Well it's been a while, my last post was a year ago when I moved the site off it's server to host it off my pc. I'll have to say that I enjoyed not paying for hosting, but it sucked because I had a problem with Apache re-writes and never got the gallery and wiki to work. My one year subscription to the domain forwarding service expired, so I found a good server to park it on again. My friend Jon from Xbox Modding Zone has agreed to share some of his space, which is mighty nice of him. Now that I am back on a reliable server, the gallery, wiki, and all other parts of this site are now back to fully functional.

As he has recently opened an Xbox themed part shop, and I have plenty of traffic looking for parts and advice, I have integrated links to his shop throughout this site. You'll find links to Xbox Modding Zone in my navigation areas as well as banners on many pages. I have known Jon for quite a while, and done business with him several times. I can attest that his prices are below the competition, his service is excellent, and I highly recommend Xbox Modding Zone as your first place to look for parts and service.

The XboxChopShop has been knocked offline for the last week or so. What happened was the domain name of my host site expired. With no web host, I was dead in the water. Bummer...



Anyway, now I'm back up and running (mostly). The site has had a bit of a migration in the last week, and is now running a bit closer to home. Very close in fact, I've installed a webserver on my pc and the whole site is currently being served off my desktop. I have a fast broadband connection that can handle the traffic, and my pc usually has a 99% uptime. It's a half-decent pc, but I might be getting something with a bit more balls soon. I don't expect any issues with the server keeping up.



I still have some site problems, the gallery and wiki aren't working yet. I should be able to get them back online soon, I just need the time to work on it. Other than that, everything else seems to work like it should. Someone please let me know if I've missed any other problems...

While I admit that the phenomenon commonly known as the "Red Ring of Death" is hardly a news flash, it's a subject I've recently had to deal with. It is also referred to as the "3 Red Leds of Death", and can be shortened to RROD or 3RLOD. There have been some successful repairs out for a while now, but I finally got motivated to fix mine. It has been sitting there sulking on the shelf with those three red lights, blinking steadily, mocking me. It broke a couple months ago, but now that Halo3 and BioShock are out it couldn't wait any longer.



Now that I've gone though the process of breaking and repairing my blinkin' 360, I've decided to take some time away from my two new favorite games long enough to explain clearly what is going wrong with all these fried 360s and how it gets fixed properly.



Looking for an explanation in simple English? Keep reading... Continue reading "The Red Ring of Death: A Full Circle Explanation"

Well it seems Ben is up to his usual mayhem again, and has modded something interesting indeed. This time, it's an Xbox360 wireless controller stuffed into an old Xbox Duke (also referred to as a "fatty") controller. After receiving several requests, he got one of those wild hairs like he does every so often and decided it might be fun. As always, he makes this stuff look easy.









Keep reading to see his story, with nice large clear photos and a movie clip of him using it to play Stranglehold... Continue reading "Another Ben Heckendorn Mod: A 360 Duke Controller"

Modchips have always been in a shady legal area, because their most obvious use is to allow pirating games. Up until now, they have been considered legal to import and sell in the US because they (at least the Xbox chips) come preloaded with a free and legal Linux bios and they do have legitimate uses.



Despite this, the government has decided to crack down on modchip retailers as well as "garage" installers. Several webshops have stopped taking orders or selling chips, some installers have had their soldering irons confiscated, and Team Xecuter has decided to stop manufacturing Xbox modchips entirely.



Now I lucked out on this one, because just as I was about to pull out my soapbox and lay out my opinion on the subject someone beat me to it. Even luckier still, it was someone with a brain and they managed to hit some extremely good points that I would have missed. I'd like to introduce a guy that goes by TwistedSymphony. He has an engineering degree, and has been respected in the Xbox community for many years. I personally miss his old website "HardMods" but still enjoy his opinions on his blog thoughthead.



Normally this blog is reserved for my personal opinions, but today I'd like to quote TwistedSymphony instead. He already said what I was thinking, and did an awesome job. I hope you enjoy reading his commentary as much as I did.



Continue reading "Are Modchips Legal?"

