Posts Tagged ‘gaming’

Xbox 360 3-Red Light Repair Manual – Repair Your Own Console

by Jackson Nigon

There are many games consoles available now but one of the most popular remains the Xbox 360, made by Microsoft. Originally Microsoft launched the Xbox, which has since been developed with several technological advances. The second model released by Microsoft in 2005, with many more features, is the Xbox 360. Sadly since its launch many users have experienced problems with their Xbox hardware, and some of the most common problems are overheating and the 3-red light error.

The term “the 3-red light error” is refering to the three lights in the power ring that blink red when there is an error with the console. When a problem occurs the lights around the power button turn from green to red, which is a warning sign of an error.

There could be several reasons that cause the red light error but one of the most reported is overheating, which happens when the heat sinks aren’t able to cool the hot air properly near the processor. This can cause the processor to fail. The overheating can be due to a number of things, one being an increase in power consumption by the intercooler that leads to the motherboard conducting larger current through the circuit. Otherwise overheating could be due to a bad chip component attached to the motherboard.

Overheating can cause the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to fail and result in the 3-red light error. As well as the three glowing red lights around the power button an error message will probably show on your screen. The error message will probably show up as E74 but it could also be a different error message.

There are a number of things you can do to prevent the red light error from happening. One such measure is make sure there is enough cool air around the motherboard, to stop it overheating. If you can keep it at a constant temperature you should not get the error.

If you are unlucky enough to get the 3-red light error there are a few ways you can fix it. Either you could send your Xbox 360 off to Microsoft, but you’ll have a few weeks wait to get it back, or you can repair it yourself. This would save you loads of time as well as money.

There are several XBox 360 repair manuals online, available to download to talk you through every step of the repair process, and they are all quick and easy to follow. You can be back playing your Xbox in hours and you won’t get the annoying 3-red light error anymore. Plus you won’t have spent loads of cash.

You won’t even have to buy any special tools to fix your Xbox 360, just some regular screwdrivers and a repair manual that you can download. Most red light errors are caused by very small problems, which means you don’t need loads of technical expertise to repair them. The possible causes and the repair process is explained clearly in full in one of the Xbox 360 3-red light repair manuals, some of which also come with video tutorial.

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How To Copy Xbox Games With Some Mouse Clicks

by Dan Goldberg

Is this scenario familiar to you: you want to start playing your favorite Xbox game and all you see is an error message? The losts discs, broken disc or disc read error is a common problem and if you play on your Xbox regularily, I doubt you have not received an error as the ones mentioned above at least once.

Some gamers have collected a vast library of games that require hundreds of dollars to replace with brand-new retail copies, depending on if those copies are not rare and hard to find games that are out of production. There is a way to find out how to copy Xbox games, making sure that there are always backups on hand just in case the above problems present themselves.

There are many ways to copy Xbox games, but they all require a lot of time and effort on the part of the gamer. The biggest stumbling block when copying Xbox games involves copyright protection. Copyright protection measures prevent gamers from making copies of Xbox games through the normal method of burning a CD or DVD.

The protection measures prevent standard disc burning software from making a proper copy of the game, leaving the gamer to look for a way to bypass the protection measures. In addition, most if not all consoles also require special discs that are recognized by the console’s internal software as being legitimate original games. The internal software basically distinguishes the special discs from regular CDs and DVDs burned in the same manner as music discs. In order to have regular discs be recognized in the same manner as their special counterparts, special software has to be used to burn the discs.

Other additional requirements include having a modified Xbox console. The modifications are usually done either via actual chips installed inside of the Xbox, or by flashing the original BIOS with modified software allowing for greater usability. Often times the software flash causes the console to disregard the copyright protection checks needed for discerning original game discs.

You can find downloadable software on the internet. Some of these game copy software works pretty well, some only claims to work. So be careful which software you download and be careful when downloading free Xbox game copy software. All o fthe free game copy software I came across was infected by viruses and adware. The game copy software you should be looking for should have the ability to burn the games directly on regular Cds or DVDs, copying it onto an external hard drive or directly to the Xbox harddrive.

