Check out this insane xbox mod from console mod guru Benjamin J Heckendorn! I’m not sure about taking this thing on a road trip like I would a DS though since it is so heavy but it would be a very good idea for lan parties! Heck refers to it as a Xbox laptop. The heavy aluminum contained in the casing would almost steer it towards a Xbox Macbook title but hey its his creation he can call it whatever he likes. The unit comes with many non-standard xbox accessories such as a chatpad and a vision cam as well. Hopefully Microsoft catches wind of this and decides that there is definitely a market for an Xbox packaged in this manner!

[Source:Benheck]

If you’ve bought an Xbox 360 lately, you’ve probably bought the latest iteration of hardware to come in the Microsoft console. The team calls it code name Jasper and it features a few notable differences from previous Xbox 360s. Before you get all excited though, you should know that Gears of War will not run at a higher resolution. Jasper mostly aims at fixing some of the reliability issues that have been such a weakness on the console ever since launch. It comes with a new motherboard that is supposed to use less power so the power supply was also reduced to a150 Watt from the 175 Watt. The arcade version also comes with 256 MB of internal memory so you can save games without a hard drive!

You know that guy who takes always takes things too far? This isn’t that guy… In fact, this guy really hasn’t gone far enough… The attached chainsaw has a little more reach than the actual lancer from Gears of War. The maker stated that its intended purpose was anti-zombie so the extra reach could come in handy. Yes it does fire real bullets. Yes the chainsaw is strong enough to cut stationary pumpkins (so it should work for a zombie head as well). Will it get you laid? Our panel of experts generally don’t think so. Nothing like scaring people off by showing them your M16 with attached chainsaw….

Year after year, the Xbox 360 has consistently beat out the PS3. This year was no different as the Xbox 360 emerged from black Friday outselling the PS3 3:1. The strong sales of the Xbox 360 can be attributed to some of the aggressive black friday deals. The arcade bundle of the Xbox 360 was actually cheaper than the Nintendo Wii! The Xbox 360 remains popular due to its strong lineup of games and good reputation for third party support. Its target demographic places it firmly in the same arena as the PS3. It appears to many analysts now however that the PS3 has missed many great opportunities to catch up a little to the Xbox 360 and might never do so in the future.

Sony has apparently removed the ban on their Netflix library for streaming on the Xbox 360. The ability to stream Netflix movies was one of the biggest improvements added with the New Xbox Experience update. However, due to obvious competitive issues, Sony had all of its subsidiary studio (Columbia Pictures) films pulled from the instant list. Xbox fans were up in arms regarding this development and as of now, Sony has placed most of its movies back in the database again. A few notable exceptions such as Superbad still remain however so only time will tell. The instant offerings that Netflix had could sure use the boost…

Its been 3 years since release and the Xbox 360 has just outsold the original Xbox. The Xbox made its debut in 2001 and ended its four year lifespan with 25 million units sold. The 360 is now poised to beat its sixth generation predecessor by even more following this holiday season. The arcade bundle, at 199, is now cheaper than the Nintendo Wii. The Xbox 360′s strong third party support and popular multiplayer component (Xbox Live) continue to give it a big advantage over the competition. We here at Xboxspies would like to congratulate team at Microsoft for putting together such a successful and fun console, although next time maybe we can have a few less Red Rings?

Although there is no such award, the Xboxspies Customer Service Award would definitely have gone to Sam’s Club. Users with the much publicized Red Ring of Death issue are able to exchange their faulty Xbox 360′s at Sam’s Club for no hassle. I recently got my very own Red Ring of Death after updating to the New Xbox Experience. For all those who haven’t gotten it yet and are unfamiliar with what to do, know that Microsoft extended the warranty covering the Red Ring of Death for 3 years. They will ship you a box for you to ship your Red Ring of Death Xbox 360 in to get free repairs. You will only really miss out on time.

Redrex32 appeared in Epic‘s forums this weekend telling players of a loophole that would allow them to download the golden lancer (for Gears of War 2) for free. While it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do on Epic‘s own forums (and then re-posting when he found his posts summarily deleted), the resulting punishment of lifetime IP ban is a little harsh on Epic‘s part. After all, Epic probably only got wind of this DLC error because of the user. The problem is now no longer there so anybody else looking to score a golden lancer will have to pay just like everybody else.

Before you get too nervous, I assure you will be very happy with the New Xbox Experience. Microsoft has really out done themselves with this great face lift. Calling the New Xbox Experience a face lift though is not giving it enough credit as it represents a significant change under the hood as well.

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According to the monthly report released by the NPD, the Xbox 360 console is the best bet for profit for third party developers. The numbers behind the game and console sales make it clear that the Wii and Xbox 360 dominate in sales which means more platforms and more potential customers. With the Wii however, game development is often done in house by Nintendo. The xbox 360 however, is able to push out many more third party developed game hits. It is an interesting trend how games tend to sell more on the Xbox 360 and I’m sure this will fuel many fanboy wars.