Are you like me? Sometimes I find myself sitting at home playing Xbox 360 on a rainy day. Two, three, four hours go by and the rain just will not let up! A guy can only stand so much Call of Duty and Halo, right? I look over on my night stand and see my USB flash drive and remember my buddy recently put “The Hangover” on it.
Man, if only I hadn’t forgot my laptop charger at my girlfriends house. I thought I would be stuck with endless hours of boredom, when I remember there are USB ports on the front of my Xbox 360! I could think of no better way to spend the rest of my rainy day then watching The Hangover. The real question I had was how to get the movie to play off of my USB flash drive on to my 60 inch flat screen TV using my Xbox 360. So the first thing I did was just try and plug my flash drive in. Optimistically I thought maybe it would just start playing the same way it would when I put a DVD in my Xbox 360. I was wrong.
So I start flipping through my Xbox 360 menu thinking there has to be some way I can play my downloaded movie on my Xbox. I learned there are essentially four steps to play a movie off of an external hard drive or USB flash drive on to an Xbox 360. The first step is to plug your mass storage device in to your Xbox. The next step is to stop on the “My Xbox” heading and scroll right to the video library and select the video library. The third step is to open the portable device heading. The fourth and final step is to open your movie and enjoy!

Ever since the XBOX 360 was released by Microsoft in November of 2005, like all firsts generations of anything, it was plagued with issues. Most famous of note was the ‘Red Ring of Death’ or doom which ever fits your liking. Now, nearly five years after that initial release, Microsoft has released their latest version of the 360. Many have been left to wonder has Microsoft created something better to fit their likings and to compete once more with Sony’s revamped PS3?
To start out, Microsoft gave the 360 a whole new sleeker, slightly slimmer, but not by much look. The on/ off and disc insert switches are now pressure sensitive, like that of the PS3. Gone are the actual buttons. One of the cons, (perceived by me) is the material Microsoft chose to coat the 360 in. Much like the material Sony initially used on the PS3, it mirrors the material used on Grand Pianos, which is very prone to finger print marks and smudges. Nothing you really want to handle very often. You’ll want to keep a can of multi surface cleaner and a rag near by it at all times.
Microsoft has gifted us with five USB ports. The original 360 only had three. There are two in the front, and three in the back. But what do you sacrifice for these additional USB ports? The memory card slots, those are long gone. You can copy and load all of your game info onto a USB stick, and load it onto your new system. It comes with the latest 250 gigabyte hard drive, standard amongst the final run of the first model, though the new slot is not compatible with the drives of the older models. One negative feature of the hard drive is the tab by which it can be removed. It is made out of fabric. I know that most won’t be constantly removing and reinstalling the hard drive, but if you were, I know you wouldn’t want it to be pushed and pulled by a tab of fabric. This new system runs a lot quieter and on less electricity due to the newly redesigned chip, which has managed to retain the same amount of processing speed. Gone are the problems of overheating, so Microsoft has gone back to installing a single fan into the unit.
A great accomplishment that Microsoft has come to finally realize is the built in wifi receiver, capable of 802.11 b/g/n wifi connectivity. Many would argue that this is the greatest improvement that was incorporated into the newest model.
A great feature that should have been included with this new release of the 360 but was not was the addition of a blu ray player. With this new 360 running at the same price of the PS3, this give the PS3 a huge edge on the Hi-Def crowd. Once more, Microsoft failed to include an Ethernet cable or any type of HD or HDMI cable. You still have to obtain those on a separate endeavor.
Overall, Microsoft has managed to improve its gaming system, but still leaves us wishing for more. Especially while matching a price point with its toughest competition that still manages to supply more to their customers at the same price. But if you’re a die-hard of the XBOX 360, then by all means, make the purchase!

The Red Rings of Death, often abbreviated RRoD, are the bane of the Xbox 360 gaming community. Short of buying one of the new models (which will run you at least $300), there’s no way to be completely immune to the RRoD. However, you can avoid the RRoD by following some simple Xbox 360 tips like the ones found below.

