You Xbox 360 folks that have been trying to relive classic arcade games on Xbox Live with the poor substitute of a gamepad might just be in luck. We just got word that Ed Farias of Arcade-in-a-Box has created a controller for that system with real arcade controls and a sourced and modified Xbox gamepad.
Check out Ed's snappy handy work in the image above. The prototype you see pictured is a wired version based using a Mad Katz controller PCB. The unit can also be used on a PC using Windows XP.
Here's the rub, Ed's not sure he want's to create these as there is a good deal of time involved soldering the connections properly. His current thought is to sell it as a kit for home users to finish. I think there's a load of demad out there so prove Ed wrong. If you would be interested in a kit or in a completed controller, drop Ed a line at Arcade-in-a-Box and let him know.
Update:
I (forahobby) made my own WIRELESS Street Fighter Anniversary Edition Arcade Controller for Xbox 360.. You could basically use the same tutorial as the WIRED ONE but you will have to obviously add a battery and some buttons for the SYNC (which i did easily).
As anyone who's spent a little quality time in Halo 2 on Xbox Live knows, smack talk can be an essential tactic in any encounter. While some people seem content with a quick running tea-bag and the stereotypic "you suck, nyuk nyuk," there's an elite crew online who, emboldened by the anonymous qualities of Xbox Live, have raised the trash talking bar to new and impressive heights.
Snappy comebacks can save your life and reputation if you're unfortunate enough to run into one of this crew, but annunciating coherently can often be difficult in the cacophonous heat of battle. As such, GameDr and Digital Innovations have developed the SmackTalk, a smallish voice-recording dongle that hooks into the 360 controller and headset. Users can record up to five clips via their headset's microphone, which become immediately accessible for playback via the five buttons on the SmackTalk unit on Xbox Live's voice service.
Armed with the SmackTalk you'll be able to relentlessly harass other players with as many gross sound effects and dumb one-liners as you can think of. When others attempt to talk back or drown you out, they'll quickly discover that their old-fashioned human tongues cannot keep up with your modern technology as you mash the SmackTalk's buttons. You might not be making any new friends, but at least you'll get the full rush of sophomoric thrill that is ruining a bunch of other people's days.
The ESA, the video game industry's trade body, has announced that a federal court in California has ordered defendants to pay in excess of $9 million in damages for Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations, including trafficking of mod chips and a device called HDLoader, which allows copies of games to be downloaded directly onto the hard drive of a game console.
The ESA reports that the ruling came down on September 11 from Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court in Northern District of California. Judge Wilken awarded $3,750,200.00 in damages against corporate defendant Divineo, Inc., and Canadian resident Frederic Legault. She also awarded $5,791,400.00 in damages against corporate defendants Divineo U.K. and Divineo SARL, and French resident Max Louarn.
IGN.com updated their Xbox360 HDMI article because they finally got an answer from Microsoft about a possible digital signal for the Xbox360. Sadly it's still not very clear if this means the current Xbox360 could have a HDMI cable or if they mean they could easily make a new version of the 360 with a HDMI port (As we reported a while back, MS has been working on prototypes of an Xbox 360 with HDMI port):
IGN: Can the X360 send out a digital signal now, or ever?
Microsoft: Xbox 360 currently doesn't include a digital out connection for video. Our platform is flexible enough to allow support of a digital connection in the future should we choose to do so. When the Xbox 360 was being developed HDMI was nascent and with our current connections we support what the overwhelming majority of consumers have available to them. It's important to note that the market penetration of 1080p displays is in the single digits. Regardless, for those early adopters who have displays and projectors that support 1080p over VGA and component we have a solution and it is a free upgrade for them. We are watching the market closely and will continue to evaluate our solution in the face of consumer demand, but have no announcements regarding additional cables or connections.
Redline99 released a new version of his tool that will allow you to easily dump, create/patch and burn Xbox and Xbox 360 images with full support for SS, DMI and PFI using Xbox/Xbox360 drives with an (C4E/OPA) Xtreme SS-extracting FW or with the SH-D162C PC-drive using Kreon's latest alternative FW.
What's new/fixed:
* Removed - SDG-605B from being able to create a Complete Backup Image (Will bring back and fix later)
* Removed - Most of the "Wait For Ever" CDB code options. This was causing what looked like a App hang.
