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!

For decades, movies about the dead coming back to life have scared millions of people around the world. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that these days, there are just as many Xbox 360 zombie movies out as there are films. Video games are the perfect media for these creatures, as gamers are able to take out their nightmares on the undead with various weapons. For those in the market for one of these gruesome games, here is a list of the top three on the console:

Resident Evil - The Resident Evil series has long made its calling by releasing games that both terrify and excite at the same time. Setting the player in an apocalyptic world, as most Xbox 360 zombie games do, the games allow the player to take down a number of different types of the undead creatures. At the same time, however, the creatures pop out of nowhere to fright and shock gamers into submission. Careful around corners, you never know what is waiting on the other side!

Dead Rising - Following the plot of many familiar and time-loved zombie movies, Dead Rising sets the player in a mall that is being attacked by a horde of zombies. Using whatever is available, along with the help of friends either in person or online, a player can fight through the madness for hours at a time. At the same time, a deep storyline makes the game worthwhile to finish and begs for future sequels to be made.

Gears of War – Technically the creatures in this game may not be zombies, but they certainly do look like them! Using some of the most unique weapons in the shooter genre and a deep story, which benefits from terrific voice action, both Gears of War games have been raving successes on the console. Nothing is better than being able to walk up to one of the fiends attacking you and decapitate them with your chainsaw.

Call of Duty: World at War - While the game itself is not based around zombies, the ever-popular Nazi Zombies gametype is very fun. There are currently 4 maps that you can choose from, and each one has a very different playing style. A new map is released every few months as DLC, and usually each new map gets harder and harder. Nazi Zombies is, simply put, a blast. If you don’t already own World at War, you may want to consider it for the zombies alone!

Of course, these are just three of the many Xbox 360 zombie games available. So long as you are able to get over the initial fright of playing in a world full of these creatures, most are great fun and worth checking out.

In a competitive market, Microsoft’s Xbox Live has worked hard to gain the name they’ve wanted for a long time. With products like the Sony PlayStation to compete with, the two companies have battled to the brunt trying to outrank the other with new features. All of this competition has only meant more entertainment for us the consumers, which let’s face it, we don’t mind! When Xbox Live came about, consumers were ecstatic to say the least. With a plethora of games and functions available that had never been available before, people were incredibly pleased.

Xbox Live offers a variety of popular Xbox games that people have fallen in love with. Among those games, Xbox Live also offers demos, trailers and the best part about the entire ordeal; you can play against and with other players worldwide.  How it works is simple, you just pick a nickname which is called a “UserTag” or “GamerTag” and connect with other players under their “GamerTag”. Over time, that is how you will be known on Xbox Live and how you will log in and be identified.

Xbox Live unlike the PlayStation Network is a paid subscription service, most often it can be paid in increments varying from one month, three month, or even one year.

Xbox Live Membership

Xbox Live subscription memberships come in two types. The Gold membership is the most commonly purchased membership and has the most features like Marketplace access where you can gain early access to the newest games and demos and even “TrueSkill Matchmaking” where you are matched with players who are compatible with your skill level to play against among other features. The Gold Membership for Xbox Live is roughly fifty dollars compared to the

Xbox Live also offers a silver membership which allows you access for free, but with a significantly less amount of features available. However, this option is good if money is tight but you still want to connect. The biggest downfall with Xbox Live’s Silver membership is that you cannot play games online, but you are given access to various downloads, etc.

All you need to connect to Xbox Live and play the Xbox Live games is a broadband connection and a membership. It is simple and the silver membership is free as long as you have internet service through a broadband provider.

Popular Xbox Live Games

There are many games to choose from when playing on Xbox Live. Xbox Live games can be found on the Xbox Live download spot or some Xbox Live games can be bought at the store and are simply “Xbox Live Enabled.” Among the best and most popular Xbox Live games are Halo 2, StreetFighter, or Dead or Alive Ultimate.

All of these games offer you the opportunity to play multiple opponents online and are fully interactive. If these aren’t for you though don’t panic there are tons of options to choose from so look it up, do some research and find the best Xbox Live games for you.