Ok I had a wild idea that what the world might need is a huge Xbox Wiki containing EVERYTHING there is to possibly know about the Xbox and the Xbox360. I have no idea why the world might want such a thing, but against my better judgement I've decided to do it anyway.



So... introducing the future repository of all knowledge that is xbox... XboxWiki.



Have I lost my mind? That is possible, but there's really no proof that I had it recently enough to lose it now. All signs point to me losing it many many years back. Despite my apparent insanity, I intend to attempt this assimilation of all knowledge pertaining to the Xbox world.



I am seeking a handful of editors to assist with this massive project. The good news is that I will shoulder the burden of the insanity, so you may still apply to help with the project even if you are still sane. I do need a massive amount of help with this, so there is room for editors with or without a lot of Xbox knowledge. I do ask that all applicants have some intelligence and common sense at a minimum...



PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HELP!!!!!



Jeff (aweirdguy)

It looks like Microsoft has finally noticed that some of their 360 consoles seem to have a problem with overheating. Hmm, it's about time... the rest of us had that figured out over a year ago. It has been common knowledge on the internet that the consoles can run very hot, causing the gpu to warp away from the board. This is the main cause for a 360 to get the "3 red lights of death", which is a sight that can give a gamer nightmares and even cause mental trauma requiring weeks of psychological counseling (usually until the console gets back from repairs).



There are now a couple of reports from customers that sent their 360 in for repair, and have gotten it back with a new heatpipe attached to the gpu heatsink:







This should allow the gpu to run slightly cooler, hopefully preventing the console from overheating (again).



So what exactly is a heatpipe, how does it help to cool things off, and what does this new beast look like? Continue reading "GPU Heatpipe Added to Repair Overheating 360s"

At a recent conference called D5, there was a comment made by Bill Gates about Video Recognition. Bill seems to think that this will be the future of game control input. Shortly after this, there was a flock of bloggers commenting on the potential of "Motion Controls" coming to the 360. I have no idea why people hear what was said, but fail to listen or understand. Hmm it could be because bloggers flock like sheep and don't bother thinking for themselves. Anyway, here is the comment made:



Quote from the D5 transcript:

Bill: And as we get natural input, that will cause a change. … Software is doing vision and so, you know, imagine a game machine where you’re just going to pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it.



Walt: We have one of those.



Kara: Yeah. Wii.



Bill: No, that’s not it. You can’t pick up your tennis racket. And swing it.



Bill: You can’t sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That’s a 3D positional device. This is video recognition.

Now it is very clear that Bill was NOT talking about Motion Control. So what does he see for the future of gaming input? What does Video Recognition mean? Continue reading "Is Video Recognition the input device of the future?"

If any one character could represent all that is the world of Xbox, it would have to be Halo's Masterchief. If you want to sell a product to a bunch of Xbox fanboys (or fangirls) the easiest way is to drop an image of Masterchief onto it. Team Xtender has done just that, or as close as they can get without needing a license from Bungie. This appears to be an artists reproduction of the character, changed just enough to avoid the phone call from the lawyers. Of course they don't call him the Masterchief either (for the same reasons) but we all know who he is anyway.











As far as I can tell, this product has not been officially announced yet but is in a pre-order status at the wholesale level. I guess it pays to be observant, huh? There is no sign of it on the official Team Xtender website yet, but I found a photo on this site marked "XCM custom case (Sample)", as well as a product description on their wholesale website:





Continue reading "Masterchief meets Team Xtender's XCM Line"

Well it seems that Microsoft is the only company that decided not to use motion controls in their console this round. Was that a mistake? It's hard to say, but everyone else seems to think thats the right direction to go. The PS3 has tilt sensitivity in the Six-axis controller, and the Wii-mote takes motion control to new extremes... should the 360 controllers support tilt control too?



Spare a couple clicks for me here, and lets see how many 360 gamers want to tilt:







Well, we'll see how the poll goes, but right now there are plenty of people betting you want tilt control so badly that you'd hack your beloved 360 controller apart to get it. Apparently this is a popular thought, because now there are three different aftermarket hacks coming to stores soon.



Let's have a look at the choices, should you want to tilt:



Continue reading "User Poll: Does your 360 need tilt control?"

