Slashdot Mirror
The Next Level of X-Box Modding
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.
Apparently he's serving the images from his Xbox too...
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
Reliable, Great Value Hosting: $7.95/mo 2.4G/120G
Pretty classy look. If I ever made a XBox mod, I'd probably end up making something really unique, like making it look like a toaster.
My <1000 UID is with a hot chick
A Dell would have been cheaper!
zee svedeesh meet bull X-Bux.
bork bork bork!
"If you loved me, you`d all kill yourselves today"
Spider Jerusalem
I mean, how dumb do you think we are? I checked the site, and there's not a "bork bork bork" anywhere!
49 20 68 61 76 65 20 74 6F 6F 20 6D 75 63 68 20 66 72 65 65 20 74 69 6D 65 2E
I'm totally jaded to xbox mods now....
It won't impress me unless someone manages to cross fruit and an X-box. "Banana Box" "Lemon-Lime Box".....
or turn the X-Box into a Cray....
or implant a X-box into an unsuspecting human and unleash him at a Linux fest.....
otherwise, YAWN!...back to my 'L'-Box.........
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.
I'm behind a firewall so I can't see the pics right now, but Xbox modding is something that is a really interesting topic right now. The whole thing of MS not wanting you to do things to your own system etc. It is refreshing to see someone actually mod their Xbox and not just paint the plastic X on the top red and call it modding or hacking.
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
I gott ask tho, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer?
/.ed).
:)
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,
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
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...
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
He changed the DVD!
.. But he got slashdotted.
He changed the HD!
He inserted a wireless network card!
He installed Linux on it!
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
The case actually looks like an old JVC receiver case. And why would you take an X-box and place it into another chassis and turn it into a Linux box... wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just use regular PC components?
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
"[...]at what point would it have made more sense just to[...]"
Huh? Think Mt Everest - because it is there.
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));}
So the Xbox is a PC made for console gaming.
He switched the Xbox into a PC.
Wow...you just blew my mind.
"It's a tarp!" -- Dyslexic Admiral Ackbar
...not when I looked after 35 comments, anyway.
maybe you aren't prepared to wait more than half a second for the server to fill you request ?
oh yeah, the mod? Nice neat job, certainly better looking than an X-Box case - but it's still an X-Box, and now it takes up 3 times as much space.
Eeeeewwww! Microsoft!
That was classic intercourse!
i can't believe noone has made an xbox-powered vacuum cleaner yet...
Hostes alienigieni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
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.
Kathleen has finally done it. She's turned Rob into a normal guy. Let this serve as a warning to all you geeks out that, this is what marriage will do. It'll strip you of your desire for case mods, installing Linux on anything with an electronic pulse or ability to see if articles have already been posted! *shudder*
Rob. Put the mouse down, move away from the computer, leave the room, turn the lights off, get your sixpack and ride your lawnmower around the yard (or w/blade, plow driveway.)
I knew this day was coming. I've also noticed Gabe at Penny Arcade has begun to lose his hand to eye coordination, so vital in video games. Next thing you know, he'll be playing strategy games.
Come to think of it, loss of hand to eye coordination is probably as good an excuse as any to convert that old Xbox into a server.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Imagine how difficult it was if he typed it using an Xbox controller on a slashdotted Xbox ? ;-)
Trolling using another account since 2005.
One Finnish XXX site called "XXX-Box" just got into trouble because of their name. MS lawyer contacted them insisting that the name needs to be changed. This poor Swede will most likely face the same problem very soon.
This would fit in nicely with a home entertainment center, especially if some of your other components have the classic 80's silver finish.
He forgot to add the 8-track!
Got sushi? The Sushi FAQ
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!
Mirror here.
2 5_xbox_mod.php?page=15
wget --page-requisites --convert-links 'http://www.sweclockers.com/html/artikel/art_0302
ex$$
... whenever I see one of these modding projects I get this odd taste in my mouth and it all reminds me too much of my gawky teenage years and the mech-geeks that would mod Puch Maxi mopeds to go 100km/h either by using illegal german tuning kits or by drilling or filing various parts of it.
... pratical vehicle. With its slim bycyclish appearance it looked kinda stupid with a death-defying teenager on top of it at a hundred kilometers per hour.
