Unofficial Xbox FAQ

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Information contained in this FAQ is accurate to the best of the author's knowledge. You are encouraged to verify any information that you consider critical because, for all you know, I don't know a damn thing about the Xbox.

Send questions or comments to Boid.

• Added mention of Tsunami upgrade to XBL
  
• Added info about DVD+R compatibility
  
• Updated some Xbox web links, verified all links
  
• Added info about RCA "VPORT" TVs
  
• Added link to XBL feedback system details
  
• Updated GTA3 question
  

Gaming acronyms:

• Camping = Describes a behavior in head-to-head games where a player hides out and waits for the enemy. A perfectly reasonable strategy, but despised by those killed by the campers. You can be successful if you camp, but prepare to be hated.
• Cap = Short for "capture", as in "we capped the other team's flag."
• CTF = Capture The Flag: a popular type of team vs. team game where the objective is to capture the enemy flag and bring it back to your base. There are many variations on the standard CTF game.
• DM/TDM = Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch: A popular type of head-to-head game (for individuals or teams) where the objective is to get a certain fixed number of kills or to simply have the most kills before time runs out.
• FPS = First Person Shooter: a game where your view of the world is through your character's eyes (i.e. Halo).
• FPS = Frames Per Second: the number of video frames displayed per second; generally speaking, the higher the FPS, the smoother the game will be. What constitutes a "good" FPS number vs. a "bad" FPS number is a religious argument.
• Frag = To kill another character (hopefully an enemy). Derived from "fragmentation", as in grenade.
• ISP = Internet Service Provider
• MMO = Massively-Multiplayer Online: describes an online game where many players play at once, usually in the same "world", interacting with one another. Most common usage is MMORPG (see RPG below).
• RPG = Role-Playing Game: a game where character advancement is controlled in whole or in part by the player (i.e. Morrowind, SW:KOTOR)
• XBL = Xbox Live: Microsoft's online gaming service. This is an unofficial acronym.
• XSN = Xbox Sports Network: Microsoft's sports gaming network, which includes web pages integrated with Xbox Live games and servers.

• <g> = <grin>
• AFAIK = As Far As I Know
• BTW = By The Way
• CHURL = ChildisH and Uselessly Ranting Loser (this is my new personal favorite)
• FAQ = Frequently Asked Question
• FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt: used to describe a post that is intended to elicit those emotions, generally without basis.
• HTH = Hope That Helps
• IIRC = If I Remember Correctly
• IMO/IMHO = In My Opinion/In My Humble Opinion
• IOW = In Other Words
• JK = Just Kidding
• LOL = Laughing Out Loud
• NT = No Text: generally used in subject line to indicate that there is no text in the post itself - the subject says it all.
• OMG/OMFG = Oh My God/Oh My F***ing God
• OT = Off-Topic: used in the subject line of a post, or within a post, to indicate that what follows is off the usual topic of the newsgroup. (Not appropriate for the web forums - put your posts into the proper forum.)
• OTOH = On The Other Hand
• Plonk = Plonk: the noise a Troll's (see Troll below) post makes as it hits the virtual trashcan of the plonker's newsreader. "To plonk" someone means to add them to your news filter so that all of their posts are deleted and never seen. If only the web forums had this ability...
• ROFL = Rolling On Floor Laughing (various morphs are also used)
• RTFM = Read The F***ing Manual
• STFU = Shut The F*** Up
• Troll = A person whose posts are inflammatory and designed only to get a rise from other newsgroup members. The best defense against trolls is to ignore their posts or, better yet, plonk them (see Plonk, above).
• WTF = What The F***?
• YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary: usually included after the poster has described a personal experience

The easy answer: Use the table below.

