a risk of fire, the Xbox 360's PSU is said to then shut down - which means console owners should be leaving plenty of space around the power pack so that air can circulate and the two built-in fans can perform properly.

One Xbox 360 owner found a particularly inventive solution to the problem - as detailed on the GameSpot forum. The poster, "goldeneyemaster", claims his Xbox 360 was crashing "like once every 20 minutes," so he suspended it in the air with a bit of string - which solved the problem. He also found that perching the PSU on a box worked just as well: "I left the console on for seven hours without crashing (I finally decided to turn it off)."

Microsoft declined to comment on whether the PSU is causing the crashes, with a spokesperson simply telling our sister site Eurogamer: "Because Xbox 360 has three powerful processing cores, customers may notice that it runs a bit warmer than other game consoles, but this heat output is well within the acceptable and safe range for a CE device of this type and has passed all applicable safety certifications.

"There is no systemic issue with Xbox 360. Each incident is unique and these customer enquiries are being handled on a case-by-case basis."

This post has been edited by paul: Dec 1 2005, 01:03 PM