<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Introduction</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Welcome to the Wednesday roundup and if you have been saving your xbox for homebrew then things got rather interesting over the weekend in the form of freeboot which effectively allows you to boot newer kernels and thus newer games, it is also the first step towards patched (region free amongst other things) kernels. If you have already done the August the 11th update you are out of luck but those who have not are in for a good time. If that was not enough we also have a few games worth a mention.
In related news it turns out I should read the NFOs I post more closely; I wondered how Fallout 3 GOTY edition would work and the NFO had the info all along, two discs where one is identical to the original release and the second is the download content/expansion packs so if you have the game from earlier you can get away with just grabbing the second one.
Old threads linked at the end of the post.
For the time being I will leave this warning section in
Wave 4 which has workarounds available is upon us, see wave 4 thread for more: <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185528" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185528</a>
I am having trouble finding an up to the minute source that tells me what wave a release is (abgx360 lags a few days for obvious reasons) but I will share any info I can get- most of the big releases for the next week or two will have probably already been pressed and more importantly compiled with the version of the SDK that makes wave 3 games. Once it becomes official we will probably see an iextreme update to work with it.
MS are also apparently cracking down on games being played before street dates (a change from their actions in the past), more here:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186000&hl=" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186000&hl=</a>
For those just joining us the general idea behind these posts is in each post the days (or time since last post if nothing much happens on a given day) summarises the state of the 360 scene, it is done in the subforum as GBAtemp is mainly geared to towards the GBA and current Nintendo consoles but there are a substantial amount of 'tempers familiar with other consoles as well who discuss such things on the 'temp.
We cover big releases (a short writeup, release name, region locking information and NFO), the smaller releases (those without English in are usually covered here although we will cover a big Japanese release on the rare occasions one happens), any nuke information and likewise any confirmed games added to the 360 game verification tool ABGX360 as well as any homebrew news.
We tend to avoid covering the P2P game releases as they are not especially reliable when they beat the scene to releasing (previous years have seen several big releases made ahead of street dates which were later found to not be up to scratch) and afterwards there is not much point, this being said if any are of note they will be mentioned in passing.
If you have any suggestions for the format of the post or things we should add please chime in, if you want to help out in the coming months when things get really busy (we are sure you have all seen at least one summer games drought followed by a packed autumn/winter release schedule which is usually made even worse by being able to move in these circles) we are recruiting people to help post these up.
Recruitment thread:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179009" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179009</a>
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Nukes and related news as well as less notable releases.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<u><b>Nukes</b></u>
Nukes, no new nukes/updates on nukes since last post (ABGX lists 202).
However it seems <b>FIFA_Soccer_2010_NTSC_XBOX360-CCCLX</b> was nuked and un nuked for being a dupe (the first release that would have causes the nuke was p2p so it does not count). It is only mentioned in case your sources are lagging a bit.
<u><b>Homebrew</b></u>
I said nothing new in the past posts but it turns out I was not paying attention.
The main news of the day is <b>freeBOOT v0.01</b>, "NFO" here: <a href="http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo</a>
From the first few lines of the NFO
"Finally, here it is - freeBOOT, a rebooter for the Microsoft Xbox 360. This
version of freeBOOT allows you to reboot into kernel 2.0.8498 on a Xenon
or Falcon console, which can be exploited by the JTAG hack. Support for
Zephyr, Opus, and Jasper consoles will follow shortly.
As freeBOOT needs a second flash memory to store kernel 2.0.8498 and
associated data, a Cygnos360 is required at the moment.
Read through the following instructions carefully. Building your own images
is yet a complicated task involving many steps. Future versions of freeBOOT
will be easier to build."
If you have read the region free info that has been tacked onto these posts for the last few weeks this is the first step towards patched kernels and region checking is determined by the kernel. There are greater implications but for now it is just good news. Those who have held back from updating the wait is almost over (just in time for the rise of wave 4 which carries a homebrew killer update).
A video:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjkdYDsx4g&fmt=18" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjkdYDsx4g&fmt=18</a>
In other homebrew news a new version of Schtrom360Xtract (in this case V4.1) has been released, it is a PC tool that acts a bit like ABGX360 for most people but is designed for use by those who rip their own isos and like to fiddle with things.