TV Aspect	Anamorphic Support1	DVD Playback Desired2	Choose This
4:3	No	Fullscreen	NORMAL
4:3	No	Letterbox	LETTERBOX
4:3	Yes	Fullscreen3	NORMAL
4:3	Yes	Letterbox	WIDESCREEN4
16:9	*	*	WIDESCREEN5

¹Does the TV automatically "squeeze" widescreen, or "anamorphic" DVD's down to 16:9 aspect ratio? Some Sony's do this. If you don't know, the answer is probably "no".
²When you play back DVD's, how do you prefer the picture? Note that some DVD's do not have a fullscreen version on them, so they will show in letterbox mode no matter what you select on your Xbox.
³Unless the TV is very small (and you want to use the entire screen whenever possible), there is no reason to select NORMAL on a 4:3 TV that supports anamorphic video. A "squeezed" picture always looks superior to normal full-screen or letterboxed video.
⁴This setting will also cause Xbox games that support 16:9 aspect to display in widescreen mode, just like an anamorphic DVD.
⁵16:9 TV's should all support anamorphic DVD's and other widescreen content, like 16:9 Xbox games. The use of a High-Definition A/V pack is strongly recommended.

The hard answer:

Ignoring true HDTV (which is all 16:9 aspect), there are two types of video that can come out of your Xbox: 4:3 and 16:9. Which of these is sent, and how it is displayed on your TV, is dependent on three things: the type of game/DVD, the configuration of your TV, and the NORMAL/LETTERBOX/WIDESCREEN setting of the Xbox.

The type of game/DVD.
Some games, like Dead or Alive 3, support a "widescreen" or 16:9 aspect ratio output signal. In addition, some DVD's also support a true 16:9 output signal, often called "anamorphic" or "enhanced for widescreen". For ease of discussion, I am going to refer to both games that support 16:9 and anamorphic DVD's as "widescreen discs".

All Xbox games and some DVD's also support 4:3 output display. In the case of Xbox games, the Xbox simply constrains the game to a 640x480 square-pixel area, just like on your computer monitor. In the case of DVD's, for which the original film is almost always in 16:9, the most common way to get a 4:3 playback is by a method called "pan and scan", where you actually look through a 4:3 "window" into the original 16:9 movie, with this window moving back and forth (panning) to follow the action. On older movies especially, the effect is quite noticeable. In some cases, the pan and scan version of the film is stored directly on the DVD. In other cases, the DVD player itself builds the pan and scan window based on cues encoded onto the DVD. Regardless of the method used, you never see the entire original film image - you're always seeing only the part in the 4:3 "window". Note that not all DVD's support pan and scan, forcing you to watch in letterbox mode (see below). For ease of discussion, I am going to refer to pan-and-scan DVD's and 4:3 games as "normal discs".

There is one more type of disc that concerns DVD's only - the "letterbox" disc. These discs have a version of the film that looks like a widescreen film, but in reality is just painting black bars on the top and bottom of the picture. That is, of the 480 lines available on a TV set, 120 of them (60 at the top and 60 at the bottom) are just black. This leaves only 360 lines in the middle of the TV in which to show the actual DVD content. Obviously, this reduces picture quality. Although it may look like a "widescreen" display, technically it is not. With a true widescreen presentation, the TV actually fits all 480 lines of resolution down into a 16:9 area. On 4:3 TV's this is called an "anamorphic squeeze", and is rarely supported. All 16:9 televisions do support this display type, which is why they are excellent for DVD playback. I will use the term "letterbox discs" to refer to DVD's which have a letterbox presentation (where part of the picture is actually the black bars), but NOT a true widescreen or "anamorphic" presentation (where the entire picture needs to be squeezed down by the TV).

The configuration of your TV.
If you have a regular plain-Jane 4:3 TV, then configuration really isn't an issue. Every input type is going to fill the entire screen, though in the case of letterbox discs (the DVD's with built-in black bars), it will look "widescreen", only with lowered picture quality.

