Ask X3F: Frame City who edition

It's Tuesday, time for another installment of Ask X3F, the community powered feature where we ask you to ask us your most pressing Xbox 360 questions. This week we talk Jasper, Rock Band 2 song transfers and downloadable content. We also talk about both the 360 HD DVD player and Frame City Killer. Honestly, we're as surprised as you are. On the other hand, we wouldn't be surprised if you've never even heard of Frame City Killer. Come, learn about Frame City Killer and learn about the many ways your 360 HD DVD is still useful.

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 X3f. I am thinking of getting Rock Band 2, but I also want to get Rock Band 1 and transfer the files over as mentioned in your demo vid. However, I am a savvy shopper and want to buy it used. Will a used copy of Rock Band allow me to transfer over music files even if this has already been done by the previous owner.
Thanks

As far as we know, there is nothing stopping you from procuring a used copy of Rock Band and transferring all the tracks to Rock Band 2, even if someone has already used the same disc to do so. In fact, you could easily just rent Rock Band and transfer the songs. After all, you no longer need the original Rock Band disc once the transfer is complete. Once you pick up Rock Band 2, you should have all the songs from Rock Band for $5 plus a rental fee. Not too shabby.

We should note that we haven't actually tried this, but we do know that there is no authentication during any of the transfer process, so it should work just fine.

I've got a question for you cats... What is the word on this Jasper chip? Every bit of news we heard about it in the last year pointed toward an August release... Here we are nearly halfway through September and I cannot even find one mention of anyone getting their hands on this newer, cooler system. So while I know MS is hardly gonna pull out the trumpets and make a big deal out of it (plenty of Falcons still on the shelves and such) it would be nice to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about. Is it coming? Has it already arrived? Do we just raid our local retailers looking for boxes built in the last month? Was it all a big lie?!!? Dear God help me, my 360 is on it's last legs, I don't know how much longer I can take it!!

You're not going to like this, but honestly don't have an answer for you. If Jasper had been released, chances are we would have heard about it by now. And if we hadn't heard about it, our source for such things, Xbox-Scene, definitely would have heard about it. Alas, it appears that the latest round of price-reduced 360 consoles is using the same ol' motherboards, so we'll likely have to wait a bit longer.

If you just have to have a Jasper unit, we suggest you wait for the holiday sales surge to begin, allow the retail channel to be restocked with new units. Once Microsoft starts shipping consoles that have the New Xbox Experience pre-installed (which should be happening in the next few months), we'd say it's a safe bet those consoles will have a Jasper board.

Few questions for you guys.
1) With the marketplace flooded with content and the lack of room in my dorm, i find myself going to digital downloads of my favorite TV shows (something i vowed never to do). My 120gb HDD is cramped. Do i need to make a list of all the content i own so i can delete and redownload it when i wish to or is there a better way?
2) I'm using the HD-DVD player addon as a way of extra USB ports (have my wi-fi plugged into it). Is there any other use to it these days and/or does the quality of a normal DVD differ from playing in it versus the 360 itself?
3) Was i the only one disappointed when Frame City Killer was cancelled way back at launch?

-Rick

1) You can access a list of everything you've ever downloaded on your Xbox 360 -- click Download History under the Account Management category in the Marketplace blade -- though we're not sure we'd call it a "better" way. As we said, this just brings up an unsorted list of every single piece of content you've ever downloaded. In other words, actually writing down the details of whatever you delete will be faster than trying to find it in your history.

2) As a matter of fact, there is another use for the HD DVD player, several in fact. While it doesn't do anything special for your DVDs -- the Xbox itself will upscale them, after all -- it does make a handy coaster, serving platter, doorstop, bookend, or cutting board.

3) No. Frame City Killer looked like it could have been a very decent game.

Hey All,

I decided to err against all the bad reviews and buy Too Human. And well I can't get enough loot or leveling up goodness (seriously, who did they piss off to get so many bad reviews). Anyways, there are a lot of doorways in Aesir that don't open and have a red symbol above them. Is there a reason for this? Is there some way to unlock them to gain more stuff? Or did they include it for DLC for later? Any thoughts, ideas or knowledge? I think there were a couple spots in cyberspace as well that looked like there was stuff there but no way to get there (one place had a broken bridge i couldn't traverse).

Thanks
Bill E Sixtoes

We too have been wondering what those doors are all about. We've yet to open one, even after multiple play-throughs of the campaign. There are rumors circulating that the doors will indeed be used for DLC, specifically adding a bank to the Aesir hub city that would allow users with multiple characters to trade items between them. In other words, if your Commando finds epic armor for a Berserker, you could conceivably transfer it to your Berserker. That sounds like the kind of thing the doors could be used for. For the sake of speculation, it's also possible Silicon Knights could even add more campaign missions to the game as well.

We know that Too Human will have some kind of DLC, as there are already armor and weapon stores tied to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Or, as our own Xav de Matos guesses, the doors could simply be the entrance to the Valkyrie lunch room.

Hey Guys,

I've seen Major Nelson give away codes for XBLA games. I was wondering if it's possible for others that don't work for Microsoft, to purchase the code for games somehow, so we could have the option to give the code away to other people.

Doll

There is no way (that we know of) to buy actual codes for any sort of downloadable content. Right now, the only way to buy Marketplace content for someone else is to buy them a Microsoft Points card. It was possible for a short time to gift Microsoft Points via the internet but, as we mentioned in a recent Ask X3F, that feature has been put on hold for the foreseeable future.

So, you can't give the gift of an Xbox Live Arcade game, but you can get close.

Hey guys,

I know we all have hectic lives, but what when will the next X3F Live game night be held? I know that there is another fanboy sight out there that has a weekly game night. Have you guys considered making this a weekly event? Thanks, and keep up the good work.

Ben [Gamertag: ObiBen8]

Ben, you're right. It's been too long. We can't say for sure when the next X3F Live will be, but we'll try to organize one soon. Now would probably be a good time for us to ask for suggestions as to what game we should play. Duke Nukem 3D perhaps?

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