Faceplate
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Mad Catz gets in on the hot Gears action
Mad Catz is always good for a branded peripheral or two, but five? Yes sir, Mad Catz adds to the momentum of the Gears of War hype machine with a Console Crate (pictured right), a Console Skinz and faceplate combo pack, and three additional faceplates.True Gearheads will have some hunting to do. To collect all four faceplates, you'll have to journey to Best Buy, Circuit City, and Gamestop, as each retailer has been stocked with an exclusive plate. We suppose you could order each online and save yourself the trekking, but where's the fun in that? Okay, seriously, does anyone buy faceplates?
Divineo 'evolves' PSP face plates
If Divineo's chrome PSP faceplate wasn't your bag, the Talismoon Evolve series might be.According to Divineo, everything needed to create a new-look PSP is included in a single package, consisting of the faceplate color of your choice, an illustrated diagram, hardened steel jeweler's screwdriver, a dazzling set of diamond series buttons as well as a finely made polishing cloth to preserve the appearance of your PSP for years to come. If you want a custom look for your PSP but can't afford one of Sony's Signature PSPs, this may be an excellent way to go. And for only $15, you won't be out too much if you don't end up liking it. However, keep in mind that removing your face plate will void your PSP's warranty.[Via DCEmu]
Get your bling on with a chrome PSP face plate
If you don't have the cash flow for one of the Playstation Signature PSPs but want to look like you do, you might be interested in this far less expensive alternative - the XCM chrome PSP face plate - for about $23.Available from Divineo's UK site, the face plate gets its unique color and smoothness from a "special process" that supposedly enhances your gaming experience. How it does this is beyond me, but it does sure look purdy. The face plate comes with a new D-pad, all face buttons and a screw driver. And if the chrome color isn't your thing, a "Smooth as Silk" color is also available. Yeah, don't ask.(Via DCEmu forums)
Forza Motorsports 2 faceplate
This Forza Motorsports 2 faceplate popped up at EBGames, on sale September 12. Now we just need a game and a racing wheel to go with it.[Thanks Crimson Angelus]
FIFA World Cup faceplate for cheap
Good news for soccer fans and people who buy Christmas decorations on December 26: Play-Asia has the formerly $25 "official" FIFA World Cup 2006 faceplate for post-Cup price of $6.90 (plus $4 S&H).[Thanks TaQeight]
Gaming with a silver spoon
Since 1830, Chistofle has been about all things silver. So naturally, some 6 generations later, the brand has turned to gaming, becoming the face of your Xbox 360 -- well, maybe, not your Xbox 360, but rather, five rich geeks' 360s.Later this year, the Colette boutique in Paris, will be selling five -- and only five -- solid-silver, Chistofle-branded Xbox 360 faceplates. That's five, solid-silver, Chistofle-branded, €1,000 ($1,260) Xbox 360 faceplates. We suppose there are more pointless and selfish ways to spend that kinda money, but we just can't think of any.
Screw chrome! Silver is the real bling
Our fine friends at Luxist have dropped the curtain on this swanky piece of 360 luxury: a solid silver faceplate. The faceplate is made by (presumably very rich) Christofle -- the name just begs to be italicized -- and designed by (also presumably very rich) Andree Putman. There will only be five (count 'em, five) manufactured in the whole wide world, and, at a cool €1000 ($1250), you'll be hard pressed to get one any time soon. Still, if you're dying to be the King of Bling or...um...the Duke of Krunk, you can go check them out in the Collette boutique in Paris.[Via Luxist]
Naughty Faceplates
Xboxic got some interesting faceplates today from an unidentified source. These Dead or Alive faceplates are almost definitely unofficial but they certainly are, um, eye catching. There are also Scarface and Blue Dragon faceplates in there for some reason. As far as I know, these aren't available at retail. Of course, there's nothing to stop you from making them yourself. Anybody have any other special faceplate designs they'd like to share with the rest of the class? Hit the read link to see more (technically safe for work, but still pretty risqué).
$40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories
Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.
