Platinum Thoughts & Advice » Video Games and Gaming Systems

Xbox 360 – How To Avoid The Red Ring Of Death

platinum — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:44:45 +0000

The red ring of death happens when you see three flashing red lights on the console. Maybe you want to prevent the red ring of death from happening to your new xbox.

Maybe you’ve had your xbox repaired and don’t want a repeat of the red ring of death. Whatever your situation, here are some simple measures that you can take to keep your xbox running perfectly.

Know where the cooling vents are and be sure to never block them. If air can’t freely flow into these vents, your Xbox will overheat. Make sure there is plenty open space around these vents. Keep them clear of clutter and don’t have them pushed up against the wall.
Place your Xbox in a clean dust free environment and make sure that your Xbox is kept clean. The reason for this is that dirt, dust, and pet hair can get sucked into the cooling vents which will interfere with the cooling system. If too much dust gets into the vents, the fans get over worked and won’t be able to supply the Xbox with enough cooling air.
The power brick also needs to stay cool during operation. Therefore, it needs to have easy access to the surrounding air. This means you need to be careful not to place it on shaggy carpets that can block airflow. Place it on a hard table or on a hardwood floor.
Keep the Xbox away from sources of heat. If you are using your Xbox on a hot day, keep the air conditioner running.

Keep in mind that your xbox runs hotter the longer you use it. Always limit your gaming to no more than a couple of hours each time.

The main thing to remember is that the red ring of death happens when your Xbox overheats. The Xbox naturally tends to run hot and has a cooling system that can barely keep up. So it’s up to you to make sure that it never overheats.

Marc Sandford is a gaming enthusiast and author. Get Xbox trouble shooting advice about fixing the Xbox 360 ring of death.

Engines Can’t Search All Social Networks

platinum — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:02:32 +0000

I recently read a great article talking about the change that is inevitably going to come to the search industry. Right now the search engines are still only searching a small portion of the net, and with the abundance of information being generated everyday on social networks like Digg, Twitter, Facebook, and more, it’s impossible for them to keep up. This means that until they can figure out a way to search the information faster, and be able to know how to get certain data and not other sensitive data, then there is no way for them to be able to really search the net.

With most engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask, they all return results of indexed pages in their systems. Which is like saying the Internet is basically a collection of pages stored on their servers, and that is simply not true. There is a ton of information that the engines will never see, because it’s either locked behind password, or it’s updates too quickly for any engine to ever find it. One of the notes that the article mentioned was the Google estimates that there are over a billion new pages being created everyday on the net, and with that many new pages, there is no system around now that can actually search all those pages. This means that socializing is the next search engines, and people will get their info from word of mouth, or in this case, word of hand.

PS2 versus PS3, Is PS2 Still King?

platinum — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:22:20 +0000

Every day there are more commercials on TV for PS3 systems and games. I had just bought a new PS2 at the beginning of this year. My old one had finally gone down and I wanted a new system. I was thinking about getting the PS3 and was looking at the model as well as some others in the market. I was surprised to find that at the time there still wasn’t that good of a game selection, and my display unit is not HD so I figured there wasn’t much value in that particular aspect. My only real reason for getting the new PS3 was to play one or two games that are only available on the new unit, but given the rest of the cons that go with it, I wasn’t really that impressed with it and couldn’t see myself buying one yet.

There were a few things that I was really excited about the new unit, but in the end I wound up getting a PS2 instead of the PS3 and will be waiting to see how the market goes over the next year or so before I look into buying a new unit. Several factors that I considered was game selection, price, benefits, and of course look and feel of the game play. Although PS3 totally rocks when it comes to game play and graphics, most of the games I play now are on PS2 so there wouldn’t be any advantage in game play or graphics for my old games that I really like to play. Plus, right now a new PS2 unit is only like $99 compared with the $500 price of a PS3. In addition, most of the games that I play are still available on PS2 and there are only a couple of titles that would require the new unit to play so I wasn’t going to get hyped on a new system just to play one or two games.

PS2 will still be made and sold for at least another year so there is still time to buy hardware and components so I don’t see much need to jump until it becomes much more necessary for me. With that said, I still think the PS3 is a great unit and will be the game system of choice by 2010. For example, in May 2008 according to NPD Group the PS3 out sold the Xbox 360 by 22,000 units. Plus, the overall industry is up 37% over last year, with WII leading the way at 675,000 units, more than both the PS3 and 360 combined. Although WII sales have been solid and continue to show growth, many serious gamers are staying away from the unit because most reviews call it a toy and not really meant for serious gamers or game play that is truly exceptional. The unit is mostly an entertaining piece and despite having such strong sales, many believe that the unit will lose ground if more development and games are not produced.

Personally, I’m sticking with my PS2 for now and will wait to see how the industry shapes up this holiday season before I make the next investment into a game system. Most likely, I will end up going with a new PS3 but only when it becomes more logical to do so.

What happened to good two player RPG games?

platinum — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:05:09 +0000

I love good RPG games with lots of good action and lots of thinking involved. Although it’s not very hard to find, and yes there are many good selections on the market, I want to play with another player and there are hardly no good two player RPG games. I’ve been looking for awhile and yes I do own a couple of them and will mention my favorites below. However, it would be good to find other good games for the Playstation format that will allow two players to interact in the world and make it so that each player has decisions to make. I’ve found a couple of really good ones over the years and they were fun to play and yes I do keep them around for others to play occasionally, but if there are any other good games out there for other I would love to heard about them.

My top 4 favorite two player games for the Playstation 2 format.

1. 007 – Everything or Nothing (Wiki): This game is actually two games in one! It has one of the most mind blowing single player games that I’ve ever played, and it has a completely different game for the two player mode. It goes into the standard split-screen fashion and allows each player to control their own actions. It has four main levels with a couple of sub levels within each main category. It’s very difficult and makes for a great challenge to complete all levels. There are areas where you need both characters to do stuff at the same time so you will need to get another player to do this game. I love the action of the players and all the gadgets and things that you can do is just mind blowing. I can play this one over and over and it’s just never gets boring. If you like two player games, I have to say that is one of the best all time.

2. Lord of the Rings – The Third Age (Wiki): This is a great game because you can toggle between one and two players within the same game and it’s a great thinking game with lots of action. There are great visual graphics and the story plays along side of the movies in alternate characters that are helping the main characters. The main game is played in single player with one person walking around, however, battles apper every few minutes and then it’s two player mode. Each player can make their own decisions with their characters and can make or break a battle. This is a very long game and took months to beat so if you like good long two player games then this is one for you. Again, this is one of my favorites of all time and still play it today.

3. Star Wars Battlefront – This is such a no-brainer and one of the best two player games. Although I enjoy it a lot, it doesn’t have much in strategy so I’m really not sure if this is a RPG or not, but I had to mention it as one of my favorite two player games.

4. Lord of the Ring – Return of the King (Wiki): Another great two player game with lots of action, stunning visuals, and yes there is strategy involved. You play along side of each player and although each player can make their own decisions, the screen is subject to both players so there are times where one player is trapped because the other player gets to far ahead, but it’s easily fixed as the other player returns. I like games like because the screen is full size and allows each player to see what the other is doing. The game is hard and it takes a while to beat so it’s one of my favorites. Some of the hardest game levels that I’ve ever played where on that game and it made me almost crazy trying to beat it.

There are a few others to mention that I liked as well and should be noted.

Notable Two Player Video Game Titles:

Eragon (Wiki), Goblin Commander (Wiki), and Revenge of the Sith (Wiki) are also really good two player games that will have hours of enjoyment for anyone who likes good action RPG games for two players.

Please feel free to comment and add your own favorites.