You should also keep in mind that there needs to be enough space availabe on your hardrive to store the games. And never sell copied games for profit! This is illegal and will result in huge fines and criminal penalties.

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How to Enhance World of Worcraft

by T M Stewart

As the popularity of World of Worcraft gaming increased so has the selection of mods for gamers to use. A select few are essential. It will be up to you how to want to enhance the game. Here are 5 of the best with gamers.

1. QuestHelper – Perhaps the most popular mod you can download for World of Worcraft is QuestHelper. This add-on has gained the reputation as the best leveling mod for the game. It has an extremely extensive database that can help you find exactly where you want to go. In addition, it will also compute the fastest path for you to take so you can quickly move up in levels while completing all of your quests.

2. Cartographer – This is a terrific add-on for anyone looking to view all of the maps World of Worcraft has to offer. This can help you plot out your next move, see where the best locations are for attaining gold, and where different items like potion are at.

3. Recount is a graphical damage meter. You will be able to manage any damage done, see damage taken, healing and much more. Excellent graphs.

4. Deadly boss – This is a must when it comes to add-ons for World of Worcraft. This will help you monitor everything you need to know about a boss fight. You will be able to take advantage of raid warnings and bar timers as well as being told what to expect on every boss in the game. It is the perfect tool to help you move up in levels.

5. Omen is a threat meter. If you enjoy raiding then this is a must mod. It provides values of your relative threat levels.

There are thousands of mods that focus on different areas of the game. You need to be clear which part of World of Worcraft you want to be enhanced before you download any. Another handy tip if your are into modding, is to use an add-on tool to help manage all your mods.

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Nintendo DS Roms Download ” Never Again Lose Your DS Games!

by Bart Berger Ronald Tupfer Lon Meier

Are you an avid lover of Nintendo DS games? If so, you already know that in order to play them you need DS games, each of which comes on a Flash card. And, unfortunately, due to the diminutive nature of the Flash card, its very easy to lose them. Thats why you may want to consider another alternative: implementing a Nintendo DS roms download.

How does a Nintendo DS roms download work? Basically, it is a copy of a full-version DS game. And to play it, you will need firmware. This is usually distributed on a special flash card. However, it is still preferable to traditional DS games simply because it can hold more.

To make it easier to understand: a traditional Ds fasah card only stores one game. However, by using DS firmware you can store many games on one Flash card. You can increase the storage capacity even more by using a 32-gig-micro SD card.

In case you think that the increased storage space is the only advantage you will get, you are wrong! Downloading Nintendo DS Roms gives you a lot more benefits. E.g. you will be able to play gameboy games or download fan based translations of games. There are also games you can play on your DS that are not officially availabe in the US.

In addition, theres the option of playing full-length movies through a Nintendo DS roms download. No separate hardware is needed, as the firmware would take care of everything. Simply find a movie in the DS rom format, and youre ready to go!

In conclusion, if DS games are your thing, consider playing them through a Nintendo DS roms download. They are easy to find, and extremely fun to use. Plus, they allow you to explore a wealth of new DS content, since they work really well with movies and homebrew games.

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Turbo-Charge the World of Xbox 360 Through Xbox 360 Accessories

by Toby Johns

Introducing the world of Xbox 360, which in the world of gaming is arguably one of the most innovative, advanced and mind-blowing platforms ever created. Since its introduction on May 12, 2005 on MTV, the Xbox 360 platform has taken the world by storm.

The Xbox 360 platform was developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SIS, and according to Microsoft, has sold over 22 million units worldwide as of September 30, 2008. The Xbox 360 is available in three console configurations: the “Arcade”, the “Pro or Premium”, and the “Elite.” Each of these consoles comes complete with its own collection of Xbox 360 accessories, including wired and wireless controllers, faceplates for customization, headsets for chatting, webcams for video chatting, Gamercize and dance mats for exercise, three different sizes of memory cards, as well as three sizes of hard drives–120GB, 60GB, and 20GB–each of which are designed to match the console.

