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I’m sure you guys all remember Dano2k0’s Internal WaterCooler Xbox 360 Project that was posted here some weeks ago (with Dano2k0’s complete worklog on our forums). The mod features a watercooled CPU with Zern block and GPU with a Koolance GPU-180-H06 block, complete with Tank-o-Matic mini reservoir and 12v thermaltake pump all inside the original Xbox 360 case.
The mod is now featured in - at least the UK edition of - OXM 360 magazine (Official Xbox 360 Magazine) with a 2 pages article that includes a nice interview with Daniel Whitehouse (Dano2k0).
Below are full scans of the article we got from Dano2k0 courtesy OXM 360 (posted here with permission):

Click image for full/high-res view

Original news about Dano2k0’s Internal WaterCooled Xbox 360: xbox-scene.com
Dano2k0’s worklog/forum-thread for project: forums.xbox-scene.com

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From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
The headline figure for Jeff Sullivan, one of Microsoft’s developer relations managers for the Games Technology Group, was the attach rate for Xbox Live amongst Xbox 360 users - a massive 60 percent, which is a huge increase over the 10 percent gained by the original Xbox.

Two key drivers of this growth will continue to be Xbox Live Marketplace and Arcade.
Used by 75 percent of connected users, Marketplace has handled over 30 million downloads. Future developments will see Marketplace content integrated more fully into games, so players can download new content such as cars without leaving the game.
Meanwhile, over on Arcade (which is used by 65 percent of connected users), over five million games have been downloaded. Conversion rates between free content and paid for downloads currently averages around 21 percent, with top games such as Geometry Wars and Uno up at 50 percent, while the lowest conversion rate is around 10 percent.
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Read More: gamasutra.com

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From guardian.co.uk:
[QUOTE]
I’m just heading back to London after a quick visit to the Develop in Brighton conference, where some of the gaming industry’s biggest developers are banging their heads together.

Rein placed the blame firmly at Intel’s door, for an approach to the computer market that tended to go for the lowest common denominator.
“The high end is getting higher and the low end is getting lower,” he said. “But even if somebody spends $1,000 on a graphics card, we’re still only making $25 from them.”
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Read More: guardian.co.uk

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From the press release:
[QUOTE]
ATI Technologies today announced that Microsoft Corp. has chosen ATI’s H.264 decoder for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, bringing users sharper, more true-to-life visuals and smoother playback of high-definition content. HD DVDs encoded using one of three approved codecs deliver up to six times the resolution of traditional DVDs all on a single disc. Built on ATI’s Avivo technology, the decoder used for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player brings to bear ATI’s considerable multimedia know-how to ensure gamers, home theatre buffs, and casual viewers alike get a more perfect picture from the H.264 format.

“With the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, Microsoft and ATI are pushing the boundaries of high-definition multimedia content,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, PC Business Unit, ATI. “The decoder technology used in the new drive provides high fidelity visuals unlike anything ever seen before. This is another example of the close cooperation between our two companies, and the commitment we both share to delivering the most immersive experience possible for audiences around the world.”
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From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft says it’s being overwhelmed by new game pitches for Xbox Live Arcade. At the Develop Conference today in Brighton, England, the firm’s Jeff Sullivan said, “We’re saturated.”

He offered some tips for producers hoping to get their games on the service. They include:
* Gameplay that is immediately obvious to the player.
* Multiplayer options that include co-op play. “Co-op is crucial in the broadening effort,” said Sullivan.
* A worldwide appeal — not just North America.
* Appealing graphics.
* Downloadable content options.
* Tie-ins with orther products or games.
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Read More: next-gen.biz

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From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will deliver one of three keynote addresses to the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next January.
The keynote, taking place on January 7th, will be Gates’ ninth and possibly one of his most important, as Microsoft faces significant challenges on several fronts.

Microsoft’s console business will face renewed challenge following the respective November and Q4 launches of rival PlayStation 3 and Wii formats, and the company will be looking to energise its software base with the 2007 launch of the Windows Vista operating system.
Widespread reports, anchored in the Seattle technology press, also suggest Microsoft will be launching a significant offensive in digital-media, with the release of the “Argo” media device and associated software and services anticipated before the end of the year.
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Read More: gamesindustry.biz

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Xtreme Enterprise already announced and showed pictures of their new “frosted” Fantasy360 Wireless Controller Replacement Cases a few days ago. Now they released a picture of one of these “frosted” Fantasy360 controller shells (the “Clear West” color) fully installed.

They also released a step-by-step guide to install a Fantasy360-Controller full replacement case here.

Official Site: http://www.e-linksoft.com and http://www.xbox-central.com

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*Update* !WARNING! From GaryOPA
[QUOTE]
I get back and see nice “post” from Birdy. — Neat program… BUT NEEDS WORK.
DO NOT USE FOR V32 / V36 / V40 DRIVES.
WAIT FOR AN UPDATE.