To those who don't know the Puch Maxi let's describe it as a
Whenever modding is brought up I come to think of these things.
Sorry, flame me to death now.
naah sig schmig
I'm I going to get modded as redundant for that [sic] I put up there :-)
I really should be stoned for this one...
Hate me!
Er, CmdrTaco, are you quite sure this is about hardware?
Being at work, it put me into a dilemma: to click or not to click?
Slashdot has done it, They've melted his X-Box modded box!
Oh the Humanity!!!!
~ kjrose
I meun, hoo doomb du yuoo theenk ve-a ere-a? I checked zee seete-a, und zeere's nut a "bork bork bork" unyvhere-a!
Translation courtesy of The Dialectizer". For effect, here's the Slashdot summary:
Zee Next Lefel ooff X-Bux Muddeeng Herdvere
Pusted by CmdrTecu oon Tooe-a Feb 25, '03 08:04 EM
frum zee noo-veeet-a-meenoote-a dept.
Um de hur de hur de hur. neekitin2k vreetes "A svedeesh gooy deed a reelly sveet xbux mud. Bork bork bork! He-a mufed zee vhule-a theeng intu un eloomeenioom chessees, chunged zee dfd und hdd, instelled a mud-cheep, vureless lun, leds, sveetches und Leenoox. Meet zee xXx-bux. Zee seete-a is in svedeesh, boot zee peecs speek fur zeemselfes. Um gesh dee bork, bork! Luts ooff peectoores here-a" I gutt esk thu, et vhet pueent vuoold it hefe-a mede-a mure-a sense-a joost tu booy a regooler cumpooter? Zee greee leeghting is a neece-a tuooch thu.
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...
..why did he waste xbox on it? he wanted to play halo?
after so extensive modding he could just have used a proper smallish motherboard for the job(mATX/itx/whatever), and then he could have also had more memory than xbox's 64mb.
yea i'm bitchin and it yes it does look nice and is a cool project, but it's like modding a dodge neon into viper and leaving the neon's engine block in it.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Well good thing he's running Linux, since a real xbox DVD drive has weird microsoft stuff[tm] in it, like provision for reading backwards I think? And it isn't on a normal ATA channel.. it's probably some weird abstracted serialized ATA
;p)
So this wouldn't play games.. which, lets face it, the x-box does reasonably well.. except the DoA ones (dead on arrival, not dead or alive
at what point does an x-box mod stop being an x-box? how many components do you need to change before it looses the quintessential element of x-boxyness? is it the processor? the case? the BIOS, perhaps? all seems a bit silly to me.
can it still play XBox games? ;)
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
Pictures only here. Please be gentle...
Who did what now?
The game selection is far inferior in quantity to PS2 (if you dig quantity) or quality to the Gamecube. It's an oversized mess with lousy games and decent graphics. BTW: I have an Xbox, it was a gift. The gaming experience is SO inferior to by Gamecube (4 Wavebirds vs. a couple of clunkers). The games are inferior. And everything is built to appeal to sex-starved teenagers.
Compare Beach Spikers (GCN), a really fun volleyball game with some over-the-top scenes, to DOA X Extreme Beach Volleyball, a collection of gratuitous scenes with casino, "hopping game," and volleyball miniggames.
You get the Xbox as a gift, or the "wow, it's got a powerful video card" factor. Nobody gets the Xbox for the software, unless they already have a PS2 and GCN and wanted to play a particular game (Buffy is pretty cool).
Alex
..what other use could an XXX-box have?? ;-)
Learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't enough time to make them all yourself.
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
http://www.ssc.com/lj/linuxsay.html
Here I thought I was pretty hardcore chopping up old cases for mounting parts to build a portable mini-itx box into a toolbox.
This guy is the poster child for "too much time on your hands".
Snow Day, Snow Day, no work today, I wish my fscking gp32 would come in from the UK today...
For most people, a $300 Walmart PC does do everything they want it to do.
Slashdot readers are not "most people".
'A rose by any other name would still smell just as sweet.' - Applies for bad(ish) things, too. Like the Xbox. You can dress it up all you want, I still won't go near it.
