Joystiq Guide: iPod on the Xbox 360
by Christopher Grant 
{ Nov 20th 2005 at 9:15PM }
Presenting the official Joystiq guide on getting your pretty white toys to play nice together: your Apple iPod and
your Microsoft Xbox 360. We know, it sounded crazy to us
too but we have tested it and are pleased to report it worked flawlessly.
In the picture on the right you can see our 4th-generation iPod running to the front of the 360 with Apple's own USB2
cable. After plugging it in the screen flashes, "Do not disconnect" just like when it's plugged into a computer. Now to
see if the 360's software can find our iPod.
Since we didnt want to stop our game of
PGR3 we simply hit the Xbox 360 button in the center of the controller to bring up the menu. Once there hit
Select Music (see picture). This will bring up a screen that reads USB device detected. Scanning content
databse.
This was the only part of the process that we had been skeptical of. Would the Xbox 360 be able to read the HFS+
filesystem of my MacOS formatted iPod? After an unusually long amount of time (official Joystiq estimate: ~1 minute?)
we are rewarded with:
It showed up right beneath our already half-full internal drive, name intact and everything. Select it and:
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You are presented with a menu consisting of items like: Albums, Artists, Saved Playlists, Songs, and Genres. |
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You can view all the playlists you have on your iPod. (Take note of nerd staples like HHGG - The Radio Shows and the Katamari Damacy soundtrack.) |
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Make your selection and return to beautiful next-gen gaming, now with iPod support. |
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sean @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Rather cool.
your enemies friends @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
hell yeah!
Geof @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I have a question for you guys tryin this stuff out and I would greatly appreciate it if yall tried it out:
Apart from music, can you transfer videos on the ipod video to the 360 hard drive and/or from the 360 hard drive to the ipod video?(i assume thats what you have connected when you say 4th gen ipod)
Thank you
Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
is getting music/playlists just as easy from a windows media connect enabled PC during gameplay just like the Ipod?
Blind Sniper005 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Sweet! Now I Can Cruise To 'The Barbie Song' Better Than Ever!
zeqounx @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
thats cool
like what geof said can you watch any video from stuff like the psp?
dm @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
iPod (with video) is 5G. 4G is either B&W or the photo version. Anyway Microsoft said earlier that mp3s could only be played from devices, not copied.
I don't really see the big fuss over iPod support. Every one from the beginning has been Mass Storage compatible, that's how the music is transferred from a Mac/PC. And yeah, the first two iPods only had Firewire, but they still transferred the same.
elroyhead @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Yes, each iPod is a mass storage device, but what I'm surprised to see is the support for playlists.
Dezro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
So, uh, I know it does AAC but does it do Apple Lossless?
Jon Erdahl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
i hooked my ipod up to my xbox 360 and there were many songs it did not play. not sure why? maybe they are some different file type. i havn't looked into it yet
Todd Winkler @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Everytenminutes winner here. Did you guys run into the 100 song limit for playlists like I did? I have a HFS+ formatted iPod too, so I did not get to try it with a PC formatted one.
When playing from the dashboard it did not hesitate to play a playlist that had thousands of songs, but inside a game, it said only the first 100 would be playable.
Other than that, it has been a great weekend of 360 gaming.
Luke @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Can you plug in an external hard drive to it and play audio files?
Alex K. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
really cool. almost makes me wish i stopped writing rants about how xbox 360 doesn't innovate on anything.
but then again...you can still turn off the music in the game and play your stereo in the background.
Chance @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Kick ass.
Don @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I've just got a few questions to Joystiq, or anyone else with a 360.
Is there any way to play your own videos, either from a USB device, or streaming from a PC? Or can you only play DRMed recorded TV from XP WMC2005?
And does the system have support for Asian languages in song titles, like Japanese and Korean, or do they just show up as gibberish?
Blake @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
"Take note of nerd staples like HHGG - The Radio Shows" I love HHGG, a great book and radio series. Probably the best Sci-Fi I have read so far.
Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
You guys started PGR without telling us? geez
The Shizzlenit @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
That is sick as all hell, didn't even leave the game to put the iPod in.
Did you do that at about 4:00 PM EST, because I saw you on PGR3 from my friends list. It made me feel sad that I won't be getting mine until 2nd shipment. I thought August was early enough...
todd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Question is if it works with a mac formatted ipod or only windows?
dm @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
"Question is if it works with a mac formatted ipod or only windows?"
They used a Mac iPod, says so above. I take back some of what I said earlier, I am surprised they put HFS+ support in. Score one for Microsoft.
txmazda3 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
the pix aren't working for me. Anyone else having problems as well? Good to hear the iPod and the 360 play nice together. Now I just need to replace my broken ipod. damn gadget addiction ... haha.
Xen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Will you be able to connect it using the 4G iPod Dock (Non-color version)? If you could, that would totally rock since I'm planning to place my 360 right next to it. It would suck if I had to take it out of the dock in order to play music while I play.
Bloo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I second Dezro's question - can it play Apple Lossless?
harma41 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Is it able to shuffle-play your library/playlist when you access it during gameplay?
Monmin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Is it a powered USB port? Does the ipod charge itself when plugged into the 360?
