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Week of March 24, 2002
First Xbox ISO!
>> ... excited ?
Well , calm down , it's no game iso , it's just a little iso that will manage to crash your xbox when inserted.
You think that's stupid? well no ... 'cause it means the Xbox isn't bulletproof when inserting a CDrw.
How does it crash the XBox ?
From the readme :
"A. The answer lies in the GDFS file system structure. In GDFS, the list of files in a directory is a binary search tree keyed on the filename. If a filename is smaller than the current file, it looks to the left. If it's bigger, it looks to the right. This disk was made by making a file whose name was less than default.xbe have its right child point to itself. When the Xbox GDFS file system driver tries to find default.xbe, it gets into an infinite loop continually looking for the right child.
Note that the file can't be the first file (root of the tree), because the value 0000 in a child pointer is reserved for meaning "none"."
Other intersting part :
"Q. How does this disk get read at all? I thought the Xbox didn't read any disks but the special DVD-ROMs.
A. Not true. The Xbox actually will mount GDFS disks on any medium that the laser can read. They even will load default.xbe. (If the media type field in the XBE header actually said both HDD and DVD, and the XBE were signed by Microsoft's private key, it would even boot it.)"
note: don't ask for the iso file , it won't be distributed here to secure the future of the site.
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(Saturday 30 March 2002 16:39 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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vob file
>> cuttingtheedge reports ::
"Well, if you ever wondered what that vob file was on all Xbox games. We(cuttingtheedge) decoded it and took a few screenshots of it. It's a quick Xbox movie that looks almost like a quick promotion. Since not all Xbox users are as knowledgable as those crazy Xbox hackers we figured we would bring this to the gaming community for those that never saw it."
 
 
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(Saturday 30 March 2002 16:25 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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Download section!
>> The Xbox-Scene download section has just been opened , with xbox screensavers , skins (for mediaplayer & winamp) , fonts & wallpapers.
Njoy , more stuff will come soon.
Xbox: 'Microsoft has its teeth kicked in'
>> TheRegister reports:
"Leave it to EA's ever-controversial president John Riccitiello to put the boot. According to El Ricco, by way of Blooomberg, "Microsoft has had its teeth kicked in, in both Europe and Japan". Ouch. This may help explain why EA has been quietly shuffling all of their European Xbox releases further back into the summer for the last few weeks...
Bloomberg has picked up on what we all suspected already, reporting that the Xbox has fallen short of its sales targets in both Europe and Japan.
Sales in Japan slumped to around 10,000 units a week by its third week on sale there, meaning that the initial shipment of 250,000 Xboxes which were sent to Japan on February 22nd almost certainly haven't all been sold yet, a month on from the console's launch.
And while European numbers still aren't being given out, it is obvious that things haven't gone as well as Microsoft had hoped in many countries on this side of the pond.
Xbox marketing director John O'Rourke puts a brave face on things by claiming that "we're off to a great start in every region".
Analysts now suspect that Microsoft's strong showing in America won't be enough to let them reach their target of selling 4.5 to 6 million Xboxes worldwide by the end of June, and some suggested that the company may have to cut pricing soon. While this would undoubtedly provide a huge boost to the console's fortunes here in Europe, we're not convinced that pricing is the problem in Japan.
The Xbox is already cheaper in Japan than anywhere else, and lack of Japanese games probably has more to do with its slow sales there, not to mention the fact that its rivals both have a huge head start on their home turf. "
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(Thursday 28 March 2002 17:11 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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XOL - Xbox Online
>> A new rumor reports that the online service for the Xbox will be named XboxLive.
This has not been confirmed by Microsoft ... but a whois on xboxlive.com gives :
Registrant:
Microsoft Corp
One Microsoft Way
Redmond WA 98052
United States -- US
to be continued...
