I love the way you guys let the customer set up their 360 the way they want it. I've always loved customizing my stuff, and you guys made it customizable out of the box! - Jezu2l

GamerSpeak:

Customizing Xbox 360

Xbox 360™ allows for all kinds of customization … we built it that way because we know people like to make things their own. We asked gamers in the Xbox.com forums: How have you pimped out your console? What faceplate or faceplate skin have you got going on? What dashboard theme? What gamer picture do you use? Do you stick to one, or swap it out according to your mood? What else have you done to make your Xbox 360 stand out from all the rest?

Nathan219 's custom console in Mishawaka, Indiana.

We got such a huge response on this one that we'll have to publish the results in two parts! Check out what your fellow gamers have done in this and the next article. In part two, I'll reveal which lucky respondent was randomly selected to win TriXie's E3 faceplate. By the way, kids—don't crack your case. You know this, right? Opening the box voids your warranty. Got it?

Keys1980 's tribute to Bruce Campbell.

I love that you can make Xbox 360 your own. I have without question done that. My faceplate and top coverreflects two things: My love of country and my love for all things Bruce Campbell. It's a bit of a contrast, but I love it. As for my dashboard I have a nice pic of Jennifer Love Hewit. Much love for little J-lo.

—Keys1980
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Faceplate: Hotrod.
Dashboard theme: Pictures of my son.
Gamer pic: Right now GRAW pic, but I swap it out all the time.

—ArsenicEagle
Burlington , Iowa

Ya think Southend United likes tennis?

Here you go TriXie 360, my pimped Xbox 360.

—Southend United
Essex, England

My faceplate is the one that's 90% blue and has the cool abstract design around the Ring of Light. My dashboard theme is, of course, the Halo 2 theme. It looks great with my dashboard trim, which is the normal one. My guide is my own custom color … it's dark gray-ish (not black) color.

The gamer picture I use is a basketball one. One side blue, the other red, and in the middle in a guy dunking a basketball. I usually just keep the pictures I like for a while, until I find a new one that's a lot better.

What else have I done with it? I have a Play & Charge Kit, an extra wireless controller, and five games (plus two arcade games). I wonder how that E3 faceplate would look on my console, let alone on top of my TV next to my original, still working smoothly, Xbox®.

—Blueline976
Brockton, Massachusetts

Danl251 's blue hotrod.

I painted my 360 shell blue to match the hotrod faceplate I bought with it, I think it looks pretty cool, but hey, it's your opinion that matters …

— Danl251
Los Angeles, California

I have a Zero Hour Faceplate, BF2:MC sniper theme. My gamer pic is the red/black skull and will be until some GRAW icons some out. Xbox 360 is a favorite to me, my kids, and their friends. I just wish I had more time to play.

—scottastrophik
Los Angeles, California

An Itch for metallic tape!

Using metal ducting tape … total cost: $1.50

—The Itch
Bay Area, California

Tohdman6 spray-painted his red.

After going to my friend's house to play Xbox 360 after the first few days I realized how every accessory looks exactly the same. I immediately thought of ways to customize my system so I thought of spray painting it.

—Tohdman6
Kenosha , Wisconsin

thebigguy19 's custom ride.

Hello TriXie. I pimp my Xbox 360 out with the Oblivion theme and gamer pics. I change my gamer pic about every week because I hate having the same one for a long time. I am planning on buying the hot rod blue faceplate soon (that one looks so cool).

—xX GARGOYLE Xx

I absolutely love my Xbox 360, nearly every day I change the theme. I have a few pics of me skating, some of my favorite bands, and some cool random pics. My gamer pic is usually Gears of War or Perfect Dark Zero. As far as the faceplate goes, I'm waiting for a Gears of War front, that would rock, and if I could find a PDZ plate, that would be cool too. I love showing it off to my jealous friends!

—Skatin Ajun
Grand Forks AFB, North Dakkota

From Z3PPELIN in Westmont, Illinois.

My gamer picture is a fish with wood background from the "Fine Wood" picture pack that I purchased on Marketplace. I chose the fish cause I'm a Pisces, and the wood part cause of my last name, and a few of my friends call me "Wood."

For a while I used the "Carbon" theme that was included with Xbox 360, but I like to switch it up quite a bit. My faceplate is the Woody one made by Microsoft, and I doubt I need to explain why I chose that one. Haven't done much else to it yet, but I've been looking at skins on various sites.

—InfamousM
Laurel, Maryland

Change is great, so I swap gamer pics frequently, but am a stickler for the '8-ball' icon, and the regular dashboard theme. Jessica Alba is frequently a replacement for my background picture.

—Elephant Toe
Chicago, Illinois

Sweet custom console from ghostblaster .

Hi there, this is my pimped Xbox 360 for you to see!

—ghostblaster
Littlehampton, West Sussex, England

I have my Xbox 360 tricked out just the way I like it. I have the hot rod face plate, a background uploaded from my computer to match it, and I have the smoke guide background with the carbon trim (I have kind of a black and blue theme going). I have only used one gamer picture so far, and that is the rim picture from Codemasters. I like cars, and it's the only car-related gamer picture so far, so it's stayed.

P.S. I love the way you guys let the customer set up their console the way they want it. I've always loved customizing my stuff, and you guys made it customizable out of the box! Custom LED colors would have been insane, but I can see how that would be complicated to do.

—Jezu2l
Peterborough , Ontario, Canada

To customize my Xbox 360 I got the black faceplate so that it matches all of my other electronics and for my theme background I used a pic from my wedding with me and my groomsmen posed like the guys in the movie Reservoir Dogs. I change my gamertag pic every so often 'cause I like a little variety! Thanks!

—ManInTheXBox
Gilbert, Arizona

Cool custom console in Coconut Creek.

My Xbox 360 looks really cool with this decal that i have on it. There were other colors, but I chose the green one because of the Xbox colors. For my dashboard I change it from Halo 2 to PGR 3 each week. Every time I show a friend that has not seen my console they go, "Wooaah, dude that lookssweet!!" So that's how I think mine stands out from the rest. I LOVE MY XBOX 360, It ROCKS!!

—Fosho Dude
Coconut Creek, Florida

I have my Xbox 360 all decked out with a custom made airbrushed Halo "master chief" design with the Condemned theme and the background is a Swedish death metal band in flames. I also have four wireless controllers with skins and two memory cards, the hard drive, and wireless adapter. Along with Kameo, GRAW, PDZ, QUAKE, NFSMW, COD2, Condemned, Madden 06, FIFA 06, Full Auto, Oblivion pre-ordered, and that's it.

—InFlames maniac
Post Falls, Idaho

Check out more customized Xbox 360 consoles in part two of this GamerSpeak!