Seal

Xbox LIVE Help Forum

seal — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:38:50 +1600

An official forum Xbox LIVE Help has been launched.

Community Games Forum

seal — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:28:49 +1600

An official forum for the Xbox LIVE Community Games has been launched.

New Xbox Experience

seal — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 04:38:37 +1600

November 19 marks the day the Xbox 360 video game console will get its first dashboard make-over. Let's hope it will not turn into "the day the Xbox stood still". The fall 2008 update took much longer than expected - the previously announced 24hours downtime turned into several days of limited and even no service at all for some areas.

You might want to backup as much as possible to memory units; one can never play safe enough.

Clean up your Xbox memory

seal — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:26:43 +1600

I would recommend to everyone - no matter the size of the drive - to go into the Xbox 360 memory management from time to time and clean it up. So much rubbish accumulates over time from demo game saves to no longer used downloads, long forgotten videos and more. Not to mention you could outsource your entire music collection onto a USB memory stick.

MS HK sucks

seal — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:35:59 +1600

Those who know me also know my "love" for Microsoft Hong Kong. I haven't seen them getting anything right so far, no matter what part of the industry. I'm usually roaming the Xbox field and so my latest example relates to a gift redemption registration form.

Q: What is wrong with the question above, taken from "Fable 2 Game Pre-Order Privilege - Registration for Gift Redemption" form? (And yes, they do put up the form in images, not pure text)
A: While the Chinese question refers to the correct game title "Fable 2", the English line aparently was forgotten by their translator and still refers to a previous "Too Human" game formular.

By the way, if anyone needs a cheap Office 2007 Home/Student Edition with 3 licenses, they are now on sale for around 800HKD only; but that's another story.

97% of American youth play video games

seal — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:33:34 +1600

A national survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that while young Americans don't necessarily play the same thing, nearly all of them - girls included - play video games of one kind or another. Nearly 2/3 play video games to socialize face-to-face with friends and family, while just over 1/4 said they play with Internet friends.

97% of the young respondents play video games. That's 99% of boys and 94% of girls.
7% didn't have a computer at home.
80% play 5 or more different game genres, with racing, puzzles, sports and action the most common.
Favorites were Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire and Dance Dance Revolution.
Half of the boys and& 14% of the girls listed a game with an "M" or "AO" rating as one of their favorites.

Get the full report.

"Inside Xbox" got own forum

seal — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:14:49 +1600

Inside Xbox - a kind of news station within the Live blade in the Xbox 360 console and currently available only in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Japan - got their own forum "Inside Xbox" as part of the official Xbox Forums.

My Quake2 nr1 world ranking

seal — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:52:41 +1600

MyGamerCard.net today ranks me as 1 (+59,460) of 59,461 in Quake2

Fall 2008 Update - Xbox Experience, Live Primetime and Party

seal — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:34:28 +1600

The fall 2008 update for the Xbox 360 will not "update" but entirely change the dashboard:

"A new Xbox experience that will reinvent home entertainment from the inside out, changing the way we play games, watch movies and TV shows, and even become contestants in game shows. It all begins this fall with a bold new look and feel that is fun, social and simple to use."

Another major news is the partnership with Netflix - a movie rental service - giving Xbox 360 users instant access to more than 10,000 feature films and television shows with a click of a button.

Meeting global gamers' complaints at least partially, another new feature, Xbox Live Primetime, will provide content to non-US gamers as well:

"TV shows and movies from world leaders in entertainment including NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel and USA Network domestically and Constantin and MGM internationally."

Feature highlights for the new Xbox experience:

Entertainment without limits.
With Live Party, bring your favorite games, TV shows, movies and pictures to life by sharing those experiences with friends, wherever they are around the world.
Express yourself.
With the new Xbox 360 experience, gamers can personalize their entertainment like never before. They can create their own avatar, designed exclusively by Rare Ltd., and jump into a party with friends from around the world.
"Must See TV" and more.
The biggest names in entertainment worldwide, such as Netflix, NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Constantin and MGM are bringing their content to Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Primetime.

