Saturday, 3/30/02   Software maker Fonix announced it signed an agreement with Microsoft to provide speech recognition software for its Xbox game console. Microsoft later this year will begin selling the Communicator, a headset microphone that will plug into the Xbox and allow online players to communicate with one another and control games using voice commands.  Full Story.

Friday, 3/29/02   We've received some detail regarding the Microsoft's efforts to get Xbox up and running. We believe that the new network will be named XboxLive and that the cost of getting your Xbox online will be in the region of $14.95 per month. Whilst checking out what Xbox urls are still available, we just happened across XboxLive.com.... We ran a quick 'whois' on the owner and guess which Redmond, WA, company owns it?   Full Story.  Discuss it.

Both Microsoft and Sony are betting heavily that online play is the next big thing for the video game market. But getting gamers online requires more than putting a modem or Ethernet port in a game console. Any online efforts will require tremendous investments--everything from running servers that host games to handling customer support calls.   Full Story.

Tuesday, 3/26/02   Mind control for the Xbox!  IBVA Technologies has brought their brain tracking technology to the Microsoft Xbox.  Full Story.  (xboxhacker)

Lurking untapped within the Xbox are the abilities of a progressive-scan DVD player.  Full Story.  The Xbox also has its hands tied, but for different reasons. You see, Nvidia's GPU is quite capable of decoding a DVD movie and outputting a progressive-scan picture, but Microsoft chose to focus on only progressive-scan picture within games, not movies. Someone just needs to write such capability into the software. Blackley jokes, "We thought that we'd piss off manufacturers by making a better DVD player."  Send an e-mail to coolgear@cnet.com with Xbox drivers in the subject line to try and get MS to release an updated driver.  (XboxHacker)

Zona, Inc., the Massive Multi-Player Online Game (MMOG) server and network solution provider, today is announcing that the company has joined the Microsoft Corporation Xbox(TM) Tools & Middleware Program for MMOG middleware development.  Within one online game, Terazona, with its advanced distributed network architecture, can support 32,000 users vs. a maximum of 4,500 users on competing systems. Zona's Application Framework provides a thin-client solution that has a high emphasis on scalability, fault-tolerance, network security, cost-efficiency, short time-to-market, and high quality of services required by most MMOG applications.  Full Story.   Reporter: §lick  Discuss it.

Sunday, 3/24/02   Microsoft engineers are busy designing the second version of Xbox around an AMD CPU, according to Fechtor Detwiler, the Boston-based investment bank. Their channel checkers picked up this tidbit, and say that Intel won't be able to snatch and grab the contract as easily as it did first time around.  Full Story.

Wednesday, 3/20/02   According to P.J. McNealy, an analyst who follows the media and entertainment markets for research firm Gartner G2, Microsoft's Xbox division is likely to announce in May that it will adopt a cable TV-type pricing model, offering a basic to premium set of gaming services for $5 to $20 a month.  Full Story.   Discuss it.

Tuesday, 3/19/02    The Innovative Xtension Cable extends the cable length of the original Microsoft Xbox controller by over 6 feet.  An inline connection feature allows for easy connect and disconnect.  Works only with an original Microsoft Xbox controller, not any third-party controllers.  Reporter: Rolly Poly  

Here is some interesting info on Halo LAN games.  The problems between NTSC and PAL Xbox Halo stem from the different tags.  Bungie  (from XboxHacker)

Monday, 3/18/02   The Xbox Connector channel has moved to #XBC on Dalnet IRC.  You can go there to find players for Xbox Connector games.

Sunday, 3/17/02   Progress is being made on hacking the Xbox Debug kit.  A couple of programs have been written that will allow debug kit owners to play retail games.  Discuss this post.   Some work is being done to develop an Xbox controller driver for the PC.  http://usbxpad.tripod.com

Saturday, 3/16/02   XboxHackz.com reached 500 registered members!!!

