However the benefit is you don't have to open the Xbox at all, so if you are scared of releasing the demons that live in your Xbox this is probably the best bet for you. There are two types of softmod, the first requires you have one of three specific games and a way to copy files from your computer to the Xbox (either memory card + Action Replay, or USB drive + USB to Xbox adapter). The softmod doesn't involve any hardware changes, everything is done in software, hence the name. However, progress was made and now almost anything that can be done with a hardmod can be done with a softmod. This method has the benefit of giving you the most freedom to use your modded Xbox how you want. This involves buying a mod chip for around $30-$50, opening your Xbox and soldering it in (later solderless adapters were made). Personally I have an 80 gig HDD in the Xbox with about 15 games on it, then I have my video on the network. If you choose to install a large HDD, it must be IDE, not SATA, and slower speed drives are actually better since they are cooler. Also remember you can keep the games on your PC and swap them out on the Xbox, although this takes a bit of time. Estimate about 3 gigs per game, to figure out how much room you will want. Xbox games though can't be played over the network (at least I haven't been able to get them to work). The Xbox will be able to play them from the network quite easily. If you don't care about Xbox games I recommend you simply put your videos and music on your home network and share them. However, if you want to play Xbox games from the HDD or watch videos and listen to music the stock 8 GB HDD won't be big enough. The ability to run emulators (classic games), will come with any modded Xbox. You have a couple options that will depend on what features you want. Those are the main features, but you can also browse the web, play other games, and run various other programs. A modded Xbox will be able to play classic games (Atari, NES, SNES, Sega, Game Boy, N64), play almost any video format, play music, as well as playing Xbox games directly off the HDD. Why do I mod Xboxes? Because it turns a crappy $30 console into a multimedia center. So why do you want to mod an Xbox? How should I know?

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