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Having moved my Xbox from the lounge so I don’t have to fight for the remote I’ve not got it plugged into my computer TFT monitor via an HDMI to DVI cable. Everything stills looks fine, but of course I no longer have any audio as it is designed as a monitor - not a TV!

I thought perhaps I could plug the HDMI and normal Xbox AV cable in (which has an optical out, or traditional RCA/phono), alas the Xbox cable is too chunky and covers part of the HDMI port when plugged in (I’m not even sure if this would have worked, or if the HDMI overrides the normal AV out).

Unfortunately as HDMI transports digital audio steams (so it can support 5.1 surround like Dolby/DTS) there’s no easy adapter/cable style fix that means I can just split the video signal bound for my TFT from the audio which I want to plug into my 5.1 system. Blast!

A bit more searching though turned up a couple of HDMI switch boxes, some of which offered separate video and audio outputs. I can’t, however, afford to go out and splash the four-figure sums of cash a lot of these devices cost! A bit more digging lead me to the ‘CP-267′ from Keene Electronics, a box which takes HDMI in and gives DVI + SPDIF out. Perfect, apart from the £165.00 price tag - and that’s for B grade stock!

Some further Googling has lead me to a couple of HDMI switches though which look equally as promising, without causing the wallet too much agony.

The first supports upto 5 inputs (4x HDMI, 1x DVI), each with stereo phono input, leading to 1 HDMI output (which can subsequently be converted to DVI) also featuring a stereo phono connection. It supports upto 1080p, however only provides stereo sound and comes in just under the £40.00 mark from thegametrain.com.

The second solution is just a two port switch, with 1x HDMI and 1x DVI + SPDIF/stereo phono inputs, providing 1x HDMI and a SPDIF or stereo phono output. It only supports up to 1080i, but does give the benefit of keeping your surround sound. It’s also almost half the price of the 5-port switch above, coming in at £22.50 from cableuniverse.co.uk.

Not sure which one I’ll go for, or if I’ll search a bit further first, but at least there is hope on the horizon

Update (03/06/08): Of course there is always the possibility of over-complicating things. Perhaps a good ol’ Xbox 360 VGA HD cable will suffice

Despite my Xbox, Microsoft and my ISP’s best efforts to stop me getting an Xbox Live account I battled through the huge amount of (I thought pretty damn original) GamerTags already in use, filled out all my details via a system that’s much better for controlling characters in-game than entering text… Rummaged through my box looking for the one month free Gold membership trial, could find it, opted for Silver, was asked if I really wanted Silver or if I meant to click Gold, was rewarded with a free one month Gold trial anyway. Overcame mysterious ‘MTU issues’, eventually managed to pick up my failed session and get over my mild disappointment it doesn’t transfer any of the achievments from your offline profile and I’m not up and running as ‘Arty0′. *phew*

They were awesome. Had such a fantastic night, from the back during Soulwax to dancing my little socks off at the front throughout the 2manydjs set. Walking down the road this morning the birds were singing and the sun was just coming up I just had a massive grin on my face I can’t wait to see them again at Rockness in a couple of weeks.

You can see the rest of the photos are up on Facebook if you want to take a look.

Yesterday I was wandering through town when I noticed Woolies (of all people) doing a great deal on GTA IV for Xbox 360. They were matching play.com’s bundle of Premium console and the game for £199. Bargain. I’ve been meaning to get myself a 360 for a while now. Xbox Live in particular seems like an excellent system and might mean I end up playing some more games online, which would be nice

Unsurprisingly they had sold out of the game, but could put me on a waiting list. To my surprise I received a phone call this afternoon, saying they had got new stock in! So I am now the proud owner of an Xbox 360 and Grand Theft Auto IV.

First impressions of the game are great. Rockstar have really approached this game, even more so than the previous titles in the same line, more like a movie. The cinematics are excellent, especially as they are rendered using the games engine, not some video which has been cut in. The graphics are gorgeous at 720p HD and the first couple of missions are good at getting you into the swing of things. The cars still handle like shopping trolleys, although this is, perhaps, more realistic - I can’t imagine that you really would be able to take that right-angle-city-block corner doing 70mph in real life

A nice victory for high street retailers I feel.