Battle with faceplate packaging ends with bloodshed
Wired Magazine answers a question that has boggled, and ultimately bloodied, consumers the world over? Why the hell is the packaging on electronics-related stuff so ridiculously hard to open? The gory knife wound at right resulted from a near death struggle to free a simple Xbox 360 faceplate from it's vacume sealed plastic prison (You know, the kind that requires a box-cutter, a blow-torch and a plasma donation to scratch). As you might expect, sharp objects and over-eager customers make for a dangerous combination. Emergency room physicians report an anecdotal surge in packaging related injuries as frustrated fanboys slice and dice themselves in a futile attempt to reach their precious cargo. It figures that this river of spilled blood flows toward the almighty dollar:The bottom line is the bottom line. Retailers demand the hard-to-open packaging to avoid "shrinkage," or shoplifting, a problem that cost U.S. stores more than $10 billion a year or $25 million a day, according to statistics from the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention. They also want the item to be visible to customers and capable of withstanding the rigors of long-distance shipping from manufacturing plants in Asia.The worst part is that Moms finally have proof that video games cause violence. Have you ever bought a 360 bundle at Costco and stabbed yourself in the thigh with a steak knife trying to open it?[Via digg]
Rumor: 360 wireless gaming receiver $20; wheel $130; headset $60; camera $40; Halo and Forza faceplates $20 [update 1]
Thanks to a reliable source from Microsoft, we've learned some important details about the new peripherals announced for the Xbox 360, including pricing and a few Halo faceplate (non)specifics. Check out the leaked info and prices below: 360 wireless gaming receiver (which enables wireless 360 controllers, headsets, and wheels on your PC): $20 Wireless racing wheel: $130 Wireless headset: $60 Xbox Live Vision Camera (with headset, one month of Live Gold, and one arcade -- presumably Xbox Live Arcade -- game): $40 New faceplates for Halo (with the Master Chief on 'em, but not Halo 3 specific) and Forza (no word on connections to the sequel): $20 each 256 MB portable memory unit (MU): no official price yet, but definitely not four times the cost of the older 64MB MU Besides acknowledging that the PC is "the biggest gaming device of all," MS appears to be setting an agressive price for its most relevant new PC accessory, the wireless gaming receiver (at least in comparison to the outrageously priced 360 wireless networking adapter). Unfortunately, no price was revealed as of yet for the USB-based HD-DVD add-on.We've speculated in our recent podcasts as to what would happen to the various 360 SKUs when price drops inevitably occur. An interesting theory bandied about by prolific Joystiq Contributor epobirs (on our earlier bump-to-256MB-MU post) was that a $20 price drop for the Core system, coupled with a $20 price drop on the 64MB MU, would finally allow folks to pick up a capable non-Premium bundle for the original $300 Core price point. (Not a bad way to undercut PS2 memory card prices, too.) We hope to get official confirmation on this info in the not-too-distant future.[Update: Sorry, had the camera price wrong in the headline; it now matches the price of the bundle listed in the body of the text below.]See also: 360's Mem Unit getting a bump to 256MB? (Comment from epobirs) Use 360 wireless peripherals with a PC Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Microsoft's Xbox 360 E3 event Joystiq / Engadget podcasts from Day One and Day Two of E3 2006
Uber-bling Lara Croft 360 dazzles
Xbox Germany and Eidos have joined forces to create an uber-bling custom Xbox 360 featuring Lara Croft's attractive visage painstakingly fashioned out of a mosaic of 43,000 tiny crystals. According to GamerScoreBlog, it's worth about $11,000 USD, not including the price of glue. The best part is you don't have to pawn your wife's engagement ring to get it. They're giving the bejeweled beauty away in a contest to promote Tomb Raider: Legends, which, incidentally, has shot to the top of the European sales charts.[Thanks Hector]
Rare Xbox 360 "console" faceplate
Alright collectors, feast your eyes upon this puppy. This "console" faceplate was part of the original preview of future faceplates, but was never released (yet). Somehow (presumably using black magic ... or an undiscovered exploit in the coding of reality), tacohead (probably not his birth name) at lowdown411.com managed to get his mitts on one. He's even generous enough to flaunt it in all our faces. Go and gaze upon that which you cannot have. [Thanks, tacohead]
Sweaty palms? There's a PSP faceplate for you!
Does it upset you that your chronically sweaty, oily mitts are always mussing up the lustrous exterior of your PSP? Want to do something about it? [H] Console has a review of the "flatblack" custom faceplate, which replaces the shiny, fingerprint attracting default faceplate with something that more resembles the back of the unit: a matte, flat black. They say the $35 faceplate does the trick, getting rid of fingerprints from all but the greasiest hands. Installation will void your warranty, and those $17 red replacement buttons do violate our sense of good taste, so tread cautiously. [Via PSP Fanboy]
Team Xtender unveils XCM360 faceplates
Team Xtender has announced their first accessory for the Xbox 360, taking the form of a line of translucent plastic faceplates, allowing you to see behind them. Available colors will be: "Ocean blue, Equinox black, Woodland brown, Apple green, Ruby red, Crystal clear, Amethyst, Sky blue, Crystal lemon, Crystal pink." They say to expect them within the next 2 weeks.I don't know about you guys, but I like the look of the bright green faceplate above more than clear plastic I think. Translucent colored plastic has a really late 90's iMac feel to me. Will Ocean Blue be the same as Bondi Blue?