If you are lucky enough to have a 4:3 TV that supports an anamorphic or widescreen signal (sometimes called ID1 or WSS), then you need to tell the TV to automatically "squeeze" incoming widescreen down to 16:9. This will put all 480 lines of resolution from widescreen discs (16:9 Xbox games or "anamorphic" DVD's) into a 16:9 aspect area in the middle of your screen. You'll see black bars just like with a letterbox disc, but those black bars will actually have no signal - that is, they aren't wasted space; the entire picture is crammed into the central area. You get much better picture quality with a TV like this.

If you have a 16:9 TV, then you have some decisions to make regarding normal discs (Xbox games that only support 4:3, or DVD's with only a pan-and scan version). Since your TV is already widescreen, it will handle widescreen content just fine, but normal 4:3 content needs some special handling - either black/grey bars on the right and left (called "windowboxing") or some sort of zoom/stretch, where the TV morphs the 4:3 image to fit the 16:9 screen. Refer to your TV's manual for info on various windowboxing/zoom/stretch modes.

Xbox Settings.
The final part to this whole mess is the NORMAL/LETTERBOX/WIDESCREEN setting of the Xbox. Note that these settings are very similar to what you will find on most DVD players. The difference with the Xbox is that games as well as DVD's are affected by what you select.

NORMAL Mode: This tells the Xbox that you have a 4:3 TV without anamorphic (the 16:9 "squeeze") support. All Xbox games will use their normal 4:3 presentation, and DVD's will either be full-screen (pan and scan) or letterbox, if that is all the DVD supports.

LETTERBOX Mode: For Xbox games, this is no different from NORMAL - the games will use their regular 4:3 presentation. For DVD's, however, this setting will cause the DVD to use its letterbox presentation even if it supports pan and scan. If the DVD supports a letterbox format, you will see the black bars on top and bottom, and you will lose those 120 lines of resolution being used for them.

WIDESCREEN Mode: For Xbox games which support 16:9 and for DVD's labeled "anamorphic" or "enhanced for widescreen TV's", this setting triggers their 16:9 presentation. If your TV doesn't support 16:9 video, the symptom you should see is very tall and skinny on-screen objects. This happens because the 16:9 image is being squished horizontally to fit your 4:3 TV. For 4:3 televisions, you should only select WIDESCREEN if your TV supports 16:9 video. For 16:9 televisions, you should always choose WIDESCREEN (with very few exceptions).


2.7 What SCART adapters are available? (UK)

There are two different SCART adaptors available for the XBox.:

• The first one is the one which you (probably[1]) received in the basic package, which just gives you composite (equivalent to yello phono cable) video through the SCART connector.
• The other is an optional kit called the "Advanced SCART kit" which gives RGB output through the SCART connector. RGB is just as good as component on a PAL XBox (on PAL Xboxes there is currently no progressive scan or HDTV support, no matter how you connect it), and if your TV supports RGB-via-SCART this is an excellent choice to give crystal clear images from your Xbox.

NB: The Advanced SCART kit also provides for the Xbox triggering automatic switching between widescreen (16:9) and 4:3 modes on a widescreen TV, depending on what the particular game supports.

[1] In Australia at least a composite-to-SCART adaptor plug was included in the standard box (along with the Xbox-to-yellow/red/white-cables adaptor), and our Xboxes are ?identical? to the UK ones.


2.8 Can I hook the Xbox up to my computer monitor?

Note: If you have a Monster A/V kit, you will be required to use the proprietary (and expensive) Monster optical cable.

See also:
2.15 Are Monster cables better than Microsoft cables?
3.25 What digital audio formats are supported by the Xbox?