There are now so many different peripherals in different configurations, colors, styles and technological capabilities, that hard-core xBox 360 gamers now pride themselves on building their own custom systems. Here are a few of the major Xbox 360 accessory categories and descriptions of each:

* Consoles

The heart, soul and brains of the Xbox 360 gaming system is, of course, the console. Placed either vertically or horizontally, the Xbox 360 console, with its sleek, ergonomic design, looks great. Nearly all Xbox gaming accessories are attached to the platform via the console. Measuring 3.3″ x 12.2″ x 10.2″ the unit weighs just over 7-and-a-half pounds. The console gets its power via a custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU (three symmetrical cores each operating at 3.2 GHz.) The Xbox 360 console includes a custom ATI graphics processor (10MB of embedded DRAM), a 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines, and unified shader architecture. This, by the way, is enough power to enable the system to draw five-hundred million triangles per second–easily enough horsepower to provide for amazing-looking games in standard TV definition, and made even more phenomenal with support for HDTV 1080i TVs. And, as you’d come to expect, the xbox 360 console also supports widescreen 16:9 format. The Xbox 360 console, out-of-the-box, uses a 12x dual-layer DVD-ROM drive, playing games and progressive-scan DVD movies equally well. Users can access media storage and game saving through either the detachable and upgradeable 20GB hard drive, or a 64MB flash Memory Unit (sold separately). More than simply storing files, the hard drive allows the Xbox 360 backward-compatibility with many of the existing Xbox game library titles.

* Controllers

As the name implies, the xBox 360 Controller is the hand-held device used for navigating and accessing all on-screen activities. It’s boomerang-shape–reminiscent of Batman’s iconic symbol–fits comfortably in the palm of both hands. The ergonomic design includes left and right shoulder buttons, two analog pressure-point triggers, two vibration feedback motors, and an eight-way directional pad. Controllers come in wired and wireless models. The wired model includes a nine-foot break-away controller cable. The glowing Xbox Guide Button at the center of the controller provides quick access to digital movies, music, and your game libraries. You can even contact your friends on Xbox live as well as customize your gaming experiences. The controller even includes a port for your Xbox 360 headset. Many users consider the standard Xbox 360 controller to be the best gaming controller ever made.

* Adapters

With a wireless network adapter, you can set up your home wireless network quickly and easily, getting you online and back into the game. These adapters synchronize easily with your Xbox 360 system and are easily configured to do so. Once you’re all set up, you can then tranfer music and video via your media Center PC, or chat with friends…play games via Xbox Live…all without the clutter and mess of wires.

* Batteries & Charge Kits

Recommended for use with wireless controllers are charge kits and rechargeable battery packs. They will help you avoid the cost of constantly replacing batteries. Rechargeable battery packs will last a year or two with normal rechargeable life, and can even be recharged while you’re using your Xbox 360 system. When your system is off, the Xbox 360 can be charged very easily via your computer’s USB port.

* Hard Drives

By downloading content to your Xbox 360 hard drive, you can expand your Xbox 360 experience. Hard drives are great because they let you save game demos, custom soundtracks from your music collections and, of course, save your games. Xbox 360 hard drives also let you play a variety of original Xbox 360 games. They even come with an Xbox Live Arcade game, music and videos pre-loaded.

* Headsets

Many different types of headsets designed specifically to work seamlessly on Xbox 360 system are available for the Xbox 360 platform. From the Xbox 360 wireless headset to the over the ear headset, to headset earbuds, each style lets Xbox 360 gamers choose the perfect fit for them. Regardless of the style you choose, you’re guaranteed enhanced clarity and performance, stylish ergonomic design for comfort, and state-of-the-art radio technology for crisp, clear reception and audio delivery.

