Digiex

I'm sure if you have had an interest in Xbox hacking and modding for long enough you will have heard of Xbox-Scene, even if you have never actually browsed the site. Historically in the early 2000's Xbox-Scene was the centre of the Xbox homebrew and hacking scene.

Iriez and romracer from the Xbins team, along with CrunchBite, the X-Link Kai dev have managed to resurrect the forums over the last three years, recovering data from web scrapes by xboxexpert on Reddit, partial dumps and even from historical crawls from archive.org

I can only imagine how much work it was to get Xbox-Scene back up and running today as well as it is.

Do head over to Xbox-Scene to read more about the work behind brining the site back and more importantly to browse an important part of Xbox history.

Not many people are probably aware that Bill Gates wanted to embrace the modding community after been show the additional functionality the scene had added to the original Xbox.

This can be seen on the Xbox 360 with the media playback functionality built in to the dashboard, the integration with Windows Media Center and later in the consoles life the Indie games that could be developed on retail 360's and published on the marketplace.

Even today this influence remains true with the ease of accessing dev mode on retail Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S consoles.

It seems crazy to me that the Xbox-Scene site started almost 20 years ago... where does time go? anyway enjoy the trip down memory lane.

An un-named developer who worked on the original Xbox has revealed that he hid an Easter egg in the Dashboard of the system software.

The developer stated: “I didn’t really expect it to be found, not unless the source code leaked or somebody reverse-engineered the Dashboard. Its trigger was the same as the ‘main’ Easter egg so I knew it was possible. I figured somebody would have to leak it for it to be known.”

To trigger the Easter egg:

1. Go into Music and insert an audio CD.
2. From the Audio CD screen choose Copy, again Copy, then New Soundtrack.
3. Delete the default soundtrack title and replace it with (no quotes) “Timmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” (That’s the letter “y” 26 times. Or you can just fill the entire field and replace the last one with a “!”.)
4. Wait for the contents to copy to the internal HDD. When the task completes, go back to the main menu.
5. Navigate to Settings and then System Info.
6. You should now see the new hidden screen listing members of the Xbox Dashboard Team - Victor Blanco, Sakphong Chanbai, Bradford Christian and Jim Helm.

Its nice to see the original Xbox still held a secret 20 years after release, despite been one of the most hacked consoles ever.

XIII for the PC is currently free on Good Gold Games (GoG) until April 1st.

The plot for XIII is the President of the United States of America has been assassinated and you're the world's prime suspect. The FBI, the CIA, and a gang of murderous killers are trying to hunt you down. Stricken with amnesia you remember nothing, not even who you are. You're on your own and there is no one you can trust. All you have is a safe deposit key, a mysterious tattoo, and a gun. Clear your name, solve the mystery, and catch the true assassin before he strikes again.

Certainly a classic game worth playing if you have a bit of free time this Easter weekend.

Claim: XIII on GoG (Click the Go to giveaway to claim your free copy of XIII)

Back in the late 2000's gamers were highly anticipating a remaster of the Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye 007. The remaster, which reportedly needed only two more months of development before it was finished, was cancelled because Nintendo, MGM, and Microsoft, which acquired Rare in 2002, were unable to come to a licensing agreement.

The GoldenEye 007 remaster for the Xbox 360 has now leaked all these years later. This remaster, which would have been released on Xbox Live arcade has been known to of been out there for many years now, screenshots and video has been teased over the year. A beta of GoldenEye 007 was briefly posted to Partnernet back in 2007, a developer only version of Xbox Live. As anyone with an Xbox 360 developer kit could access Partnernet back then with no authentication the game was quickly downloaded by someone before it was removed from Partnernet. We can only speculate how this game ended up making its way to the internet, it was likely passed around in private circles before someone decided to leak it for the world to enjoy. Either way i'm sure many gamers are thankful to whoever leaked this for finally giving them a chance to play this cancelled game all these years later.

This leak is a different game to GoldenEye 007: Reloaded which was eventually released on the Xbox 360.

GoldenEye 007 for Xbox 360 can be played on a Jtag or RGH hacked Xbox 360 or on a PC using the Xenia Emulator providing you have a Direct X12 capable graphics card.

