The lights are on
This week The[Crafty]Gamer features fellow Illinois native, Tyler Stallard, and his NOS-inspired Xbox 360 mod. We've seen quite a few console mods across the Web, but this one is pretty cool (it's internally water-cooled and looks awesome). Read on to learn more about Tyler and his 360 mod project that began with an energy drink.
The[Crafty]Gamer: Tyler M. Stallard
Age: 18
Hometown: Algonquin, IL
Occupation: Best Buy Portable Electronics Representative
Creation: NOS-inspired Xbox 360 Mod
Tell us about the mod. What’s the inspiration/idea behind it?
I really like making stuff that not many people do, and really like the reactions I get from people when I finish a project. I was surfing the Web one night and came across an internally water-cooled Xbox 360 (there's not that many out there to my knowledge). After having fan problems with my 360 I decided to do it. I had to think of a theme and thought NOS would be perfect. I figured energy drinks and video games go perfect together.
How much time did it take to create?
I would have to say somewhere between five to six weeks. What took longest was finding a radiator for it. I was really close to buying $100 micro radiators from Britain and having them shipped here, but then I found a NAPA Auto Parts brand power steering cooler, which fit in there quite well. The fans were also an issue. I ordered two 60x10mm fans originally, but found they were too small and didnt produce enough air flow so I stepped it up to 70x15mm for the exhaust fans. I still used one of the 60mm fans for the top of the case to force air in. Other than that, the most laborious task was making the custom shaped reservoir. I actually made three and finally came out with a winner on the third try.
Is it available for purchase anywhere? If so, where and how much?
I do plan on selling it so i can start another 360 project. I'm probably going to put it up on Craigslist in the Chicago area, as well as xbox360forum.com.
Any other information you’d like to share about yourself (do you have a background in arts/crafts/mods? favorite games? etc.)?
Ha, well, I really suck when it comes to art. I've been trying to pick up airbrushing with no real results. However, sometimes stuff just pops up in my head and I decide I'm going to do it, and it happens and it turns out great!
Any Web links to other work?:
Not yet. If I get enough money from this system I want to start another Xbox project, which you will be able to find on xbox360forum.com.
Any future projects you'd like to talk about?
I want to start an industrial-themed Xbox using a lot of diamond plate, or since i love lime green and black, a Monster-themed 360. I'd like to thank everyone on the Xbox 360 Forum for helping me with all the questions I had during the project!
The[Crafty]Gamer is currently seeking entries. For a chance to have your work featured on this blog, check out our Submission Guidelines and e-mail annette@gameinformer.com.
That's really sweet. But doesn't microsoft get pissed if people mod 360's? Not like he really did anything, he just made it look freaking awesome.
Most companies don't mind this kind of mod, it just breaks the warranty. I'm not sure about Microsoft though.
I'm curious as to whether it can play on Live.
I don't think M$ really cares unless you mod in a hard drive for use of pirated games. I'm pretty sure all he did was void the warranty. This goes to show that big corps like M$ sometimes skimp on the engineering.
Awesome. is it possible to do this to a PS3
That is a sweet mod! Unlike some mods that can mess up your xbox, this one is practical and looks freakin' awesome.
Mods like this make me sad for people who got hit with that mass banhammer on modded 360s. When it's not doing anything illegal, why bother Microsoft?
Microsoft probably does not care about this type of modding
Gotta be careful with that fan, Microsoft booted my friends box cause he added an extra fan to keep it from overheating. I think they've started running power usage diagnostics. The case mods are great if your XBox is out of warranty. I've installed a number of them for my friends, only takes about 20 minutes max and you wind up with something that looks bad ass. I bought a used HHD off of eBay but returned it because the hard drive inside had been switched out for a bigger one and I knew Microsoft was banning people. The should really only go after people who use it to cheat. Games need to start doing that. I'm a beginner in Game Design and coding and even I could come up with a way to track how fast a gun is shooting on a consistent basis to stop people with modded controllers. Would take about 10 minutes. And it doesn't take a genius to look on the leadboards and find the people with 300 kill long killstreaks and fudged up stats.
* Sorry for the incoherent babbling in that last post. I went ADD on that one.
@TheFightingLyon - No, unfortunately the PS3 is pretty secure from what I've seen. But no one wants to mod PS3s because they don't suck right out the box as far as quality is concerned.
as far as im concerned, i believe the only modding prohibited by Microsoft is DVD drive flashing so the drive wont recognize if the game is burned or not, and thats the only reason that huge amount of people got banned.
my box isnt banned, it works just as good and probably better than one that you can get brand new in the box.
TheFightingLyon- you can water cool PS3's, just search "water cooled PS3" on google images and it will come up. ive designed a system i want to try out on a PS3 as well. its more internal than most water cooled systems ive seen. the only PS3's ive seen with water cooling have the hoses sticking out of the case so you can only play it while its vertical. ive come up with something to keep it all on the inside, except for the reservoir, pump etc.
That's really cool and a good idea too. Great job.
anyone want to buy it? haha
that's a sick 360, the next case should be a monster.
Where can I get one?
this is really cool. tyler i think you just put yourself on a new job path
thanks everyone. i really am trying to sell this xbox, so Frozn01 if you are really interested then follow this link:
www.monsterxmods.com/.../nos-theme-water-cooled-xbox360-w-everything-except-controller-t257.htm
i just recently got done with another case mod for the Chicago Bulls, but i have a new water cooling system i would like to try out and obviously dont have the money to do so. so if you want to buy it, PLEASE DO! so you can see more of my work on here =]
I would totally buy this, it's so cool
Wow that's an awesome looking 360.
Wow, this is tight!!!!!!!