Ask X3F: Treasured memories edition

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 2nd 2008 at 6:15PM }

Geez, kids, we've got more questions than we can shake a raw hunk of undead flesh at. Trust us when we say that we're capable of shaking a hunk of undead flesh at a lot of questions, but this is overwhelming even to us. Are we to believe that you actually want -- possibly need -- our sage advice? We're truly touched. This week in Ask X3F, we cover child account promotion, saved films, achievement tracking and more. Now please stop touching us. It's creepy.

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Hey guys been a fan of the site for a few months now and am absolutely jealous of what you guys do. I've had this question for a while now and its been killing me that i haven't found an answer yet, and have only now thought of asking X3F. My question is, how come no new games since halo 3 (at least that i know of have not had a saved film feature? Is it just me, or does no one seem to care? It is such a handy useful feature and the only thing that I've heard about that comes close to this is in Gears of War 2 and being able to take screenshots. After Halo 3 came out i thought the saved films feature would become a standard among all upcoming games...I guess I was wrong. Am I crazy? Is there some huge point I'm overlooking? Can you please help me make sense of this?

There's a very simple reason as to why more games haven't included a saved film feature: it's up to the developers. There's no doubt that saved films are pretty awesome, and we've had lots of fun using Halo 3 to make our own super high quality machinima. While there haven't been many games to implement the feature since then, we can think of a couple, most notably Ninja Gaiden II and Duke Nukem 3D. But, as we said, implementing such a feature is entirely up to the developers. It's also not the kind of thing that's likely to become standard anytime soon, as 1) it doesn't really make sense for every game (checkers comes to mind) and 2) it adds money and time to any development cycle.

Still, that doesn't stop you from picking up a video capture device and saving films on your own. There are plenty of cheap video capturing solutions these days, including the EyeTV, which is something we use to do the XBLA in Brief videos every week. Also, if they ever get around to releasing it, Blackmagic has a (Mac only) capture device that will actually capture full HD video from a component source for only $120 (no, seriously, only $120).

For the record: Left 4 Dead is just screaming for a saved film feature.

I was wondering if there is any way to see your total number of achievements in the NXE? With the old dashboard you could go into the achievement section and it would tell me that i had 1700 achievements. Im just wondering because me and a friend are racing to 2000 achievements and now we might not be able to tell who is ahead.

As far as I know, there is no way to check how many achievements you've earned via the NXE (unless you want to add up all the 'X out of X achievements' messages). However, you can track your achievements on the web. Xbox.com, unfortunately, doesn't offer this service, but you can find it elsewhere. For example, we're big fans of MyGamerCard.net. It's easy to set up a profile, and then your achievement total is only a click away. You can also feel free to use their custom gamercards to plaster your gamercard on blogs and other places on the web. For example, here's mine, using the spiffy Cylinder theme.

But, if all you want is to see your Achievement total, all you have to do is open up your MGC profile. Again, here's mine (I have 1104 of 2956 possible achievments, if you're too lazy to click). The best part is you don't even need to be an MGC member to use this feature. Just stick your gamertag at the end of this URL:

http://profile.mygamercard.net/yourgamertag

Enjoy.

Hey Hoyaboyd here I have been reading X3f since I got my 360 about 2 years ago. I have a question about the NXE. I heard you were supposed to be able to delete a 0 gamerscore game, but I cant seem to figure out how to do it. I bought Monster Madness, dont kill me I got it for $8 and sold it for $6, but I want to get the stain of it off my gamertag. Can you guys help me out? Thanks for the help.

This one is easy. Just pop open the guide and scoot over to the Games blade. Open up the Achievements list, highlight a 0 gamerscore entry, press X and select Yes. Done. Keep in mind that you can only do this for games in which you have 0 gamerscore. So, if you've earned even one achievement in Monster Madness, you're stuck with it. Don't worry too much though, we feel your pain. We managed to snag one achievement in Yaris, and now it will be there for all the world to see for the rest of time. Damn our mad skills!

Hey guys,

I have been a daily visitor of your site for the past two years, and I hope you can help me with this.I'm in tears. Last night, my 360 got one red light at the bottom right hand corner, right before i finished Fallout 3. The system failure screen says "E-74". I have an elite, and I have already gotten the 3 RROD lights, and Microsoft sent me this console about 7 months ago. I don't have a warranty. According to my research, the problem could either be whether my AV chip is broken, or my AV cable is broken. If my AV chip is broken, it will cost about $140 to fix. My AV cable could also be broken, but I don't know how they would fix it since i have an HDMI cable. My question is this: Should I just tell them that i have the 3 red lights of death? Since the warranty is 3 years, it would be free. Last time my 360 broke, they sent me a completely different 360, leading me to believe that they don't really check the system. If there is a problem, I could just say that there used to be 3 red lights, not one.

I know its dishonest, but I really can't afford to shell out more money on videogames. I have spent over 350 dollars last month and this month because of games. And, i really really wanna finish Fallout. :)

So.. what do you think?