(Read the full press release)

60GB hard drive

seal — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:46:51 +1600

The US is releasing a new version of the Xbox 360 which will triple the existing 20GB hard drive to 60GB but keep the same price. 20GB consoles will be sold out at a discount while stock lasts. No words yet about console upgrades on Asian sites but it shouldn't take long for the upgraded version to arrive.

My Xbox can blog

seal — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:00:20 +1600

I might not have as much time as I want to play what and when I like but that doesn't mean my Xbox must feel lonely. It now boasts and complaints about my gaming behavior in public, on its very own blog page.

Check it out at HKSEAL's Xbox 360 can blog.

(No) Spring Update

seal — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:49:17 +1600

Marc Whitten, General Manager of Xbox Live, gives away first details of big changes to the service in an exclusive interview with Next Generation. The two main headlines are that

there will be no spring dashboard update,
underperforming Xblox Live Arcade (XBLA) titles will be removed,
changes to the DRM policy, and
a tool will be released to fix the issue that forced gamers playing XBLA games to be connected to Xbox LIVE if their 360 console was replaced.

Instead of pushing for a spring dashboard update - you might compare it with a Windows Service Pack (SP) - focus lies on “building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service"; whatever that means.

Underperforming XBLA titles will be eligible for removal from the titles list with a 3 months notice if

they have been out for more than 6 months,
have a Metacritic score of less than 65%, and
have a conversion rate of less than 6%.

[Read the complete interview]

MOH Airborne errors

seal — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:04:21 +1600

Electronic Arts (EA) first-person shooter (FPS) Medal of Honor (MOH) Airborne features at least 2 errors which make one wonder if there was anyone checking the product for anything other than gameplay (which also has the occasional hiccup):

European map showing wrong countries
It shows Luxembourg as being part of France.
Level "Flakturm" wrong spelling in title
Level's title shown during intro clip spelled "Flaktürm".
Flak stands for Flieger-Abwehr-Kanone (anti-aircraft canon).

Furthermore, the game has a couple of problems with the AI (such as suicidal behavior through lack of most basic environmental awareness in certain situations) and level animation which hasn't been fixed since the first releases of the MOH series.

Re: Need help connecting to xbox live

seal — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:32:31 +1600

If you could get someone else's console for testing purpose, you could confirm the problem.
Or connect your console to a friend's home network and see if it works there. This way you can point to any network setup problem and if they are console or location based.

If your console works at another location, then it is your home network problem.
If your console doesn't work at another location either but your account works on another console, then it is your console problem. Did you ever change any network settings in your console's dashboard?

You could confirm the above with another, working console in your home network to see if that one works there (then it is your console problem) or if it doesn't (then it is your home network - probably router - problem). At this point I assume there is no known Live problem with your network provider?

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "04-24-2008, 09:32PM"}

Re: Need help connecting to xbox live

seal — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:27:39 +1600

Take a look at the Xbox Support pages below, they might help you solve your issue.

Troubleshoot Your Xbox Live Connection
- According to your problem description, item "Xbox Live" is not connecting:
  This test verifies that your Xbox 360 console can contact Xbox Live. If your console does not pass this test, check your results for these other connection tests:
  - IP Address
  - DNS
  - MTU
  - ICMP
  A failure on any of these tests will prevent you from signing in to Xbox Live. If your console passes all of these tests and still cannot contact Xbox Live, verify that your account information is accurate and up to date.

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "04-22-2008, 07:27AM"}

Re: Please help me!!!Account managment/credit card question.

seal — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:14:58 +1600

Did you try to log into your account from the Web?

On top of this forum page, click your gamertag; that leads you to your account page.
There, click "Manage Profile"
The next page shows your "Gamer Card"page, click "Billing and Contact Information"on right under "Account Management"
The next page is the "Contact Information"page; there click on the "My Billing Information" link on top
On the next page, you should be able to modify your billing details.

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "04-13-2008, 09:14PM"}

In reply to Groovnstar:
The credit I used to sign up for Gold membership last year has expired, Xbox Live sent me an email to notify me. And then my box had "ring of death" so I took it to Kwai Fong and got a new one back today. Now, I want to add a credit detail to renew my memberhship but I cannot even sign in (of course!My account is suspended). It tells me to go into "Account Management" but when I click that it says "You are required to sign into Xbox Live to management your account"..........Yes right, how can I sign into xbox live when you say my account is suspended????

