F00 f00 over from Acidmods.com sent us a tip informing us about his newly created FPS controller for the Xbox 360. As you can tell from the image above, his 360 controller has been highly modified. The right analog stick has been moved to be level with the left analog stick. Where did all the face buttons go? Those are on the underside of the controller, where they can be reached with the middle and ring fingers of either hand.
In other words, your thumbs never have to leave the analog sticks, making the controller optimal for first person shooters. Those with a feeling of déjà vu are probably thinking of the HG controllers we covered a while ago. The difference here is that F00 f00's control moves the analog stick and does away with the face buttons entirely, rather than doubling them. It's a pretty neat idea, and it makes us wonder how many melee kills we must have missed in Gears. Check out a video of the controller after the break.
One of the principle precepts in science (at least, according to the film industry), is that once you figure out how to do something, you must do it. Why? Because you can. It brought dinosaurs back to life, and it made a neat gun for the people who are still alive. And now, science has brought us the ability to play Guitar Hero III with a MIDI drum kit. But why, you ask? Well, actually it's because the creator injured a finger by rocking too hard with the guitar, so he devised this method so he wouldn't have stop playing altogether. You can read the technical stuff by hitting the "read" link. You can actually watch it work in the video above.
Modders, to put it lightly, are crazy. Case in point, a little project by someone known only as OBsIV. What project, you ask? Why, nothing more than to get a Wii remote to control Halo 2 on an Xbox 360. More impressive than the feat itself it the sheer amount of stuff required to do it. Behold:
Wiimote and Nunchuk
Xbox 360
PC
XFPS 360
Custom drivers
"Black box" (hard coded microcontroller with spliced PS2 cable)
As amazing as the mod is, we're almost more impressed that OBsIV found a good use for the XFPS 360. Check out a video of the mod in action after the break.
The technophiles at Xbox-Scene have uncovered a tasty bit of Xbox 360 news that should serve as some relief to sufferers of the Red Ring of Death. It looks like Microsoft is employing new heat-combating measures when refurbishing broken units. Specifically, a new heatsink is being installed. The heatsink resides directly under the DVD drive, connected to one of the other heatsinks with copper tubing. Blessedly untouched by the Red Ring of Death thus far, we don't know how effective this new heatsink is, but we're hopeful that it will solve perpetually publicized 360 failures. Whether or not Microsoft is also installing the heatsink in new Xbox 360s is unknown. See video proof of the new heatsink after the break.
What happens when you put silly subtitles over dramatic foreign footage? Absolute hilarity, that's what. Now combine this already potent combination with making fun of Adolf Hitler and it's even funnier. Combine that with the Xbox 360's superior online capabilities and you have got yourself some comedy gold. Come on, Microsoft? How could you ban Hitler? He had 2000 MS Points! What the hell can he do with them now? Then again, we suppose that's what happens when you play with a modified console (who would have thought that Hitler was a 1337 h4xx0r?). At this rate, Hitler may have to do the unthinkable: settle for a PS3.
We pity the customer support representative who has to take Hitler's call.
Warning: This video is decidedly NSFW, as it contains both foul language and, erm, Hitler.
You know the feeling. You're playing Guitar Hero II, you've got full Star Power and here comes that sweet string of notes that will send your score into the stratosphere. Only one thing to do: tilt that controller and rock like you mean it. But what's this? You tilt the control and nothing happens, or maybe it's a little delayed, or maybe the act of tilting screws up your fingering. Whatever happened, you're stuck with a piddly x2 multiplier and a lot of wasted Star Power. If this sounds familiar to you, you may want to check out the fancy Star Power button mod at GrownUpGamers. As is the case with most mods, this will require you to crack open your X-plorer and do some soldering, so it's not for the timid. The mod also instructs users how to install a "kill switch" which essentially gives you a second strum button, helping you land those wicked solos.
If you're chops are righteous enough for this mod, click the "read" link and check it out.
Whether or not you think the Xbox 360 needs motion control is irrelevant, because somebody wants to sell it to you. First there was the DIY tiltBoard that was picked up by Talismoon for mass production. Now Xbox-Scene informs us that Team Xtender is jumping into the fray with its tilt mod, the XCM BestTilt. The video above shows the BestTilt in action. Team Xtender boasts that their tilt modification bests other offerings with its simple plug and play operation. We like the idea, but there appears to be some lag between tilt input and game output. We weren't thrilled with Team Xtender's XFPS keyboard and mouse adapter, so we suggest you wait on some reviews before you lay down your money for the BestTilt.
There doesn't appear to be a product listing for the BestTilt at Team Xtender's website yet, so price and release date remain unknown.
Of all the wonderful things that can be said about the Xbox 360, "portable" doesn't usually come up. With a sizable case and a monstrous power brick, the 360 takes some effort (and preferably a comfy backpack) to haul around. Always there to heed our call, the venerable Ben Heck is at it again with the 360 laptop mk2. Many will recall his previous laptop effort, and we have to say the mk2 is definitely an improvement (the keyboard should come in handy for IM). There's no word yet as to how much the beast must have cost (HD screen = expensive), nor are there any "making of" pictures, but Engadget promises to reveal the whole process in the coming weeks. So, if you'd like to build one for your very own, stay tuned.