But that's just me, and my pesky preferences. *hugs his PS2, GameCube, and Game PC*
Informatus Technologicus
Dear Mrs. Malda,
Please do the community a favor. Tomorrow, stand behind your husband with a large foam bat, and every time he misspells a word, or uses a non-word like "tho", club him.
I gottTHWACK ask thoTHWACK, at what point would it have made more sense just to buy a regular computer? The green lighting is a nice touch thoTHWACK.
www.eFax.com are spammers
More importantly, when does it cease to be a mod and actually just become taking a piece of hardware from once place and 90% of your other hardware from elsewhere? Great, he has the XBOX CPU.... and that's it. New case, peripherals... if you've ever taken any courses in cognitive thinking, at some point this ceases to be an XBOX... I believe this passed that point.
Ok guys, I made the xXx-BOX, why ? I can sit here I day talking about how cool it is, and you modify thing just becuase it can be done and so on. But the real reason is probably just to little sex :-D
Seriously, I know it's crazy, it's expensive, it's totally fucked up really, but hey it's casemodding. I don't need more computers, I don't need the extra harddrive, I probably won't even play the darn thing :-D I just wanted to build one....
Bullshit. I have an Xbox, and I've got more games for it than for my PS2 and Gamecube put together. Sure, there's one or two crap titles, but I've got crap games for the PS2 as well (The Bouncer - WTF was I thinking?)
On top of that, Xbox Live is a lot of fun. Load up MechAssault, Ghost Recon, or Unreal Championship and blast away with full voice support, so you can talk trash while you're lighting people up.
And, there's Splinter Cell, which isn't even out for the other two consoles yet.
In short, don't dismiss the Xbox just because you think people don't play games on theirs. I don't even have a modchip in mine, let alone Linux, and I'm perfectly happy with it.
Right before he started.....
Yeah, those rock. Dell uses a similar design for its cases but you can't run a Dell with the door open like you can a Mac tower.
I suspect you could put a PC mobo in one of those, but you would probably have to recable everything. And it wouldn't be as neat on the inside because the cabling inside a Mac Mini-tower is specifically designed for it. Much of the wiring is routed under the motherboard.
There have been several instances where Mac Logic Boards have been put into ATX cases. It does work, but to do it right you really have to have to drill new holes in the motherboard tray to accomodate the different hole pattern. That mickey-mouse job that the guy who was featured on The Screen Savers did won't cut it. Plastic cable ties? Please. You need to ground a logic/motherboard to the case in specific places. I'm sure that kludge job had nasty shorting problems.
I was at a CrapUSA and saw a whole bunch of micro-ATX minitower cases which were vague ripoffs of the Apple case. Smokey plastic with beige plastic, internal metal infrastructure, cheaply built with the finest Chinese slave labor. I would have grabbed one but it seems to use a non-standard size power supply...not an ATX, not a SFX-L or SFX-S, but something weird. I decided it would be too much of a hassle to chase a decent replacement down, so I gave it a miss.
And why did someone do this? The classic Geek reason: "Because I can." I think the person who did this would be happier with a nice ASUS A7N266-AA motherboard in there and an Athlon XP with a Thoroughbred core, but there would be nothing remarkable about it. This guy did the mod for the hack value alone.
"But you've already got a DVD. It lasts forever....In the digital world, we don't need back-ups..."
-- Jack Valenti
I like this one:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/toasterpc/
I am dumbfounded by these posts and comments that constantly ask "why not buy/build a regular PC?" VERY SIMPLE ANSWER - A REGULAR PC DOES NOT PLAY X-BOX GAMES. There are other things you can do with this other than run a crappy port of Mandrake. We would like to "ignore" the backup scene, but simply put, you can store TONS of x-box games on a replacement hard drive. The replaced optical drive does the trick for reading CD-R rips that the X-Box wouldn't normally read. A PC would be pointless if you were actually interested in playing any real x-box games.
