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Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation, PS2, PS3, GameCube and Wii Reviews

Connect Your Computer To Your Xbox 360 Using Winamp Remote, Windows Media Player 11, or a Windows Media Center PC

Feb.21, 2008 in General Information, Microsoft Xbox & Xbox 360 1 Comment

Your Xbox 360 is an amazing piece of technology, it can play the latest games, and movies in HD, play your favorite songs from it’s hard drive, download updates over the internet when it’s on and off. The amount of things you can do with it is probably endless, well, endless unless Microsoft legally restricts it, like they did with mod chips. With new software coming out to support your Xbox 360 you can now connect it to your PC and stream all your music and videos from there, rather than wasting your precious hard drive space on your 360. Some software even lets you stream videos from internet sites like YouTube and AOL. If you want to do this you have three options for streaming to your Xbox 360: Windows Media Player 11, WinAmp Remote, or by using your Windows Media Center PC.

Using Windows Media Player 11

  1. First make sure your Xbox 360 is connected to the network and can connect to Xbox Live.
  2. Open up Windows Media Player 11, and click on the arrow directly below the Library tab, then click on Media Sharing.
  3. A Media Sharing Window will popup, now check the “Share my media to:” box and click on your Xbox 360. Select allow and click okay.
  4. Wait a little bit. You’ll have to wait for the system settings to take effect and for the Xbox to show up in the network, if you’ve waited and nothing’s happening try redoing the process or opening up the ports on your router for the 360 (a good place to do that is [http://www.portforward.com]Port Forward) because they could be blocking it, and also make sure there isn’t a firewall enabled somewhere that is causing problems.
  5. After you’ve waited, get on your Xbox and select the Media blade, then Music or Videos, and then press X to change your source and select your computer.
  6. Everything you have in your library will show up on your 360 now. Enjoy your songs and videos.

WinAmp

  1. Download and Install WinAmp Remote.
  2. Right click the WinAmp Remote icon in the system tray, click configure, and then media tab.
  3. Add the folders that contain your music and your video files.
  4. Again, you’ll need to wait a little bit for the network to show up with the 360.
  5. Go to your Media blade on your Xbox 360 and press X to change the source and select your PC.
  6. Enjoy your media.

Windows Media Center PC

  1. Go to www.xbox.com/pcsetup to download the necessary software updates for your PC.
  2. On your Xbox 360 go to the Media lade, select Windows Media Center, and follow the easy, on screen instructions to complete your setup.

Each of these options are very easy to implement, and have different pros and cons. Currently, Windows Media Player is faster at streaming and buffering than WinAmp Remote, and it seems like it is more stable, but WinAmp Remote has the ability to stream online videos. And the Windows Media Center PC option is perfect if you have a Media Center PC.

Steve’s Tech Guide - A blog that helps you scratch your tech itch with computer guides, informative how-tos, and important news events.

How to Copy Wii Games - Copy Nintendo Wii Games Software

Feb.21, 2008 in General Information, Nintendo Wii, DS, Game Cube 3 Comments

The popularity of the Wii console has caught many by surprise especially the way its managed to outsell its major competitors (Xbox 360, PS3).  Like other video game consoles when you buy games  there is always the possibility that games can get damaged through overuse, scratches on the disc surface, or just plain breaking it in half , Ouch!! That’s where backing up games for your Nintendo Wii is essential ensuring that all your games that you spent with your hard earned cash are protected.

Games for the Nintendo Wii are not cheap and replacing them can be an expensive task - prices range from $60 - $100 and depending on what country you live in it can cost more! Until recently there was no dedicated software that could copy Wii games on the fly but now if you do a Google search you can find hundreds of tutorials and software tools that can backup wii games. However if you have had no experience in doing this it can be a frustrating task. That’s why its important to find software that can automate this process for you.

A good software tool I found made it easy  have your Wii games backed up in a matter of minutes. With just ‘one click’ you can have your Wii games burned to blank dvd or cd thus protecting your originals from damage. In fact there is no stopping you from backing up your entire collection of games. For just $40 you can’t complain! It also helps to have good copying media to backup games for your Wii, be sure to use quality dvds from Verbatim or Sony.

With this software you don’t have to worry about damaging your games and you can now keep them in a safe place and save lots of money in the long term!

To find out more about this software and preserve your originals visit How to Copy Wii Games

How To Copy XBOX 360 Games - Make Exact Backup Copies Of Any XBOX 360 Game

Feb.17, 2008 in General Information, Microsoft Xbox & Xbox 360, Mods & Repair Leave a Comment

If you have ever wondered if it’s possible to copy XBOX 360 games, you will be happy to know there is a way to make exact backup copies of any XBOX 360 game. It’s a little trickier than just using the same software as you do to burn music cds, but it’s easy to get the hang of.

The key to being able to copy xbox 360 games is to find a software that is specifically designed to make backup copies of video games. Video game discs have “copyright protection” measures in place that won’t let you make copies by using the regular burning software used to copy music cds. To get passed this problem, there are software companies that have developed specialized software that can “knock-out” these protections and copy Xbox 360 games (along with other types of games).

Without this software, your computer doesn’t recognize a video game disc. When you have the software in place, all of a sudden the disc makes “sense” to you computer and it can read the disc in order to make a copy.

As a side note, the software doesn’t only copy Xbox 360 games. It also works for PS3, Nintendo Wii, PS2 and almost every other major game system. This makes it a lot more convenient if you own multiple game systems. You won’t have to buy a new program for each one.

The software works in three easy steps:

First, you insert the xbox 360 game disc and your computer will make a duplicate “image” of the game. When this is done, you insert a blank disc and the software will transfer the image onto the disc. Afterwards you are left with an exact backup copy of the game that you can use whenever you need to.