After many hours of effort to install and configure, I am finally ready to open the new public mod gallery! You can get to it here and of course from the Navigation on the left side.



The gallery is running on on the Gallery2 software and it allows comments, photo ratings, and user uploads. Yep, you got that right... user uploads. Anyone can register in the gallery, make an album, and upload all your mod photos. I've wanted this for a while now, its about time I got it up and running here.



While I would prefer to see Xbox and Xbox360 mods, you can upload anything that you've modded and want to show off. No nudity please, as there are plenty of minors that visit here. If you modded your girlfriend, feel free to email those photos to me but don't post them.



My only regret is that you won't be able to login to the gallery with your forum account. While that integration is possible, it would take me an extra week and I'm just not going to do it. Sorry bout that, but at least you can use the same username if you want. Ok, theres nothing else to say about it, so check it out then register and start uploading your mod pics!

I just found a professional painting shop called Colorware that does scratch-proof paintjobs on consoles. These look awesome, and you can either send in your 360 or buy a brand new Premium in any color you want.









They offer 28 color choices, and a paintjob on your 360 starts at $99! They had their paints and scratchproof coating created for them specifically to look the best on plastic. They claim that their special stratchproof coating also blocks 99.8% of the sun's UV rays, preventing the color on your console from ever fading due to sitting in the sunlight.



They have several options for painting a 360...



Continue reading "Colorware - Professional Console Painting"

I ran across this item, it's supposed to be a replacement case for the 360:













Ok I'm not sure what kind of interesting mind-bending drugs someone was taking, but this couldn't have been designed straight and sober. I think it looks alot more like a UFO than a console, and I'm not sure how many kids are going to want one.

Continue reading "OVO 360 = UFO WTF?"

I would guess it's safe to say that everyone has seen something about the new Xbox360 Elite. It was a wild rumor for several months, but now it is heading toward shelves in your neighborhood soon. Actually, if you're lucky some stores seem to be selling them ahead of schedule....



The Xbox360 Elite:





So, what's new with the Elite? Well, you can find the Microsoft version here and it boils down to:



- HDMI port (with HDMI cable included)

- 120gig hard drive

- It's all sexy black instead of white

- It's $480 ($80 more than the Premium)



Ok, but what will these features offer the hackers and modders?



Continue reading "How will the Xbox360 Elite effect the modding/hacking community?"

There is a new problem for the exclusive features of the PS3... because the 360 is getting tilt control soon. HDMI, check. Large HDD, check. Tilt control, almost there. I'm not sure what will be left for PS3 fanboys to gloat about, except possibly a free online service that isn't worth what you pay for it. Ok, so the tilt control isn't a Microsoft feature, but whatever.



There havn't been many details released on this mod yet. The official website here just has a release date of "End of April" and these two screenshots of what appears to be a pc-based configuration app.







The guys over at xbox-scene received some additional information from the inventor "GreenGiant", who is the same guy that put out the XIR mod for the original xbox.

New generation of Tilt Mod.

There will be two versions, Xilt Advanced and Xilt Lite.

Written from the ground up to allow for the maximum user configuration, flexible for virtually any game type.



Features:

- Works with Wired and Wireless controllers

- Only 7 wires needed

- Install in 10-15 minutes

- Easily Enable/Disable tilt mod without an ugly switch

- Easily change tilt threshold in all four axis

- USB Configurator for changing any settings

- FW is upgradable (not end user)

- Xilt Advanced: Full configuration of Tilt angle to Controller Axis direction



Expected availability, last week of April.

Educated guesses: Well, the screenshots show buttons for "Read from Xilt" and "Write to Xilt" and they claim it installs with 7 wires. I'm going to assume that this is a small programmable chip that installs inside the controller, and it will some type of unobtrusive plug to hook the controller to your pc. Since they claim it has no ugly switch, they probably have it set up to enable/disable with a button combo like Back+Start.



So... who's up for some tilt control on your 360? Any suggestions on which games would be more fun with this mod? Maybe some driving or flying action?



Official XILT Website



Check out the full size photos after the jump. Continue reading "XILT - 360 Controller Mod"