From what I've seen GoldenEye 007 is playable from start to finish with only minor bugs with multiplayer and system link split screen working. This should mean its possible to play online using various Xbox 360 tunnelling services such as Xlink Kai or XBS Link. Debug functionality is also present in this build of GoldenEye 007.

Due to the nature of the internet these days it's not a beta we will be hosting on Digiex, however if you...

Continuing the tradition of the past couple of years, its Christmas day and so we just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

We have another Pokemon distribution to add to the Digiex archives. This time it’s the Virtual Console Game Freak Mew.

The Virtual Console Game Freak Mew was distributed for a limited time in Japan and England.

In Japan the Mew was distributed to those who purchased a 20th Anniversary Pokemon Clear 2DS (Red, Green, Blue & Yellow) that came bundled with a collection ticket. The ticket could be taken to a participating Pokemon Center in Japan, where the player could receive the Mew via trade.

In England the Mew was distributed at Nintendo UK’s Pokémon Festival, which took place on 22nd November 2016 at The Old Truman Brewery.

View the post dedicated to this distribution here: Pokemon 3DS Virtual Console GF Mew Distribution Download [JPN / ENG]

I hope everyone in the community both active and retired is well, staying safe and enjoys the festive holidays.

Trials Rising is currently free until 2pm UTC+1 on Friday 18th December 2020 via Ubisoft Connect PC. All you need to do is head over to this page on the Ubisoft website, sign in with your Ubisoft account, then claim your free copy of Trials Rising.

In Trials Rising, the player controls a rider on a physics-based motorcycle from the start of the level to the end while navigating a number of obstacles. The game features obstacle courses set in various parts of the world such as the Eiffel Tower and Mount Everest, and players can compete against each other in both local and online multiplayer.

Prison Architect is a top-down 2D construction and management simulation where the player has been hired by the CEO of a for-profit prison company to take control of building and running a prison. The player's role is of both architect and governor with sandbox micromanagement themes, where he is responsible for managing various aspects of their prison including building facilities, connecting utilities, and managing staff.

If that sounds interesting then you can currently obtain a free copy of Prison Architect on GoG. Simply head over to GoG, log in to your account and claim Prison Architect for free from their homepage.

At the time of posting you have the next 66 hours to claim a free copy of Prison Architect.

Total Annihilation is a real-time strategy game developed by Cavedog Entertainment and published by GT Interactive in 1997

The game is set in the far future in the midst of a galactic war, with battles taking place on the surface of planets and moons. The efforts of the player are centered on constructing a defensive base and an offensive force, and conquering opponents. The player is also concerned with gathering resources, reconnaissance and stealth, and evaluation of units and terrain. Battles take place against AI in a story-driven campaign, with the option of playing against other players in a skirmish mode.

Currently Total Annihilation along with its two expansion packs, The Core Contingency and Battle Tactics is free to download on Good Old Game (GoG) for the next two days.

In my opinion certainly a classic game worth checking out. I actually own the big box version of this game and still have it somewhere to this day, of course a digital copy is much more convenient in 2020.

Myself and Nimrod used to play this game over dial up internet in the late 90s. If you ever enjoyed Red Alert or Age of Empires, this is probably another game you would also enjoy.

Download: Total Annihilation: Commander Pack on GoG

Grand Theft Auto V is current been offered for free on the Epic Games Store. If you claim the game during the next week you can keep it for free permanently. It's also worth noting that this is the game's Premium Edition, which includes $1,000,000 of bonus cash for GTA Online.

The Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition includes the complete GTAV story, Grand Theft Auto Online and all existing gameplay upgrades and content. You’ll also get the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack, the fastest way to jumpstart your criminal empire in GTA Online.

Download: Grand Theft Auto V on the Epic Games Store

If you are a fan of the Lego games then it might interest you to know that Lego Ninjago can currently be downloaded for free on the Xbox One.

About Lego Ninjago:

Find your inner ninja with the all-new LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game! Play as your favorite ninjas to defend Ninjago from the evil Lord Garmadon. Master the art of Ninjagility by wall-running and high-jumping, and battle foes to rank up and upgrade the ninja's combat skills.

Download: Claim your free copy of Lego Ninjago on the Microsoft Store