If you have any interest in making copies of Xbox 360 games, this software gives you an easy and effective way of doing so. It’s important to copy Xbox 360 games in case they ever become scratched or damaged.

Go to copyyourgames.com to get a risk-free trial of the top-ranked game copying software.

It’s the easiest way to copy xbox 360 games directly from your home computer!

EA’s Increased Sales & Nintendo DS’s Future Developments

Feb.13, 2008 in General Information, Nintendo Wii, DS, Game Cube Leave a Comment

EA’s just revealed its financial figures from the Q3 Christmas 2007 period (October-December), which shows the company making a whole lot more revenue than ever before.

When you break down the figures for handheld games, Nintendo DS was by far the most impressive performer, with sales up 122 per cent from $55 million in Q3 2006 to $122 million.

EA released only five DS games during that time; Boogie, Need for Speed ProStreet, EA Playground, The Sims 2 Castaway and The Simpsons Game but still the DS sales accounted for eight per cent of EA’s total turnover.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has been talking about the DS, Nintendo’s future plans for its games and the possibility of non-gaming services being made available to download to DS from public wi-fi hot spots around the country.

He also said “One of the lifestyle proposals we’d like to put into effect in the first half of this year is an experiment aimed at getting people to use their DSs in public spaces as part of a larger effort to make the DS a more helpful tool for people in their everyday lives.

He went on to say “It’s a portable, single-architecture platform that can receive anything given a wi-fi hot spot with over 20 million units in use in Japan and about the same amount in the US and Europe. I really think the idea of making it a gaming machine that’s also useful in your daily life is a good one, and possible. We’ll be keeping an eye on the experiment’s results while hopefully increasing the number of places you can use your DS in progressive steps.”

Like the PSP’s satellite navigation add-on and the new Skype capabilities, the DS has also already had uses found for it in everyday life – language translation software is available for it and in Japan the console has been used to give tourists information when they are on museum tours. Meanwhile, a recent test in the US enabled users at a baseball game to order food as well as watch the game on their DS.

In his interview, Mr. Iwata also speaks about there original idea to do something different with both DS and the Wii.

He went on to say “We knew that if games appealed to fewer people, the future was going to be bleak. And with video games being demonised by the public, it was hard to see how games could flourish in all that. So we knew we had to change it… Hearing stories about customers who seemed like they’d never touch a game scouring store shelves for a copy of Brain Age is what encouraged us.”

The hardened gamer should rest easy. Iwata followed this up by saying that Nintendo would still support more experienced gamers by giving them games such as Zelda, and also more new challenging games although he thinks the benefit of pick-up-and-play titles is they allow experienced gamers to play with newcomers – something the CEO said was missing from the market.

So the future of DS is looking bright for the casual gamer and the hardened Nintendo supporter
Exactly what we’ll be able to download to our DS in the future that’s useful remains to be seen. Money off coupons for Tesco? Maps? We hope that Nintendo has something a bit more exciting up its sleeve, which im sure it has!!!

David is the owner of ConsolesMarket.com,  which has thousands of consoles & games listed on the site at fantastic prices. The site helps you compare the market as it has other merchants offering a full range of products for you to compare.

Xbox 360 Homebrew Games

Feb.11, 2008 in Games, General Information, General Information, Microsoft Xbox & Xbox 360 Leave a Comment

Xbox 360 homebrew games are something that most 360 owners have never even heard of. A homebrew game is a game that’s been developed outside of the normal realms of development, and as such is available as a free download. If you’d like to know where to get homebrew games, check out the rest of this article.

There are a few simple things you will need in order to get some xbox 360 homebrew games-

1-You’ll need a computer to download the games too. As you may already know, when you take your 360 online the main objective is gaming, and so it’s not possible to direct it to any of the places necessary to find the homebrew stuff. It’s not even possible to download the games directly to the 360.

2-You’ll need as fast an internet connection as possible. While most Xbox 360 homebrew games aren’t as large as the regular games that come on DVD, they are still most likely going to be a fair size, and if you have a fast internet connection you will be spared the days or weeks sometimes necessary to download.

3-The last part, and most often the hardest to find, is somewhere to download the games from. If you perform a simple Google search for “Xbox 360 homebrew games”, you’ll be inundated with results, and if you click on a few of them you’re going to find yourself under attack by a mass of spam and popup advertising. Sites like that get paid for you to look at their advertising, so it’s pretty tough to find a site you can trust which honestly offers what you are looking for.

The most obvious place people begin their search for xbox 360 homebrew games is the Peer to Peer (P2P) sites, also known as torrent sites. Sites like these are where just about every download criminal hangs out, not to mention all the hackers and spammers there. It’s best to avoid these sites for two reasons-1 Downloading stuff from them is against the law. The sites are breaking the law, simple as that. 2- All the hackers etc are only there because they create fake files for people to download and get spread around, because they infect them with viruses. It’s pretty unsafe to download anything from a site like this.

Over the last year or so however, a realistic alternative has emerged for anyone looking to download xbox 360 homebrew games. These sites are starting to emerging more and more, and they offer all kinds of downloads, everything from homebrew stuff to movies and they also usually have a great selection of regular games which you can download for free.

The only slight catch with sites like this is that there is a charge-it’s usually something like $40-$50, and once you pay it you get to download as much as you like. There are no download limits, and they are usually very fast. If you don’t the idea of paying, think of it this way-would you rather spend your next $50 on one game in a store, or spend $50 and get every single 360 game ever released, not to mention movies and homebrew stuff?

I’m hoping you’ve found some value in this article. Finding xbox 360 homebrew games can be a real task. Check out the links below for some of the best sites.

By: Roberto Bell