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Xbox 360 2012 Fall Update Beta

Friday, August 24, 2012 · by Casey Frennier · in Gaming, Geek, Tech

I was recently invited to the Xbox 360 2012 Fall Update beta. I’m not going to talk much about the update as it is still in the Beta stage of development. Most of what I’ll blog about today has already been announced at E3 or in press releases. As far as it’s progress is concerned I will say that in my testing I have not found much to be unstable or broken. The console would not auto-log into my gamertag since updating and I was not able to find any way to set “Xbox Companion” to available (Xbox companion is the setting that allows you to connect to the console with the My Xbox app to control the Xbox). The dashboard interface it a little more Windows 8-ish than it used to be but not a huge departure from what it used to be. Browsing the dashboard feels a little snappier when using the Kinect motion controls.

The new “Pin to home” feature was pretty nice. basically it’s like quickplay except you can select what you put there. Basically as of now only apps and games can be pinned. A few things would not pin: the system video player, music player, photo viewer, settings, etc. I thought it would be nice to pin those system apps like the music player which I use to stream music from my computer and the system video player which I use to stream videos. I also thought it would be nice to pin settings or the shut down link in there.

Internet Explorer is the biggest addition in the update. Since launch the Xbox 360 has been missing something that every other console since the Dreamcast has had: a web browser. The 2012 Fall Update to the console aims to change that. No flash support as of yet. Hulu & Netflix don’t seem work via Internet Explorer. Facebook works. Aside from this website, all the websites I’ve developed work well on the 360. On this website there is a problem with the script I use to create the image reflections. That was broken on chrome when it came out too so it may be fixed. Some web videos don’t work well but you can select for 360 IE to use mobile versions which can serve as a workaround to use h.264 videos instead of flash. The browser works well with USB keyboards and the Xbox messenger keyboard. The messenger keyboard is a nicer experience because you can’t use a USB mouse with the console and switching from the controller to the keyboard or the remote to the keyboard is a little cumbersome. I imagine a lot of those messenger keyboards will be sold after the update. I wasn’t able to use the Xbox companion for smartphones to control the Xbox as I was unable to find any way to activate it on the console. This feature may be replaced by the new SmartGlass features.

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Tags: fall update, games, video games, Xbox

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Counterfeit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 from eBay. UPDATED

Friday, July 13, 2012 · by Casey Frennier · in Gaming

On July 1st 2012 I ordered a copy of Kinect Sports: Season 2 from a Seller on eBay.  When I received the package today (July 13th 2012) I was dismayed to find a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in the package. So I went to eBay.com to see if I could get it sent back and get the game I wanted. I noticed in the “My eBay” a little “I” with “This user is no longer registered on eBay.” Upon clicking the link I saw this: “Feedback can be left only for registered members. A member might not be registered because the member’s account was suspended or because the member decided to close the account. However, the item will stay on My eBay for 60 days. If the member’s account is reinstated or if the member cancels the account closure, you can leave Feedback then.”

I thought to myself “here we go…”

I  used eBay to contact the seller to tell him he sent me the wrong game and to see about returning it for the correct item. Since the seller was “no longer registered” on eBay I decided to make a case in the Resolution Center. I told them “I ordered Kinect Sports: Season 2 and received Call of Duty MW3. I tried to contact the seller but when I go to my eBay and look at the item it says the seller is no longer registered with eBay. The packaging has no packing slip and the return address is in Chinese or something. I have no way to return this item or contact the seller.”

Then I took another a look at the Call of Duty: MW3 disk. In shrink-wrap, I noticed that part of the Activision logo was cut off.  Like it had been cut through with a paper-cutter. I flipped the game case over and noticed the “Mature 17+” ESRB rating looked a little blurred and that it said “For use only with Xbox 360 entertainment systems with “PAL” designation even thought it had NTSC on the front. Not only did I receive the wrong item from this seller, the item I received was COUNTERFEIT! I couldn’t have noticed these things from the seller’s listing because it was a different game and also he used a stock photo.

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Tags: eBay, games, scams

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