* Remotes

Enhance your gaming experience with the right remote. With the Xbox 360 platform, you have some really nice choices. Take, for example, the Light Up Wireless Remote or the Universal Media Remote, which acts as an integrated control center for your Xbox 360 gaming experience. With this remote, you can play DVD movies or music, and even control both your TV and Media Center PC, all with a single button control on the remote. If a self-programming remote is more your style, then you may find that the Intelligent Remote 360, which learns the functions for other remotes, is more your style.

* Faceplates & Skins

For gamers who like to customize Xbox 360 hardware, faceplates and skins are available that will allow them to express their own personality traits and characteristics. Every faceplate and skin design, from psychedlic designs to favorite sports teams, and even graphics from favorite Xbox 360 games like Halo and Guitar Hero II are available.

* Cables & Wiring

Enhance your Xbox 360 gaming experience with the right cables and wiring. By upgrading your cables if/when you upgrade your television, you can retain the sharp, crisp details you’ve come to enjoy from your Xbox 360 system. If you were to convert from a CRT television to a 60-inch plasma, for example, you could lose a tremendous amount of resolution in the process without having the right cables. Upgrade to Xbox 360 VGA HD AV cables, and you will quickly see that game images became crisp and intense. The details will appear sharper; fonts displayed during a game character’s conversations will become significantly clearer and more legible. With the right cables, you will certainly notice the quality difference you get through something as basic and fundamental upgrading the wiring.

As you can see, the Xbox 360 system is hardly a generic, one-size-fits all platform. Rather, it is a highly sophisticated, multi-component gaming system allowing users to customize their game play based upon style, preferences, and performance needs. These features make the Xbox 360 one of the most advanced, unique, and customizable gaming systems on the market today.

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Revealed: 3 WoW Gold Training Tips

by Seth Symonds

From the moment you start a new character in WoW, you can start accumulating gold – it’s not something that only more advanced characters can focus on. Below I will reveal 3 secrets to keep in mid when trying to increase your gold.

1. Choose Gathering Professions

If you choose profession such as Jewelmaking, Blacksmithing, Enchanting or Inscription you’ll most likely end up spending thousands and thousands over the course of levelling. They are great once they have been levelled up but it’s very expensive and takes a lot of time and energy to get there.

At the other end of the spectrum, professions such as Mining, Skinning and Herbalism are more straightforward. You can find many of the resources you need while you are leveling and you have the option of selling these in the Auction House.

Since the release of Inscriptions with WOTLK (Wrath of the Lich King), Herbalism has gained a lot in popularity. Herbalism’s popularity is partly due to low level herbs such as Peacebloom and Earthroot being able to be sold for between 10 – 30 gold per stack.

Before I reached level 10 on a new character I recently started, I had already reached 90 gold – this was 100% due to Herbalism.

2. There are numerous items that you can purchase from sellers to resell.

Low level characters may find some of these types of items a bit hard to find however as a little travel is sometimes necessary. Another option is to buy these items in the AH and then resell them with an Alt. One example of an item like this is the First Aid Training Book.

You’ll find that in some realms you can easily sell these items for 5 times the purchase price.

3. Choose Cooking as your Profession.

This is not a gold farming tip as such but it is worthwhile knowing. Farming and grinding get much easier if you choose to have Cooking as a Profession. Furthermore you save a lot of money not needing to buy food and water, and you can level the skill up easily by collecting meats during questing.

If you want to be as rich as possible, you’ll need to think about gold farming not only in terms of killing creatures for the gold and items, but also in terms of how your profession can best work with questing. Do this well and you’ll have all the gold you need.

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2008 Worldwide Video Game Review

by David Paul

Compared to the prior year, 2008 was a big step forward in many sectors even while the global economic outlook proved extremely gloomy. Video games provide a longer entertainment experience for a similar investment meaning that other forms of entertainment are becoming too expensive for many people.