Thanks to xbins and xbox-scene for a chunk of that info.
<u><b>Less notable releases</b></u>
Nothing on the less notable front today.
<b>Additions to ABGX360</b>
We suggest you use the link below and the abgx360 tool as the site does not use scene naming meaning it can be quite hard to tell entries apart, this is just for reference really
ABGX360 ( <a href="http://abgx360.net/verified.php" target="_blank">Web frontend to verified database</a> ) added:
FIFA 10 NTSC/U
Borderlands RF
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 RF
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Releases</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Release dates can be found here: <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/" target="_blank">http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/</a> although the dates on gamefaqs seem to be slightly "off".
As usual these posts will be back as and when something happens, a couple of European region dupes perhaps but all of the big hitters have already been released ahead of time, were region free to begin with or are in the post below.
In order of most recent to pre:
<b>Fairytale_Fights_XBOX360-REV0</b>
Region unknown- NFO lists PAL/NTSC as region.
An entry into the somewhat popular "twisted fairy tale" genre of things. Early reports say the game is something along the lines of a mindless hack and slash romp through various fairy tale staples and locales which indeed does not sound bad at all. The game is by the developer/publisher Playlogic who have had a decided turbulent past being responsible for things things like Xyanide for the original xbox and the ObsCure series to the less than brilliant Infernal: Hell's Vengeance.
<b>MagnaCarta_2_NTSC-XBOX360-RRoD</b>
Region locked US only (European release was several days back), 2 discs.
MagnaCarta 2 is a Korean developed RPG for the 360. While it is a sequel it does not rely on knowledge of past games (think phantasy star rather than final fantasy). It subscribes so several of the Japanese RPG clichés (the main character has amnesia) and while the 360 is not suffering a complete lack of RPGs it is certainly welcome, until borderlands arrived it was one of the first newly released games to keep my up until 5am in quite some time. A beyond solid combat system (more or less real time- think Eternal Sonata meets diablo meets an MMORPG) built for teamwork- you can play in a "typical" manner but the rewards for working the system are great, many amusing mini games and tweaks you can do to your weapons, characters (think Diablo meets final fantasy 12 and it is "in game") and play style. Probably not the game to sway people who "do not like" RPGs but a game fans of the genre can certainly get behind.
<b>FIFA_Soccer_2010_NTSC_XBOX360-CCCLX</b>
Region locked US (PAL release was the better part of a month ago)
Another day, another football game (this actually replaced pro evolution soccer in the copy-paste-update method I use in these posts).
CCCLX are back for the first time in just over a month with the US compatible version of Fifa 2010 that most of the rest of the world has been playing for about a month now. Apparently well liked among fans of series you probably already know if you like this sort of thing and given the same game has been released with little but name changes and the graphics effect of the day for the last however many years I doubt that is going to change here. Aside from the US region release of Pro Evolution Soccer this time next month and the winter sports titles this is probably the last big sports game release of the year.
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Useful things to know</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
First the current WIP GBAtemp 360 FAQ (not the same one that is stickied), it should cover most questions you might have on the 360 although it too is looking a bit out of date right now:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=157263" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=157263</a>
<b>XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340</b>
<a href="http://pix.gbatemp.net/32303/XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://pix.gbatemp.net/32303/XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340.png.tn.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Click on the image and it will load up the full picture.
Some sections of the scene also use the general console release standards as well as the 360 ones.
As many of you know modding your xbox can lead to a ban from xbox live (more or less the only recourse Microsoft have), we do not know the exact methods used to detect modding but it is a fair guess that it is related to the games not appearing as originals for various reasons.
While playing games prior to street dates has been considered and indeed as of mid October 2009 MS have been seen to be targeting those who have as yet "unreleased" games on their profiles it is still somewhat up in the air.
On the other hand prerelease games can sometimes be bad dumps, dumps from non retail sources, bad packing of dumps like any other dump but without a retail copy it is markedly difficult to verify a release beyond the basics. The tool AGBX360 is used to verify isos, directories and games burned to disc and can fix isos and directories if necessary but requires this data (a basic check using the data the game holds is still possible though).
