According to a thread at the AVForums, several Xbox 360 users are losing all sound after upgrading to the New Xbox Experience.
Evidently the problem only appears in HDMI-connected systems, but there has been one report of someone having the same problem using a SCART connector. Fortunately, there seems to be a fix.
• Turn off the Xbox 360.
• Remove the hard drive.
• Turn on the Xbox 360.
• When the Dashboard loads, put the hard drive back.
Apparently, the fix is only temporary. If you turn of the Xbox, you will have to receive the process.
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 »
Rod Fergesson, the Senior Producer from Gears of War 2 has outlined on the official forums (linked above) the problems with their online matchmaking service and acknowledges that and patch will be released in the near future to counter the issues.
To quote: We're aware that some folks are experiencing longer-than-ideal wait times while using the skill-based Public matchmaking in Gears 2 multiplayer.
We're working on some solutions but it's a complicated issue as there isn't any one problem; it's a combination of factors. Clearly, scale is one of them as we've had millions of successful matches played online so far, however a small percentage of players are having issues, which is unacceptable.
We're working closely with Microsoft to address the matchmaking issues, I promise you that it is our #1 priority, and we hope to have an update soon.
In the meantime, I would like to suggest some workarounds:
Just under three months ago a preliminary USB 3.0 FAQ was published, and today both USB 3.0 final details and a date has been confirmed.
USB 3.0 is set to arrive during late 2009 or early 2010. It will be able to transfer at incredibly fast speeds of 5Gbps per second, so that's about an average sized movie every second.
To quote: USB Implementers Forum President Jeff Ravencraft let loose with some information about USB3.0, which is expected to appear late 2009/early 2010.
It'll apparently be able to transfer at blisteringly fast speeds of 5Gbps per second (roughly 600MB per second), or for media junkies that's about an average sized movie or eight average sized music albums EVERY SECOND.
In comparison USB 2.0 takes ten times as long, and we pity the fool who's trying to shift this sort of data using USB 1.1 on a knackered old la... More »
Recently it was reported that if you were banned from the EA Forums you were also going to be banned from playing their games online.
Today EA Apoc has confirmed this initial statement was inaccurate and a mistake, to quote:
Hey everyone,
If you didn't notice, your C&C Community Manager, me, had a bit of a run-in with the video game blogging media today in reference to a direct quote I made on our forums here a few days ago in regards to how we handle bans and suspensions on the forums and in-game.
You all know how we are greatly trying to protect and serve you from those who wish to disrupt our C&C community by breaking ToS on our forums or in-game, and I know everyone appreciates when we take action on those that are the worst.
That said, the previous statement I made recently (that's being quoted on the blo... More »
Some purchasers of the Fable II Limited Edition last week were surprised to find the promised DLC codes absent from their packages.
Now Microsoft has set up a system to get the codes out to LE owners, which can be found here, but be warned - Microsoft is keeping an eye out for those trying to scam the system by requesting codes without having purchased the LE. Lionhead community manager Sam Van Tilburgh states:
"Microsoft’s first concern is to get content into the hands of LCE customers in North America who did not receive a code in their retail package. There will be people that try to game the system - we are tracking requests and gamertags associated.
We are focused on ensuring that our North American LCE customers impacted by this retail issue are quickly taken care of and receive their codes in a timely manner.
We are incredibly sorry and apologize to anyone frustrated by this process. We have been focused on ensuring ... More »
Tracklists for both upcoming SingStar titles on PS3 have now been revealed thanks to the semi-official European blog ThreeSpeech.
There's also word that more song packs will be appearing on the store in the form of "Essentials" collections. The first of which, "Pop Classics," will be made available tomorrow on the SingStore.
There's no price for the "Essentials Songpacks," but the first one will contain Duran Duran's "Rio," Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It?", A-Ha's "Take On Me," Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" and Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon."
The other packs you can expect to see this year are detailed below, along with the ABBA and Volume 3 tracklists.
Upcoming "Essential Songpacks"
• Pop Classics 30th October
• Party Starters 13th November
• Rock Anthems 11th December
• ... More »
RadioShack's Online Trade-In Program will swap your old gadgets for gift cards. You search their database for your gadget and offer the best quality assessment that you can, and they provide a mail-in sticker that you print.
If all goes well, they'll send you a gift card 10-14 days after the unit is received. So assuming worst case scenario, what are your totally broken gadgets worth?
• 3G iPod (10GB) - $3.23
• 1st Gen Zune - $5.81
• Palm Treo 650 - $3.69
• Xbox 360 Premium - $9.65
• DS Lite - $4.25
• Wii - $15.85
• PlayStation 3 (60GB) - $23.48
Needless to say, if you've trashed all of your electronics, you may be able to unload them and score a few bucks in the process.
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