Dr DOOM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I went to a talk by the lead designer of Xbox 360 in London back in September and he demoed this to us back then. He also showed us the 360 working flawlessly with a PSP and digital cameras. However, he pointed out that video cannot be transferred across. To be honest though, why would you want to watch a 320x240 video (from an ipod) on a tv screen anyway? Especially if it's HD.
r3p1v @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Xen - The dock is technically identical to the simple connector, it just happens to stand the iPod up. So yeah it'll work.
Oliver Sayers @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
V nice. Great work.
I agree with #24, Why the hell would you play a low quality vid from a portable media player when you can stream a high def 1 from a XP or Media Centre PC?
Callum Alden @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
(sorry I checked out of consoles a while back) so USB, eh? Can I plug a keyboard and mouse into this sukka and chuck out the controller? Any ideas?
todd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
>They used a Mac iPod, says so above. I take back >some of what I said earlier, I am surprised they >put HFS+ support in. Score one for Microsoft.
oops, what happens when you skim. Very nice.
dee @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Great i was wondering how that would work but now i want tosee it done with the
PSP :o
Radiant Silvergun @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
>>Callum Alden: Can I plug a keyboard and mouse into this sukka and chuck out the controller?<<
No, unless the game supports them. Currently, the only one is the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI (FFXI).
Colin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
What I really want to know and I've not seen it confirmed anywhere is...
If I configure my xbox to look at my home network and look at my iTunes library on my PC will it also read that content the same as it does on the ipod ? Only MS have only confirmed mp3 or wma support for streaming media and I really dont want to have to change my whole collection ! TIA.
JBob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I'm just glad I'm not the only one with Hitchhiker's Guide on my iPod!
Berko @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
White toys? Speak for yourself, but my iPod is black. Anyone with an Envy, Candy Apple or Ferrari colored iPod (http://www.colorwarepc.com/products/category_content.aspx?categoryid=370) wanna file a grievance?!
JimMain @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
>> Dr DOOM: why would you want to watch a 320x240 video (from an ipod) on a tv screen anyway? Especially if it's HD.
>> Oliver Sayers: Why the hell would you play a low quality vid from a portable media player when you can stream a high def 1 from a XP or Media Centre PC?
The iPod plays back up to 480 x 320 mp4 files, which if you have an iPod with hundreds of videos, is a very good reason to play them. I've got a bigger-than-HD monitor and there's not much difference between DVD & high-end ipod encodes. Why would I bother with a Media Centre PC?
zenprism @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I hooked my iPod up to my 360 right after I brought it home yesterday and the 360 recognized the songs on my iPod, but wouldn't play any AAC music files (non-protected AAC files). The song name would show up with a red circled slash next to it. Mpeg/mp3 music files play fine, but most of my library is AAC, since that's what iTunes rips songs as.
Otherwise I'm glad I got a 360. This is my only complaint.
zenprism @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Ha. My bad. The answer is right here for anyone else wondering:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/howto/media/xbox360/howto-media-ipod.htm
Roach @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
wtf happened to AAC support. Allot of my library has been converted to AAC for more space. U cant convert AAC back to mpeg-3 within iTns. That means all manual conversion. Also can you transfer files (move them to the 20g hd) stored out of the iTunes DB file, ie files dragged and dropped into the ipod at the root/ and/or on a usb2.0 external HD.
Todd Fiedler @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
You CAN convert them in iTunes.
Just go into the preferences and change the encoding settings from AAC to MP3. Then select the AAC formatted songs and choose convert from the menu. Works fine.
Of course, you will lose some fidelity converting from one lossless format to another. The bonus is that from now on, all your songs will be ripped into MP3s instead of AACs.
C. Grant @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
AAC (un-DRM'ed) is supported. You need to download a free codec from the Live Marketplace. I think its a cost thing. Otherwise they would have to pay for the license on every 360, regardless of whether or not they used the AAC playback. Now they only pay for each user that needs it.
Check it out.
electrolory @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
That is all fine and dandy but with all the horse power of the 360 it is a huge let down to see that Microsoft does not support live music streaming for musicians and DJ's. Nor do they have any plans to support any type of music creation software other than music based games... So you won't be seeing or hearing live jams while playing Halo 3- You could though, all the tech and software is there but you won't because they are too scared to focus on other forms of interactive entertainment beyond gaming. Read any electronic music mag or online site and you will see that the audio fan boys are going nuts over the processing power of the new machines yet nobody in any of the next gen corporate camps is doing anything to support bringing live music into video games or to port over music creation tools to take advantage of the hardware.
Silas @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Like Luke asked in comment #12, "Can you plug in an external hard drive to it and play audio files?"
Rick @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
I don't think live music would go too well being played behind a game. Live music deserves our full attention.
electrobrain @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Here's a strange problem: I'm using Windows Media Connect to connect my 360 to my PC's audio library. After I realized AAC support was not native, I downloaded the free AAC codec from Xbox Marketplace. For some reason, however, I still can't see any of my unprotected AAC files on my PC. My MP3's show up and stream fine.
What gives? Anybody else have this problem?
The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
DRM/iTMS AAC files will play just fine... if you run them through a program that strips the DRM from them, first.
Luckily, there's one out there for the Mac. Find it. Enjoy.
mark @ Dec 18th 2005 9:13PM
Hi guys
seeing as you have connected your ipod to the xbox 360 do you know if you can use it as a hard drive and save ur games etc to the ipod instead of buying a memory card or hard drive for the xbox 360??? would be good if you can let me know as it would save 70!!!!!