Those who do not care about being banned from live or are willing to risk it then not much need to worry unless otherwise mentioned (as an example the first leaks of Halo 3 ODST were bad which meant while they would run a good chunk of gameplay was missing).
Little bits of 360 release history will be covered from time to time but if you want to delve into the substantial back catalogue of games for the 360 then
<a href="http://www.abgx.net/filename/?ch=6" target="_blank">http://www.abgx.net/filename/?ch=6</a> has release names and a great deal of info.
Another site that is also very useful is (they are frequently a source of the NFOs posted with these releases)
<a href="http://www.ludibria.com" target="_blank">http://www.ludibria.com</a>
Other sites with useful tools and info are
<a href="http://abgx360.net/" target="_blank">http://abgx360.net/</a> (the homepage for a tool to verify and fix games, once a game is added to their database a more thorough check can be performed).
<a href="http://www.xbins.org/" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/</a> the web frontend to an FTP site dedicated to homebrew for the original xbox and 360, easyxbins is a nice tool to access the FTP site ( <a href="http://www.360mods.net/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=29" target="_blank">http://www.360mods.net/index.php?name=Down...tails&id=29</a> )
We will leave info on how to flash xboxes for games and/or homebrew to other threads as it occasionally moves fast and is better left to them.
As mentioned in the first big paragraph the 360 supports region locking leaving it to developers and publishers to choose what is done (other than German releases what will be done is very unpredictable).
Those without a homebrew enabled 360 (even then it takes a bit of effort) will find region locking is not able to be bypassed on the 360.
There is no great worry unless you are sporting a Japanese 360 (English language games are often region locked out and Japanese xbox games can take months to appear) as game releases usually fall very close together region wise these days. Close together means usually within a week and this still usually means before street dates in respective countries.
It has not come up here but it has in other places; region free is region free and it does not matter what territory the game that was ripped comes from so if there is a region free NTSC sourced release and you are in a PAL country do not wait on a PAL release unless you are waiting for a given language as it will not happen (and if it does scene rules tend to mean the release is nuked), similarly we are going to shift to just stating the regions a game is locked to rather than sources to try and eliminate some confusion unless it is unknown at the time of posting.
There are four regions as far as the 360 is concerned being Japan (NTSC-J), USA (NTSC-U), Europe (PAL) and China (NTSC-C), Australia counts as PAL and anyone anywhere else in the world will probably have an imported 360 so I will leave that to the owners to figure out. China and Japan usually overlap along with the rest of Asia but not always (there are not all that many Chinese releases anyhow).
As mentioned there is now a homebrew method that works on new consoles (previous ones would only work on consoles without HDMI) provided you have not done the August 11th 2009 update or any subsequent ones. Many versions of Xell (the homebrew loader) have now been compiled so most 360 models are now hackable and the rest should fall shortly.
There are two main options being considered:
1) Flashing a different region code- unless you have a dual nand chip (one region on each) this is a fairly long winded process but it does work.
If you can ignore the text speak xbox scene has a guide (we suggest you use it as a rough guide to understand what is going on):
<a href="http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=693753" target="_blank">http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=693753</a>
If you should manage to have your motherboard/cpu key and provided you do not downgrade then you should even be able to do it on a post august the 11th xbox, this is probably a very small subset of people but if you were hanging on with the intention of doing this sort of thing you might be in luck.
Chip development (NAND chips this is) is also progressing once again.
2) A "rebooter" app- The general idea is to (soft) reboot into a custom kernel/similar which handily ignores things like region checking.
A few early stage hacks exist for older homebrew methods but recently a tool called freeboot appeared (it is still far from complete) that allows soft rebooting into a different kernel which is the first stage on the road.
NFO from the release <a href="http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo</a>
A handful of 360 homebrew sites and guides exist (our own forums are also filled with knowledgeable people too) so for the curious
<a href="http://www.free60.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Free60 (the base of the current homebrew work)</a>
<a href="http://www.eurasia.nu/wiki/index.php?pagename=Free60JtagHack" target="_blank">Euraisa writeup of the new hack and how it works</a>
<a href="http://www.xboxhacker.net" target="_blank">Xboxhacker.net (forums frequented by the Free60 crew and many others)</a>
Any discussion on those sites will be of a highly technical nature and a similar level of knowledge/ability is expected of you if you decide to join in.