-Alex

Alex,

As far as we know, if your replacement box is 7 months old it should be under warranty. In our experience, replacement Xboxes receive the standard year long warranty as well as the three year warranty on the three red lights error. Granted, we're not sure if your problem falls under warranty, but we're pretty sure it does. You can check your warranty status by visiting support.xbox.com. Log in with the LiveID associated with your gamertag and click "Repair your console" on the left side of the screen. This should bring you to a list of the consoles you own and show their warranty status. So long as your unit was replaced by Microsoft within the last year, it should be under warranty.

After that, try to connect a different set of A/V cables (borrow some from a friend if you have to) and see if that fixes your problem. If it doesn't, you should probably send it in to Microsoft. If you are out of warranty, then you could try to induce the Red Ring of Death, but we don't recommend it. Your console should be under warranty, if Microsoft says otherwise, we suggest you dispute it. After all, it's not your fault you've got defective hardware.

Dear X3f,
I am very aggitated as im about to turn 18, I have had the same account since i was 15. Now that i have fully gone through puberty i would have figured xbox would let me download so M rated games, especially since i can buy them. When is this age block going to be fixed? i thought it would be in the NXE but i was wrong.

Thanks for the help,
Obese Stickman

This problem was actually fixed about a year ago. To promote a child account to an adult account, open up the Guide, navigate to the system blade and select Account Management. From here you should be able to select the Promote Child Account option. You will then have to agree to the terms of use again. Also, if one of your parents used a credit card to create your account, you'll have to enter a new card to take it's place. You can find more info about this process here. Once you've completed the process, all restrictions and family controls on your account should be removed.

That's it for this week, folks. Keep sending your questions to: ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Tags: ask-x3f

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris @ Dec 2nd 2008 6:53PM

Regarding saved videos, the EAsports games also have this feature, you can save videos and upload them to the web for NCAA09, NHL09, etc.

DBoyFlex @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:06PM

I like the erase games with zero gamerscore feature. Honestly though, why can't we delete any game history? And along with that, any achievements? I mean, gamerscore really does nothing for you, so why should it matter if we have 0 or 1000 if we want to delete a game from our history. It's my history, let me change it!

AoE @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:47PM

King Kong and Avatar will haunt you forever

DBoyFlex @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:53PM

Actually I have not played either of those games. I was thinking those burger king games and yaris and a few others. Oh well. I could always enlist a new gamertag when my current gold runs out. Use it to only play cool games, and my current one to play less than cool games.

Danny @ Dec 3rd 2008 5:19PM

Why do you care if your history shows you played a "less than cool" game? Because someone online might make fun of you?
I mean, if someone doesn't like a game you played, it doesn't really matter. Try and not care about what others think of you (in unimportant matters) and you will reduce your stress level some :)

DBoyFlex @ Dec 3rd 2008 5:28PM

Actually, that is right. Coolness is not governed by the games I play. There are some games that I only got 1 or 2 achievements and would rather them just disappear as I really did not play them. That is the reason they allow for the deletion of games with zero points, and why I would rather just erase some games that I practically did not play.

Jayslacks @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:14PM

The "E-74" is becoming the new RROD. I just got that shit last week, and one of my buddies just got it yesterday. Consoles should not die like this. Period. You can drive a car up and down the road for months and nothing happens to it, but a box setting on a table dies if you look at it funny? It makes absolutely no sense.

DemonGSides @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:27PM

My Girlfriend's car died on its way outta the lot, and it was brand new :P

AoE @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:49PM

Jayslacks, I didn't spend $30K on my 360 either though, did you? I don't expect a $300 device to function the same way a $30K+ device does personally...

AoE @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:50PM

Oops almost forgot to add, when's the last time you saw a $300 car that didn't have tons of problems?

khan800 @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:30PM

Re: the E-74 error...

I had the same thing happen to me, first RROD about 10 months in, then E-74 roughly seven months later. Microsoft fixed them both no charge, so I assume I must have received new warranty after the RROD, and they took care of the E-74.

Good luck!

halo 3 sucks. @ Dec 2nd 2008 11:26PM

Thanks for answering my E-74 question. I used my friend's AV cable and it didn't work. I went online and it said my warranty expired. I'll dispute it, and until then, i'm using my friends extra 360 :)

RSHammerhand @ Dec 3rd 2008 12:47AM

My first box died with the E-74 code and it took me forever to figure what the problem was because at that time, that code was not listed on xbox.com. It had something to do with the GPU, or power source, (cord, brick, plugin in back, connection to motherboard...). They wouldnt fix mine for free, but i had a warrenty form Hollywood Video.

AMarine @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:47PM

In regards to the downloading M demos: You have to be 18, 17 doesn't cut it. ESRB regulations prohibit games from delivering advertising content (including videos and demos) to anyone under the age of 18, even tho you can buy the game at 17.

