The New Xbox Experience, a.k.a. the new Xbox 360 Dashboard, hits today. If you've got an Xbox 360 that's connected to the Internet, you're going to be prompted to update your console as soon as you turn it on.
No exceptions; this is what your machine will look like until either it dies, you die, or Microsoft decides to make ANOTHER Xbox Experience.
Unfortunately, unlike Batman, you didn't have time to prepare. Here are the ten things you should know about the new Xbox experience so you can be set for today.
1) Installation is quick. Owners with hard drives that aren't 100% full will be able to update with no problem, but Xbox 360 Arcade fans that rely on memory cards can get in on the free 512MB card deal from Microsoft. We'd recommend you go for the 20GB hard drive for $20 if anything.
The update won't be as fast as the 10-second patches you're used to for standard Xbox Dashboard upgrades, but clocking in at somewhere between five... More »
Will splashing out on expensive RAM make a real difference to PC performance? And if so, how much should you buy? We supply the benchmarks and lay the details bare.
According to legend, Bill Gates once concluded that “640KB of memory ought to be enough for anyone” (a legend he’s at pains to repudiate). These days it takes more than 800 times that much RAM just to make Windows Vista work smoothly.
But as the idea takes hold that more RAM is always good, we’re increasingly seeing home systems armed with a vast 4GB of storage. Indeed, with 64-bit Vista gaining traction, we’re sure the 8GB home PC can’t be far away. Is there any need for this much memory, or is it a waste of money beyond a certain point?
This month we set out to discover the truth. Armed with a comprehensive set of benchmarks and a big stack of DIMMs, we’ve tested performance on both XP and Vista to find out how much memory you really need.
Over the months there has been a lot of inaccurate information circulating in regards to how exactly the PlayStation 3's Service Mode works, and as promised in our previous Dev updates here are some of the facts to help separate the rumors and speculation.
It is a fairly simple process as follows.. For starters, the PS3 is powered off, and a special USB dongle, known as the Jig, is connected. The PS3 is then turned on, and then off, once it has detected the Jig.
After this occurs, the PS3 is then turned back on, into "Service" Mode. From here, the PS3 is re-flashed using a Firmware Update on a USB stick, specifically designed to only install from the Service Mode. Once the PS3 is re-flashed with the software, it is then used in conjunction with a PC running customized software, specifically the DEX.exe and CEX.exe's.
There are a multitude of special PS3 firmwares, basically three major ones. The first is a Core System, followed by the Service Sys... More »
Press Release: Burlingame, CA -- October 21, 2008 -- KOEI, recognized worldwide as the premier brand of strategy and action games, today announced that a free demo of DYNASTY WARRIORS®6 for Windows-based PC is now ready for download. Gamers can visit the recently re-launched DYNASTY WARRIORS 6 minisite at www.koei.com/dw6 for more details.
The full version of DYNASTY WARRIORS 6 for Windows-based PC will be available for purchase on November 18, 2008 exclusively through digital download for residents of North America and Brazil.
1ra2 of PS3Gen (linked above) has discovered something quite interesting with the new PS3 Firmware 2.50. In the new firmware, a "hidden" Restore Menu has been added.
To access it, while the PS3 is in standby, hold the power button like you are doing a reset, but keep holding it down until there are two beeps, and you then can access it.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm always a fan of any hidden menu, be it in a TV, a PS3, or even a washing machine. However this is more for the technically inept. A video of it is below:
Lets go over the options available. For those who can not read French, from top to bottom:
1. Restart System
2. Restore Default Settings
3. Restore File System
4. Rebuild Database
5. Restore PS3 System
6. System Update
Restart System and System update are quite self explanatory, you can restart the system or upgrade the PS3's f... More »
We recently purchased a new 80GB PlayStation 3 console, and our very own PS3 Dev Courier dissected his new system.
The item that peaked his interest the most was that it had one single 56-pin Flash chip, the S29GL128N90TFIR2, and was 128MB in size in contrast to older PS3 consoles utilizing dual (2x256MB) 48-pin chips totaling 512MB. So, he bought a new adapter, and some blank chips and proceeded to pull the 56-pin flash, and dumped it.
To our surprise, he was unable to dump more than 16MB of it! At first, we believed that the other blocks in the flash were protected via password, however there was something else brewing.
He took the 16MB dump that was made and flashed it onto a completly blank chip, and reinstalled it in the PS3.
To our surprise, it worked!
Now, if you recall, newer version PS3 Firmwares have ask... More »
The recent announcement of a U.S. price drop for the Xbox 360 has set off shockwaves through the tubes of the internet. Blogs and forums have been buzzing with half-cracked theories of why Microsoft decided to lower the prices of the Arcade, Pro, and Elite 360 units.
Most of the wild speculation was centered on the ongoing console “war” between the 360 and the PS3. Fanboys are screaming “Microsoft is scared shitless” to “They are getting desperate!” or the succinctly put “PS3 pwns!” Before I drop a logic bomb on fanboys’ heads, lets get the facts straight. Here are the numbers:
That’s right kids, the Xbox 360 has officially become the lowest priced current generation video game system effectively undercutting the Nintendo Wii by 50 bones. You say, “That doesn’t matter because we all know that the 360 and the PS3 aren’t competi... More »
Qimonda, the second largest DRAM company worldwide, has announced that they are mass producing XDR RAM modules for use in the PlayStation 3. An article on EDN.com is suggesting that Qimonda might be mass producing 512mb XDR RAM modules that they first showed off earlier this year. Current models of the Playstation 3 offer only 256mb of XDR RAM, which some gamers, industry analysts, and developers have complained about.
What many of those people don't understand is that the true power of the Playstation 3 doesn't lie in the memory, but in the eight-core architecture of the Cell processor. The Cell processor can handle a lot of physics objects because it's very math intensive, but struggles with memory intensive coding, which challenges developers to completely rework their game structure.
Press Release: Qimonda Started Volume Production of Rambus XDR™ DRAM for PLAYSTATION®3 Computer ... More »
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