Wrong, I do. I'm not a fan of MS, but I actually bought an Xbox for the select few games that it can run. While I will not argue that there are more games on Xbox or that those games are overall higher quality, you should keep a couple things in mind:
:)
a) some people (like me) will buy xbox just to play a few games that they really like, even if they don't play them all that often. In other words, I'm willing to pay a premium and accept (much) fewer choices in games if those few games that I do choose play better or are offered only in Xbox (or at least with unique features, i.e., internet play).
b) xbox live (internet/multiplayer support) is far superior to what is offered on for playstation and gamecube. For some people (again, like me) the ability to play online games is HUGE, especially since I find most single player games absolutely mind numbingly dull.
c) the graphics are in fact substantially better on xbox. Although I hate most single player games, I do enjoy Splinter Cell, in large part because of the graphics. It's not just "oh wow I have a powerful video card", but that it adds depth to the environment and contributes substantially to playability. I don't believe that you'll see a good port of it on PS2 or a game approaching that level of graphics on the other platforms.
Now this is not to argue that this constitutes a successful business model for MS. Most kids may be deterred from buying xbox because of the relative lack of games and the prices. Players like me (i.e., those that will opt for xbox for xbox live, graphics, and those select few games) are probably too small of a niche to profit from on this sort of venture, but that still does not mean that it is not the best choice for players such as myself. Frankly, I'd love to see MS fail here, even if I did purchase Xbox
This is probably the best "pro" XBox argument I've ever seen, and the only one I actually agree with.
It's no secret I actually like my GC and PS2 over my XBox, but I will say that I would never get rid of my XBox (though it did die on me and I had to send it in for warrenty work).
Really though it only has a few good games, I do actually LIKE those few games, and I like them quite a bit. So the system does have it's uses.
I personally would not recommend it as someone's sole system, though.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
who puts "MOD this person down!!!!AAA++++" in the subject of their post. Then proceeds to troll using foul language out of context, whilst posting as anonymous user.
In summary the lowest form of life.
This is a very nice piece of work. Not to mention I have "modded" a few things in my lifetime. Well maybe not so much modded as built something just for the cool factor. Well that almost true. I mean the one thing that I have thought in the past few years that needed to be produced but still hasn't was a really good set top box for the PC. This device is almost what I was thinking although I will not pay the X-Box game prices.
I built a nice little set top out of a very small flex case, ATI All-In-Wonder, Linux, wireless LAN etc. It works unbelieveably well but I wish I could build something as nice as this. I am not the hardware geek that this guy is but I wish I were because I think I would be building some (non-proprietory systems and selling them. I'd buy his work. The level of craftmanship is beyond reproach in this case.
"Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you. Cry, and they still think its funny." - Mr. Boffo
A better question would be how the /. servers can routinely deal with the user traffic, while those of much larger organizations cannot. Screw selling banner ads, you guys, sell the secret technology you use for serving up so many freakin web hits!
"gott = gotta
"gotta" = "got to". Sadly, for someone complaining about "Basic English", YOU FAIL IT"
Actually your correction of his correction would still leave the original sentence as "I got to ask though...", so we're looking at:
gott -> gotta -> got to -> have to.
FINAL EVOLUTION! CORRECT ANSWER! I WIN! BRING ON THE SCHOOLGIRLS!
graspee
OH! I get it!
He modded it to make the case smaller, right?
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Wow, even the mirror was /.ed
Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -FB
Doesn't it?
It's the PCI slots that made me think so.
In addition to their great single and multiplayer modes, some of those games also have online multiplayer and online new missions (without PC-patch-upgrade-Windows hell), and a lot also support system link (without the LAN-party PC-patch-upgrade-reinstall-new-hardware-Windows hell). The Xbox is a better gaming PC, and the best console for multi-platform releases.
If you don't have an Xbox to play the games, sell it. Or go to an EB and ask someone what games are good. Don't whine about it like a spoiled brat.
Note: I own almost every console (next-gen, first-gen, etc), and have over 200 games. If a console has more than 7 good games, I buy it and the games. Very, very few consoles actually can't reach that limit; the Xbox had no problem doing it (although the GCN does have ~20 great games).
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
....
I type this every time.In the abscence of slashdot doing what they should (mirroring small sites prior to posting links to them), I suggest they add top level support for supplying a mirror. I am sick and tired of read through all thr crufty comments looking for those one or two external links which are mirrors. Why not give a submitter the ability to mark a URL as a mirror to the posted story, then list the mirrors near the top, by the story.