Simple fix for “Birdy” to do. — By the way, thanks for giving us credit for our work.
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Birdy released a new version of his Hitachi-LG FW package, that now has a nice GUI tool for flashing your drive (instead a of cmd-line application):
[QUOTE]
RELEASE INFO:
Friendly Flasher (Windows application) for Hitachi drives
Includes Xtreme hack v1.2 for All versions (v32/v36/v40/v46/v47/v59)

RESTORING YOUR DRIVE (Requires previously saved Firmware Image)
- Plug SATA cable from DVD drive to PC
- Power cable drive still connected to Xbox 360
- Ensure drive is in mode b either by two wire trick or slax linux boot cd or if you have the Xtreme 1.2 then use the TWEAK starting the box with the tray opened
- Go to Windows
- Run hitachiflash.exe and if the drive is properly connected it should get detected
- Choose the Action: “Restore Original firmware”
- Hit go and wait,
- There will be a prompt asking for your original UNENCRYPTED image
- The restore must start, if some “retry” windows appears hit YES/OUI until finished
- At the end the application will check for 100% so you can shut down the system
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Official Site: n/a (by Birdy on xboxhacker.net)
Xbox-Scene FW Install/Usage Guides/Tutorials: here
Download: n/a (might be illegal under DMCA/EUCD)

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Team Underdog informed us their NME-360 chip is ready and already shipping to resellers. A list of official resellers will be available on their site soon. The NME-360(info) device, a chip that will allow to patch the DVD firmware of the Xbox 360 drive ‘on-the-fly’ and only when needed (so not for original x360 discs):
[QUOTE]
Today the first batch of our spectacular NME-360 Modchip got shipped to resellers. We are happy to have the chip released within the announced timeframe. You will see samples popping in to the major news websites pretty soon for their reviews.
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Official Site: http://www.team-underdog.com

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From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft has confirmed a new program called ‘Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays’, which features a regular weekly launch schedule for new Xbox Live Arcade games over the Xbox 360 online service, seemingly addressing multiple recent game delay issues for the much-vaunted service.
Starting today, Xbox Live Arcade users will now go live on Wednesdays at 0800 GMT (Midnight Pacific) to download the first in what will be a series of new releases.

The complete schedule is announced as follows:
* July 12 - Frogger
* July 19 - Cloning Clyde
* July 26 - Galaga
* August 2 - Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting
* August 9 - Pac-Man
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Read More: gamasutra.com

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Another ‘Connectivity Kit’ coming to the market, very similar to Team Xecuter(info)’s Connectivity Kit(info):
[QUOTE]

* Free SATA-SATA cable
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News-Source: i-c.bz

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

We’ve been wondering when we’d see HDMI for the Xbox 360. Partly for the future HDCP needs of HD DVD (though for now we’re safe on that front), and partly for the sheer convenience of it. Microsoft has stayed fairly silent on the subject, but this week’s blurry image-based rumor points to its inclusion in a future version of the console. Tipped by an anonymous source, the image shows an HDMI port firmly ensconced on an Xbox 360 motherboard. If it’s real, this probably rules out the possibility of an HDMI cable adapter providing this functionality, leaving current 360 owners SOL. But minus the fanboy outcry, it could be a nice little jab at Sony if Microsoft has an HDMI version of their console just in time to compete with the high-end HDMI PS3. Of course, there’s no word if this will come as a third configuration, or if it’ll just act as a spec bump to the current Premium package, but again, there’s no word if this is real at all. We’ll keep you posted.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Gaming

Our money — since we so regularly put down heavy cash on the intricacies of console launches — is still on that November 6th date that’s been going around, but we’re always willing to entertain a bit more tasteful rumoring. This one’s from CNNMoney.com’s Chris Morris, who cites P.J. McNealy and other unnamed “industry insiders” that the Nintendo Wii is due for October, with a slight chance of late September if the cards are right. This would contrast it to the November 17 PS3 launch, and Microsoft’s November 22 last year, and give Nintendo a bit of a head start in the holiday rush. Apparently Nintendo is in pretty good shape to do so, since they’ve already started manufacturing the Wii, and they so far have only launched one home system in November, the GameCube. It’ll probably come down to manufacturing successes and title readiness, and Nintendo might want to give 3rd party titles a bit more time in the oven with the new control schemes that need to be perfected, but a least the anonymous and unverifiable signs are looking good for an early launch, and we’re not complaining.

[Via Gotakon]

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Filed under: Gaming

So we’ve been fooling around with our Xbox for the last few days since we got the big spring ‘06 360 update, and we haven’t really noticed any issues; everything has been downright snappy, and the new interfaces and options have been rather useful. But it might appear not everyone got off so luckily. According to MaxConsole and Xbox 360 Fanboy, a number of users are experiencing major issues with their 360, including problems with saving, freezing, skipping, or long load times in NHL 2k6, GRAW, Burnout, Half Life 2, and Oblivion — but it sounds like the noise has died down a little. So now that we’ve had a little more time to really see what’s up, what say you, 360 users? Any issues worth mentioning that seem out of the ordinary?