<b>Previous 360 release threads</b>
The follow links are to the older release threads, if there is some time between threads anything that happened between threads will be covered.
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186608" target="_blank">20th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186102" target="_blank">17th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185995" target="_blank">16th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185550" target="_blank">14th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185003" target="_blank">11th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=184603" target="_blank">9th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=184168" target="_blank">7th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183956" target="_blank">6th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183553" target="_blank">4th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183171" target="_blank">2nd October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=182346" target="_blank">28th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=181667" target="_blank">25th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=181320" target="_blank">23rd September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=180107" target="_blank">17th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179944" target="_blank">16th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179706" target="_blank">15th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179538" target="_blank">14th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179090" target="_blank">12th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179016" target="_blank">11th September 2009 and the summer releases</a>
Welcome to the Wednesday roundup and if you have been saving your xbox for homebrew then things got rather interesting over the weekend in the form of freeboot which effectively allows you to boot newer kernels and thus newer games, it is also the first step towards patched (region free amongst other things) kernels. If you have already done the August the 11th update you are out of luck but those who have not are in for a good time. If that was not enough we also have a few games worth a mention.
In related news it turns out I should read the NFOs I post more closely; I wondered how Fallout 3 GOTY edition would work and the NFO had the info all along, two discs where one is identical to the original release and the second is the download content/expansion packs so if you have the game from earlier you can get away with just grabbing the second one.
Old threads linked at the end of the post.
For the time being I will leave this warning section in
Wave 4 which has workarounds available is upon us, see wave 4 thread for more: <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185528" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185528</a>
I am having trouble finding an up to the minute source that tells me what wave a release is (abgx360 lags a few days for obvious reasons) but I will share any info I can get- most of the big releases for the next week or two will have probably already been pressed and more importantly compiled with the version of the SDK that makes wave 3 games. Once it becomes official we will probably see an iextreme update to work with it.
MS are also apparently cracking down on games being played before street dates (a change from their actions in the past), more here:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186000&hl=" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186000&hl=</a>
For those just joining us the general idea behind these posts is in each post the days (or time since last post if nothing much happens on a given day) summarises the state of the 360 scene, it is done in the subforum as GBAtemp is mainly geared to towards the GBA and current Nintendo consoles but there are a substantial amount of 'tempers familiar with other consoles as well who discuss such things on the 'temp.
We cover big releases (a short writeup, release name, region locking information and NFO), the smaller releases (those without English in are usually covered here although we will cover a big Japanese release on the rare occasions one happens), any nuke information and likewise any confirmed games added to the 360 game verification tool ABGX360 as well as any homebrew news.
We tend to avoid covering the P2P game releases as they are not especially reliable when they beat the scene to releasing (previous years have seen several big releases made ahead of street dates which were later found to not be up to scratch) and afterwards there is not much point, this being said if any are of note they will be mentioned in passing.
If you have any suggestions for the format of the post or things we should add please chime in, if you want to help out in the coming months when things get really busy (we are sure you have all seen at least one summer games drought followed by a packed autumn/winter release schedule which is usually made even worse by being able to move in these circles) we are recruiting people to help post these up.
Recruitment thread:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179009" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179009</a>
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Nukes and related news as well as less notable releases.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<u><b>Nukes</b></u>
Nukes, no new nukes/updates on nukes since last post (ABGX lists 202).
However it seems <b>FIFA_Soccer_2010_NTSC_XBOX360-CCCLX</b> was nuked and un nuked for being a dupe (the first release that would have causes the nuke was p2p so it does not count). It is only mentioned in case your sources are lagging a bit.
<u><b>Homebrew</b></u>
I said nothing new in the past posts but it turns out I was not paying attention.
