GamerSpeak:
Customizing Xbox 360, Part Two
The Xbox 360™ system 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 console stand out from all the rest?
We got such a huge response on this one that we had to publish the results in two parts! This is part two—if you missed part one, check it out here. By the way, kids, don't crack your case. You know this, right? Opening the box voids your warranty. Got it?
BTW, I randomly selected one respondent to win my limited edition E3 faceplate. Congrats to xX Gargoyle Xx. These babies are individually numbered, so I'd better not see it on eBay, dude!
Runjet's sweet ride.
Hey TriXie here's what I have done with my Xbox®, while preserving the ever-important warranty!
I used black light glow paint on a skin then attached the skin to the Xbox and put a black light overhead. Then I put in two fans that have built in LEDs on the bottom and attached that to the Xbox 360 USB ports.
Runjet
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
IDARKWOLF0's custom faceplate
I painted the faceplate to make it look like a real WWII era picture, as you may see from the grainy-looking white spots.
IDARKWOLF0
Lake Jackson, Texas
Hey, my console consists of the silver faceplate, I have the Fable® gamer pic, and my dashboard is The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion™ theme.
IntrepidProdigy
My Xbox 360 represents the Pittsburgh Steelers all the way. I have the Madkatz Steelers faceplate, the Steelers Superbowl themes, and the Steelers Superbowl gamer pic. I am thinking about switching to some The Outfit™ or Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™ stuff.
JFHyland
Brentwood, Tennessee
Can you tell whose Xbox 360 this is?
Mine is a clear equinox black faceplate from TeamXtender.com. They're fairly new and look super. What's cool about these is the ability to customize whatever you want behind them. I took some clear CD labels and printed the Xbox 360 logo along with my gamertag with my photo printer. I plan to update my design with the logo I Photoshop'd onto this pic and it ought to look cool along with a few other bells and whistles. Check it out!
GAMEFISH
Chattanooga , Tennessee
For my Xbox 360 I got the wannabe E3 skin going because those faceplates are like $400 on eBay, so it would be awesome if I won lol. But yeah, I got the Weinerboy gamer pic from Amped® 3 for a lil while because he's just so funny; you totally gotta play that game, you'll laugh forever. Let me see, for a while I had a custom ring of light deal going for my theme because I thought it was pretty cool, but now it's mostly the Perfect Dark Zero™ theme because that game rocks. And oh yeah, since I got Xbox 360 for Christmas after waiting 18 hours outside of a Best Buy (drove me crazy—some drunk dude thought I was Tom Cruise, which was pretty funny) I took some green and white Christmas lights and laid them around so it's all glowly and cool at night, so ya. That's pretty much my Xbox 360.
SuperRacerC91
Orlando, Florida
I spray-painted it pink to make it really look
"pimped" and also superglued fluffy yellow fur
around the rim of the faceplate. —Ozzie360
I'm currently using the Condemned: Criminal Origins™ theme with the carbon fiber trim, and for a picture I'm using a Ghost Recon gamer picture from an OXM Disk. I pretty much change my themes and picture around to whatever my current favorite game is; right now it's Condemned and G.R.A.W., and so I'm using the best of both worlds.
For faceplates, I have The Outfit, Call of Duty® 2, Full Auto™, Project Gotham Racing® 3, Sun (only available in Japan or China, forget which), and the regular white Xbox 360 faceplate.
And my favorite faceplate is my custom airbrushed faceplate; it has a Grim Reaper with a sniper rifle and the end of a battle in the background. I had it made to go along with my gamertag; I've been using the alias SNIPOS ever since 1999 when I got my first computer and started to play online games starting with Half Life, Counter-Strike, and the original Alien VS. Predator.
SNIPOS
Pleasant Point, Maine
I got the Xbox 360 sticker that came with my Xbox 360 right above the Xbox 360 logo on the side. Then I have lightning bolt stickers coming off the side of that sticker. Then I have a puma price sticker on the other end. Then I have a giant reed/black star on top of the Xbox 360 sticker with smaller versions on the bottom of the Xbox 360 sticker at the corners. So the stickers sorta form a triangle around the Xbox 360 sticker with the lightning bolts in between. Then I have the same small star sticker on the lower end of the faceplate right between the on/off button and the USB controller ports. I have my Xbox 360 lying down as you can tell. My dashboard is the original because it kicks ass. My guide bar is glass. And my blade is sorta grey. My gamer pic is an Oblivion knight.
