I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only person that’s had to send their Xbox away for repairs and it’s a frustrating experience, you know, not being able to play your favorite games and all. So, here are some tips to help keep your Xbox from overheating.

• Keep your Xbox on an open shelf, or other open area (DUH!)

This allows for air to flow and for heat to escape which is essential to your Xbox not cooking itself.

• Don’t put your Xbox on carpet, a couch or other similar surface (Again, DUH!)

Refraining from doing the above helps with air flow and the reason to not use those surfaces is that they cover the vents and other openings more, which is already bad enough but what’s even worse is that they trap heat. Yep. It’ll just be sitting there, festering near your console which isn’t good for it.

• If console is horizontal, use a cooling rack for cookies

This allows for better airflow underneath which also contains plenty of air holes. This should help your 360 get better air circulation and decrease chances of a certain dry solder from breaking and causing you to get the dreaded three red lights, AKA the “Red Ring of Death” and you won’t get mad.

I hope this helps increase the longevity of your Xbox 360 console so that you can experience many late nights chainsawing, shooting, tackling and just plain beating your opponents in your favorite Xbox games.

Comments are encouraged

-Unstable

Name a game other than Dead Rising where you are locked in a mall that is being over run with zombies and anything can be used as a weapon. Just try. I dare you. Can’t do it? Well, that’s why I have a review right here.

Graphics: 8.5/10

Ah…nothing like blood splahed all over a grown man wearing little kids clothes, women’s slippers and a MegaMan helmet and you get what my character looks like. The character models look amazing, that includes the zombies.

Audio: 9/10

I never thought that zombies moaning as a lawnmower runs over them could ever sound so great, but, this game does a great job of making that happen. The voices and other, non-zombie related sounds are great as well.

Controls: 7/10

They just take a few minutes of getting used to and then…they’re still a little awkward. Don’t let this deter you though!

General Gameplay: 8/10

The gameplay is fun. Shooting, impaling, stabbing, smacking and kicking zombies never gets old. Especially in a large environment with other hazards about and plenty of characters to interact with ranging from a survivor (who will be talking about their trip to the mall with therapists for years to come) to a maniacal, chainsaw-weilding clown who won’t let kids get off of a roller coaster that’s easily going 60+ miles per hour. Challenging, yet forgiving, this game will provide hours of fun.

Overall: 8/10

If you ever find yourself looking at a shelf of videogames wondering what to get, this game definitely deserves a second look.

Comments are encouraged.

-Unstable

In response to Sony’s price cuts of their PS3s, and to maintain the price advantage Microsoft enjoys, Microsoft has announced price cuts on all three versions of the XBox 360.

The Elite’s price is going from $479 to $399, the price of the Premium version is going down from $399 to $349 and the price of the Core version is going from $299 to $249.

-Unstable

Rated M for Mature.
Halo 3 got that rating for “Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Violence” by ESRB(Entertainment Software Rating Board).

Considering that the last Halo games were also rated M we can expect the same level of violence and language as we expected in the last Halo games.

No results yet from the BBFC or other European software ratings board. I’m sure we can expect similar ratings though.

In an open letter to Xbox 360′ers Peter Moore, the VP of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment devision, has sent out his apologies for the problems experienced with the 360’s hardware. They are owning up to their problems saying,

“You’ve spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we’ve not been doing a good enough job.”

They have also changed the warranty so that all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address these problems. There is now a 3-year warranty that covers all of the hardware “flashing red light” problems.

Here’s a copy of the entire letter:

Open Letter From Peter Moore

To our Xbox Community:

You’ve spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we’ve not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it’s something I take very seriously.

We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console.

We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free.

As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I’ve posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we’ll update it over the next few days.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

The other day when I was at a local department store, I decided to take note of prices and what was in stock. Here is what I saw from each of the three main console companies:

First is Sony. There were plenty of slim PS2’s in stock for the price of around $130. The games had a price of about $20-$30 on average. The PSP’s price was around $180. The games were selling from $20-$40. Finally, the PS3. The store seemed to be overflowing with them, and it’s no wonder with the price of the console at $600 and games selling for upwards of $60.

Next is Nintendo. There was the DS that was selling for about $80 and the game for around $30. There wasn’t anything really special to comment on for the DS but I saw something that was pretty rare. There was a Wii in stock (Though it’s probably gone now) and it was selling for $250 with games selling for $40. And for the Gamecube, I happened to overhear an employee telling another customer that they were trying to get rid of all Gamecube games except for Zelda: Twilight Princess. The console was selling for its usual price of $100 and the games were selling for about $20-$30.