2.14 What type of component video cable should I buy?

• READ YOUR TV OWNER'S GUIDE for information or warnings.
• Lower the contrast and brightness of your TV. Most TV's come from the factory with contrast and brightness near 100%. Lower yours as far as you can without degrading picture quality beyond what you consider acceptible.
• Better yet, calibrate your TV (especially HDTV's) with a DVD like Avia's Guide to Home Theater or Video Essentials.
• Don't play the same game for hours and hours on end. Mix up your games a bit so the fixed elements are different.
• Don't leave a game paused for extended periods. Turn off the TV if you need to pause for a long time.
• Be especially careful with a new TV. For the first one or two hundred hours, the screen is more vulnerable. Kind of like a new car engine.

The easy answer: Use the table below.

TV Aspect	Anamorphic Support1	DVD Playback Desired2	Choose This
4:3	No	Fullscreen	NORMAL
4:3	No	Letterbox	LETTERBOX
4:3	Yes	Fullscreen3	NORMAL
4:3	Yes	Letterbox	WIDESCREEN4
16:9	*	*	WIDESCREEN5

¹Does the TV automatically "squeeze" widescreen, or "anamorphic" DVD's down to 16:9 aspect ratio? Some Sony's do this. If you don't know, the answer is probably "no".
²When you play back DVD's, how do you prefer the picture? Note that some DVD's do not have a fullscreen version on them, so they will show in letterbox mode no matter what you select on your Xbox.
³Unless the TV is very small (and you want to use the entire screen whenever possible), there is no reason to select NORMAL on a 4:3 TV that supports anamorphic video. A "squeezed" picture always looks superior to normal full-screen or letterboxed video.
⁴This setting will also cause Xbox games that support 16:9 aspect to display in widescreen mode, just like an anamorphic DVD.
⁵16:9 TV's should all support anamorphic DVD's and other widescreen content, like 16:9 Xbox games. The use of a High-Definition A/V pack is strongly recommended.

The hard answer:

Ignoring true HDTV (which is all 16:9 aspect), there are two types of video that can come out of your Xbox: 4:3 and 16:9. Which of these is sent, and how it is displayed on your TV, is dependent on three things: the type of game/DVD, the configuration of your TV, and the NORMAL/LETTERBOX/WIDESCREEN setting of the Xbox.

The type of game/DVD.
Some games, like Dead or Alive 3, support a "widescreen" or 16:9 aspect ratio output signal. In addition, some DVD's also support a true 16:9 output signal, often called "anamorphic" or "enhanced for widescreen". For ease of discussion, I am going to refer to both games that support 16:9 and anamorphic DVD's as "widescreen discs".

All Xbox games and some DVD's also support 4:3 output display. In the case of Xbox games, the Xbox simply constrains the game to a 640x480 square-pixel area, just like on your computer monitor. In the case of DVD's, for which the original film is almost always in 16:9, the most common way to get a 4:3 playback is by a method called "pan and scan", where you actually look through a 4:3 "window" into the original 16:9 movie, with this window moving back and forth (panning) to follow the action. On older movies especially, the effect is quite noticeable. In some cases, the pan and scan version of the film is stored directly on the DVD. In other cases, the DVD player itself builds the pan and scan window based on cues encoded onto the DVD. Regardless of the method used, you never see the entire original film image - you're always seeing only the part in the 4:3 "window". Note that not all DVD's support pan and scan, forcing you to watch in letterbox mode (see below). For ease of discussion, I am going to refer to pan-and-scan DVD's and 4:3 games as "normal discs".

There is one more type of disc that concerns DVD's only - the "letterbox" disc. These discs have a version of the film that looks like a widescreen film, but in reality is just painting black bars on the top and bottom of the picture. That is, of the 480 lines available on a TV set, 120 of them (60 at the top and 60 at the bottom) are just black. This leaves only 360 lines in the middle of the TV in which to show the actual DVD content. Obviously, this reduces picture quality. Although it may look like a "widescreen" display, technically it is not. With a true widescreen presentation, the TV actually fits all 480 lines of resolution down into a 16:9 area. On 4:3 TV's this is called an "anamorphic squeeze", and is rarely supported. All 16:9 televisions do support this display type, which is why they are excellent for DVD playback. I will use the term "letterbox discs" to refer to DVD's which have a letterbox presentation (where part of the picture is actually the black bars), but NOT a true widescreen or "anamorphic" presentation (where the entire picture needs to be squeezed down by the TV).