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(Thursday 28 March 2002 17:02 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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Xbox Game Charts: Halo #1
>> This is the UK chart for xbox games :
1 HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED
2 PROJECT GOTHAM RACING
3 MAX PAYNE
4 DEAD OR ALIVE 3
5 RALLISPORT CHALLENGE
6 ODDWORLD: MUNCH'S ODDYSEE
7 MAD DASH RACING
8 AMPED: FREESTYLE SNOWBOARDING
9 WRECKLESS: THE YAKUZA MISSIONS
10 TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER 3
11 JET SET RADIO FUTURE
12 GENMA ONIMUSHA
13 NHL 2002
14 BLOOD WAKE
15 NHL HITZ 2002
16 SIMPSONS: ROAD RAGE
17 FUZION FRENZY
18 NBA LIVE 2002
19 DAVE MIRRA FREESTYLE BMX 2
20 TRANSWORLD SURF
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(Wednesday 27 March 2002 16:24 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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Early Xbox sales low in Europe - report
>> Xbox may not be playing too well in Europe, according to a report at Heise News. Quoting figures from Markt für Computer- und Videospiele, the report suggests that only small quantities of the machines were actually sold in the immediate post-launch period in FRance and Germany.
In the first three days in Germany MCV says only 10,000 Xboxes got into the hands of consumers, and this position was mirrored in France. In the UK it chalked up a healthier 48,000 in the first three days. MCV speculates however that large quantities of machines will have been bought by dealers; so although they might show up in any sales claims Microsoft makes (it hasn't, yet), they're only real say when (or if) they go out of the shop door.
MCV compares the Xbox European rollout to the Playstation 2 launch. In November 2000, around 140,000 units were sold in Germany and the UK. Meanwhile, recent Japanese sales figures have shown Xbox sales flattening fairly swiftly after a post-launch spike.
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(Wednesday 27 March 2002 00:32 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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Xbox: It's Thinking
>> IBVA Technologies has brought their brain tracking technology to the Microsoft Xbox.
"We've been waiting for this for over a decade," said Drew DeVito, President of IBVA Technologies, Inc. "There is finally a consumer product that has the power to do everything we've always wanted to do with braintracking in the home."
Stephen Hawking said in an interview last year, 'We must develop as quickly as possible technologies that make possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it.'
"I'm not sure if Mr. Hawking knew how close we are to that now in the affordable consumer market," said DeVito, "The Xbox really brings a level of technology into the home that we didn't think could hit the $299 price range in this day and age. But Bill Gates did it, and we are ready to run with it."
"We can bring hard core brain tracking technology to the Xbox." DeVito added, "We've currently got some good braintracking running right now on the Xbox that truly brings a new game experience that most gamers could never have imagined before. For instance if you're racing along in Project Gotham or Rallisport, and your concentration is broken, our system will pick that up and kick in the handbrake to spin your control out of your hands. We can also attach that to the gas pedal, or do both, or do it in reverse! It's wild stuff, and we want to go much further. But we've gone about as far as we can without Microsoft's help. We understand how important the Xbox is as a home technology and want to bring in brain/computer interface technology to the Xbox as soon as possible. This kind of gaming technology is truly in the spirit of the Xbox. I'm asking Mr. Gates to help bring this technology to the masses via Xbox technologies. It's time to bring gaming off the screen and into your head."
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(Tuesday 26 March 2002 16:54 EST) - (Category: (default)) - (Posted by::
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Xpad development
>> Xpad has posted a tutorial how to attach an xbox controller to a 'normal' usb port. Check it here.
Beside that Mr. Xpad is still working hard on the windows drivers for the xbox controlunit.
Progressive DVD Playback on Xbox
>> Interesting stuff from CNet :
"The Xbox also has its hands tied, but for different reasons. You see, Nvidia's GPU is quite capable of decoding a DVD movie and outputting a progressive-scan picture, but Microsoft chose to focus on only progressive-scan picture within games, not movies. Someone just needs to write such capability into the software. Blackley jokes, "We thought that we'd piss off manufacturers by making a better DVD player.""
Check the full article
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