Avoid Marathon Sessions

Though playing games for 8 hours at a time is fun, it’s not good for your 360. I recommend playing for no longer than 4 or 5 hours at a time. If you want to keep playing, at least give your console a break and turn it off for 20 minutes or so. If you ever hear your 360’s fans whirring louder than usual, turn off the console immediately and let it cool off.

Clean Your Console

Especially if you have pets, your 360 can get pretty filthy. Hair and dirt particles get stuck in the faceplate and fan guard, and cause overheating issues. Overheating is the #1 cause of the Red Rings of Death. So if you want to avoid RRoD, clean your console every once in a while.

Provide Good Airflow

The Xbox 360’s built-in fans are meant to circulate airflow around and keep the console cool. However, sometimes they need some help. Putting your console near a window or drafty area is a good idea, and can help avoid RRoD. If that’s not possible, try placing your console on a shelf or something, so that it’s off the ground. Never leave your 360 on carpet, at least not for extended periods of time. Carpet cuts off airflow to the console, and also makes it easier for hair and dirt to get into the console, causing it to overheat.

Change the Consoles Position

Most people keep their consoles in a vertical position. Surprisingly enough, leaving your Xbox 360 in this position actually blocks bottom vent, restricting airflow. I recommend switching up the position of your 360 every once in a while to avoid the Red Rings of Death. Put it horizontally, or even try putting it upside down vertically (with the hard drive on the bottom).

Buy an Intercooler or Small Fan

Giving your Xbox 360 extra fans is a great way to avoid RRoD. Intercoolers work well, and are around $20 new for the best model. If you’d rather not buy an extra fan for your 360, use a desktop fan or even a box fan, and just put it near the console. This will provide extra airflow and help keep the console’s heat down.

Microsoft’s grand unveiling of their next huge product, Kinect (also known as Project Natal) just happened at the grand Electronic Entertainment Expo. We knew that the starting price for the Kinect is at $149.99. We also know the Kinect release date is in November 4. Microsoft also demoed how to control your movies, music, games, and other features on Xbox live.

First-time users will want to introduce themselves to Kinect. When you start calibrating your Kinect it asks you to choose a profile you regularly use and it will start what Kinect calls “the biometric setup.” At this moment the camera will be memorizing the shape of your face and body. You’re going to be asked to move around the room so the camera can get a good look at you to remember your features. After that you go back to the dashboard then you can make a gesture to go to the Kinect hub by raising your hand in the air and waiving it, the Kinect will recognize you and sign in to your profile.

When signed onto Xbox live you can raise your hand and a hand icon will appear on the screen as your cursor. You can use both your hand as 2 cursors and go over the app, it will warp to indicate that you’ve selected that app. You can flip thru your pages of apps just by waving your arm left or right to scroll through the pages of apps in your Kinect hub. After you have found what you want just hold your cursor over the app and it will launch it.

You can also use voice commands to launch apps instead of using your hands. Microsoft had this to say about the voice commands: ”if you can read it, you can say it and launch it.” To launch an app like ESPN you can say “Xbox ESPN” and if you change your mind you can say “cancel.” The voice commands sometimes didn’t work at E3 but that might be due to all the noise and people there.

You can also control your movies and music by using voice commands and gestures. Microsoft demoed it at the press conference, and explained that you can say “play”, “pause”, and “next” to control your movies as well as your music that can be played through the new zoom app. Like I said before, you can control movies with gestures as well. If you just want to get to the end of any movie you can just simply raise your arm and move your play position there.

Microsoft assured us that you can sit down while using Kinect. Microsoft would like for the player to be relaxed and enjoy playing Xbox, so you don’t have to be standing every time you want to use it.

Microsoft’s Kinect release date is set for November 4. From what I saw the voice commands and gestures worked better than I thought they would especially in such a loud and crowded place like E3. I’m excited to see Kinect on top of my TV and a bunch of people being awed as I control things with nothing but gestures and voice commands.