Oh wait, I retract my suggestion because, after all, this is slashdot. I don't want to see 15 links for every story that all point to goatse.cx
Scott
Just goto www.sweclockers.com
you'll see at lease 1 or 2 pics of it
I thought it meant that the same story or article kept getting posted over and over and over... :-)
Murphy was an optimist.
I'll tell you why. You need Xbox innards to play games like Halo. And Halo. And oh yeah, don't forget Halo!
That's about it.
How about a picture of it doing something other than sitting there being lit? Like playing a game? My xbox doesn't work at the moment, but I can still make a nice green light in it.
Maybe there was a picture of this and I missed it?
Ravi
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
Lemme get this straight- the dude guts the box, throws in a mod chip, some lights, a new hdd, and installs linux.
Shouldn't this thing really be called an ex-XBox?
Quote from a Swedish friend of mine to an American one:
:P
Bork! Bork! Bork! is Swedish for OMFG! We make the best food!
-- If at first you do succeed, try to hide your astonishment. -- Harry F. Banks
Thanks to comment http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=55018&cid=5378 313 I've set up a mirror of his/her mirror at http://www.fibrespeed.net/~mbabcock/mirrors/www.to mmarsh.net/xmod/
It is still downloading from the original site, so some pictures may not come up when you initially visit.
Good luck. I'll be throttling it in case it gets Slashdotted too badly. And yes, the server penalizes rapid reconnections.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
It's an oversized mess with lousy games and decent graphics
Two words: Steel Battalion.
Of course, if you think the XBox is oversized, you probably couldn't stand the custom controller =).
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
I like how the guy went for an Altair look with those switches, but all in all doesn't his rig look kinda dull ?
"Hey man, look what I did to my Acura; I turned it into a Yugo!"
-Billco, Fnarg.com
That's Godwin's Law.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
..they are great cases! I think why many geeks don't do that is that the hardware already installed is quite good as well, and is upgradeable, cpu, drives, expansion cards, etc. I guess if you could find a for-real busted one it would make more sense to snag it for the case. The stock config could run 3 or 4 OS's,too, so that would probably be enough for most folks, you could run mac os classic, 10.x whatever, linux, and doze with virtual PC. That covers a lot.
Tell ya what I want to build, a super tough portable for camping and emergency use. I am accumulating pieces for it now. It'll be built into one of two briefcase things I have (haven't decided which one yet though yet) have multiple non stock just generic 12 volt rechargeable batteries and some removable solar panels (I have two lightweight flexible ones now for this project I could use, Unisolars) with long enough wire that the computer can be put in the shade but the panels run out to the sunshine. Used components now are so cheap, I want to try this sometime. Some very low electrical requirements mobo and chip (cruesoe?), lotsa ram, I'll sacrafice cpu speed for that. I want a good large lcd monitor, a normal keyboard and a real mouse as I am fumble fingered and don't like laptop keyboards, and a variety of drives-2 hdd, 1- cd/rw- and a wireless net connection obviously. Plus storage in the case for extra cd disks, etc. I'll probably have a small multiband radio in there as well, and my sony watchman TV, call it my portable communications kit. I know some companies already make this sort of rig (kinda sorta, at least the computer parts), but fresh out of "spare" thousand dollar bills for those industrial models I have seen.
my bad. i was half asleep when i wrote that.
Lizard "Never let them set limits on your mind!"
Looks like he beat me to it. Oh well, mine will have multiple hard drives as well as two DVD drives (original M$ drive to play games and standard $40 drive to play divx on cdr).
.//chris
I like the mod changes. Green light kicks a$$ however I'll be really impressed if someone can take an a aluminum case in the shape of the Linux Penguin and get a XBox in it :)
sell the secret technology you use for serving up so many freakin web hits!
oh i think the "secret technology" is the appropriate use of text over graphics....something that web designers out there (especially the ones that get slashdotted) seem to need more practice with. mind you, this is a very general comment and i am well aware of exceptions. also, there have been times where slashdot loads fairly slow and im guessing its due to traffic.
Gentlemen...BEHOLD!
-Dr. Weird
You're right :) It just has a weird power cable. I thought that was a data cable :)
I see Xbox as a(nother) failed attempt by the M. Cool idea, but PS2 and GCN do it better