After months of putting off buying the Xbox360′s wireless adaptor due to it being overpriced, I finally just gave up and bought one. Happy to finally get rid of the Linksys Wireless-G Game Bridge that has been a problem since day one, it was just my luck to discover that I couldn’t connect to my wireless network. After about an hour of trying everything I could, I gave a quick google search and discovered others were having problems connecting to an Apple Time Capsule router also. I had waited so long to get the wireless adaptor for the 360 that I wasn’t going to give up.

My Time Capsule is basically an Apple Airport Extreme 802.11n Router with a hard drive built in. The router supports 802.11 a/b/g/n while the 360′s wireless adaptor supports a/b/g. My laptop is a/b/g and the only other device I connect wirelessly is my iPhone which is b/g. This left me with a few choices. Currently I run the Time Capsule in 802.11n with b/g compatibility running at 2.4Ghz.

I’ll spare the details of the hours of headache trying to get this to work by saying this: the Xbox360′s Wireless Adaptor does not work with Time Capsule…yet. Well thats not entirely true. Lets looks at what options we have:

802.11n (2.4Ghz) = Not Supported

802.11n (5Ghz) = Not Supported

802.11n (802.11b/g compatible) (2.4Ghz) = Not Working

802.11n (802.11a compatible) (5Ghz) = Not Working

802.11b/g (2.4Ghz) = Not Working

802.11a (5Ghz) = Not Working

802.11g (2.4Ghz) = Not Working

802.11b (2.4ghz) = Working

So out of 8 modes, 6 of which are supported, only 1 mode works. 802.11b is the only mode that allows the Xbox360 wireless to connect. Pretty worthless. Right now this looks to be a Microsoft problem as there are reports of the wireless adaptor not connecting to other draft N routers. Hopefully Microsoft will add support for Time Capsule in the Spring Dashboard update like they added support for Airport Extreme 802.11n routers in the Fall Update back in December. Until its fixed, you will either have to run your wireless network in 802.11b only mode or hardwire the Xbox360 using Cat5.

Nullriver’s Connect360 was just updated to version 3.2 adding support for Divx and Xvid files. Connect360 allows Mac users to stream Music, Video and Photos to a Xbox360. You will need to have the Fall 2007 Dashboard update installed on your Xbox360 but once you do, you will be able to stream Divx and Xvid encoded AVI files directly to your TV (finally!). The program costs $20 but they offer a trial version on their webpage.

Still having trouble finding a Nintendo Wii 6 months after launch? Me too but the guys over at UNEASYsilence are giving away a Wii Sports-less Wii for free. What’s the catch you ask? Well for starters you need to be lucky as the winner will be picked at random and second all you need to do is spread the word about the contest. Blog about it, bookmark it on del.icio.us, digg it, twitter it, tumblr about it, they don’t care. After you you link to the giveaway, just post the link as a comment and just wait. I entered the last giveaway they won but walked away empty handled but who knows about this time.

Thanks from a last minute tip from a friend, I picked up tickets for Video Games Live here at Yale University for Saturday night. This was the first time VGL has been to a University and they packed in about 3000 people into Woolsey Hall. The concert lasted just over 3 hours and it was simply awesome. The song and arrangement selections were fun and inspiring. The pacing of the show was brilliant. They broke up the arrangements with interactive on stage contests, monologue, introduction from various video game composers and a 20 min intermission.

One part of the show was to bring up someone from the audience and have them win money from playing Space Invaders. The catch was the Orchestra would be playing the music in realtime and the person would have to play the game interactively. So you had to run around the stage to move your position on the screen. All they gave the kid was a firing button and a T-shirt to wear with the space invader ship on the back so it would like like the ship was moving on stage just like the screen. The kicker to this whole thing is the kid they brought up was about 350 lbs and the T-shirt they gave him was a medium at best, I don’t know who the hell he fit into this thing but it just added to the fun of the whole evening.

The highlight of the evening tho comes from the 104 year old pipe organ that the Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung, played different tracks from Castlevania on. Hearing Moonlight Nocturne was absolutely amazing.

I wish I got the Castlevania performance on video but i was so into it, I didn’t even stop to think until it was too late.

[Video of the Opening]
[Picture of the Stage]

I’m taking the week off from the gym this week. I’m just exhausted and sore and need some time to rest. I’ll restart my 5K schedule this monday again but in the meantime I picked up Dance Dance Revolution Universe for the Xbox 360 to keep up on my exercise while I’m not at the gym.

The selling point for me is the Workout mode. When you turn of Workout mode, the game will calculate how much calories you are burning while playing any of the modes in the game. From the workout mode screen you can adjust your weight and get a graph of your calories burned by each day. This makes it easy to enter into Traineo for me and its a nice way to keep up with your progress.

My biggest problem seems to stem from the all hardwood floors in this house. Everything shakes while I’m playing because there is nothing to absorb the vibrations. I picked up some interlocking fitness mats from Walmart and they seem to help some, but when I have to jump on double arrows, I’m afraid I’m going to end up in the basement.

I’m out. Canceled my account and deleted the game from my Macbook. Kinda sucks since I just bought WoW: BC but I just don’t play enough to warrant the monthly fee anymore.

Dance Dance Revolution Universe was released this week for the Xbox 360. The soundtrack sports over 65 tracks with even more downloadable via Xbox Live. The game comes with a bunch of new modes, with new modes geared toward beginners and multiplayer.

I’ve been waiting for a new DDR game for awhile and I’d probably going to pick this up. I’d really like to see some reviews about the pad first tho. I don’t have the room for the pad without moving some stuff around but with Guitar Hero II coming out (hopefully) next week, I’m going to have to make some room anyways. I’ll wait a week and see what kinda reviews pop up about the pad itself but IGN gave DDRU a 8.7 and winning its Editors Choice award.

Ikaruga, the pseudo-sequel to Radiant Silvergun, is probably the last great shooter. Originally released on the Dreamcast in Japan and then in the US on the Gamecube, it now looks like it may be headed to Xbox Live Arcade. The game has been seen in an unplayable form on the Xbox debug machines.

For those who haven’t played it, its a vertical shooter where you change “polarity” so you can absorb that color bullets. Its hard to explain but it makes it for a new (and difficult) twist on the classic shooter. I would love to see Radiant Silvergun come to XBL too but thats just wishful thinking.

First Castlevania: SOTN and now this. XBL is quickly becoming the “killer app” for the Xbox 360.

Some of my photos from the Lost Planet Release Party in San Francisco were recently featured in the e-zine Science Fiction/San Francisco issue #38. That issue is now available for free download.

[Direct Link to PDF]