Muckrak3r @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:05PM

I would love to see a Theater option for Gears2 just like Halo3 has. That way me and my buddies can spend hours every night laughing at the complete BULLCRAP that goes on in that game on a regular basis. What kind of bullcrap you ask? How about grenades exploding you from 50 feet away, but not exploding enemies that are standing on them. Or shotgunning a guy 5 times, they don't go down, and they get a one shot kill on you when they finally realize you are shooting at them. Or the headshots that go right through a guys face, and nothing happens. Or the crabwalkers, glitchers, weapon sliders, and so on. We would finally be able to see proof that Gears is such a mess, people wouldnt play it anymore. (like it already dropped off the most played list as it should cuz they ruined the game).

As for the E-74 error, I got that on a one month old arcade unit. I got a new one year warranty on the refurb they sent me. Sux to go from a brand new retail unit to a refurb, but this one has lasted over a year without problems so I guess it was an improvement.

RAY @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:15PM

i got the e-74 error code as well

my 360 still works
but i after i turn it on and off
like 3-5 times before it starts up

ChickenPawks @ Dec 3rd 2008 2:22PM

Hope I don't jinx you with this, but it's only a matter of time before it dies for real. I got the E-74 error on an eBay xbox earlier this year. Did some research and found a few "fixes" on youtube. Turned out my issue was with the GPU (tried different cables, etc.) Ended up taking it to a local shop (I'm in Columbus, OH) where he re-soldered it.
My roommate just had his E-74, too. His is still under warranty, I think, though.
Hopefully, installing games to the HD helps keep the heat, etc. down and prevents this from happening in the future.

Premature ejaculation man @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:22PM

Nuts and bolts has a replay feature =) And a screenshot feature!

AJ @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:26PM

Back in the day all FPS on the PC had saved films or "Demos" as we called them. But... support has to be built for it in the engine from the ground up. All the Quake Games had it, and thus all the quake engine games had it. Since it takes years to create a game and years before that to lay the groundwork for an game engine, we may still yet see more games supporting it. Tony Hawk and NFL Fever supported replays back in the Xbox1 days. It was a great feature.

blue69corvet @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:44PM

to AoE. avatar is bad but i really like king kong when it came out. i rented it on ps2 and thought the game was sweet... as far as i can recall skate was the first game to make videos, where it really mattered.

Dusty T @ Dec 2nd 2008 11:02PM

I am on my sixth 360 and the warranty listed online only gives me three months. I have yet to run out of this three month warranty since they keep killing over on me, but maybe that is a blessing cause I haven't had to buy a new one....yet

kornation @ Dec 3rd 2008 6:07AM

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro17.shtm

Implied Warranty, reason why I have never bought warranty for a product ever.

It basically states that Microsoft and the store implied that your product would...

A. Do as advertised (i.e. play games and watch movies.)

B. Last a reasonable time doing what it was meant to do (so don't use it to hammer nails into a board.)

The extra warranty you buy at a store only adds protection in case you do something stupid like spill coffee over it, even then not all warranty's have accidental clause included so your basically have 2 warranty's doing the same thing, one provided by law and one paid for.

This law also goes over borders, I'm from England yet we have the same law, so does virtually all of Europe and Canada, so as long as you use whatever you bought as it was meant to be used and you don't mess around with it, its covered.

kornation @ Dec 3rd 2008 6:11AM

I forgot to add, this law applies from receiving the product, so if you get a replacement 7 months after first buying it and 7 months later it mess's up again, it only counts the last 7 months of ownership of current product, not the 14months since the original was bought.

Dusty T @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:12AM

So what you are saying is that with every replacement console I should get my full warranty back? Because I'm just not getting another one shipped to me and it will be here on the 4th of December and here is what xbox.com says my warranty date is:

Warranty Type: Repair
Warranty Start:
Warranty Expiration: 2/25/2009 3:59:59 PM

PeteL @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:18AM

When my refurbished 360 broke down last year, I was told that replacement consoles were only getting a 90 day warranty (unless it was RROD). I did not have to put up a fight since I had bought the extended warranty from Microsoft which covers everything for 3 years.

Greg @ Dec 3rd 2008 10:02AM

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts has a "saved film" feature (they call them replays). You can even automaticallly download the saved films for the top 10 people on the (many) leaderboards for each challenge.

Give credit where it's due.

J.R. @ Dec 3rd 2008 12:46PM

Every game should have a 'saved films' feature. Including checkers.

Several years ago my buddies were playing Halo 1 CTF, and I decided to pop in a video tape and record it. Now, whenever I stumble across that tape, it's still fun to watch.

Rewatching games you played with your friends NEVER gets old. There's some games of Splinter Cell multiplayer that I would pay money to watch over again.

RyanTheTragic13 @ Dec 3rd 2008 3:26PM

I just got the e74 code last night and my microsoft warranty is expired...I've had it for about a year and a half. I think its pretty stupid that this isn't covered under the extended 3 year warranty. Fortunately for me, I think I'll be able to get it fixed because I purchased a protection plan from walmart that is still in effect. I'm just concerned about losing all my game saves and downloads if walmart decides to replace my xbox rather than send it in for repairs.