Thursday, 3/7/02   Microsoft Corp stepped up its efforts on Thursday to deal with an increasing number of customer complaints in Japan over scratched discs in its Xbox video game machine, offering to repair or replace any defective products.  Full Story. 

Wednesday, 3/6/02   Find Xbox Connector players in #XboxConnector on Dalnet IRC.

Tuesday, 3/5/02   Last week's Japanese Xbox launch brought with it a redesigned controller made especially for the Asian market, which featured smaller dimensions, a more traditional button layout, and a flat-out better directional pad.  The new Japanese-style controller looked like one smart solution to these problems. Unfortunately, it is only available in Japan.   Full Story.  Reporter: Neog2

Monday, 3/4/02  EBgames.com is now selling the X-Connection .  The X-Connection allows you to play Xbox console games with PlayStation controllers. Simply connect the Xbox console to the TV, pop in your favorite game, switch on the power, and plug the converter into the Xbox.
 

Sunday, 3/3/02   Ingenious and easy-to-use, DVD Region X transforms your Xbox into a multi-region DVD player, letting you watch DVD movies from all over the world - without making any alterations to your console.  Full Story. 

Saturday, 3/2/02   An unnamed source has gotten his hands on a debug kit and has gained access to 6 virtual drives using xboxexplorer.exe from the XDK.  If this is legit, it is very exciting news for the Xbox hacking community.  Full Story.  Discuss it.

Wednesday, 2/27/02   Acer sub wins X-Box contract - The manufacturing subsidiary of Acer appears to have won a contract to make the X-Box for Microsoft, according to reports in Taiwan.  Full Story.

Tuesday, 2/26/02   Tecmo is planning to release an add-on disc for DoA3 that players will be able to load onto their hard drive. This will allow gamers access to new costumes, and in future games, new levels, new characters, and more.  Full Story.  Reporter: §lick

Monday, 2/25/02   Does anyone know what's up with the Xbox Top 20 site?  It appears that they are having problems.  As you can see, I finally got around to updating the news.  Thanks for everyone's help!  I will be fixing the downloads section this evening...  If you're not participating in the forums, you're missing out on 90% of this site!  Click here to check out the forums and join in the fun!

Saturday, 2/23/02   Xbox Connector - Xbox connector will allow you to play system link games on your Xbox over the internet on virtually any Win32 based machine. This software doesn't rely on other software. This is all you need for your Xbox and your broadband connection!   Reporter: §lick

Friday, 2/22/02   Microsoft to cut Nvidia from X-Box 2 - Those in the know have seen Microsoft's final reference platform for the X-Box 2 and say that the plan appears to be to cut Nvidia out of the new equation.  Full Story.  Reporter: Symmetry

Thursday, 2/20/02   The folks over at [H]ardOCP have built a water cooled Xbox.  Full Story.  Reporters: §lick & Neog2  

Sunday, 2/17/02   The forums are now open. 

Thursday, 2/14/02   The site will be moved to a new host (VenturesOnline) tonight, so the forums will be shut down for a couple of hours in order to get this done.  I am also disabling the shout box to prevent writing to the database.  Also, if anyone knows what happened to xboxhacker.net, please e-mail me.   XboxHacker.net is having DNS problems go here instead:
www.siliconice.net/XBOX
www.xbox-hacker.net
www.xbox-hacker.com

Tuesday, 2/11/02   Tonight's the night for the first weekly chat session in #xboxhackz on Dalnet IRC at 9pm EST.  You can login using the java chat on this page or you can get MIRC.   I hope to see everyone there!  The shout box script has been modified to only allow members to post using their nick name, guests will show up as guest.

Monday, 2/11/02    XboxHackz.com reached 100 registered members today!!!  Please welcome n0ne as out 100th member.  The shout box is getting some use today... Some joker (I know who you are) already used my username to make a fake post about and XDK from Bill Gates... Very funny!  I'm working on the PHP script to prevent these types of shenanigans in the shout box.  I'm glad to see that we are having fun with it though.  In other news, my host seems to be crapping out on a regular basis so please post any suggestions (based on experience) for new hosting in the forums.  If some good soul wants to donate server space that would be awesome.  Also, cash donations for hosting fees can be made using Paypal and are very much appreciated.  In fact, you get $5 if you just sign up for Paypal so you could then donate the $5  to help the site.

