I wonder what is up with so many Xbox 360s breaking down. I bought mine in April, so I really hope I don't get the red ring. If I do, and MS doesnt fix it for free, then I won't be buying another.

I've gone through three 360 consoles and I was not pleased receiving a refurbished system. Took me less than a week to get my system back, in all honesty I don't even think they check the systems being sent in to Texas. Got a box, slapped on the sticker and console on the box, drove to my local UPS and got it back the following week. Just be sure to get the extended warranty, it's not much to pay for considering the likelihood that these systems will die within a years' time. 2 year warranty can be purchased for $59 if I remember correctly, a few brave gamers decided to pass on purchasing the extended warranty and once their 360 flatlined, they had to pay $129.99 for the repair. So remember that the warranty lasts for 6 months only. If you really want to put your 360 to the test, pop in Dead Rising and see if plays all the way through without error.

Well, this is weird, but it kinda makes sense.

I mentioned the freezing problems that this 360 has been having, but I thought back to when my computer would freeze during graphically-intensive games. I solved that previous problem by cleaning out the dust-filled exhaust fans. It must have been an overheating issue.

So, I went to EB, bought the Nyko intercooler, hooked it up.

IT WORKS. No more freezing. The 360 would normally freeze during even a few laps on PGR3, but I was able to get through 2 full races without any freezing. Feeling the back of the intercooler, I can feel the warm air flying straight out of the console instead of staying there.

I'm quite happy now, but I'll be sure to order the extended warranty ASAP.

It's happened to me many times because of a loose cord. I always get really worried, but then I just plug them back in and everything is fine again.

My Xbox 360 Got Robbed. ;[

That'll teach your Xbox to stop walk around with money on the streets >=[

Regarding a cool Xbox 360, I haven't got any such problems (almost). I have taken precautions though. The power thingy has an entire shelf for itself, while the console itself got plenty of space. It did display a red ring, but I guess it was because my USB keyboard blocked some vents or something.

You know for just no reason at all I decided to go through the COD2 booklet and actually look through it and to my surprise I noticed a few images in the book display more than what appears on my set. Now the 360 supports 16X9 so one automatically assumes that there is no problem if there is a HDTV but as it turns out my set has some serious overscan issues. I had a CD lying around which hadn't been finalized so I added two images there. 720 & 1080 image files to see where my 360 stands.

http://members.chello.se/zacabeb/rep..._chart_720.jpg

http://members.chello.se/zacabeb/rep...chart_1080.jpg

Here are my results...

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/754...hart720xf3.jpg

Now I don't know exactly if this is a problem with the 360 alone but when viewing DVDs even after I calibrated the darn thing it didn't display any overscan at all. HDMI inputs on my set are perfect same with the 2 component streams when using my upscaling DVD player. I recommend many of you to run these tests to see if they pass, otherwise I demand a fix from MSFT. :boxing:

Uh, to my knowledge MSoft doesn't make an HDMI cable... could that be the issue?

I was mentioning that video signals coming through HDMI were fine as well when viewing through component video (DVD player) which means it's a problem with the 360 and not my set. I'm using the packaged cables with the premium 360 setup. Looks like I'll have to locate an ISF calibrator in NYC, $200-$400. :doh:

Update:
Ringed up MSFT to see if there was anything that could be done about this and the rep suggested the cables going bad and I mentioned using both the premium cables packaged with the 360 and my buddies monster 360 cables. Using either displayed the same error so then he said it was a graphical error with the 360 and they'll exchange it. So once again, back to Texas. Hopefully it's the console alone. It would just seem weird as to why this happens only with games and not the HD-trailers posted on the XBL marketplace.

could you be any more wrong? how about you actually play the game before you make up your mind about it.

saints row is alot better than GTA. there are some major improvements like being able to aim properly. also, multiplayer.
pity theres a few things missing (e.g. motorbikes). and the story was pretty cheesy.
the next GTA will probably be way better but that still a year away.

Actually, the only thing in Saints Row that's better than GTA is the aiming. Nothing else. Multiplayer is bland, the story terrible. Where GTA had some funny twists, interesting characters and so on, SR only got crude penis jokes.
So while Shin may or may not have tried the game, his view of the game is pretty damn spot on.

It's all in what you're looking for. I like the characters and the use of an actual physics engine in SR as well as the aiming and the larger variety of cars, though it is missing helicopters and motorbikes. San Andreas was just far too big for my liking, I found CJ to be a pussy, and the characters were just steriotypical and bland. (Not that SR was a world better in that department though either) In the end though I think that SR is perfectly capable of entertaining me until GTA4 comes out, and if they screw GTA4 past the things that they screwed up in GTA:SA I'll probably be going back to SR... but that's just my opinion.