The main news of the day is <b>freeBOOT v0.01</b>, "NFO" here: <a href="http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo</a>
From the first few lines of the NFO
"Finally, here it is - freeBOOT, a rebooter for the Microsoft Xbox 360. This
version of freeBOOT allows you to reboot into kernel 2.0.8498 on a Xenon
or Falcon console, which can be exploited by the JTAG hack. Support for
Zephyr, Opus, and Jasper consoles will follow shortly.
As freeBOOT needs a second flash memory to store kernel 2.0.8498 and
associated data, a Cygnos360 is required at the moment.
Read through the following instructions carefully. Building your own images
is yet a complicated task involving many steps. Future versions of freeBOOT
will be easier to build."
If you have read the region free info that has been tacked onto these posts for the last few weeks this is the first step towards patched kernels and region checking is determined by the kernel. There are greater implications but for now it is just good news. Those who have held back from updating the wait is almost over (just in time for the rise of wave 4 which carries a homebrew killer update).
A video:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjkdYDsx4g&fmt=18" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjkdYDsx4g&fmt=18</a>
In other homebrew news a new version of Schtrom360Xtract (in this case V4.1) has been released, it is a PC tool that acts a bit like ABGX360 for most people but is designed for use by those who rip their own isos and like to fiddle with things.
Thanks to xbins and xbox-scene for a chunk of that info.
<u><b>Less notable releases</b></u>
Nothing on the less notable front today.
<b>Additions to ABGX360</b>
We suggest you use the link below and the abgx360 tool as the site does not use scene naming meaning it can be quite hard to tell entries apart, this is just for reference really
ABGX360 ( <a href="http://abgx360.net/verified.php" target="_blank">Web frontend to verified database</a> ) added:
FIFA 10 NTSC/U
Borderlands RF
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 RF
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Releases</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Release dates can be found here: <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/" target="_blank">http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/</a> although the dates on gamefaqs seem to be slightly "off".
As usual these posts will be back as and when something happens, a couple of European region dupes perhaps but all of the big hitters have already been released ahead of time, were region free to begin with or are in the post below.
In order of most recent to pre:
<b>Fairytale_Fights_XBOX360-REV0</b>
Region unknown- NFO lists PAL/NTSC as region.
An entry into the somewhat popular "twisted fairy tale" genre of things. Early reports say the game is something along the lines of a mindless hack and slash romp through various fairy tale staples and locales which indeed does not sound bad at all. The game is by the developer/publisher Playlogic who have had a decided turbulent past being responsible for things things like Xyanide for the original xbox and the ObsCure series to the less than brilliant Infernal: Hell's Vengeance.
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ÂÂÂÂÂÂFairytale_Fights_XBOX360-REV0
ÂÂÂÂÂÂDate: 09/10/21ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂÂÂSystem: XBOX360ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂÂÂRegion: PAL/NTSC
ÂÂÂÂÂÂLanguages: ENG + ?
ÂÂÂÂÂÂSize: 1xDVD9
ÂÂÂÂÂÂhttp://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=74479
------------------------------- REVISION 0 ------------------------------<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
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ÂÂÂÂÂÂFairytale_Fights_XBOX360-REV0
ÂÂÂÂÂÂDate: 09/10/21ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂÂÂSystem: XBOX360ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ
ÂÂÂÂÂÂRegion: PAL/NTSC
ÂÂÂÂÂÂLanguages: ENG + ?
ÂÂÂÂÂÂSize: 1xDVD9
ÂÂÂÂÂÂhttp://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=74479
------------------------------- REVISION 0 ------------------------------<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
<b>MagnaCarta_2_NTSC-XBOX360-RRoD</b>
Region locked US only (European release was several days back), 2 discs.
MagnaCarta 2 is a Korean developed RPG for the 360. While it is a sequel it does not rely on knowledge of past games (think phantasy star rather than final fantasy). It subscribes so several of the Japanese RPG clichés (the main character has amnesia) and while the 360 is not suffering a complete lack of RPGs it is certainly welcome, until borderlands arrived it was one of the first newly released games to keep my up until 5am in quite some time. A beyond solid combat system (more or less real time- think Eternal Sonata meets diablo meets an MMORPG) built for teamwork- you can play in a "typical" manner but the rewards for working the system are great, many amusing mini games and tweaks you can do to your weapons, characters (think Diablo meets final fantasy 12 and it is "in game") and play style. Probably not the game to sway people who "do not like" RPGs but a game fans of the genre can certainly get behind.