Sunday, 2/10/02    SHOUT box is here!  This seems to be a very popular feature on some other sites, so I included a slightly modified version here for members and guests to use.  Members: Your username should automatically appear in the name box if you are cookied.  I added the site header and footer to the forums pages and tweaked the welcome panel.  Doesn't seem like much, but it took all weekend...  Hope you like it.

Monday, 2/4/02    The site underwent a minor facelift today.  Please give me some feedback in the forums suggestion thread. Check out the Tom's Hardware Xbox analysis.  Everything There Is To Know About the Xbox: Technology, Games, Accessories and What's At Stake

Saturday, 2/2/02    We received some pictures of the Xbox Debug Kit.

Thursday, 1/31/02    Those aspiring Xbox developers (or Hackers) now have a way of getting their foot in the door (so to speak).  The 2002 Game Developers Conference will be host to Xbox Unplugged.  This all day event will introduce the nuts and bolts of the console to prospective developers.  Members of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group (ATG) will discuss harnessing the power of the graphics and audio hardware, online gaming, and unique Xbox features.  Information on Xbox Unplugged at the 2002 Game Developers Conference can be found by visiting the Game Developers Conference website.   Any Hackers attending this conference?  Drop me a line at cfox@xboxhackz.com  Source: XboxWeb

Remember to vote for XboxHackz.com in the XboxTop20 - We are currently #1, but it starts over tonight at midnight!

Wednesday, 1/30/02    Sony signs up Linux for PlayStation 2 - Sony said Wednesday that it would start selling Linux operating system kits for Linux programmers in coming months to allow Linux applications to run on its PlayStation 2 game console.  Full story.  Sorry folks, but this makes me want to buy a PS2.  What are the chances that Micro$oft is working on something like this... zero.

Saturday, 1/26/02    Want to play Xbox online without using GameSpyArcade or XboxGW?  Check out this article on  setting up a Windows XP VPN for Xbox.  A redesign of this site is in the works and here's your chance to tell us what you want.  We are currently #3 on the xboxtop20.com.  Thanks for voting!

Monday, 1/21/02    Check out this XBE file format documentation created by Robin Hood.

Wednesday, 1/16/02    The site was temporarily shut down today for about 8 hours due to a conflict with my host.  We have resolved the conflict and now we are back online.  Thanks to all of the people that offered help and advice.  

Sunday, 1/13/02    Tutorial on Dumping your Xbox HD under Win32 - Source: RustyBall.   New FATXExplorer utility - Source: opcode.  

Wednesday, 1/09/02    New XDK files are being distributed on #XboxGamez (Dalnet).  DaSW sent me a picture of a Xbox Refresh DVD.  Let me know if you have seen this before or if this is something new. 

Tuesday, 1/08/02   Linksys Instant Wireless Ethernet Workgroup Bridge (WET11) – The Instant Wireless Ethernet Workgroup Bridge enables any network device with an Ethernet port to go wireless, including PCs, printers, Internet appliances, gaming consoles such as the Xbox™, and even entertainment hardware such as Replay TV™ devices. It acts as a wireless converter to bridge Ethernet and wireless. Use this versatile Wireless Ethernet Bridge to transform any of your Ethernet hardware into a wireless device, so you can extend and customize your wireless network to suit your needs. Estimated Street Price $149.

Xbox Repair & Refurbishment - Test Equipment Boot Loader Utility DVD - We are not sure how this guy got the disk in his possession, but it is a very interesting development in the Xbox hacking story.  Not much is know about the DVD yet, but people are working on it.  I suspect that MS left the DVD in an Xbox by mistake and then shipped it... bonus!  

