iPhone Set Up, Xbox 360 Purchased
Posted November 20th, 2007 @ 01:49pm by Erik J. Barzeski
My iPhone has been restored and is now set up with AT&T. I've verified that the EDGA data works (it's not too bad), and that everything is properly set up. Tomorrow I'll call CellularOne to make sure they know we've "switched" ((In quotes because CellularOne == AT&T at this point.)).
I don't plan to do anything to hack this phone. Now that it's winter, I'm going to be near my computer most of the time anyway. By the time February's SDK rolls around, I fully expect to see a terminal application capable of SSH and the "return" of almost all the "indie" iPhone apps I've previously, uhh, seen run on the iPhones of other individuals. 😉
Also, thanks to the people who responded to my query a few days ago, I purchased an Xbox 360. Circuit City goofed up a transaction so I was able to get them to give me 10% off. I went for the "Elite" model because a) I like black, and b) bigger hard drive. I couldn't care less about the Marvel comics bundled game, but the Forza Motorsports 2 one has been fun. I've played it more than I've played Halo 3 at this point. I also picked up Call of Duty 4.
My GamerTag or ID or whatever it's called is "erikjb." Someone in South Korea took "iacas" already. I haven't got a clue how any of that stuff works yet, but I've got a 13-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, so if you're a "friend" and you want to send me a message or add me as a friend, please do so. I'll respond.
A few quick notes:
- Ninety nine fscking dollars for a wireless adapter?
I'll probably end up with one because my AirPort Express's one wired port already services the DVR. Grrrrr. Do you have to get the official Xbox wireless network adapter or will a cheaper USB one work?((See comments: an ethernet switch worked just fine.)) - Can I integrate my Xbox with my Mac at all? If not, can I do so via Windows XP run in Parallels?
- The picture isn't blowing me away, but duh, it's better than the Wii.
- The controller isn't as bad as I thought it was.
- What other games to get???
- $179 for the HD-DVD drive is tempting.
- How do you delete a gamer profile once you've (accidentally) created it?
- Is anything in the marketplace worth purchasing?
I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's all for now.
P.S. Got my $100 iPhone Early Adopter store credit, too. Woot! Too bad I can't use it to buy an Xbox 360 wireless adapter. 🙂
Donate Life
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 2:20pm #
The wireless adapter is worth it, although, sometimes it is no longer recognized by the 360 and needs to be plugged back in. Silly. I'm not aware of any USB devices working for wireless. You can use an ethernet wireless bridge device.
The best software for Xbox 360 and Mac integration is Connect360 by Nullriver. Stream video, music, and photos to your 360.
Do you have HDTV? The 360 is an HD device and really needs HD via at a minimum component, but HDMI and/or VGA is way better. Sounds like you do have HD if you're looking at the HD-DVD drive but thought I'd check. Also be sure to calibrate your display for maximum benefits. My 360 looks AMAZING.
You can delete profiles from the memory manager in the System blade.
There are a ton of games on the marketplace worth buying. It really depends on your tastes but my top 5 is Bomberman Live, Catan, Puzzle Quest, Geometry Wars, and Uno. Check out http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcadexbox360/ for a listing of all the games available.
As for retail games, again depends on your tastes. Halo 3, CoD 4 (may personal favorite right now), Mass Effect, Bioshock, The Orange Box (another favorite), Beautiful Katamari, Viva Pinata, etc. There are a ton of shooters so be careful of buying too many of those. I'm a huge fan of the Xbox Live Arcade so most of my gaming dollars have gone there. Be sure to grab Aegis Wing from the arcade which is a free. Nice little shump game.
Have fun!
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 2:51pm #
Go buy a $30 ethernet switch and attach that to the Airport Express (be sure to use the uplink port on the switch) then plug the DVR and the 360 into the switch.
$99 for a wireless adapter? That's crazy. Even my Tivo's wireless adapter was only $45 or so.
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 2:58pm #
[quote comment="44474"]Do you have HDTV?[/quote]
Yeah, I do, but just a 1080i 60" TV. It's calibrated and I'm just using a single HDMI cable. It's fine - but for some reason it just doesn't seem as jaw-dropping as I thought. I haven't played Call of Duty 4 yet, though, and that game is supposed to look pretty darn sweet.
Maybe I was sitting too close to it. The jaggies in FM2 were noticeable.
[quote comment="44474"]You can delete profiles from the memory manager in the System blade.[/quote]
Thanks. I have to delete the "iacas" that's there now since I'm using "erikjb" for my personal profile. I renamed that profile "guest" though, so maybe I'll just keep it? I don't know.
Thanks for the other advice and opinions, Jeffrey.
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 3:09pm #
Halo 3 is the only game worth playing. Add firefoxNX on Halo 3 😛
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 3:53pm #
You can create several real profiles i.e. Xbox Live silver accounts for guests. Then I save up my 48hr Xbox Live gold trials so we can play online together. Each account gets a free 30 day Gold trial and you can have up to 4 free silver accounts I believe.
Call of Duty 4 looks amazing. Forza 2 is very jaggy, probably to help keep the frame rates at 60FPS.
CoD4 > Halo 3 😛
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 6:14pm #
I'm with Tim Buchheim on this one. The XBox 360 wireless adapter doesn't support WPA2 which everyone has hopefully switched to by now.
Posted 20 Nov 2007 at 8:35pm #
I have been using this to stream music and video from my mac to the 360.
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360
It works pretty well for everything except for DRM'd files.
Posted 21 Nov 2007 at 1:19am #
Playing bioshock, that's quite a engrossing storyline there.
The orange box is a great value with 5 games in 1, Portal is a fantastic puzzle type game and half life is great too.
Halo 3 was fun, but ultimately too short :/
Foreza does not look -that- good (its' free in the box, how much do you want :)). Halo 3 is much better, Bioshock is incredible. Assassins creed is supposed to look -amazing-. Orange Box is a repeat so it's older tech and doesn't really compare to new games.
I am roo9 on Live, i'll add you later tonight 🙂
Posted 21 Nov 2007 at 8:33am #
A little off topic, but are you unsatisfied with the Wii compared to the XBox 360? If so, what were the reasons? Games, graphics, controls, something like that?
Posted 21 Nov 2007 at 12:16pm #
[quote comment="44490"]A little off topic, but are you unsatisfied with the Wii compared to the XBox 360? If so, what were the reasons? Games, graphics, controls, something like that?[/quote]
I'm not unsatisfied. The Wii is the "fun for all" console, but the Xbox will offer the better graphics and somewhat more traditional gameplay that fill the void.
In other words, Xbox doesn't have Wii Sports (yeah yeah) just as Wii doesn't have Call of Duty 4.
Posted 21 Nov 2007 at 6:13pm #
Erik,
I am pretty happy with the graphics performance of my 360. I hear that if you are impressed even slightly with Halo3, CoD4 will knock you silly, and I really liked Halo3 visually. I would assume that Forza Mortorsport 2 looks a touch jaggy because of the incredible amount of physics calculations going on in there. I no programmer, but some of the articles I read and videos I watched about it's development are pretty impressive. Add to that if you have a full race going on over XBLive, your console is also keeping track of all of the other aspects of the other cars. Bungie has talked a fair bit in their podcasts about the extra overhead needed for multiplayer or co-op play in regards to console sync, AI of enemies, ect.
I am frequently in Halo3 and The Bigs. I'm num1k on Live if you care to say hi!
Enjoy your new 360!