[Via MaxConsole]

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Filed under: Gaming

We know the “evil empire” is being cheeky by launching their big Xbox 360 dashboard update tomorrow on 6/6/6, but they’re boasting it’s got 125 new features for gamers to make it worth their while in updating (not like we have any choice). We don’t know how many of those “features” account for bug fixes, optimizations, and UI improvements, but we are now definitely sure the Live Marketplace has the performance optimized background download manager, downloaded video fast-forward and rewind, DVD movie bookmarking, and apparently some 122 other improvements we can look out for (ahem). Should be downloadable tomorrow morning at 2:00AM PST (we already tried, no dice as of right now — for us, anyway), so keep that Xbox runnin’.

[Thanks, Ben]

Update: sweet, got hit with a list of new features! Notable ones include: boot to dashboard (hey, sometimes you don’t want to play the game in the drive on turn-on, you know?), persistent music levels, disabling sound while in dashboard, and what seems like a bunch of other bug fixes, optimizations, and UI improvements. You know, features. Thanks PJ.

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From kikizo.com:
[QUOTE]
The face of Microsoft’s gaming business and mastermind of the strategy behind Xbox 360 and Games for Windows talks to us in an extensive new video interview on profitability, Live Anywhere, HD-DVD, a larger HDD, price drops, Square Enix, and competitive advantage.

For a detailed rundown of the highlights you can consult this a related news story, but here’s the summary:
* Growth and eventual profitability of the Xbox business
* Live Anywhere and a billion consumers - people are laughing less now
* Moore’s response to talk of the upcoming Xbox handheld
* Competitors growing the market, thoughts on PS3 and Wii
* Pricing strategy - Core Pack, price drops
* PlayStation 3 pricing and stragey to win games war
* Scoffing at the 1080p output capability of PS3
* Pricing for wireless wheel and new accessories
* A larger hard drive for Xbox 360
* Backwards compatibility, what’s the latest?!
* Cross platform gaming, how serious is Microsoft
* Thirdparty support for cross-platform gaming
* Micro transactions - the future of what we’re trying to do
* Achievements - “It’s amazing what people will do.
* Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox 360? - “we’re discussing this all the time”
* Insights into the work behind Xbox’s E3 presence
* His personal role in the process of the E3 battle
* Working at Microsoft compared to previous roles at Reebok and Sega
* Undying passion for the shoe business
* What he makes of the emails he gets from Bill Gates.
[/QUOTE]

Read More: kikizo.com and you can download the video interview here.

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From majornelson.com:
[QUOTE]
On my latest Show, I had BIGVIP from the Xbox PR team on to talk about the upcoming dashboard update. Towards the end of the interview we discussed the Xbox Live Vision Camera. During this portion, he mentioned a release dates. It turns out that the dates discussed in the show are incorrect.

The (current) dates the Xbox Live Vision Camera are scheduled to be released are:
North America: September 19th
Europe and Asia (except Japan): October 2
Japan, Australia and New Zealand: I don’t have confirmed dates yet.
[/QUOTE]

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From gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
According to RBC Capital Markets, chip maker and Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) may be looking to acquire graphics technology company ATI Technologies, which provides the GPUs for the Nintendo GameCube, the forthcoming Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Analyst Apjit Walia believes that the PC food chain dictates that such a buyout is likely to take place, as graphics companies are often thought to be acquisition targets for microprocessor companies.
“The synergies of this seem consistent with the recent announcements by AMD to significantly increase capacity over the next few-years,” said Walia in a research note. “We believe ATI is a rare-buy in the semiconductor space right now given the near-term tie-up dynamics.”
[/QUOTE]

Read More: gamedaily.com

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Filed under: Gaming

Just thought you’d like to know. And yeah, even thought it’s not the stylingest, we think aesthetically (if not the Wii then) the PStwo is probably our fav. But that’s just us.

P.S. -We understand the Wii’s not 100% accurately represented here. Looks pretty close though.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

Xbox 360 owners eagerly waiting to see if “HotGamerBabe” really lives up to her handle now have a solid date for that first exciting face-to-face meeting over Xbox Live: September 19th. That’s the day that Europe and the US will see a simultaneous release of the Xbox Live Vision camera, according to well-known gamer-cum-Microsoft employee Major Nelson. The Major did not reveal, however, what pricing will look like for the cam, which is meant for video-conferencing, video emails, and profile customization.

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The rumored Xbox 360 dashboard update has finally been confirmed at various levels within Microsoft. New entries in the Microsoft Knowledge Base have revealed some of the features.

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