Re: Help!! Router problem

seal — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:27:15 +1600

The red steady status light indicates that the wireless adapter is ready to be connected to a network. In other words, it should work once you have set up the correct network configuration settings in your Xbox adapter's dashboard.

Use the wireless adaptor's user manual for details about the setup; refer to section "Connect to your new wireless network or an existing wireless network". If you don't have the manual anymore, download it from this link and see page 12 (English) for "Your network settings".

The wireless adapter's manual provides a space where you can note your wireless network settings, in two sets: 802.11g/b and 802.11a (depends what router (setup) you use). In summary:

Workgroup name - Not needed to connect to the router. It is used to connect to a Windows computer (Windows Media...).
Network Wireless network name (SSID) - The name of your wireless network, you find it in your router configuration.
Wireless security setting - The encryption of your network. Supported formats: WPA/WEP or no encryption. Refer to your router's setup if encryption is enabled, what format it is and what key is used.
Wireless channel (system link networks only) - If you want to connect 2 consoles with each other.

Please check your laptop's wireless network settings because they are the same as for the Xbox. Also take a look at the wireless adapter's user manual's "Troubleshooting" section.

Some thoughts:

Do you use MAC filtering for wireless connected devices? (not by default)
How about your router's DHCP settings? By default, it is enabled. If you disabled it or otherwise enforce connected devices to use a static (fixed) IP address, the Xbox cannot connect. So either enable DHCP on the router or give your Xbox it's own IP address following the format of the router IP, and use the router's IP address for gateway (and use the same subnet mask).
Example: if router's IP is 192.168.1.1 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0, then you can only change the 4th part of the IP in the range from 2-255. If your laptop would use 2, then a suitable Xbox static IP could be 192.168.1.3 (if not used by another wireless connected device).

Attention:

(If used) Did you re-type the WEP key / WPA passphrase in the Xbox adapter's setting? You might have mistyped it the first time.
Copy all router settings in a case-sensitive writing ( "Xbox" is not "xbox").

Advanced router security:

Your router might have additional security enabled (firewall...), so in case you use static IP addresses, assign the Xbox's IP address to the DMZ setting in your router. By doing so, the router will hide itself from the Xbox and connect the console "directly" to the Internet (bypassing any router security except for the wireless network encoding).

Try this only if you feel safe about it and the above doesn't work. If you want to give it a try to connect the Xbox to your router in the most basic way, write down your current router settings and then change this parameters:

SSID: whatever it is, copy it to the Xbox.
Encryption: disable.
DHCP: enable.
MAC filter: disable.

If your other wireless devices can connect, check their settings and try the same with the console. Also refer to the wireless problems mentioned in the adapter's user manual's "Troubleshooting" section.

PPPoE and other ISP provided details are for the Internet connection only. Your router handles that and shares the Internet with all devices connected to the router. You don't need that for the Xbox if your Xbox is connected to the router (only used if the Xbox is connected directly to your ISP's modem).

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "03-09-2008, 05:27AM"}

Re: Help!! Router problem

seal — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:36:40 +1600

Some more questions:

Did you also follow the instructions from the Xbox wireless adapter's manual?
(Section "Connect to Your New Wireless Network or an Existing Wireless Network" - "Your Network Settings" in particular).
Do you use the router to establish your Internet connection or do you connect it to another router/modem?
I've seen setups where the broadband provider's modem was plugged into the router's normal port (not the "Internet" port) and thus the modem's connection was just forwarded to the next device which connected first to it - so in such a case the laptop would block all other devices from going online).
Does your Xbox tells you it cannot connect to Live or there is no wireless connection whatsoever? What is the error status?
Does your router broadcast the wireless network name (SSID)? Otherwise no Xbox auto-connect.
Is the Xbox wireless adapter's power light on?
What is the status? Green steady, red steady or red blinking?
Do you have any other radio/wireless devices just next to your Xbox wireless adapter? It's known to be disturbed by some other hardware including the original Xbox (1) wireless adapter.
Does your router has the latest firmware?