Nakashima Taiki
Welcome, North Carolina
Well I actually took off the original faceplate and
had it airbrushed by my tattoo artist
with a pair of dice and cards. —DMSchultz
I currently have the Condemned theme as my background that came with the OXM April issue and I am planning on trying to get the E3 faceplate off eBay because that is the only faceplate made right now that matches the entire Xbox 360 and not just the front. And if I can't find one I'll just buy a crystal clear faceplate on this one Web site that creates faceplates for all different kinds of consoles. I occasionally swap my gamer pic out with one that depicts something from a game that comes out soon that I am really pumped about.
RCTYCOONVET
Flower Mound, Texas
I am currently keeping a purist approach to my Xbox 360, but I do keep a place in my Xbox 360's heart for a custom theme featuring carbon trim and a picture of my extremly cute Pug, Kirby, as my dashboard background, so I can see him every day, because he currently lives 150 miles away with my parents.
QuantumMischief
Payette, Idaho
I have a custom airbrushed faceplate that fades from blue to turquoise, and has a tribal emblem in the center. My dashboard has a nice tropical sunset image that I transferred from my computer, and my gamer picture is from the Burnout pic pack of the Crash Test Dummy Skull with a crown on it as it fit my name "Crash 27" best.
Crash 27
Otsego, Michigan
I currently have a company working on a complete skin of the U.S. Flag.
As far as the dashboard, I have downloaded some themes and was using a PDZ theme. However, I found a website that has wallpapers and got a couple. Currently I am using one that is PDZ as well.
OldManDeath1
Greensburg, Indiana
My dashboard theme is a custom one with my beloved football team in the background: Manchester United. My gamer picture is a soldier, I have this because when I play games I set out like a soldier, meaning I go out there to win.
JaKe2K5
Grimsby, United Kingdom
I have a custom airbrushed Ghost Recon faceplate
with my gamertag on the USB flap. —Biggs230
Currently I have the orange sun faceplate on my Xbox 360. I am using the wiener boy gamer picture from Amped 3, this is because very few people are using them and therefore it is as unique as gamer pictures can be at the minute, also because it has a passing resemblance to the character used in my gamertag (Tony Clifton).
I am using a customized theme again including my Xbox 360 character Tony Clifton, sorry I don't have any pictures to send. It is a white background with a Tony Clifton dancing and pointing like Saturday Night Fever (lol). He is wearing a ruffle shirt and I have photoshopped it bright blue … I look forward to a time when blades are customizable, if this was possible I would shop in a different colored shirt for each blade.
thetonyclifton
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Well I actually took off the original faceplate and had it airbrushed by my tattoo artist with a pair of dice and cards. As far as my dashboard, I imported my own pic to use. I'm a dice dealer so I got a sweet pic of dice on my dash! I haven't really found a gamer pic I really care for, I was using the spade but changed it recently.
DMSchultz
Turtle Lake, Wisconsin
The ability to customize Xbox 360 is one of the greatest features of the console! Most of the time I make my own theme, which is the best part of the customization, putting any picture you want on your dashboard. Sometimes I use pictures of family members, or some of my own creations from Photo Shop, or pretty much any picture I think looks cool off the web. Another customizable option not many people take advantage of is the ability to change the guide's background color to any color you could imagine, I love this!! I can always change the tone of the color depending on me mood. And I use the glass blades when I'm feelin' happy, and I use the carbon blades when I'm angry.
As for my gamer picture, right now I'm sporting the good ole Rare Kazooie. Banjo and Kazooie was one of my favorite games when I was little, that and GoldenEye. So I keep that one to show what I like, and when football kicks into season I switch it back up to the Carolina Panthers gamer pic to show my team spirit. If only there were NASCAR gamer pics!
JOSHLEE
King, North Carolina
I have the Oblivion theme with the Daerda Armor gamertag. I painted my own faceplate. It's red with black and white swirl lines coming out of the power circle, giving it a vortex effect.
Archangel ADX
Manhattan, Kansas
I got a 360 for my son—okay, okay, for me too :-) And he loves Allen Iverson, I even took him to a Miami vs. 76ers when we lived in Florida. So I bought him the 76ers dashboard theme for my Xbox 360! He loves it, and of course beating me in NBA 2K6!I am looking into getting the NBA Sixers gamer pictures too cause I'm always swapping them around. Can't wait for a 76ers faceplate, it will make a great B-Day present for my son!
CENGST
Ellijay , Georgia
What I've done to my Xbox 360 …
Faceplate: Hot Rod.
Dashboard Theme: Carbon witha customized background.
Gamer Picture: Pummel Weed, I haven't changed it since I put it on but, I might change it ifa differentone I like comes out.
Controller: Geltabz on joysticks.
What I've done to make my Xbox 360 stand out …
I have put it in a super cool Xbox room with a Xbox logo painted on the wall. It's also in a metal entertainment center that I painted metallic aluminum myself.
