Showing posts with label XBOX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label XBOX. Show all posts

Gaming brothers

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , , , | Posted on 8:42 PM

Recently in class, Professor K discussed how virtual gaming is actually a mode of communication. I never would have considered it until meeting my husband. Zach and I have a Wii, an Xbox, and a broken Xbox 360, but we are not constantly gaming. Usually we play video games as a social activity when others visit our apartment or if we are strapped for cash and don't want to spend money on a night out. Recently we sent the broken Xbox 360 to be fixed, and Microsoft sent us a refurbished one for free! Thanks Microsoft!


So my husband's Christmas gift to himself is buying a controller and some games for the new game console. Zach's brothers love video games, and one brother is particularly obsessed with Xbox 360. When we were home over Thanksgiving, one of his brothers said, "Once I have Modern Warfare 2, I will have everything I need in life." Haha, he is of course joking, but Zach is really looking forward to fixing up his Xbox 360 now to play with his brothers. He will use Xbox Live in order to use the Internet to play with them.

You see, Zach and I live about an hour away from our families. An hour is not a horrible distance, but it does make it so that all our interactions with them revolve around holidays. We don't have the convenience of just driving down the road, hanging out for a few hours, and then going home to bed --- especially not with our crazy work/band/school schedules. Here is part of his family.

That's where this great gaming is a communication tool comes into play. In a few short days, Zach will be able to play video games with his brothers who are an hour away. Xbox Live is a service that allows players to interact with each other via the Internet. Physical boundaries are unnecessary in gaming on Xbox now. Plus Xbox Live allows you to check your e-mail, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, and it allows you to steam Netflix movies after you pay the service fee! It is a pretty cool thing.

My husband gets the chance at casual, daily interactions with his brothers now. Of course he calls and e-mails, but all that allows is for them to talk about their feelings and stuff. Now they can shoot guns and kill zombies! It's brotherly bonding time!

Below is a trailer for one of their favorite video games. Caution, violent content.


For now,
Dana

XBOX Media Center, our Saving Grace

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , | Posted on 11:34 PM

Zach’s friend turned his old XBOX into a media center; naturally, Zach had to figure out this technology for himself. I am IN LOVE with our XBOX media center! Seriously. Let me tell you what it does.

I turn on the XBOX and the television in our living room. The XBOX is hooked up to an old computer hard drive that is stored in our coat closet. This computer hard drive is the hub of the media center and stores all of our files. After I select the right input to display the XBOX media center on my TV screen, the fun begins. Stored on our XBOX, we have 19 television series and 51 movies. A lot of these movies and television shows are ones we bought, but we also copy our friends’ purchased movies and television shows sometimes (Hey, don’t judge. We’re poor college students). We also store both of our iTunes collections through the XBOX media center. So, we can watch television shows and movies or listen to music through our great television and sound system. Plus Zach just figured out a way to use this technology in our bedroom’s technology. I honestly have no idea how he pulled that off because we don’t have a XBOX in there. He said he figured out with some iPhone remote controller app. Who knows.

Anyways, it’s really convenient to access all of our media through this system. We don’t have to worry about DVD’s scratching as well. Living with a tech junkie definitely has its perks. It’s neat to see how tech junkies can turn their love into productive, helpful products/services for others. I've been learning a lot about it in COM 435, and it's even better to reap the benefits of it at home.

For now,

Dana


P.S. Enjoy our new favorite movie trailer.

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