*This post has not been spell checked*

I agree with you regarding San Andreas. By far the weakest chapter in my opinion. Compared to Vice City, however, Saints Row is almost embarrasing.
Though I must admit I enjoy Saints Row. Just don't see it as more than it is.

It seems that Blue Dragon's release date for Japan is on December 7th of this year. I honestly didn't expect it to be released anywhere until Spring of next year, as I haven't heard much about since it was first announced. Nothing was announced for the US yet, though.

We got 1080p

That should help narrow the playing field for any visual purists who want the PS3 just for the 1080p capabilities.

Actually it won't. They are updating the system to output 1080p, but the games still won't be a native 1080p so while you'll be able to output it, it will look better when set on 720p. The PS3 on the other hand will be a native 1080p, so when you hook up your 1080p component, or HDMI it is a TRUE 1080p, not a converted 720p to 1080p.

P.S.
If they do make the future games to run in a native 1080p, the performance of the games will take a hit, unlike the PS3 that is designed to run in 1080p and therefore it will run in the resolution without having to devert power from other resources just to output 1080p like the 360 will be doing.

The next Ninja Gaiden is going to be on the PS3? I remeber hearing the rumors last year, but I didn't think Team Ninja would really do it.

As far as I know, there is only one native 1080p game on the PS3 and that is GT. The games at launch will be 720p as well so is there necessarily a difference? I doubt MGS4 will be 1080p, the PS3 does has it's limits so only time will tell. Games I expect to run in full 1080p would be titles like Tetris & Uno within the first year or so. :lolsign:

Uhh, no, the PS3 takes a HUGE performance hit from 1080p, just like the Xbox 360 does/would. The PS3 is not "designed" to run at 1080p at all, it's simply an option for lesser graphically demanding games. That's why virtually all major PS3 games are 720p, with only a few like GT4 HD and Virtua Tennis able to run at 1080p. The system is most certainly not 1080p "native", and that's not something it will be able to accomplish very often in games.

If future Xbox 360 games get the option to output at 1080p, it will be in the same boat as the PS3. Especially since few games on either platform could run at that resolution.

Either way though, if you put the same game on both the 360 and the PS3 running at 1080p, and make it something graphic intensive... let's say Ninja Gaiden 2. The 360 would have a much larger likelyness of having performance glitches then the PS3, that's all I'm trying to say. Obviously it takes more power to make anything a higher resolution, hence why the PS1 was in 640/320 and the PS2 was in like 1024/768 (or something)

X360 had a great showing at TGS this year, as far as Japanese games go. Trusty Bell, the Mistwalker RPGs, DOAX2, The Idolmaster (still no date, dammit), Culdecept Saga, Super Robot Wars XO. Nevermind that half of those games are ones that most US gamers don't give a shit about.

I was more impressed by Trusty Bell than the Mistwalker games though. Both Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon look like alot of fun, but Trusty Bell seems a bit more interesting, especially to an anime fan like myself. Plus, I'm interested in seeing how Tri-Crescendo's first completely solo RPG will turn out (as Baiten Kaitos was done with Monolith Soft). Over time, my opinion might change of course.

Watching these games, and then watching the PS3's games, I couldn't help but wonder how long it will take developers to develop games requiring the HD-DVD drive. How long will the standard DVD cut it?

Unfortunatly M$ said that the HD-DVD drive will not and cannot be used for games, so get ready for future games to have disc swapping.

As for TGS, Trusty Bell looked good, but a bit generic to me. Also Namco arn't the best RPG developers around, Xenosaga was good, but it still had some mahor flaws. Blue Dragon looks awesome to me however. As soon as I saw White Knight Story for the PS3 though, I knew that THAT is a TRUE next-gen RPG.

Unfortunatly it's been hard for me to find coverage on many of the other 360 titles because it seems that Sony overtook this years TGS.

Indeed, Trusty Bell does look generic (espeically the art style, which I really like), but I guess I just want that sort of thing. I heard that there's was supposed to be some musical theme to the battle system to make it interesting, but I have yet to see it. Plus, I like the voice actress Hirano Aya, who's playing that Polka character.

White Knight Story is just too impressive! Makes me wish Level 5 were working on other consoles.

IGN had some good X360 coverage. For the rest of the games, I had to search for them on Google Japan using their Japanese titles.

You're a smart one arn't ya? ^^
Looking things up in Japanese and everything. As for IGN, I'll have to go there and check it out. (hoping for a new podcast soon on TGS)

As for Trusty Bell, if it has a music theme to it that hasn't been covered yet then perhaps I'll have to keep an eye on it yet. Last RPG with music based battle system was Rhapsody for the PS1... it wan't all that great ^^;