Source:  Joe and N1ght on XboxHacker.net - another fine site for Xbox hacking.  

Monday, 1/07/02    Xbox HDD Dumper - This software allows you to copy the Xbox files to your PCs hard drive by booting the Xbox, disconnecting the IDE cable from the Xbox drive, and then plugging in the IDE cable from your PC.  This software used the I/O to communicate directly to the Xbox drive vs. using int 13.  This utility was written by Robin Hood. 

Xbox-Online.net is selling some unofficial Xbox peripherals such as; Xbox Joybox, AV Selector in Xbox style, Xbox VGA Box.  The Joybox lets you use old Playstation controllers on the Xbox.  It's worth a look. 

Sunday, 1/06/02    Hundreds of shoppers who bought Microsoft's new Xbox gaming console over the holidays received defective systems, and some said they had to wait weeks before their systems were fixed.  Full story

Thursday, 1/03/02    #xboxhackz chat room is now open!  Enter your nickname in the textbox to the left and hit the "Go" button.  See you there :)

Sunday, 12/30/01    XboxHackz.com had over 26,000 hits yesterday!  We are currently updating the design of the web site to eliminate the use of frames.  This will eliminate some problems that we are experiencing with the site.  If you experience strange things with the website, such as the left side menu appearing twice, please keep hitting the refresh button on your browser.  Thanks for your input on the site design.

Saturday, 12/29/01    I added an Xbox screen saver to the downloads page.  There isn't too much to it, but it looks cool.  It is in English, but is has the Japanese Xbox web site link on it. 

Friday, 12/28/01   Blockbuster is offering 1 free Xbox game rental when you show a proof of purchase for the console.  Andy & Luke posted the XBOX game DVD USB pin outs and the USB pin outs for controllers.  Keep up the great work guys!

Saturday, 12/22/01    We are pleased to announce the grand opening of the XboxHackz Forums.  The move to the new host went pretty smoothly.  We will see how reliable they are...  Special Thanks to #XboxGamez and #Xbox-Updates on Dalnet for mentioning this site in their topic.  It is much appreciated. 

Wednesday, 12/19/01    XboxHackz is moving to a new server.  The new server supports PHP and MySQL and this will allow us to get the forums up and running.  This will be a much needed addition to the site.  We also plan to add a Java IRC client to allow easy access to the #xboxhackz channel on Dalnet.  For the time being, download MIRC and join us on Dalnet at #xboxhackz.

Tuesday, 12/18/01    I read in a forum that someone used WinDriver to communicate to a Xbox controller with their PC.  Look here for the USB Game Controller Pinout.

Friday, 12/15/01    Xbox XDK Software is being distributed on IRC Dalnet in channel #xbox_gamez.   Get MIRC if you want to chat on IRC.  Check out the Xbox IDE sniffer at Andy + Luke's Xbox information area

Tuesday, 12/11/01    Learn how to socket your Xbox's BIOS Chip and listen to the MP3 of a Microsoft Xbox representative calling this guy to remove the flash ROM contents from his web site. 

Monday, 12/10/01    New version of XboxGW (ver 1.081) released.  Check it out on our downloads page!

Thursday, 12/06/01    Xbox USB Game Controller Pinout 

Wednesday, 12/05/01    I am just getting around to updating the website because I have been playing Halo online during every spare minute that I have.  This game is awesome and playing it online is very addictive... 

Increase the speed of your Xbox! - Check out our Hackz page for the details on the easy ATA/100 upgrade.

Here are some excellent articles from Icrontic.com - Modifying The Xbox - Part 1 & Modifying The Xbox - Part 2    Part 1 details the basics of the Xbox hardware and Part 2 gets more in-depth on the Xbox hard drive, DVD drive, USB controllers and CPU.  Part 2 also talks about some of the Hackz that they have tried such as connecting a mouse to the Xbox and connecting the hard drive to a PC.  

