To catch up those who need it, here is the scoop with the Xbox 360 disc grinding issue. When you have a disc inside the 360, the xbox will spin the disc anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 rotations per minute (RPM). If there is a disc spinning in the xbox and the console is tilted, the disc inside the disc tray will not hold straight and strike some of the edges surrounding the disc drive, thus "grinding" the disc and usually rendering it useless.
While moving any technology while it's running is a bad idea, sometimes accidents happen so most technology with a disc drive puts foam pads in place to protect the disc if it moves, the xbox 360 lacks this fail safe. Pop open an old discman or something similar and take a look. They're in there.
Fairly recently there was a lawsuit filed against Microsoft because of this flaw, claiming there were "tens of thousands" of people that have been victims of disc grinding. It was in this court case that most of the details regarding this flaw came to light. One of the excerpts of the case shows Microsoft may have known about the flaw very early on and took no action. The excerpt:
"This is...information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about. When we first discovered the problem in September or October, when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what's causing the problem."
Shortly after, SeattlePi.com received a reply to some questioning of this issue and the court case:
"Xbox 360 is designed so that it will not damage a game disc as long as the console is not moved while the disc is spinning. Too much movement of any game console, not just Xbox 360, can cause scratches on a disc. That's why we put a warning on the face of the disc tray, which the user has to physically remove before the initial use of the system. We also have warnings posted online and in hard copy instruction manuals."
The warning they are speaking of:
IMPORTANT:
To avoid jamming the DVD drive and damaging discs or the Xbox 360 console:
* Remove discs before moving the console or tilting it between the horizontal and vertical positions.
* Never use cracked discs. They can shatter inside the console and jam or break internal parts.
* When the console is vertical, do not use discs that are smaller than standard DVDs and CDs.
Microsoft also started their "Xbox Disc Replacement Program" Which will kindly replace a small list of Microsoft titles if they are damaged for a small fee.
A good prevention idea is to invest in "D Skins", this is a simple plastic case that fits flush over your disc, preventing damage, scratching, fingerprints.. you name it. A good investment considering average game price is $60. Here is the link: D Skins
Hope this provides some insight and saves some poor soul from losing a game. Happy Fragging everybody.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Second Modern Warfare 2 Map pack
Activision has announced that the "Resurgence" map pack will release on June 3rd for the XBOX 360. Activision states it will "follow on the heels of the record-setting Stimulus Package of maps," which translates to, it will be another 5 maps for $15 and PS3 and PC owners will see the maps about a month later.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Black Ops
USA Today recently sat down with Call of Duty: Black Ops, the newest game in the CoD franchise, being released in November 2010 by Treyarch Studios. Here's the link to their article. Call of Duty: Black Ops
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Beta Blog
Halo: Reach
I’ve intentionally waited a few days to write this so my reactions weren’t just giddy excitement and a biased opinion. If you slap the name “Halo” on something you’re going to get my attention.
Halo: Reach as most of you know will be Bungie’s last Halo game, and they have described their efforts as “Going out with a bang”. After Halo 3 was made, Bungie split from their looming Microsoft parent company, however Microsoft retained the rights to Halo. Microsoft has every intention of keeping Halo going, however Bungie will be out of the picture. Halo being Bungie’s creation and by far their most well known work, there is a certain “end of an era” feeling with the entire situation.
Reach takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved (the first Halo game, and launch title of the original Xbox), the details of the storyline and events of the game are still coming through, but one can assume it will be at least loosely based on the novel “The fall of Reach”, a Halo based novel written by Eric Nylund. In short, Reach is a human colony and a primary military network for the UNSC (United Nation Space Command) which houses a large military presence and over 700 million civilians. Through the events in the book Reach is attacked by the Covenant (alien military at war with humanity) and the planet is “glassed”, where the Covenant uses a form of fusion to heat the planet’s crust so intensely it turns to glass, thus killing every living thing on the planet.
So, if you own a copy of Halo: ODST or are lucky enough to get an invite code, as of May 3rd, 2010 you now have access to the Halo: Reach Beta. For those of you who don’t know, a “Beta” is a small portion of a program that is released during development for evaluation from the target audience. A beta can accomplish a couple things, in this case it gives excited fans a sneak peak, it gives the developers a ton of feedback and “free” game testers, which developers usually have to pay. The Reach beta is a small part of what will be the multiplayer for Halo: Reach. It includes a few game types and a small selection of weapons. Some new, some classics (the infamous “Halo 1 pistol” as well). One of the new features to the Halo franchise are “loadouts”, at the beginning of a multiplayer match you can select (currently) one of four loadouts, in the loadouts are weapon selections and an armor ability. These abilities can be activated at any time during the match for a limited time, the beta currently offers active camouflage (invisibility essentially), sprinting, temporary invincibility, and a jetpack. (Current favorite; jetpack).
They have changed some things, damage, added a health bar (where have those been, anyway?), added “assassinations” (instead of a simple melee attack from behind killing a player, you can hold melee to perform an assassination where your Spartan will do a quick deadly killing move) .
All in all it’s still Halo multiplayer, the new twists are fun, and I guess if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I look forward to seeing the rest of the game.
I’ve intentionally waited a few days to write this so my reactions weren’t just giddy excitement and a biased opinion. If you slap the name “Halo” on something you’re going to get my attention.
Halo: Reach as most of you know will be Bungie’s last Halo game, and they have described their efforts as “Going out with a bang”. After Halo 3 was made, Bungie split from their looming Microsoft parent company, however Microsoft retained the rights to Halo. Microsoft has every intention of keeping Halo going, however Bungie will be out of the picture. Halo being Bungie’s creation and by far their most well known work, there is a certain “end of an era” feeling with the entire situation.
Reach takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved (the first Halo game, and launch title of the original Xbox), the details of the storyline and events of the game are still coming through, but one can assume it will be at least loosely based on the novel “The fall of Reach”, a Halo based novel written by Eric Nylund. In short, Reach is a human colony and a primary military network for the UNSC (United Nation Space Command) which houses a large military presence and over 700 million civilians. Through the events in the book Reach is attacked by the Covenant (alien military at war with humanity) and the planet is “glassed”, where the Covenant uses a form of fusion to heat the planet’s crust so intensely it turns to glass, thus killing every living thing on the planet.
So, if you own a copy of Halo: ODST or are lucky enough to get an invite code, as of May 3rd, 2010 you now have access to the Halo: Reach Beta. For those of you who don’t know, a “Beta” is a small portion of a program that is released during development for evaluation from the target audience. A beta can accomplish a couple things, in this case it gives excited fans a sneak peak, it gives the developers a ton of feedback and “free” game testers, which developers usually have to pay. The Reach beta is a small part of what will be the multiplayer for Halo: Reach. It includes a few game types and a small selection of weapons. Some new, some classics (the infamous “Halo 1 pistol” as well). One of the new features to the Halo franchise are “loadouts”, at the beginning of a multiplayer match you can select (currently) one of four loadouts, in the loadouts are weapon selections and an armor ability. These abilities can be activated at any time during the match for a limited time, the beta currently offers active camouflage (invisibility essentially), sprinting, temporary invincibility, and a jetpack. (Current favorite; jetpack).
They have changed some things, damage, added a health bar (where have those been, anyway?), added “assassinations” (instead of a simple melee attack from behind killing a player, you can hold melee to perform an assassination where your Spartan will do a quick deadly killing move) .
All in all it’s still Halo multiplayer, the new twists are fun, and I guess if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I look forward to seeing the rest of the game.
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