The Land Down Under Australia’s PC gaming sector had a break out year with a 4.2% increase selling $21.2M Australian in December alone. The gaming industry shot up from the previous year with a 47.8% increase coasting to a cool $1.96 billion in sales. Alone software accounted for around $1 billion, a 48.5 percent increase from 2007. Hardware unit sales saw an increase of 36 percent while software saw just over a 42 percent bump. Nintendo certainly led the charge as its hardware platforms boasted 66 percent of hardware sales and they also nailed the top four software slots with Wii Fit, Wii Play w/Remote in first and second. Mario Kart w/Wheel zoomed into third and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics just missed a medal finishing in fourth.

PC Gaming Worldwide The PC Gaming Alliance put out their report on the PC gaming industry for 2008 just in March. Their findings state that the PC gaming platform is alive and well and totals about $11 Billion US in worldwide revenue, more than any single platform from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. It’s an emerging platform of choice in Asia and Eastern Europe and took in a lion’s share of over $6B in North America and Europe. Broadband penetration helped to fuel online gaming as well as digital distribution systems like Steam, GamersGate, and more. Massive Multiplayer Online Games were leading the charge in revenue and profits with some games hauling in more than $100M per year while World of Warcraft is generating around $1B annually in revenue. Casual Gaming also took a lead in the PC Gaming realm and many portals are now generating well over $100 Million in annual revenue as well.

Japan Goes Under While they’re not exactly sliding into the ocean game sales weren’t all that spectacular in the country last year. Playstation 2 saw a massive drop off of 46% and even Nintendo’s DS Touch Generation software took a hit. Meanwhile the newer consoles – Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii ? saw some promising growth and make 2009 look like a good year.

The industry as a whole managed an 11 percent increase year-over-year which is nothing to sneeze at considering the size of the numbers. The US and the UK led the charge even though their economies were failing at the time.

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WoW Alliance Leveling Guide

by Seth Symonds

In WoW you can choose to play in one of two different factions, Horde or Alliance. This article has been written for those playing as Alliance and will give you some useful tips for levelling your character up to 60 and beyond.

WoW took the internet gaming world by storm a few years back and as a result a large number of playing guides evolved. Some guides are great (and I use these often), others are not worth the time it takers to read them. This article will reveal a couple of WoW secrets I use to get great results and at the end I will expose what I’ve found to be the most comprehensive WoW guide available.

One of the secret things I do to level faster is make sure I always have food and water with me. Every time I reach level 15, 25, 35, 45, and so on I stock up my supplies so that I can get through the tough times (when I find myself surrounded with enemies). Having food and water means you don’t have to waste time waiting for mana and health to come back. Having food and water will mean you can get back into the game much faster.

My second recommendation is for starting on a new server. When you start on a new server it’s a good idea to pick skinning and mining professions. These will help you if you are grinding as you’ll be getting double. You’ll be getting experience points and also items.

In order to become a better, stronger player in WoW you need to level up. I have experimented a lot with different ways to level up and what I find works best to do lots of quests and little grinding. As a general rule I try to spend ten percent of my time grinding and ninety percent of the time questing. If you do this you will level much faster in the end.

Don’t forget to check and make sure you have the best armor and weapons that you can have before you head out to battle. Of course, your armor should be in the best condition and top of the line to get the most out of the game.

Lastly, the World of Warcraft guide that I rate most highly is the Ultimate WoW Guide. This guide has helped me level get many character to level 80. It also comes with a fantastic gold guide, I can’t reveal the secrets in this guide but I ca say they are very impressive indeed.

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Choosing a New WoW Server to Play On

by Anne Glitsky

Choosing a server on World of Warcraft can be a tough decision. There are so many different realms to choose from and so many options. It would be nice to have a checklist of what you want your server to have, a certain customisation on how you want to play the game.

Jonathan Kenins of secretwarcraft.com offers guidelines on how one can go about doing that. I found his latest podcast while searching for server guides. I found it quite useful, he goes into detail on how you can choose a server that meets your standards on how you would like to play the game.

What I need in order to play the way I want to, is to find a heavily populated server so I will be able to take advantage of an economy that I can work in order to get good profits.