<!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->ÂÂÂÂÂÂ MagnaCarta_2_NTSC-XBOX360-RRoD
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.DETAiLS
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùReleaseDate... 2009-10-20ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ ùSource Media....... DVD9
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùFilename...... rrod-mc2-d1/d2.rxx ùSource Region...... NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùRarCount...... 144x100MBÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂùPlayable Regions... NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùFormat........ ISOÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂùVerified........... Yes
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùhttp://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=75233
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.iNFORMATION
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Love, war and destiny intertwine in an all-new role-playing
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ adventure!
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ The shadow of civil war looms over the kingdom of Lanzheim and Juto,
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ a boy with no recollection of his past may be the key to ending the
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ cycle of bloodshed. Magnacarta 2 delivers a unique role-playing
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ experience that combines real-time action, timing-based attacks,
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ over-drive combinations and the strategic use of skills, magical
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ power and critical attacks on a journey to discover one's true
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ destiny in the midst of tragedy and war.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Unparalleled graphics: Beautifully detailed graphics powered by
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ the Unreal Engine 3.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Deep storyline: Original storyline driven by intense themes of
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ love, war, politics, sacrifice and the ultimate question of
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ choosing one's own fate told through beautifully rendered CGI
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ cut-scenes.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Dynamic battle system: A fresh twist on combat that combines
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ strategic turn-based battle concepts and real time gameplay that
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ seamlessly blends world navigation and fighting without any load
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ times or interruptions.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Unique visual style: A stunning and distinctive photo-realistic
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ manga style with character designs by famed Korean artist
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Hyung-Tae Kim.
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.NOTES
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Playable Regions: NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Verified with abgx360
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Special thanks to *N*, the magical angle creator from fantasy
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ land somewhere over the rainbow, and Gil Grissom!
ÂÂ \________________________________________________________________________
ÂÂ ++ÂÂ RRoD - Right when you least expect it!ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ ++----------------'<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.DETAiLS
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùReleaseDate... 2009-10-20ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ ùSource Media....... DVD9
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùFilename...... rrod-mc2-d1/d2.rxx ùSource Region...... NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùRarCount...... 144x100MBÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂùPlayable Regions... NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùFormat........ ISOÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂùVerified........... Yes
ÂÂÂÂÂÂùhttp://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=75233
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.iNFORMATION
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Love, war and destiny intertwine in an all-new role-playing
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ adventure!
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ The shadow of civil war looms over the kingdom of Lanzheim and Juto,
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ a boy with no recollection of his past may be the key to ending the
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ cycle of bloodshed. Magnacarta 2 delivers a unique role-playing
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ experience that combines real-time action, timing-based attacks,
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ over-drive combinations and the strategic use of skills, magical
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ power and critical attacks on a journey to discover one's true
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ destiny in the midst of tragedy and war.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Unparalleled graphics: Beautifully detailed graphics powered by
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ the Unreal Engine 3.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Deep storyline: Original storyline driven by intense themes of
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ love, war, politics, sacrifice and the ultimate question of
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ choosing one's own fate told through beautifully rendered CGI
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ cut-scenes.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Dynamic battle system: A fresh twist on combat that combines
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ strategic turn-based battle concepts and real time gameplay that
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ seamlessly blends world navigation and fighting without any load
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ times or interruptions.
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ * Unique visual style: A stunning and distinctive photo-realistic
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ manga style with character designs by famed Korean artist
ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Hyung-Tae Kim.
ÂÂÂÂ____________________________________________________________________ _ _
ÂÂ +-RELEASE.NOTES
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Playable Regions: NTSC/U
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Verified with abgx360
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ Special thanks to *N*, the magical angle creator from fantasy
ÂÂÂÂÂÂ land somewhere over the rainbow, and Gil Grissom!