In the meantime, hit the "read" link to check out some images and video of the 360 laptop mk2 in action.
We've seen some pretty nifty do-it-yourself controllers here at X3F, ranging from ugly but functional Saturn controllers to massive arcade sticks, but this one takes the taco. The stick was created by DH020, whom we're assuming is a big Street Fighterfan. The stick was created with top quality arcade parts and the guts of an Xbox 360 wireless controller. Yes, it was created with a wireless controller, and yes, the stick is wireless. It even has a USB plug built into the back so that the stick can be charged via the internal Play and Charge kit. It even has a headset jack. Simply put, the thing is freakin' sweet. Check out the guts of the beast and a video of it in action after the break.
An X3F regular, AoE, has reminded us about a nifty little trick that lets you use SATA hard drives with the Xbox 360. We reported the story back in January. Just as a refresher, here's how it works: using a bit of software from Xbox-Scene, you essentially trick your Xbox 360 into thinking any Western Digital BEVS drive is actually an official 360 drive. Of course, you'll have to possess some hardware and software savvy to get everything humming along.
Before now, the software would work only allow for 20GB of space, because the ID located on each official HDD says as much. Now that official 120GB hard drives will be hitting the market, it should be possible to grab the ID file from a 120GB drive. Of course, we don't condone such things, nor would we have any idea where to find such a file, but there it is. So, if you've got the technical knowhow, you may want to wait a while before laying down 179 smackers for 120GB of space. We'll let you know as soon as this comes to pass (or not).
Yesterday we asked you, our beloved readers, to submit your custom faceplate designs, and you guys delivered. Our inbox has birthed forth plenty of great custom designs and we would be remiss in our fanboy duties not to share them. The above design was created by qbix. It seems qbix has been designing faceplates for a while, as his flicrk site is full of them. He even got recognized by Joystiq for his excellent work. Visit his flickr gallery to see lots more.
But wait, there's more. We received some other great designs too. Check 'em out after the break.
We've learned over time here at X3F that 360 owners really dig arts and crafts. They like getting their hands dirty. They build monster joysticks, add water cooling, and create custom paint jobs all for their beloved Xbox. Today's submission is of third variety, showing off a custom flame paint job. Coming to us from 360 Fanboy reader, H3RP35, the faceplate looks like it belongs on the side of a hot rod, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. To paraphrase Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, "It's like my 360's tearing ass around the living room, but it's standing still. Still waters run deep."
We're always interested in user created mods. If you've got one you'd like to share, let us know.
Oh those Hypervisor Vulnerabilities! They open up our Xbox 360s to all kinds of shenanigans. Just three weeks ago, the first proof of concept hack utilizing the Hypervisor Vulnerability was released, and now we've reached the next benchmark: Linux. We're not sure what compels hackers to wedge Linux onto every possible platform, from iPods to Xboxes, but that's not really the point. The point is that the Xbox 360 has been successfully hacked and is running practical unsigned code. Of course, you'll still need the proper kernels (4532 or 4548) which were updated some time ago to combat this very possibility.
As usual, we won't pretend to understand all the technical jibba jabba, so we point you to our friends at Xbox-Scene, where you can learn all you need to know. Should you decide to dabble in Linux (or something else) on your Xbox 360, let us know how it goes.
Looks like the Hypervisor vulnerability we reported earlier this week has led to the first real homebrew code running on an Xbox 360. It's nothing to write home about just yet. Created by a hacker known only as Crawler360, all the code does is display the words "Hello World" on the screen. Still, this is the first unsigned code running on an Xbox 360 not utilizing XNA. As usual, the hacking language eludes us, but essentially the "Hypervisor vulnerability" was "exploited" using a "shader hack" found in the game "King Kong". Users will need the game and one of two specific kernels. Chances are, if you've been connected to Live, your kernel has already been updated.
So, what the hell does this mean? It means somebody managed to run code on an Xbox 360 that ain't supposed to be running on an Xbox 360. Hackers, it would seem, have their proverbial foot in the door. Let the PSP-like cycle of new-hack-firmware-update-new-hack begin.
While we were busy speculating about Wii style motion controls on the Xbox 360, waruwaru was busy making it happen. As you can see in the above video, waruwaru has rigged up an XNA demo using the Wii remote, a project he has dubbed Waru360. Due to some limitations in the current build of XNA, there is a very noticeable lag in the control output. According to the demo's creator, the program can read input from the remote approximately 5 times per second, which results in the lag apparent in the video. Skeptics that we are, we must point out that the video could be fake, but overall it looks like the real deal. It looks like the 360 is getting motion controls whether Microsoft does it or not. Of course, it won't be the first time that's happened. Waruwaru promises that more is coming, we'll be sure to keep an eye on it.
An X3F regular, AoE, has reminded us about a nifty little trick that lets you use SATA hard drives with the Xbox 360. We 