Jonathan Kenins suggests I go to WarcraftRealms.com to help me determine the population of a particular server. This website uses an add-on to do a census on each server on either US or EU WoW. It will help you get an idea on how many Horde or how many Alliance players are on a particular server.

Here are the basic things you need in order to maximize profits on a particular server: You’re going to need a server that has a lot of people. More people equals more demand for items. More demand creates higher prices for most of the items in game.

A balanced population – Actually this goes both ways, you can either choose a balanced population between Horde and Alliance OR you can choose to be on a server that has a bit less population for the side that you want to play on, because the side with less players will usually have higher prices. Higher prices means it’s easier to make some good money if you know how to play your cards right.

PVE or PVP? Once again this depends on the way you want to play. If you’re like me and you want to make money, it would be better to go PVE instead of PVP. You don’t want to be ganked while gathering goods in the wild. So PVE is a better choice for that kind of playing style.

Using the guidelines mentioned above, you will be able to narrow down your quest for a new server down to 3 to 4 choices. The next thing you have to do is to make level 1 characters on each faction and server, and bring them to their respective auction houses. Here you will be able to do a scan and monitor the price for high-end items. Herbs like Deadnettle, Goldclover, and Tiger Lily should be around the 40g range.

Take a look at trade goods that you are familiar with. Mithril Bars, Gems, Cobalt Ores usually go for a high price. What you’re looking for and what you need is a server that has prices on the higher-end. If these things are not going for a decently high price, it means that there is not enough wealth on that particular server, and therefore not suitable for the way you want to play the game.

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Mod Chips In An XBOX 360

by Daniel Thompson

If you enjoy gaming and are always on the look-out for new games then the Xbox 360 is for you. You will be kept entertained and satisfied for absolutely ages thanks to the Xbox 360 gaming library which is very extensive. You will have no hassles when you decide to buy new games for your Xbox either. Of course, you may prefer to back up your games or you may want to play hacked games, or even ones that you have put together. However, unless you have in your possession a mod chip you will not get very far, because of the security features of the Xbox 360.

You might have heard of mod chips before since they were widely used in previous generation consoles and these new XBOX 360 mod chips have similar functions. Generally, the XBOX 360 mod chip unlocks all of the limitations that were planted by the manufacturer.

If you are wondering what that all means the answer is simple. The mod chip will enable you to play the games that you obtained from another source as well as enable you to play games you have backed up. It even allows games that are customized but that did not receive a license from Microsoft to be played. Just one mod chip can do wonders for your gaming library.

Unfortunately the manufacturer also installed a feature that makes it impossible to use your Xbox 360 in a different country. And not only that, buying games from another country would be a waste of money, because they will not play on your Xbox either. However, mod chips enable you to use your Xbox 360 absolutely anywhere, as well as play the games.[youtube:OgScgOHe9jI;[link:XBOX 360 Mod Chip?];http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgScgOHe9jI&feature=related]

Microsoft installed the security features in the Xbox 360 in order to prevent piracy as well as a way of protecting the inner components from damage. If you prefer to rather purchase your new games without ever making use of the mod chips then that is entirely your choice.

To ascertain whether it is permissible to use a mod chip with your Xbox 360 you could visit a few local forums. Those limitations were placed in the Xbox to also ensure the safety of the consumers as well as to meet the legal requirements of each particular country. Because each country’s legal standards may be different the visit to the forums is recommended.

Provided that you get the best Xbox 360 mod chips everything should run smoothly. Be sure that you have read and understood the instructions that explain exactly how to mod your system and once it is done it is done! You will be able to play any game you want.

Players are becoming more and more frustrated by the limitations installed by Microsoft. Many prefer to download games off the Internet and then burn them onto disc. However, as already stated, without the mod chips those games cannot be played on the Xbox 360. Naturally, because they are so easy to come by, people who make the mod chips are trying to make a profit from them. It is recommended that you take a look at reputable sites so that when you get them you will have good quality mod chips that actually do work.

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