* Removed - Speed Boost check box. It is now controlled by the drop down box in the Drive Specific settings
* Changed - Log File will always get the Detail Log Level unless logging is turned off
* Changed - Reduced executable file size
* Changed - Improved installer
* Changed - Read Me file to reflect common questions and current status.
* Fixed - ToolTip text for the Merge/Extract on the Image Tools Tab
* Fixed - Burner didn't write at selected speed
* Fixed - Error on Windows 2000 related to "uxtheme.dll"
* Fixed - DeviceIoControl Error when extracting Security Sector with SH-D162C (Experimental; not proven)
* Added - More detailed logging of operations and results
* Added - Hopefully some better writer compatibility (I can't really test)
* Added - New logo by jhyphinwill, Thanks looks nice and it got me away from the Microsoft logo Smiley
* Added - New Read error reporting that will tell you the file name of the data it can't read
* Added - Check of the OS before using theme dll (uxtheme.dll)
* Added - Additional Inquiry data (Nice for Kreon's SH-D162C, shows version info)
* Added - New dialog when a read error occurs (Allows Retry, Fill with zeros, Cancel)
* Added - Should a file buffer error occur during writing, it will retry 10 times before failing
* Added - Code to prevent multiple instances of the application
* Added - Warning if the drive is already unlocked when doing a Complete Backup
* Added - Better overall retry strategy when Initializing/Writing/Finalizing)
* Added - A detailed Security Sector log
* Added - Check of image file size before writing
* Added - Optimum Power Calibration before writing
* Added - Log file will now reset if larger than a 512KB
* Added - New method for reading Xbox One disks. This should greatly improve the process.
This uses a technique I called the "Sector Mapper" It uses the XDVDFS to read only the data referenced by the file system. In theory this should do two things:
1. Speed up the process by not trying to read the Security Place Holders
2. Speed up the process by only reading the data, not the entire disk.
Please be aware that although this has been tested and is working the concept has not proven itself on a large scale. It currently does not work on Xbox 360 disks.
* Added - Feature to save the XDVDFS structure to a comma delimited text file (mostly for research)
* Added - XDVDFS File system entry details (if a read error is in the file system area)
* Added - Feature that if user selects to fill read errors with zeros, but a read error occurs in file system data they will get prompted again as this could be a media defect error in game data and shouldn't just be filled with zeros.
Contrary to what TeamXbox said about OXM exclusively having the demo, Ubisoft released this press release this morning to let us know that users will be able to download the demo for Rainbow Six® Vegas. This is good news if you subscribe to the magazine only and don't get the demo disk, or if you did not really want to pick up a magazine just to get the demo.
Press Release:
Kicking off the countdown to the game’s release, Ubisoft announced today that the single player playable demo of Tom Clancys Rainbow Six® Vegas for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft will be made available to consumers. The Xbox 360™ demo will be available on the European Xbox Live™ Marketplace™ on 23rd October, 2006.
The single player demo features part of the “Dante’s Casino” level of the single player mission. Players will Observe, Plan and Assault (O.P.A.) their way through the Gothic-themed casino that is under construction and believed to be a hideout for the terrorist leaders.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Vegas will ship worldwide this Autumn 2006 on Xbox 360, Games for Windows and the PlayStationÒ Portable (PSP™) while the PlayStation®3 will be available at European launch.
Dune: Awakening Shows Off Stunning Unreal Engine 5 Gameplay & More Funcom (@Funcom) revealed a stunning new gameplay trailer and featurette for Dune: Awakening, the first episode of the new Dune: Awakening Direct series. Embark on a breathtaking journey across Arraki..
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Check out Ed's snappy handy work in the image above. The prototype you see pictured is a wired version based using a Mad Katz controller PCB. The unit can also be used on a PC using Windows XP.
Snappy comebacks can save your life and reputation if you're unfortunate enough to run into one of this crew, but annunciating coherently can often be difficult in the cacophonous heat of battle. As such, GameDr and Digital Innovations have developed the SmackTalk, a smallish voice-recording dongle that hooks into the 360 controller and headset. Users can record up to five clips via their headset's microphone, which become immediately accessible for playback via the five buttons on the SmackTalk unit on Xbox Live's voice service.