The configuration of your TV.
If you have a regular plain-Jane 4:3 TV, then configuration really isn't an issue. Every input type is going to fill the entire screen, though in the case of letterbox discs (the DVD's with built-in black bars), it will look "widescreen", only with lowered picture quality.

If you are lucky enough to have a 4:3 TV that supports an anamorphic or widescreen signal (sometimes called ID1 or WSS), then you need to tell the TV to automatically "squeeze" incoming widescreen down to 16:9. This will put all 480 lines of resolution from widescreen discs (16:9 Xbox games or "anamorphic" DVD's) into a 16:9 aspect area in the middle of your screen. You'll see black bars just like with a letterbox disc, but those black bars will actually have no signal - that is, they aren't wasted space; the entire picture is crammed into the central area. You get much better picture quality with a TV like this.

If you have a 16:9 TV, then you have some decisions to make regarding normal discs (Xbox games that only support 4:3, or DVD's with only a pan-and scan version). Since your TV is already widescreen, it will handle widescreen content just fine, but normal 4:3 content needs some special handling - either black/grey bars on the right and left (called "windowboxing") or some sort of zoom/stretch, where the TV morphs the 4:3 image to fit the 16:9 screen. Refer to your TV's manual for info on various windowboxing/zoom/stretch modes.

Xbox Settings.
The final part to this whole mess is the NORMAL/LETTERBOX/WIDESCREEN setting of the Xbox. Note that these settings are very similar to what you will find on most DVD players. The difference with the Xbox is that games as well as DVD's are affected by what you select.

NORMAL Mode: This tells the Xbox that you have a 4:3 TV without anamorphic (the 16:9 "squeeze") support. All Xbox games will use their normal 4:3 presentation, and DVD's will either be full-screen (pan and scan) or letterbox, if that is all the DVD supports.

LETTERBOX Mode: For Xbox games, this is no different from NORMAL - the games will use their regular 4:3 presentation. For DVD's, however, this setting will cause the DVD to use its letterbox presentation even if it supports pan and scan. If the DVD supports a letterbox format, you will see the black bars on top and bottom, and you will lose those 120 lines of resolution being used for them.

WIDESCREEN Mode: For Xbox games which support 16:9 and for DVD's labeled "anamorphic" or "enhanced for widescreen TV's", this setting triggers their 16:9 presentation. If your TV doesn't support 16:9 video, the symptom you should see is very tall and skinny on-screen objects. This happens because the 16:9 image is being squished horizontally to fit your 4:3 TV. For 4:3 televisions, you should only select WIDESCREEN if your TV supports 16:9 video. For 16:9 televisions, you should always choose WIDESCREEN (with very few exceptions).

See also:
3.3 What resolutions and aspect ratios does Xbox support?
3.5 Details: 480i resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio
3.6 Details: 480i resolution, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
3.7 Details: 480p resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio
3.8 Details: 480p resolution, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
3.11 How do I see 480i/480p widescreen mode?
3.12 Which games support 480i/480p widescreen mode?


3.5 Details: 480i resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio

Another good list of Xbox games and the video modes they support can be found at HDTV Arcade.

Note: The Xbox dashboard also supports 480-line widescreen mode.

See also:
3.3 What resolutions and aspect ratios does Xbox support?
3.6 Details: 480i resolution, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
3.8 Details: 480p resolution, 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
3.19 Which games support HDTV resolutions?