ÂÂ \________________________________________________________________________
ÂÂ ++ÂÂ RRoD - Right when you least expect it!ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ ++----------------'<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
<b>FIFA_Soccer_2010_NTSC_XBOX360-CCCLX</b>
Region locked US (PAL release was the better part of a month ago)
Another day, another football game (this actually replaced pro evolution soccer in the copy-paste-update method I use in these posts).
CCCLX are back for the first time in just over a month with the US compatible version of Fifa 2010 that most of the rest of the world has been playing for about a month now. Apparently well liked among fans of series you probably already know if you like this sort of thing and given the same game has been released with little but name changes and the graphics effect of the day for the last however many years I doubt that is going to change here. Aside from the US region release of Pro Evolution Soccer this time next month and the winter sports titles this is probably the last big sports game release of the year.
<!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->FIFA Soccer 2010 NTSC/U
http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73762
On the heels of winning 25 international gaming awards with FIFA Soccer 09,
the top-selling soccer franchise from EA SPORTS™ is surpassed with FIFA Soccer 10.
Responding to consumer feedback from over 350 million online games played,
FIFA Soccer 10 gives players new levels of control and innovation to experience
the beautiful game like never before. Featuring core gameplay refinements based
on responsiveness and intelligence, on top of an already potent game engine,
FIFA Soccer continues to set the benchmark as the most complete soccer simulation.<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73762
On the heels of winning 25 international gaming awards with FIFA Soccer 09,
the top-selling soccer franchise from EA SPORTS™ is surpassed with FIFA Soccer 10.
Responding to consumer feedback from over 350 million online games played,
FIFA Soccer 10 gives players new levels of control and innovation to experience
the beautiful game like never before. Featuring core gameplay refinements based
on responsiveness and intelligence, on top of an already potent game engine,
FIFA Soccer continues to set the benchmark as the most complete soccer simulation.<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Useful things to know</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
First the current WIP GBAtemp 360 FAQ (not the same one that is stickied), it should cover most questions you might have on the 360 although it too is looking a bit out of date right now:
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=157263" target="_blank">http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=157263</a>
<b>XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340</b>
<a href="http://pix.gbatemp.net/32303/XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://pix.gbatemp.net/32303/XBOX360.Release.Standards.2007.v1.340.png.tn.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Click on the image and it will load up the full picture.
Some sections of the scene also use the general console release standards as well as the 360 ones.
As many of you know modding your xbox can lead to a ban from xbox live (more or less the only recourse Microsoft have), we do not know the exact methods used to detect modding but it is a fair guess that it is related to the games not appearing as originals for various reasons.
While playing games prior to street dates has been considered and indeed as of mid October 2009 MS have been seen to be targeting those who have as yet "unreleased" games on their profiles it is still somewhat up in the air.
On the other hand prerelease games can sometimes be bad dumps, dumps from non retail sources, bad packing of dumps like any other dump but without a retail copy it is markedly difficult to verify a release beyond the basics. The tool AGBX360 is used to verify isos, directories and games burned to disc and can fix isos and directories if necessary but requires this data (a basic check using the data the game holds is still possible though).
Those who do not care about being banned from live or are willing to risk it then not much need to worry unless otherwise mentioned (as an example the first leaks of Halo 3 ODST were bad which meant while they would run a good chunk of gameplay was missing).
Little bits of 360 release history will be covered from time to time but if you want to delve into the substantial back catalogue of games for the 360 then
<a href="http://www.abgx.net/filename/?ch=6" target="_blank">http://www.abgx.net/filename/?ch=6</a> has release names and a great deal of info.
Another site that is also very useful is (they are frequently a source of the NFOs posted with these releases)
<a href="http://www.ludibria.com" target="_blank">http://www.ludibria.com</a>
Other sites with useful tools and info are
<a href="http://abgx360.net/" target="_blank">http://abgx360.net/</a> (the homepage for a tool to verify and fix games, once a game is added to their database a more thorough check can be performed).