This might also be a good resource to check:

Overview of Wireless Networking for Xbox 360

I personally use a different router brand/model and a wired connection, so I can't provide much more help. Perhaps a fellow gamer uses the same equipment and could share his/her knowledge?

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "03-07-2008, 05:36AM"}

Re: Help!! Router problem

seal — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:44:11 +1600

Can you connect other wireless device(s)?
Did you follow the instructions from the respective user manuals?
Could you provide some more information like router model, if using default settings or customized, what parameters etc...?

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "03-06-2008, 06:44AM"}

In reply to hydrachk:
I use HGC network and BUFFAXXX router. My xbox wireless adaptor cannot detect the wireless signal and connect to xbox live.
Anyone can help?

Personal comment: I really would appreciate if people would add some more - at least the basic - information to their posts.

Virtual training saves lifes

seal — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:43:43 +1600

Video games become increasingly realistic, with in-game training closing in on the quality of real theory classes. Playing America's Army as a medic, twenty-eight year-old Paxton Galvane - being the first one on the scene - rescued two victims from an overturned SUV on the shoulder of a North Carolina (US) interstate. Without any medical or rescue background other than that provided in the game's training levels, he safely removed both individuals from the smoking vehicle and properly assessed and treated their wounds, which included bruises, scrapes, head trauma and the loss of two fingers.

Games are no replacements for real trainings but it clearly shows how games have evolved so far. No longer "fun stuff only", gaming slowly matures in both realism and simulation performance.

Gaming to take over music sales?

seal — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 10:49:33 +1600

Christmas sales for Britain's largest music retailer HMV Group were the strongest since 2002, thanks to high demand for video games.

Gaming now represents about 18% of HMV's sales, making up for falling music sales amid competition from supermarkets, online retailers and illegal downloads. Music now represents less than 33% of their revenue.

Logo evolution

seal — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:12:21 +1600

Ever wondered where logos come from? Think evolution.

The Xerox company wants to change the image of selling copiers only (which isn't true anymore for a long time) with their new logo; however virtually everyone familiar with the Xbox 360 logo has the impression that Xerox did exactly what they didn't want to be associated with anymore: copying.

Doesn't the Xbox 360 logo somehow look familar as well? Think Philips screws...

Re: IP Address Not Found!

seal — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:15:38 +1600

Please take a look at this:

Test Xbox LIVE connection fails at IP address

Note: connection lights on your hardware are only showing that the wiring is ok; they don't mean the connection in your software will work as it might require further (software-side) configuration.

{One of my posts at "Xbox Live香港(Hong Kong)討論區" dated "02-01-2008, 09:15PM"}

Re: Game Tag

seal — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:17:57 +1600

Gamertags are just names attached to your account. What determines your location is your billing address. You will join the HK marketplace if you register with a HK billing address. You can change later on the address within the same country from the billing management but regarding a change of country, call support to ask for the procedure in your place.

Note that the billing address also determines the Xbox dashboard interface language regarding all pages related to billing. My recommendation to gamers registering in foreign countries: know someone with the skills to read the language of the registration country in case something has to be modified.

{One of my posts at "香港 (Hong Kong) 地區 Xbox 討論區" dated "12-31-2007, 8:17PM"}

Award-Winning Xbox 360 games

seal — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:50:18 +1600

I've been so busy in the past with providing support and reporting about problems with the (Hong Kong) Xbox 360 that I totally neglected the awards it constantly wins (the good ones). For example, 7 titles in the Top10 of 2007 by the Time magazine are games available on Xbox 360:

Halo 3 - Microsoft (Xbox 360)
The Orange Box - EA (Xbox 360, PC, PS3)
Rock Band - MTV Games (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3)
Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo (Nintendo Wii)
Bioshock - 2K Games (Xbox 360, PC)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Activision (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Nintendo DS)
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Nintendo (Nintendo DS)
Mass Effect - Microsoft (Xbox 360)
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation - Namco Bandai (Xbox 360)
God of War 2 - Sony (PS2)

The list of awards grows weekly, some recent recognitions are

Associated Press - BioShow best game of the year
IGN.com - Undertow got Best of E3 2007
Official Xbox Magazine - Undertow winning Editor's Choice
Video Game Awards - Xbox 360 winning most titles