How to Fool Your Xbox in 5 Steps

Some options aren’t included by default in your Xbox and Xbox 360 console and some of them even require additional money. However, you can fool your Xbox console in order to have some of these options enabled without paying a dime.

This article will show you how.


Play any media file and online videos on your Xbox

Free application called Tversity (can be found here: http://tversity.com/) neatly removes the pointless audio and video restrictions that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo like to put on their consoles, making them able to play any format. What you'll need is a PC on the same network.

Install program and scan the folders you keep your media in. Tversity will replace the standard network file-sharing system that Windows uses, but behaves pretty much the same way at the Xbox. Also, Tversity will convert unsupported files on the fly.

Keep in mind that you'll need a pretty ‘muscular’ PC to ‘chew’ large video files; otherwise you'll be waiting ages. Online video URLs, including Youtube can be added and then accessed from the console.


Play your own music in original Xbox games

This is nice little trick that most of Xbox users probably already know. For those who don’t know - listening to your own MP3s during a Xbox 360 game is common knowledge, but you won’t be able to do the same on the original Xbox. It’s now time to reveal that little trick – you should start playing your album or playlist before you load the game. Music will keep playing once you start the game. Keep in mind that game's score won't be muted, so you have to turn it off in settings, otherwise a noise is all you’ll hear.


Connect Xbox 360 to a wireless network without an official adapter

This trick works only if you have Wi-Fi laptop. Go to Control Panel > Network Connections (In Windows XP) or Network & Sharing Center > Manage Network Connections (in Vista). Select the Local Area Connection and the Wireless Network Connection at once, then right-click and hit Bridge Connections.
Disconnect, and then reconnect to your wireless network, run a network cable from the laptop's Ethernet port to the port of Xbox 360, and it should be done.
However, you’ll have to remove the bridge (repeat the steps above) whenever you want to browse the Internet with you laptop.


Use any HDMI cable and still have proper digital surround sound

Although the newer Xbox 360 consoles have an HDMI output for an optimal video quality, they've built in such a way that you cannot have the standard composite video cable, crucial for optical audio output, plugged in at the same time as HDMI. Instead, you're supposed to buy an official HDMI cable with audio adapter. But, before you spend significant amount of money on it, you should know that you can perform a little trick in order to save stash in your ‘piggy bank’. All you have to do is to check the big plastic box at the end of the standard video cable that connects to the console. Wedge a knife or screwdriver into the join and twist to open. It looks violent and the result maybe isn’t convenient in terms of good looking, but this will help you to plug in standard, cheaper HDMI cable in your console and still have a digital surround sound.


Play Xbox 360 games online without a Live account - For Free!

Cherry on the top! Paying a subscription for online gaming is perhaps the Xbox 360's greatest flaw, especially considering the fact that online gaming is free on other consoles and on PC. However, you don’t have to pay a single dime to play online on your Xbox 360 console. You'll again need another free application called XLink Kai (http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/). This application runs from a PC on the same network as Xbox 360. It tricks the console so it thinks the internet is a LAN.
Xbox will basically treat remote opponents as they're in the same room as you.
However, there’s one flaw. Microsoft has set the Xbox 360 to boot out anyone with a ping higher than 30ms, so you'll have to be selective about your playmates, i.e. local guys are ok, avoid other continents.


I hope these tricks will be useful to all of you who prefer console playing. If you have comments to them, or if you have your own Xbox tricks, please share them in comments.