Last but certainly not least is Microsoft. Their XBox 360 appeared to be doing very as there were only a few in stock and I saw a couple people buy a 360. They had both varieties, the $400 and $300 and the games were selling for $50 mainly, though there were plenty of $40 games a few $30 and $60 games.

So in conclusion, PS3s weren’t moving but 360s and Wiis were going off of shelves with the PS2 still attracting a few buyers, and in the handheld side of things PSP and DS had been going at a fairly healthy rate.

Comments are encouraged.

-Unstable

NOTE: All prices are USD.

The prequel to the N64 hit Perfect Dark takes place a few years prior, but you still do everything through the eyes of (a younger) Joanna Dark.

The weapons in this are nothing like they were in the original Perfect Dark, however they’re nothing to spit on. You still have a wide range of options ranging from pistols, like the Falcon and P9P to sniper rifles, like the Jackal. There are some new weapons like the P9P and some old ones make a return including the Falcon and CMP150.

The controls can be a bit much when reading them in the game’s manual but once you get going in the game they feel natural and easy.

This game has excellent graphics and audio. The character models look good and no detail was spared, be it just the shells sticking out of a shotgun or the way the hands move around when you’re running with a gun. The graphics also look pretty realistic with shadows and reflections. The audio also nails even the basic sound effects ranging from shattering glass and footsteps in the snow.

The multiplayer is even good with 6 maps that have several variations in size, so it’s like there are 3 maps for each one, and two main modes. The DeathMatch mode includes “KillCount” and “Team KillCount” which are standard death matches, ”Capture the Flag” which should be self-explanitory and “Territorial Gain” where you gain points by taking over and keeping territories. 

Finally, the other mode is “DarkOps” which is like the “fy_” maps in CounterStrike. The object is to kill all the people on the other team. 

Overall, this game is a must-have for any fan of the original Perfect Dark and people who play first person shooters. Here is how I break it down:

Controls: 8/10

Graphics: 9/10

Audio: 9/10

Multiplayer: 7/10

Overall: 8.25/10

Comments are encouraged.

-Unstable

 

A few of the songs that will be on Guitar Hero III have been announced. What I’ve learned is that the game will be 1980’s themed and this is just the first batch. Here’s the list:

 

ORIGINAL RECORDINGS:
“Cult of Personality” by Living Colour
“Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones
“Cherub Rock” by Smashing Pumpkins
“Sabotage” by Beastie Boys
“The Metal” by Tenacious D
“My Name Is Jonas” by Weezer
“Knights of Cydonia” by Muse
COVER SONGS:
“Rock And Roll All Nite” as made famous by Kiss
“School’s Out” as made famous by Alice Cooper
“Slow Ride” as made famous by Foghat
“Barracuda” as made famous by Heart

(Source: GameSpot.com)

 

The game is going to be for XBox 360, Wii, Play Station 2 and Play Station 3.

More details later and comments are uncouraged!

-Unstable

The list of backwords compatible games on the XBox 360 has reached 300. The update of 37 games includes Unreal Championship 2, Jet Set Radio Future and FIFA Soccer 07.

Here is the complete list:

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Breakdown
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
Daisenryaku VII
FIFA Soccer 2007
Full Spectrum Warrior
Guilty Gear Isuka
Innocent Tears (Japan only)
Jet Set Radio Future
King of Fighters 2002
King of Fighters: Neowave
Mad Dash Racing (Japan only)
Mech Assault 2
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Nascar 2006: Total Team Control
NFL Fever 2004
Oddworld Munch’s Oddysee
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Petit Copter (Japan only)
Phantom Dust
Reservoir Dogs
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
Rugby League 2
Sengoku Warriors (Japan only)
Sonic Riders
Soul Calibur 2 (updated)
Spider-Man 2
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
Tenku (Japan only)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Tony Hawk’s Underground
Ultra Bust a Move
Unreal Championship 2

(Credit: gamespot.com)

Hopefully your favorite XBox game is on that list if it wasn’t already backwords compatible.

-Unstable

Red Octane has responded regarding the huge numbers of problems reported regarding the whammy bars on Guitar Hero 2 guitars. Luckily they seem to isolated the model numbers of the guitars that seemed to be defective.

Here’s what Red Octane had to say,

We have isolated this issue to two model numbers that can be found on the guitar’s packaging. The numbers are 95065 and 95055. We are asking that customers who purchased their items from a retailer perform an exchange with that respective store (for a model number other than the defective two listed above). Customer’s who purchased through our online store can complete an rma request for their defective item and we will exchange it for a fully function guitar controller. We do apologize for the inconvenience and will [resolve] these matters.

Get those guitars returned and get rockin’ again.