<a href="http://www.xbins.org/" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/</a> the web frontend to an FTP site dedicated to homebrew for the original xbox and 360, easyxbins is a nice tool to access the FTP site ( <a href="http://www.360mods.net/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=29" target="_blank">http://www.360mods.net/index.php?name=Down...tails&id=29</a> )
We will leave info on how to flash xboxes for games and/or homebrew to other threads as it occasionally moves fast and is better left to them.
As mentioned in the first big paragraph the 360 supports region locking leaving it to developers and publishers to choose what is done (other than German releases what will be done is very unpredictable).
Those without a homebrew enabled 360 (even then it takes a bit of effort) will find region locking is not able to be bypassed on the 360.
There is no great worry unless you are sporting a Japanese 360 (English language games are often region locked out and Japanese xbox games can take months to appear) as game releases usually fall very close together region wise these days. Close together means usually within a week and this still usually means before street dates in respective countries.
It has not come up here but it has in other places; region free is region free and it does not matter what territory the game that was ripped comes from so if there is a region free NTSC sourced release and you are in a PAL country do not wait on a PAL release unless you are waiting for a given language as it will not happen (and if it does scene rules tend to mean the release is nuked), similarly we are going to shift to just stating the regions a game is locked to rather than sources to try and eliminate some confusion unless it is unknown at the time of posting.
There are four regions as far as the 360 is concerned being Japan (NTSC-J), USA (NTSC-U), Europe (PAL) and China (NTSC-C), Australia counts as PAL and anyone anywhere else in the world will probably have an imported 360 so I will leave that to the owners to figure out. China and Japan usually overlap along with the rest of Asia but not always (there are not all that many Chinese releases anyhow).
As mentioned there is now a homebrew method that works on new consoles (previous ones would only work on consoles without HDMI) provided you have not done the August 11th 2009 update or any subsequent ones. Many versions of Xell (the homebrew loader) have now been compiled so most 360 models are now hackable and the rest should fall shortly.
There are two main options being considered:
1) Flashing a different region code- unless you have a dual nand chip (one region on each) this is a fairly long winded process but it does work.
If you can ignore the text speak xbox scene has a guide (we suggest you use it as a rough guide to understand what is going on):
<a href="http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=693753" target="_blank">http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=693753</a>
If you should manage to have your motherboard/cpu key and provided you do not downgrade then you should even be able to do it on a post august the 11th xbox, this is probably a very small subset of people but if you were hanging on with the intention of doing this sort of thing you might be in luck.
Chip development (NAND chips this is) is also progressing once again.
2) A "rebooter" app- The general idea is to (soft) reboot into a custom kernel/similar which handily ignores things like region checking.
A few early stage hacks exist for older homebrew methods but recently a tool called freeboot appeared (it is still far from complete) that allows soft rebooting into a different kernel which is the first stage on the road.
NFO from the release <a href="http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo" target="_blank">http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1743.nfo</a>
A handful of 360 homebrew sites and guides exist (our own forums are also filled with knowledgeable people too) so for the curious
<a href="http://www.free60.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Free60 (the base of the current homebrew work)</a>
<a href="http://www.eurasia.nu/wiki/index.php?pagename=Free60JtagHack" target="_blank">Euraisa writeup of the new hack and how it works</a>
<a href="http://www.xboxhacker.net" target="_blank">Xboxhacker.net (forums frequented by the Free60 crew and many others)</a>
Any discussion on those sites will be of a highly technical nature and a similar level of knowledge/ability is expected of you if you decide to join in.
<b>Previous 360 release threads</b>
The follow links are to the older release threads, if there is some time between threads anything that happened between threads will be covered.
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186608" target="_blank">20th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=186102" target="_blank">17th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185995" target="_blank">16th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185550" target="_blank">14th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=185003" target="_blank">11th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=184603" target="_blank">9th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=184168" target="_blank">7th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183956" target="_blank">6th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183553" target="_blank">4th October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=183171" target="_blank">2nd October 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=182346" target="_blank">28th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=181667" target="_blank">25th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=181320" target="_blank">23rd September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=180107" target="_blank">17th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179944" target="_blank">16th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179706" target="_blank">15th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179538" target="_blank">14th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179090" target="_blank">12th September 2009</a>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=179016" target="_blank">11th September 2009 and the summer releases</a>