Luminarium
Elkton, Virginia
I haven't pimped out my Xbox 360 yet with a faceplate or skin. I share it with my two brothers and younger sister, so it's hard to find something that everyone likes (but I'm sure they would all like that E3 one!). My dashboard theme is something that I got off the Internet, its a picture of Evangeline Lilly, Kate from Lost, it goes with my name (Lost11). My gamerpic is the addict from Condemned, I loved the game and I love scary games/movies so I wanted to stick to something that showed my personality and it does perfectly. But I can't wait until some Tomb Raider pictures are released because that is my favorite game of all time. I stick to my gamerpic, its been the same one since I've created my account. The other thing that makes my Xbox 360 stand out from the rest is that it is seating next to a plant, who else can say that?
Lost11
Vacaville, California
I have many things Ghost Recon and Xbox related. I have a GRAW dashboard background that I customized in photoshop to include my gamertag and so that the text on the dashboard is still readable. This took many times of trial and error but I must say it looks fantastic. I have ordered a custom airbrushed Ghost Recon faceplate wtih my gamertag on the USB flap and a picture of a Military Ghost on the front. I have one of the official Zero Hour beanies that I often wear to keep the hair out of my eyes in the heat of battle. I have a Medal I got at the official army museum that says military sniper on one side, I got this medal engraved with my gamertag and it is my lucky charm … I couldn't get headshots without it.
Finally I have a patch I ordered from GR-Unit.com that matches the gamerpic I have that I got from the April OXM. It's cool because not only does it match my gamerpic but the ghosts have the game patch on there right arm in the game. Overall not too much out of the ordinary … but you can definitely tell it's mine.
Biggs360
Easton, Connecticut
My theme is usually a picture of the Bacardi bat,The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion theme orany random picture I findfunny or intriguing at the time. My gamer picture is usually any one from the Oblivion picture pack. I haven't changed myfaceplate because 1) Xbox 360 lookssexy the way it is, hahaha 2) I can't afford to buy any since I already have seven games reserved and I pretty much have to pay them off and 3) the one I really like is the Hot Rod onebut five of my friends already have it. (I had the premium reserved but since all my friendsgot the premium plus, I like the solid whitecolor, I got the Core.)
angelfire011
Caguas , Puerto Rico
I guess I should toss my name in the hat seeing that I am very proud of my "Pimped Out 360" and I've included it in my sig for the forums. I think I may have been the very first one to get a skin for Xbox 360. I know I posted about it way back in early November before I got my Xbox 360 on launch night. I know I have encouraged a LOT of people to get one and everyone seems to like mines. I get tons of PMs everyday about my Xbox 360, iPod and my dashboard.
Cohibaluvr
Battle Creek , Michigan
To pimp my Xbox 360 I went for the premium pack (sleek chrome disk tray). I selected one of the default gamer pictures pre-stored on my hard drive so whilst everybody goes off buying their gamer pictures I will have one to stay with me throughout my experience. I have tattoos and stickers of all my favorite games on my free (white) faceplate, I spray-painted it pink to make it really look "pimped" and also super glued fluffy yellow fur around the rim of the faceplate. I know this sound a bit extreme but wait, not finished.
I connected up a £70 blue neon light on the base of the system with an external power supply (didn't want to void that warranty) and, to top it all off, I inserted a motion sensor and recorded "Yo Biatch You Touchin Maaaaaaa 360?" so every time I switch it on it greets me. The above may sound unrealistic but if you don't believe me I can e-mail you some pictures of my pimped out Xbox 360.
I also have made a wall paper using Serif Draw Plus 7.0 to create a vivid pink background with THIS 360 HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN PIMPED written in blue to match the neon lighting on the 360. Hope you like my Xbox 360, if you want any proof of my Xbox 360 being this pimped I can e-mail you some pics.
Ozzie360
Clapham, London, United Kingdom
Currently I am sporting the Burnout Nitrous theme. I guess I am a mild pyro when it comes to fire. It not so much the damage it causes, but the randomness of it. It's "alive," a non-sentient breathing lifeform.
I am planning to paint a faceplate to actually enhance what I think is the best looking console every made. Something about Xbox, and now Xbox 360 really takes over your mindset, and makes you wanna be a fan. I remember opening my first Xwith a preconceived notion that it would be my least favorite. I picked it up before Xbox Live came out, and I only got it because I had the extra cash, and I had the others.
Xbox was the first console I bothered to "pimp out." I hope my Xbox 360 will be a work of art when I am finished.
Schitzocore
Las Vegas, Nevada
