Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Next Level of X-Box Modding

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-wait-a-minute dept.

nikitin2k writes "A swedish guy did a really sweet xbox mod. He moved the whole thing into an aluminium chassis, changed the dvd and hdd, installed a mod-chip, wireless lan, leds, switches and Linux. Meet the xXx-box. The site is in swedish, but the pics speak for themselves. Lots of pictures here." I gotta ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer? The green lighting is a nice touch tho.

13 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Sometimes by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sometimes, as most geeks out there know, it's OK do to something silly just because you can. Sure, it probably be smarter to just buy a PC or buy the parts to build one, but many people get into either the 'coolness' factor or the 'because it was there' reasoning. Nothing wrong with that.

    1. Re:Sometimes by simong_oz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know a lot of great things have come about because someone, somewhere, at some time has thought "Because it's there". See my sig for the classic (and my favoursite) example, but there are many others.

      In fact, you could say that it is that inquisitive attitude that is the reason we (as a human race) are so successful.

      --
      "Because it's there." - George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, March 18, 1923 (New York Times)
  2. The point to give up by questamor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?

    probably at the point where imagination gives up, I think most mods are useless from a practical point of view but feh, you have fun doing it

  3. An Xbox because: by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?

    If you ask me, yes. First of all it's a nice feeling to buy something and give it a personal touch. On top of that a comparable sized PC hardware would probably be hard and or expensive to find (can't look at the pics, /.ed).

    And it's always nice to do something which is supposed to be impossible and or has been made hard to do.

    It's all about the sense of accomplishment :)

    --
    .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
  4. Why? by DarklordJonnyDigital · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You ask why? I think the question is, why not?

    Running a webserver on an X-Box or a GBA, we geeks do it because we can. It was the same with the Linux Dreamcast and the laptop Amiga 600 before it. I mean, at least now the X-Box is good for something - heaven knows it's already the SIZE of a server case... ;)

  5. The point is... by MojoMonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer? The green lighting is a nice touch tho.

    What's the point? Well, since the site is slashdotted, I was unable to read the article.... but, the point is, to have a nice looking machine... that, get this, plays X-BOX games. I'm sick and tired of the "buy a $300 Walmart PC", for most people a $300 Walmart PC doesn't DO what the want to do. Believe it or not, hardware doesn't mean squat if it doesn't run the software you want.

    --

    ----- "Blame the guy who doesn't speak English." -- Homer J. Simpson
  6. Ummm.... by corporal_clegg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?

    Since when did heavy case modding ever make sense? Isn't the point to do something frivolously cool?

    --


    public void karmaWhore(String url){addSlashdotComment(fetchContent(url));}
    1. Re:Ummm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Since when did Slashdot have anything interesting to post to the front page anyway? 1999? It's been going downhill ever since. Jesus Christ, xbox case mods? Who the fuck cares? Does this look like Toms Hardware or some fucking gamer site?

  7. Point? by freeweed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?

    Right about when a regular computer is capable of playing Xbox games.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  8. Enough with all the congratulations by EpsCylonB · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Enough with all the "why not ?" and "cause it's never been done before" justifications.

    He changed the DVD, the HDD, he added loads of extra hardware.

    It's no longer a friggin XBox!

  9. Typical /. crowd... by nautical9 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Figures that when a case mod article is posted like this one where the editor says "at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?", almost every response is "because it's cool, you dolt!".

    Yet when a case mod is posted without that disclaimer, everyone claims "this is sooo non-news... why, oh why would anyone bother doing this?"

    Poor /. editor's ain't gettin' no respect...

  10. If you don't get it, that's fine... by TellarHK · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But I just don't understand why people who don't get the concept of modding a case as fun keep posting about it every time something like this makes the front page. Sure, there may have been other more technically inclined posts that could have made the front page instead, but why worry? If they're really important enough, they'll get posted whether this goes up or not.

    I like to see this kind of news, I find it amusing and kinda cool. I haven't gotten into the case mod thing yet myself, but have been seriously considering a few ideas that come very close. I'd like to propose a new section of Slashdot for the kinds of news that don't quite fall under the other categories. The "It's funny, laugh." category here doesn't seem quite right. How about a "Geek Culture" section to catch the items that keep getting responses like this? Sure, some people will debate the specifics of Geek Culture, but I think it's pretty easily defined.

    Unfortunately, I'm at work so can't really put the time into it (started this paragraph three times already) so maybe someone else can pick up the slack?

    I'd like to point out that modding the Xbox would be quite fun. I've wondered just how much I could get away with on mine since I just got it. Perhaps trying to build a megaconsole might be in the cards soon, taking the boards from a PS2 and an Xbox and seeing what I can stuff in one case...

    --
    My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
  11. $300 Walmart PC by sparkhead · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm sick and tired of the "buy a $300 Walmart PC", for most people a $300 Walmart PC doesn't DO what the want to do.

    For most people, a $300 Walmart PC does do everything they want it to do.

    Slashdot readers are not "most people".