Tag Archive for 'Console'

Xbox 360 Super Epic Elite Pro Core 250GB Monster Special Limited Edition Video Games Console with Free Bonus Special Edition Forza 3 Game and Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City. Oh, and it’s black.

Published on 8 November, 2009. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

Okay, maybe the title was a tad long, but hey, it works. :P

So, yesterday, I went to Game in town and picked up the Xbox 360 Elite Forza 3 bundle (which has 2 controllers, a 250GB HDD, and of course, Forza 3), as well as GTAIV: Episodes from Liberty City (which is a standalone game, with the two GTAIV expansion packs). I’ve previously owned two Xbox 360s – the first one was in Australia, which I had to sell (it RRoD’d), and the second one was here in the UK – which I liked, but it was somewhat noisy, and I didn’t really play all that many games on it back then. Anyway, the 360 has since had a revamp (NXE), and now has a lot more titles which I’m interested in playing, so I decided to buy one again – however, the main factor that made me buy it was Forza 3 and the GTAIV expansion packs.

So, I now own one. :D

Except, a problem. Due to cost cutting by Microsoft, the component AV cable is no longer included (why not, MS?), and instead, there’s a cheap-o composite cable (the one with a single yellow RCA jack for video), and that’s it. Which is somewhat of a problem, because I want to hook it up to my projector. I could use HDMI (which I will eventually), but the projector doesn’t have anything to do with the audio, so it’s just ignored – and for some stupid reason, the composite cable that’s included with the 360 is too large, and blocks the HDMI port. So right now, I have two choices:

  • Use HDMI to my projector, and have no audio. The upside is it’ll be HD, but the downside is, I won’t be able to hear anything.
  • Use composite video to my projector, and use the stereo RCA jacks for audio (I’m using my PC as an amplifier at the moment but in the near future I’ll be getting an AV Receiver for switching the 360, Sky+HD box, and PC, into the projector’s one HDMI jack). The downside for this is that it’s horrible SD video, but the upside is, I can hear everything.

So of course, for now, I’m sticking to SD video. I’ve ordered one of those HDMI breakout cables for optical audio off eBay, which should arrive soon. Once it’s here, I can use the HDMI port for HD video, and the RCA or optical jacks from the cable for audio. Perfect. :)

Finally, the gamertag I signed up for is WilliamTM UK. The reason for this is simple. I’ve sort-of adopted the nickname “WilliamTM” around the web, so I’ve decided to use it on the 360. The only downside is that my original account that I created in Australia is WilliamTM – and Microsoft won’t allow you to change the account’s country (which you need to do in order to use a UK credit card). So, I’ve now got WilliamTM UK, which is my UK gamertag which I’m now using.

One day, I might try to change the old gamertag to something else, and then change my UK one to WilliamTM, but I’m not doing it yet, for two reasons. One, it would cost about £14 worth of MS points to do so, and two, I’m not sure if it’s possible to change your gamertag to a previously used one. If I can confirm that with MS, I might do it, but until then I’m not going to do so.

So anyway, that’s enough about that. Again, if you want to add me, please do. :D

Oh and finally, if you’re wondering, no, I’m not selling my PS3. And yes, I did swap my bedroom TV for the Xbox 360 – I really didn’t use the TV for all that much other then some SDTV off Sky, so I’m not really going to miss it that much. ;)

Let’s get DiRTY!

Published on 15 September, 2009. View Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

DiRT 2 Jump

I was first introduced to the Colin McRae series back with the ’04 version of the game, and I was instantly hooked. Despite having to play it at very low settings on my old PC, it was great fun, and I used to like seeing how hard I could push a car before smashing it into a wall and losing a wheel or two, and a bumper, and possibly the windscreen, mirrors, doors, boot, lights, and every other part of the car before eventually passing the finish line with a scrap metal cube with one wheel*. :D

Anyway, just five years on, Codemasters have released Colin McRae: DiRT 2. I enjoyed the original DiRT, but it was nothing special – sure, it looked nice, and was fun to play, but the cars seemed to be unrealistic to drive – for example, they seemed to accelerate too quickly, and they slid around on the road. A lot.

DiRT 2, on the other hand, is MUCH better. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that DiRT 2 is one of my all time favourite games. I’ve only had it four days now, but it’s insanely fun to play, and looks amazing. When you jump into the game for the first time, you’re greeted by…well, it can’t really be described as a menu, because a menu is a static boring list of options. In DiRT 2, you’re basically greeted by a pretty amazing interior of an RV, and when you go outside, you’re greeted by a pretty detailed festival-like environment, with the background of whatever country your last race was in. Honestly, the menu alone is worth buying the game for.
Continue reading ‘Let’s get DiRTY!’

PS3 Lives Again!

Published on 20 October, 2008. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Well, not mine. I just got off the phone with a nice woman on the PS3 customer support line, and she asked me a few questions about who I was (name, phone numbers, email and postal address), and a few questions about the PS3 (has it been bumped, is it in a well ventilated area, what were you doing before it broke, what does it do when you turn it on now), and after about 10 minutes on the phone (of which about 4 of that was holding), they’re sending me a new (albeit refurbished model) PlayStation 3 this Thursday.

Same model, so it’ll be the 60GB one that I already have. The courier is bringing the new one on Thursday, and I have to swap mine with the new one, and it’s all done. Easy! :)

Sadly, though, I have to 1) redownload all the game demos, games, videos, and so on, that I had on the old PS3, and 2) I’ve lost several video clips that I only had a copy of on the PS3, and 3) no game saves or anything. I’m annoyed at this because I now have to replay GTAIV from scratch, plus Burnout Paradise, plus Colin McRae – I had a pretty built up portfolio on all three titles, which is quite annoying, especially considering how hard the games are at some points of the story. Needless to say, I’m going to find dad’s old 100GB Maxtor USB HDD, which isn’t being used, and backup the whole PS3 monthly.

Still, at least I’ll have a working PS3 again. :D

Also, off topic but I’m going to start tagging my posts from now on. 1) It’s better for searching, 2) It’ll make the fancy tag cloud in my sidebar work. I might tag all the other posts someday too, if I’m bored, but don’t count on it. And, of course, if you’re not already following me on Twitter, or, as of yesterday, Tumblr, please do. :)

PS3 Died :(

Published on 10 October, 2008. View Comments Tags: , , , , .

My PS3 has died. If I try turning it on, the power light goes green, then quickly changes to yellow, then quickly changes to red, and blinks.

I was playing GTAIV today for about 4 hours or so, then I quit that, put Folding at Home on, and left the lounge…I just went downstairs about half an hour ago and noticed it had died. Great.

According to the flame-war-based PS3 forums, it should work if you power cycle it a few times, otherwise most people say call Sony. Sony’s FAQ suggests that it needs a service: http://tinyurl.com/ps3-b0rked

Anyway, since I’m going to London tomorrow,I’m going to leave it, and try again on Wednesday when I get back – if it still doesn’t work, I’ll see if Game can replace it (it’s only just within the year’s warranty – I purchased it on the 30th of October last year), and if not, I’ll give Sony a call. I just hope I can get my game saves back (I had loads of stuff on the HDD, including a lot of trailers), and my GTAIV disc is also stuck inside it. Argh!