Getting Back To It

Puzzles. I like puzzles, especially the complex ones that challenge me to understand the how and why something works. If it’s extremely complicated, I love sifting through instructions with detailed explanations. Anything from simple Lego instructions or cooking recipes to how-to hacking guides or circuit schematics (which still look like weird little maps to me).

The challenge has always been the draw for me. Can I do it?

Under normal circumstances, the answer is yes, but with a little help. I'm ok with that, which is why I love sites like gamefaqs. Their all-text guides and forums are usually my go-to-place for videogames that have me stumped. Similarly, instructables is a great place for DITY guides and advice; I turn there for ideas on how to do anything and everything.

The puzzles that have confounded me the most as of late have been the hacking of current and recent game consoles. The long gone, but not forgotten, Sega Dreamcast was my first successful excursion into the world of console modding. Not sure why I held onto that old girl, but I never traded in my Dreamcast nor my three favorite games: Code Veronica, Jet Grind Radio, and SW: Demolition. After finding a boot disc iso and the right burner program, my library of DC games went from 3 to whatever the internet has to offer.

High off the fumes of success, I turned my sore little fingers (from hours of button mashing through Marvel Vs. Capcom 2) to my phat PSP. Hacking that little bugger was much more difficult, even with the guides. After two weeks of step-by-step trial and error, I finally bricked my PSP-1000. Eighty bucks down the drain. I did buy it used, but I was still pissed. Eighty bucks is big money to me.

Failure is part of life. I still have that bricked PSP as a friendly reminder.

The next target was and still is the Xbox (the first one, the old one). Why the Xbox? Well, I was initially going for the XBMC set-top box. That was the goal when I started. Now, the ultimate achievement is XBMC with retro gaming functionality. I’m talking emulators and roms from NES to N64, maybe some PS1 (if that’s even possible).

Using the Splinter Cell and Action Replay dongle softmod trick I installed/accessed the replacement dashboard Evolution or Evox. Success, right? And I stopped right there, not wanting to screw something up.

Therein lies the greatest barrier: I had to be willing to fail and completely destroy my Xbox. At the time, coming off the PSP disaster, I wasn't ready to brick another perfectly functional console. Frozen and afraid to try. Afraid to continue. It's basically the same as failing. So, time to get back to work; I found a good place to help pick up where I left off.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

~Michael Jordan