3.13 More information on 16:9 displays for PAL TVs.

There are two different SCART adaptors available for the Xbox.:

• The first one is the one which you (probably[1]) received in the basic package, which just gives you composite (equivalent to yellow phono cable) video through the SCART connector.
• The other is an optional kit called the "Advanced SCART kit" which gives RGB output through the SCART connector. RGB is just as good as component on a PAL Xbox (on PAL Xboxes there is currently no progressive scan or HDTV support, no matter how you connect it), and if your TV supports RGB-via-SCART this is an excellent choice to give crystal clear images from your Xbox.

NB: The Advanced SCART kit also provides for the Xbox triggering automatic switching between widescreen (16:9) and 4:3 modes on a widescreen TV, depending on what the particular game supports.

[1] In Australia at least a composite-to-SCART adaptor plug was included in the standard box (along with the Xbox-to-yellow/red/white-cables adaptor), and our Xboxes are ?identical? to the UK ones.


3.16 Why does my Xbox dashboard look too tall and skinny?

• Street Hoops - supports 720p (thanks to Scott C. for these pictures: 480p and 720p)
• NBA 2K3 - supports 720p
• Tony Hawk 4x - supports 720p
• Dragon's Lair 3D - supports 720p and 1080i
• Halo 2 - rumored to support 720p
• Project Gotham Racing 2 - rumored to support 720p
• Lord of The Rings - once rumored to support 720p; not so sure now
• Burnout - falsely advertised as supporting 720p (it's 480p only)
• 007: Agent Under Fire - only supports 480i
• Hitman 2 - only supports 480i

A good list of Xbox games and the video modes they support can be found at HDTV Arcade.

See also:
3.1 What is HDTV?
3.3 What resolutions and aspect ratios does Xbox support?
3.12 Which games support 480i/480p widescreen mode?


3.20 What's so special about RCA's "Xbox Ready" TVs?

Yes. Or possibly no. It depends on the TV and the lightgun.

The original Madcatz lightgun was designed for interlaced video only. It will not work with progressive-scan video, and therefore won't work with 480p, which is no doubt what you'll be using if you have an HDTV.

Madcatz did release a second model, identified by the letter "P" after the model number (found on the side of the grip, in faint silver ink). If I remember correctly, the model number is 4588 or something like that. You definitely want to buy a gun that has "4588P" on the side, not just "4588".

I don't know about other brands of lightgun, but if you have trouble calibrating the gun on a 480p display (the reticle won't move to the right side of the screen, for instance), then your gun probably isn't designed for use with 480p.

If your HDTV accepts either a 480i or a 480p signal without line-doubling, then a lightgun should work fine. Most HDTVs that accept a 480p signal do so without line-doubling so you should be OK if your TV accepts 480p. Most HDTVs will line-double a 480i singal to produce a 480p picture, however, so in 480i mode most HDTVs will not work with a lightgun.

Basically, you will have to experiment with your HDTV to see if it will work, and 480p will probably be your best bet. So far, the following TVs have been tested (you can probably extrapolate to similar models):

• Toshiba 61" TheaterView (61H70) - works in 480p with MadCatz 4588P
• Hitachi 36" Ultravision (36UDX10S) - does not work

As it concerns the Xbox, the only important point is that the Xbox is not set up to do real-time encoding of DTS efficiently during a game. It may be possible for a game developer to encode DTS using the Xbox CPU, but this would take serious resources away from game AI, physics, etc. So it is very unlikely that any game will actually support DTS.

DVDs with DTS will work fine as their audio is just passed directly through the optical port.

See also:
3.22 What is Dolby Digital?


3.25 What digital audio formats are supported by the Xbox?

NOTE: The Xbox supports off-CPU real-time encoding of Dolby Digital for games, but does not offer the same support for DTS in games. It may be possible for a game to utilize CPU cycles to encode DTS, but it seems unlikely that a developer would take his route since Dolby Digital is offered off-CPU.

For DVD's, Dolby Digital and DTS are simply read off the DVD and passed through the optical port.

See also:
3.22 What is Dolby Digital?
3.23 What is the difference between DD and Dolby Surround?


