Legueux of gx-mod.com informed us that Zouzzz managed to unban his Xbox 360 console from LIVE on their forums by swapping the keyvault of his banned Xbox360 with the keyvault of another (not banned) Xbox 360.
However it's not something that everyone out there can do (yet) as you'll need your CPU key (via Hypervisor Exploit and if you got banned it means you're on the latest kernel so you'll need to perform the 'Timing Attack' to downgrade first). You'll also need all the tools to read/flash your Xbox 360 NAND (with the Infectus chip for example).

Here are the things he tried:
* downgrade banned 5787 PAL to 4532 NTSC U, updated again to 5787 via HD. Still banned.
* downgrade banned 5787 PAL to 1888 PAL, updated again to 5787 via HD. Still banned.
* Patched his original 1888 PAL dump with the last number of the Xbox 360 serial in the keyvault (location A0 to AB) changed. Still banned.
* Patched his original 1888 PAL dump with the all the numbers of the Xbox 360 serial in the keyvault changed. Still banned.
* Replaced the full keyvault in his original 1888 PAL dump of the banned console with a keyvault of an unbanned console. Connected to LIVE OK, updated to latest kernel online OK, still connects fine to LIVE.

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/...yAnmBgipsf.php ...

via Kotaku




Some new wallpapers have turned up on the Japanese Mario Galaxy site. What, you don't care about something as trivial as that? You're right, we're sorry. Nintendo news is, after all, serious business. You probably think this picture is awful, hate both Mario and kittens and most definitely won't be clicking on it for a bigger version. ...

via Kotaku


PS3 owners, you should have seen the warning signs.

First one: that this is a multi-platform release being ported to the PS3. Uh-oh.

Second one: that said PS3 version's been delayed while PC and 360 owners have been blowing up Striders and over-using cake jokes to within an inch of their life.

So it should be little/no surprise that when 1UP got their hands on the EA-ported PS3 version of The Orange Box, they found it...largely awful. So awful, in fact, at times it was "downright unplayable". Chief culprit are the framerates in the three HL2 releases, particularly in outdoor/vehicle sections, which at times slows to a single-digits crawl. Ungh. You'll not kill any Combine at 9FPS, Gordon.

On the bright side, though, Portal seems fine! ...

via Eurogamer


The star attraction on the PlayStation Store this week has to be the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo, which is now available for people who were too scared to download it from the US Store.

We gave the game itself a whopping 9/10, you see, and even kidnapped Naughty Dog boss Evan Wells for the afternoon so you could ask him your questions. Just a taste of what we can do.

Elsewhere you can get your mitts on a taster for Blazing Angels 2, although it too is the same one the US were playing a couple of weeks ago. The full game is out at the end of the month.

However, you might like more cars for MotorStorm or an Alchemy Pack for RPG Folklore, both priced at GBP 1.49 a piece. Or, for those of you with a PSP, you can grab PSone title G-Police to fiddle with on the train.

But maybe all you're after is a good old trailer, like the one for Ratchet & Clank, or MotorStorm, or PSN showcase, or Bad Company, or Beowulf, or a trio of clips for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Still not content? Well it's a bunch of free Tekken wallpapers for you, then.

Earlier this week Sony released a new PC Store especially for PSP owners to browse and download content. It will replace the PSP Store in January, and already boasts buckets of games. ...

via Computer and Video Games


They said it wasn't possible (and it still might not be) but the Unreal Engine 3 is currently in the process of being squeezed onto the Wii's dinky hardware, Epic VP Mark Rein has revealed.

Speaking at the Unreal Tournament III launch event in Birmingham, Rein revealed that, while Epic isn't going to take up the task itself, one of its many engine licensees is currently trying to port the ultra-popular engine onto the Wii.


You may remember Rein stating earlier this year that Epic has no plans to port UE3 to Wii, because "It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition." Well at least the company hasn't gone back on its word, because it still has no plans to port the engine to Wii internally.


Would UE3 on Wii actually give us any benefits? We'd be more interested in Nintendo farming out the Galaxy tech... ...

via Eurogamer


Ubisoft has whipped the wrappers off the three factions in real-time strategy console game Tom Clancy's EndWar.

Chief among them has to be the European Federation, formed in 2016 after Saudi Arabia and Iran had a nuclear argument. The resulting energy crisis meant the continent had to band together - all except the UK and Ireland. We were too busy drinking fish and chips and eating tea, love.

Europe has the Enforcers Corps to do its bidding; made up of counter-terrorist agents like Jack Bauer and peacekeeping forces like Greenpeace. They love a bit of urban warfare with rapping and stuff, and although they are less armoured than their counterparts, their electronic warfare, enery weapons and fast vehicles more than make up for it.

Following them are the Americans, who split from Europe after a controversial space race, eventually upsetting everyone when they launched their Star Wars-like Freedom Star space station.

Their Joint Strike Force is small, light and fast - much like the Advanced Warfighter squadrons. They specialise in stealth technology and battleground robotics like those little aerial drone things, and can call in coordinated ground and air strikes.

Last but not least are the Russians, now the largest supplier of oil in the world, resulting in a reclaimed title of superpower that was last flexed during the Cold War.

Their hardened and veteran Spetznat Guard Brigade have the heaviest arsenal around. So much war has passed their eyes that their regard for human life is minimal, they probably smoke, and they can modify their vehicles beyond their original capabilities.

EndWar is a real-time strategy game built on the familiar work of author Tom Clancy. It's console exclusive and so promises intuitive controls, including voice commands that apparently work really quite well indeed.

Pop over to our early EndWar preview to see what it is all about, or head over to our gallery to see some renders of what the different factions will look like. ...

via Eurogamer


Space Giraffe developer Jeff Minter has said he's going to stop writing about game development on his blog after taking a bit of a shoeing for a late-night post earlier in the week where he complained bitterly that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Frogger was outselling his latest game "by more than ten to one".


Two days later, Minter, clearly upset by the reaction, wrote:


Seems like a shame to us. We always enjoyed hearing what he was up to. He adds: "from now on this will just be about sheep and plushies and other such non-work-related stuff". Hopefully in time he'll change his mind.

For more on Space Giraffe, check out its gamepage, where you'll find it divided opinion, but ultimately won quite a few of us and you over. ...

via Computer and Video Games


After a long and gruelling wait for Sensible World of Soccer to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade, the title was tipped off earlier this month as being set for release in late November. With only one week left in the month then, where is the footy classic?

The obvious assumption would be that Codemasters' classic will be landing on the 360 game service next Wednesday, and our suspicions have been fuelled further by confirmation of a XBLA event next week flagging up SWoS.

Could Sensi be on for a November 28 release then? We expect news either way in the next few days. ...

via MCV


One of the first titles to make the move from boxed-retail to digital-download, Eidos’ Tomb Raider: Anniversary, has today arrived on Xbox Live.

Those who already own Tomb Raider: Legend are able to download the two different packs that comprise the game – each at a cost of 1200 Microsoft points (a little over £10 each). 20GB hard drive owners note, though, that the entire game will occupy around 3GB on your machine.

Aside from Microsoft’s Xbox Arcade Collection, the only other titles to appear both at retail and on Microsoft’s network are Bethesda’s various Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion expansions.

In addition, the publisher also confirmed that the Wii version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary will be released in Europe on December 7th. ...