Xbox 360 Fanboy

It's time for yet another delectable edition of Ask X3F, the community powered feature where we answer all of our readers most pertinent questions. That's not entirely true. We also answer questions that are totally impertinent. We'll let you decide which is which. This week we talk about region locked Xbox Originals, HDTV issues, Auto Sign-In, and more. Find the precious and succulent knowledge after the break.

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [at] xbox360fanboy [dot] com.

Hey X3F I'm wondering where all the unlock the achievement achievements where at on your site. I only found 3 and I want to know where the rest were hidden.

Philip
GT: Gob 8luth

Actually, we figured some people would be wondering where we hid all of our achievements. We did our best to make them challenging and interesting. Having said that, we were pretty sure that not everyone would be able to find them, so we put together a feature explaining where they were all hidden. Click here to check it out and find the answers you seek.

I have two 360 problems I can't seem to figure out ....

How do you unsubscribe from a forum? Annoyed by all the emails, I tried setting my preferences to "Receive emails: No" but I still keep getting them. But I would like to unsubscribe from that particular forum.

I have two gamer tags on my 360. When I turn it on, it automatically logs into the Gold membership. I would like it to automatically log into the Silver membership

Any help would be appreciated!

What do we look like, forum administrators? No, we don't, because we're not forum administrators. You'll have to figure that one out somewhere else. As for question numero two, it is possible to set a certain gamertag as your 360's default tag. Bring up the guide and select your Gold gamercard (you can also select your gamercard from the dashboard). You should see an option labeled "Auto Sign-In." Disable this option. Now, sign out of your Gold account and login to the Silver account. Select this gamercard and enable the Auto Sign-In. Voilà, your Silver account will now sign in automatically every time you turn on your 360.

Dear Ask X3F,

How come there is an IP block on Xbox Originals? I mean these are old games that were released in all regions. I have a US accounts but I live in Kuwait.

Abdullah.

We're guessing Microsoft region locks Xbox Originals for the same reasons that it locks retail games. After all, Xbox Originals are retail games. Now they're just available in digital form. We feel your pain though. We would love to get us some Puyo Pop Fever. Alas, it's not going to happen.

Dear X3F,

1)I have an iMac G5. Is there any way to connect my 360 to the screen so i can play
my 360 on it. (VGA/whatever?)
2) Will Ninja Gaiden II (game of the year) have an extreme content setting like Gears of War? do you think it should?
usually i don't have a problem with it and love the features with them losing limbs, but sometimes it looks a little sickening, but thats just my opinion.

Hope you guys keep on blogging to the 720 days,
John Paul

1) It's possible, though the solution is somewhat unconventional. Since there is no VGA input, you're limited to the USB ports. There are a few devices that will let you send a video signal through the USB port, like Elgato's EyeTV devices. Be prepared to drop some cash though, as devices like these generally cost more than $100 US. It's not ideal (and far from HD), but it will work. It's worth noting that an EyeTV will also let you play games on a Mac laptop too. There are also TV Tuners for PCs, if there is anyone out there looking for a similar solution for PC.

2) The first Ninja Gaiden did not contain any options to turn off blood and gore. Considering the fact that dismemberment actually plays a central role in the sequel's combat system, it's doubtful that will either (Game of the Year 2008) Ninja Gaiden II will either. It's still possible there may be an option to turn off blood though. That said, we're not holding our breath. Team Ninja isn't exactly known for restraint.

I'll start with the mandatory Hey Guys,

So I'm sitting on the couch, looking at these 4 colorful Big Button controllers gather dust, wondering what to do with them. My girlfriend has tired of playing Scene-it considering there is none of the promised DLC, even on the horizon, and we have gone through the included questions. Uno is easier to play with the 360 controller.

My question is this: Are these controllers another R.O.B. the robot accessory (Meaning useless except for one game) or are there any games coming soon that will use these things?

Thanks

Gamertag: FREDPD

Boy are you in luck. It just so happens that this week's Xbox Live Arcade release, Wits and Wagers, supports the Big Button controller, so at the very least you know that the Big Button controller won't be useful for just one game. Now there are two. Wits and Wagers is a trivia game, so it should be well suited for some Big Button shenanigans. Stay tuned for XBLA in Brief later this week. We'll tell you if it's worth the scratch.

Hello X3F,

I've just recently purchased an HDTV. I got a Sharp Aquos 46D64U. I hooked up my X360 to it and configured it to output in 1080p and noticed something rather bizarre. While playing Halo 3, the TV seems to lose its sync with the X360 video output. This happens once in a while (about 1 in every 3 death-matches, and only occurs for a second). The screen goes completely black and a logo appears indicating that the TV is looking for a source. So my question is the following: has anyone else experienced this? Is this a result of the combination of the X360 and an Aquos HDTV, or is this common for most people who are outputting at 1080p?

By the way, I should mention that I tried playing another game (Puzzle Quest) for over two hours and nothing happened. Also, I played Halo 3 at 720p for over an hour and nothing as well.

Thanks guys,
Mike
GT: NummNutts

A quick Googling didn't reveal this specific problem, and it's not one we've heard of before. Still, there are a lot of factors at play here. Is you Xbox connected through HDMI? Component? Have you tried playing other retail games at 1080p? That fact that it's only happening at 1080p makes it sound like some sort of copy-protection issue. We're far from experts though, so don't take our word for it. As usual, we throw this question to our knowledgeable (and attractive) readers. What say you, readers? Have you encountered this problem before?

Hey Guys,

I've been having this weird issue on Live. For some reason I can't seem to see one of my friends when he signs on to Live. But he can see me. I asked him if he's set his online status to appear offline, or if he's in a different zone, but he isn't. Any ideas as to what could be causing it? Also, we're both in the US, so I don't know what else could be causing this issue. Thanks for your help in advance!

--
Chris

That sounds like an NAT issue. If you run a networking test on your Xbox 360 -- under Network Settings, click "Test Xbox Live Connection" -- it should tell you what NAT type you are running. If the NAT is set to Strict or Moderate, it could result in problems similar to yours (it can also cause problems with matchmaking, etc). Ideally, you want to make sure your NAT is Open. If it's not, you may need to tweak some settings on your router. In certain cases, you could need a new router entirely. Assuming your problem is NAT related, this article may help you. You should also have your buddy check his NAT settings too.

Dear X360FB,

Does GTAIV have the longest credits ever, and most names included in the credits? I found myself dozing off during the credits and expected something cool at the end of them.

According to Xav -- the only one of us that has already beaten GTAIV -- yes, they are the longest credits evar.

Hey guys. Today I went to turn on my xbox with GTAIV in it, when it turned it on, it almost instantly froze after loading. I figured it was just some bad luck so I decided to try it again and turned off and on my console. It froze again. I figured it was my disk so I cleaned it off, it froze... I tried Halo 3, it froze, I tried Skate, it froze. So I figure it is my reader, I used one of those cheap disk cleaning... disks. No luck. Now I can navigate the dashboard, watch movies off my computer and listen to music no problems. This is the first time having a problem with my xbox and really don't want to send it in. Suggestions?

Honestly, we don't recommend that anyone fiddle with their Xbox attempting to fix it. You could try clearing the cache, unplugging and replugging, and all the usual stuff, but beyond that you may be out of luck. Just remember that Microsoft will not repair a 360 with a voided warranty (even if you pay them). Our suggestion: face the ugly truth and send it in.

That's it for this week, folks. Keep sending your questions to: ask [at] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.