3.26 What do I need to use Dolby Digital/DTS?

Ok, I'll jump in with another tangent! This one is for people who do not have a DD 5.1 setup and want to get a full surround experience, or who do have it but want to play when everyone else in the house doesn't want to hear it.

If you use the Xbox stereo mode audio output, turn off the speakers, and plug headphones into your stereo you will get a full 3d sound impression of your game, and in some cases it will be more accurate than a 5.1 speaker setup. Like with DD 5.1, some games make better use of the 3d sound capabilities than others, however.

The only drawback is that the communicator headset has only one earpiece so you'll have to rig up a mixer to use a stereo heaset/mic that also serves as an XBL headset (that is for another post if anyone is interested).

Anyhow, 3d sound over headphones (and speaker pairs) has been around for years, and 64 channels of it is built-into the nVidia APU, and has been part of DirectX since version 5. It is a good simulation of how the ear percieves sound in the real world. I'll post links and everything if anyone is curious, but you can try it for yourself too, Halo is a fairly universal and excellent test for this.

See also:
3.22 What is Dolby Digital?
3.23 What is the difference between DD and Dolby Surround?
3.24 What is DTS?
3.25 What digital audio formats are supported by the Xbox?
3.26 What do I need to use Dolby Digital/DTS?
3.28 Can I hook my surround-sound speakers directly to the Xbox?


3.28 Can I hook my surround-sound speakers directly to the Xbox?

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2003-- Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing division of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO - News), announced today that it plans to ship the award-winning Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as a "double pack" for both the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft. The Grand Theft Auto "double pack" is set to hit shelves in North America on October 22, 2003 for PlayStation®2 and on November 4, 2003 for Xbox.

Developed by Rockstar North, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has long been applauded and praised for its expansive and open-ended gameplay, cinematic scripts, and epic soundtracks. Since its introduction in 1997, the franchise has received countless awards of excellence and universal critical acclaim. With sales of more than 25 million units worldwide, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most recognized franchises in the history of the videogame marketplace. Additional information about Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is available at: the official GTA site.

See also:
4.1 What games are available for the Xbox?
4.2 Will FINAL FANTASY X or XI be released for the Xbox?


4.4 Does Burnout support HDTV display modes?

For a glimpse at what Halo 2 may contain, take a look at the PC version of Halo. You want to be able to fly a Banshee around in multiplayer? You got it. You want a flamethrower? No problem. A rocket turret on the Warthog? Check.


4.8 Will the Xbox play games from other regions?

Yes. Or possibly no. It depends on the TV.

If your HDTV accepts either a 480i or a 480p signal without line-doubling, then a lightgun should work fine. Most HDTVs that accept a 480p signal do so without line-doubling so you should be OK if your TV accepts 480p. Most HDTVs will line-double a 480i singal to produce a 480p picture, however, so in 480i mode most HDTVs will not work with a lightgun.

Basically, you will have to experiment with your HDTV to see if it will work, and 480p will probably be your best bet.

Yes, the Xbox can be used to play your own custom-burned DVDs. Here's Nick's description of how he did it:

"I have a Pioneer DVR-A03 IDE DVD-R/RW writer and have finally burnt both discs with DVD video and it plays wonderfully as a region 0 disc on the US Xbox I have, no problems at all. It was burnt with Sonic DVDit SE using DVD-compliant MPEG2 streams authored by TMPGenc and Dolby Digital 224kb/sec stereo sound."

Additional info thanks to Todd: Maxell DVD+R worked in a Thompson-equipped Xbox.

See also:
5.4 Can the Xbox play DVD movies from other regions?
5.20 Will the Xbox play burned CD's?
5.21 Will the Xbox play VCDs?
5.22 Will the Xbox play MP3's?
5.23 Will the Xbox play WMA's?


5.8 Can I use a DVD lens cleaner in the Xbox?

More on Macrovision (thanks to Shinobi):

Macrovision is a signal encoded in the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) that confuses the Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit of the VCR.