I found this on Icrontic.com also:  Debug Port - "This guide describes how to design an installable debug port for a PC that has no legacy serial COM ports. Topics Include System Overview, Motherboard Interface, Debug Module, Motherboard BIOS, and RS-232c Connections."  This tells you how to build and interface for the debug port found on the Xbox motherboard.  

The Xbox manuals are now available online: Xbox video game console, Game Controller, Standard AV Cable, Advanced AV Pack, DVD Movie Playback Kit, High Definition AV Pack, Memory Unit, RF Adapter, System Link Cable. 

Thursday, 11/29/01    I just played Halo online using GameSpyArcade and it was awesome!!  

Here is a screen shot of the GSTunnel software that is launched when you press the "launch game" button on GameSpyArcade.  The screenshot shows me and three other players.  I experienced some lag a few times, but it was bearable.  Overall, it kicked ass!

Want to play online using GameSpyArcade?   Let's get started!  Make sure that you have an Xbox,  a system link enabled game, PC, broadband internet and a network.  If you have all of these items, you are ready to get started.  Setup: 1) Hookup you Xbox to your network 2) Install GameSpyArcade  3) Install GSTunnel and select your network card Start: (Halo) 1) Start GameSpyArcade 2) Click the Xbox Logo on the left 3) Select Halo 4) Select a server and click "Join Game" 5) Click the "Ready Button" 6) Wait for GSTunnel to start on your PC 7) Start Halo and select Multiplayer 8) Select System Link Play 9) Select your profile 10) Join the game...  Hosting a game: (Halo) 1) Start GameSpyArcade 2) Click the Xbox Logo on the left 3) Select Halo 4) Select a server, click "Create Game" and "OK" 5) Wait for people to join your room 6) When they are ready (green light) click "Launch Game" 7) Wait for GSTunnel to start on your PC 8) Start Halo and select Multiplayer 9) Select System Link Play 10) Select your profile, map and game type 11) Wait for the other players to show up and for the game to start Special note on hosting:  If you are using a NAT or firewall, you will need to open (forward) two ports for incoming traffic if you are going to host games. If you are not going to host games, you may or may not need to open these ports, depending on how your NAT works. You will need to consult your NAT documentation for information for how to open (forward) ports. The ports required are:     6500 (UDP) - For GameSpy Arcade     6700 (UDP) - For GameSpy Tunnel

Hardware Behind the Consoles - Part I: Microsoft's Xbox This site contains some excellent information detailing the technology inside the Xbox.  It covers the CPU, USB controllers, audio, video, memory, hard drive and more.


Wednesday, 11/28/01    Xbox Hard Drive Cracked!  Read about it here.  


Tuesday, 11/27/01    Online Gaming is here!!!  We do not have to wait for Microsoft to launch the online gaming network in the summer of 2002.  There are currently two online gaming options to choose from, XboxGW and GameSpyArcade.  XboxGW runs on Linux and gamespy runs on Windows.  Check out their websites for details on how get started.  Check out xboxstatus to find gamers.

Unreal Championship Images
Digital Extremes and Infogames release brand new images of the Xbox-only FPS - Unreal Championship.  http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/screenshots.asp?id=2603 


Monday, 11/26/01    This site is currently under heavy construction, but it is currently fully operational.  We decided to go ahead and launch the site even before the fancy graphics are completed.  We know that you (the Xbox hacker) care more about the content of the site than the look of the site...

Our goal is to be your source for information on hacking the Xbox.  This site will also serve as a forum for discussions relating to Xbox hacking.  Check out our discussion boards by clicking the link at the top. 

What is Hacking?
Hacking is a generic term applicable to many pursuits. Hacking involves the investigation and discovery of non-obvious ways to push an electronic system to its limits. These systems could be computers, phone systems or GAME CONSOLES.  Hackers commonly discover better, faster and more interesting applications of a system.

Now, let's get to work!

C. Fox
cfox@xboxhackz.com