you'd have separate cables for audio/video


and unless you had some kind of splitter, you wouldn't be able to do both

Go monoprice for a VGA switchbox. Ghetto looking, but cheap. You don't need the mouse/keyboard switching that a KVM box provides - http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...d=10106&style=

Check you monitor, it may have more than one VGA input. The xbox VGA cable comes with the adapter for sound. It combines red and white rca to headphone size jack. Or if you have an optical input on your computer you could use that as well. You can stream MP3 or WMA from a PC or iPod. No hang ups, I find that it runs very smooth. Great for games like UNO and Texas Hold'em.

For audio, the official MS VGA cable comes with this:



Plug the red and white audio cables in one end, and the other end goes into your PC speakers. The third-party VGA cables do not come with this adapter, but you can get it at Radio Shack for a dollar or two.

For switching between Xbox360 and PC, I recommend this switcher:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817107210

I have been using it for the last half year and it works perfectly. You can switch between 360 and PC at the touch of a button.

Cool. Didn't even know that something like that existed.

Also, as a few people above mentioned, the VGA cable comes with the audio splitter thing, so no need to track that down separately. I used the VGA cable when I first got my 360 and was playing on an LCD monitor, but now it's hooked up to my HDTV via component. I guess I just forgot that the splitter was included.

The environmental hazards in Bullet Marsh and Garden sound pretty awesome. That sort of stuff should add a little variety to Gears nights. I'll pick it up if enough people here get it.

Or at least one DVI and one VGA, like most of the Ultrasharp Dell models. Many people here at work have brought in XBox 360's to hook up to their monitors, since there's multiple outputs like S-Video as well. Even the 19" Ultrasharp can switch between DVI and VGA with ease.

I'm down for the new maps. They gave us two free maps already and I feel I've gotten a lot of play out of the game. For me it's worth a few bucks.

I actually finished GOW!!! Not sure if I am ready for multiplayer yet. I am just not good at co-op play. I'd rather just jump in and shoot things. :-) I'll get the maps anyway and try my hand at it. My work schedule is FINALLY easing up (no more 12 hour days!!!!) so I can FINALLY get back into online gaming and getting my ass kicked. Fun times...fun times... :-)

BTW - Kelly Clarkson's new song kicks ass! LOL

Four maps for $10 seems a bit too steep but I'm thinking for GoW players it's worth it. The fac that they are free after September is a great bonus. I never paid for the original Halo 2 maps. Hopefully by September Gears will be cheaper so I can pick it up. It's not a $60 game to me. (Despite loving Unreal and Halo/Halo 2, there's not many FPSs I really like). I did like GRAW, but only the multiplayer playing with you guys.

Vandelay, you can have as many MP3s as you want. What you need to worry about is not your 360, but the PC where you keep this media. I had all my MP3s loaded for a while until I noticed that WindowsMedia was taking up 200MB+ of RAM all the time. I since knocked this down to about 1000 MP3s and it's manageable. The novelty of playing music has escaped me, especially since I'm playing a lot of Halo 2 (where the feature doesn't work).

I remember someone saying you could make a playlist that linked to internet radio (Soma.FM for example) but I never got that working. The Xbox couldn't "see" the Playlist. I'm also having trouble playing my Amazon Unbox videos, it gives me some digital rights error (yay DRM).

I also have to recommend 3D Golf. I didn't like it the first time I played through all the holes because the game needs a bit getting used to. Once I got used to it, the online multiplayer was a lot of fun. Everyone I played it was extremely nice and chatty and I spent about two hours on Saturday afternoon making friends. It's one of those games where you need to talk so you don't get bored (like UNO or Pinball) but it's a bit more fun than either of those. Too bad it's $10.

That is why I've been pushing for the ability to copy mp3 files to the 360 harddrive. MS isn't ever going to allow it though. So I resort to a 2GB USB memory stick... that works great without taxing my PC.

Yes, you can make a playlist to link to internet radio, but that requires Media Center running on your PC. If you don't have Media Center, then you should be running TVersity (and ditch Windows Media Connect).

I did the exact opposite with Gears I started playing multiplayer first, right now I am only on Act 2. I can only imagine it would be easier for you since you know how the weapons and cover work.

I did it the same ways as you. Maybe we should hook up for some co-op so I can complete the game.

Hopefully you see this Lucky.

Sounds good, send me an invite when you have time to play. I am currently going through Act 2 on casual.

Dang it. My Xbox 360 has died - got those 3 red flashing lights that everyone loves so much. Got them a week after I updated Guitar Hero II - coincidence? Out of my core group of friends, 5 of us have 360's....mine is the 4th one to go in the last 2 months... frustrating!!!! (and honestly, I'm not that upset about the gaming - I'm still working on Paper Mario - but now my 40 HD DVDs are temporarilly useless!!! And of course it happens now, when the wait for Catan to hit live is finally over).

HERE is little explanation of the 360's design flaw (X-clamps) that is what might be causing all the 3-red-lights-of-death. But it's mostly about how to fix it yourself, if you're so inclined.

Here are the results from 102 people that tried this fix:

1. Fixed the 3RLOD, No issues at all now, No freezes, works fine - 98
2. Fixed the 3RLOD, still video freezes occasionally - 1
3. Mixed results, sometimes works with no 3LOD - 1
4. Didn't fix the 3LOD - 2

I tried out Catan before work this morning. The interface is really excellent (once you get past the short learning curve). You can easily access a "cheat sheet" that shows which materials are needed to buy each piece, and you can quickly see how many victory points each player has. The trade interface takes a little getting used to but seems really flexible. I only played the introductory "Learn While You Play" mode, which I'd recommend to anyone new to Catan, or anyone like me who was a little rusty on the rules. Hopefully some of us can get a game going tonight. The game is fun even against the AI, but I bet it's much better playing with other people. Highly recommended to fans of strategy and board games.

One of the exact reasons why I don't see how anyone would confidently subscribe to a MS television service. If your 360 dies, not only are you out gaming, but watching and recording tv as well. No thanks.

It looks like this board game (1995) was inspired by the Settler series (my favorite game of all time), created by Blue Byte in the late 1980's.

I will probably download this and give it a try.

Chris

I'll be playing some Catan later today.... if you see me on there, let's get it on!

1600 points arrived in the mail today. Here I come Catan.

What is this Catan you people keep talking about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlers_of_Catan

Also check out this URL http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13

Is there no demo for Catan or something? The only thing I have on my list to download is the full game for 800 points or a theme.