Nearly all VCR's have an AGC. It's purpose is to maintain a high quality image. When the signal is poor, the AGC amplifies it. When the signal is too strong, the AGC attenuates it. Macrovision works by encoding false signals into the VBI (a portion of the video signal that you can't see) and this false signal confuses the AGC and causes the picture to be brightened and darkened improperly.

You can defeat Macrovision with a Macrovision removal device such as: http://www.videoguys.com/sima.htm


5.12 How do I use the Xbox to play CD's?

1. Use a CD burning program like Nero to burn the songs onto a regular audio CD, like you would for your car CD player. Your best bet will be to use a CD-RW disc, as the Xbox cannot read most CD-R discs. After you make the audio CD, put it in your Xbox and rip the songs off of it, following the instructions in your Xbox manual.
2. Purchase the Music Mixer (go here for details) and transfer your files from your PC (network required).

A = Highlighted Button
B = Back
Y then X = Full Screen Visualization (Some people report Y-X-Y works)
White = Pause
Black = Stop
Right Trigger = Forward Track
Left Trigger = Back Track (restart track)


5.17 Can I copy music to a memory unit?

• Amped
• Conflict Desert Storm
• Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
• Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball
• 4x4 Evolution (EVO)
• Fusion Frenzy
• Gun Metal
• Legends of Wrestling
• Midtown Madness 3
• MotoGP
• Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
• NHL Hitz 2002 (in menus only)
• Project Gotham Racing
• Quantum Redshift
• Rallisport Challenge
• SegaGT 2002
• Splashdown
• State of Emergency
• Steel Battalion
• Test Drive
• Tetris Worlds
• Tony Hawk
• Toxic Grind
• Transworld Snowboarding
• Transworld Surf
• World Championship Pool 2004

• Gamespy is nothing more than a System Link game played remotely
• Your Xbox does not need nor use an IP address for Gamespy games any more than it does for System Link games. For this reason, Gamespy is often called "not real internet gaming". It's just a faked-up remote System Link game.

A benefit of hubs is that they are extremely simple and cheap. One of their downsides is that they can suffer from bandwidth limitations if several devices are broadcasting (shouting) at the same time. For most uses - including any Xbox gaming - this limitation is not really a factor.

With a little searching, you should be able to find a 4-port switch for nearly the same price as a hub. Since switches are much more efficient than hubs (see next question), if you can find a switch within your price range, buy it instead of a hub.

See also:
6.5 Basics: What is a switch?
6.6 Basics: What is a router?


6.5 Basics: What is a switch?

For the purposes of Xbox gaming: a switch is a hub. There is nothing else you need to know to have a happy and successful Xbox gaming career. Think switch=hub and you'll be just fine.

The technical answer: a switch is a hub, but with some "intelligence", in that it can direct information between connected devices, rather than just broadcasting it to all devices equally. If a message comes in from device A addressed to device B, a switch will send it directly to device B. A hub would send it to B and C and D all at the same time.

Remember: for Xbox gaming, a switch is the same thing as a hub. It offers nothing different from a hub that would really concern you for Xbox gaming. Do not get confused. Stay focused. If you are ever told "A hub won't work for that", the answer applies equally to a switch. Switch=hub. Hub=switch. They are not different enough to get hung up on, especially if this whole networking thing is confusing to you.

Having said that, let me point out again that switches nowadays are usually as cheap as hubs, or nearly so. If you can find a switch within your price range, buy it rather than a hub. Your network will be more efficient, and better able to handle future expansion gracefully.

For the rest of this section, I am going to use only the term "hub" unless speaking specifically about something to do with switches. Wherever you see the term "hub", you can substitute "switch" if you have one of those instead.

See also:
6.4 Basics: What is a hub?
6.6 Basics: What is a router?


6.6 Basics: What is a router?