Capcom know their zombies. If you're a Resident Evil fan, you may think you know Capcom's zombies, in which case Dead Rising is going to come as a surprise. This is zombie high camp, played for laughs not chills. It's played just right too, and aside from one major technical niggle, this is a game that's all about fun.

Dead Rising rapidly drops your character, photojournalist Frank West, in the middle of the zombie's natural environment, the suburban mega-mall. Nearly everything in the mall is available for use in vanquishing hordes of zombies, and when you're tired of the obvious, like literally mowing them down, you can take a break from guns, sports equipment, and gardening tools, and challenge your creativity. Just how much damage can you do with a couple of gallons of cooking oil and a carnie mask?

There are hordes, too. Dead Rising's zombies aren't fast or even overly aggressive, but there sure are a heck of a lot of them. Mobs run into the hundreds, meaning there are times when the game can be a total gore-fest. Largely, the Xbox 360 copes with this without a hitch. It's not all about undead slicing and dicing, though. Dead Rising has a plot. Frank's job isn't to kill zombies, it's to find out what happened in sleepy Willamette to make everyone so cranky and cannibalistic. Using a Case File system, Frank follows clues through his main mission, given seventy-two hours to uncover the mystery.

This makes for compelling play. It's also a total pain in the behind. Following the Case Files often means being in a particular place at a certain time. Miss the deadline and the mission is over - each Case File follows on from the one before it. It's a rare game mechanic people might recognise from Roman mystery game SPQR.

Unfortunately, Dead Rising only lets you save at designated save points, and then it only lets you have one saved game. If you miss an appointment and your last save isn't far enough back, you're screwed. Your only real option is to start all over again.

You can choose to do this with your upgraded version of Frank, though. He gains prestige points through killing zombies, taking photos, completing missions etc, which you can use to increase his abilities. You can also learn new skills by reading books, and regain health points and get temporary 'power ups' by experimenting with mixing the food you find around the mall. And pointless but fun, you can dress Frank in any of the clothes you find in the stores, in case you ever wanted to know what it was like to beat a zombie to death with a frying pan while dressed in a miniskirt and heels.

Most of the missions come down to escort duty: rescuing survivors and taking them back to the safe base in the mall's security office. Mixed in with that, though, are several survivors who've gone psychotic with the strain. These act as 'boss fights' for Frank, and are much more challenging than most zombie fights. You'll get offered a number of side-missions, too, which you can't possibly get through in the seventy-two hour mode and still catch all the Case File deadlines. You are going to have to play this more than once, and while there's some frustration in the deadline system, both the plot structure and the amount of game content make that a lot less painful. Even if you played through perfectly first time, you'd have missed so much on the side that you'd want to go back again anyway.

Dead Rising isn't the top end of Xbox 360 games graphically, but it's perfectly good enough and hardly ever chugs dealing with some very crowded screens. The sound, though, is particularly great. Loving attention has been put into ensuring that every single thing you hit a zombie with sounds just like you think it should, whether that be an oversized stuffed teddy bear or a musical instrument.

It's a real pity that the save system makes the Case File system such a frustrating pain, because otherwise Dead Rising is a great, fun game which manages to be both compelling and packed with intestine-spattered laughs.

You know, I never really considered myself a "cheater," and I always thought cheating was a low kind of thing to do, but I'm an avid gamer and I want to get further in my games. And besides, who'd be hurt if I cheated a little here and there on my XBox games?

So, maybe it's a question of honor: I got to the end of the game WITHOUT cheating! I did it all by myself! Aw, forget it, there's no glory there…

Let's Cheat!

There are tons of websites out there offering you cheat codes. What can you do these codes, anyway?

Cheat codes aren't really cheating, they're just giving your character new powers. I mean, it's not like putting a mod chip into your machine and hacking into the game itself or anything like that. In fact, nowadays cheats are built into games in the form of "easter eggs."

Remember "Adventure" for the Atari 2600, and that wall you could pass through into the secret screen? What? OK, I'm old. I'll shut up.

Alright, how about this: In "Contra" for Nintendo… up down up down left right left right b a b a - and you have 30 lives!

Okay, so cheats have come a long way since then. Some of the things you can do with cheat codes include skipping levels, giving yourself special powers, unlimited lives, indestructibility… anything you can imagine.

Serious XBox users cheat only for experimental purposes, or so they say. With cheats, you can get ahead a little or try out some new things to heighten your gaming experience. With most XBox games, you won't accrue points the same way when you use cheats. In other words, your score won't be the same as if you had done it yourself. Still, it's fun to see what you can do!

As far back as the mid-1980's there were gaming magazines that had cheat codes. Now it's a common feature of gaming magazines. But, the best place to find cheats is online. There are websites with tons and tons of cheats for you to try out.

Here are a few places to start:

www.CheatCodes.com - This site's front page has all the game system's logos. You just click on the XBox 360 and it gives you an alphabetical directory of all the games. There is all kinds of information for each game, not just cheat codes, and you can sign up and post your own cheats.

www.MoFunZone.com - Mo Fun Zone has free downloadable games you can play on your computer. On a side bar to the left of the screen, they have a game cheats section. They also have each system's logo, and an alphabetical listing of games. One of my fave XBox 360 games is Madden NFL 07, and just looking under that game, there are at least 40 cheat codes that let you do things like get 10,000 rush yards or 500 tackles!

www.GameFAQs.com - This site has tons of XBox 360 cheats. It has lots of other special features like the latest gaming new and review too. This is a good all around gaming sight.

Aside from these sites, check gaming forums. Most forums have a section full of cheats where everybody shares their best. So, get out there and have some fun!

If you're thinking about buying an xBox 360, you might have noticed that you can save money by buying a "refurbished" xBox. Sometimes the price difference is pretty significant. You may be wondering what exactly a refurbished system is, and why it's so much cheaper.

A refurbished xBox 360 is one that has been pre-owned, but unlike a regular used system, it has been tested by the manufacturers to make sure everything works properly. They use the exact same technology to check a refurbished system as they do a new system. So, if you get one that's refurbished, that means that it should theoretically be up to the same standards as a brand new model.

Refurbished machines are often used as replacements for xBox 360's that don't work. If you know anybody who has had to return their xBox because of overheating problems or faulty hardware, they'll get a refurbished one sent to them in return. If you're past warrantee, you have to pay for that refurbished machine, which costs $129 from xBox directly.

Refurbished xBox 360's from the manufacturer are like new. They test them the same way they test new units to make sure they meet quality standards. Some gamers have had problems with the refurbished consoles, but they are usually the same problems people have with the brand new ones, like the "red rings of death" caused by overheating. The problems with the consoles are due to some kind of faultiness from the get-go, not because they are refurbished.

Even though it's as good as new, some gamers feel kind of ripped-off by Microsoft for not replacing their new, malfunctioning units with other new units. Instead, they send you a refurbished one that has been used by somebody else. It's easy to see why that would be a little insulting.

Buying a refurbished system is only about as risky as buying a new one, but still it's probably a good idea to go ahead and pay for that extra warrantee. They offer warrantees of different lengths, and the prices for the warrantees vary accordingly.

Aside from buying a refurbished xBox directly, you can find refurbished consoles for sale on eBay and other online shops. You might be able to get one for under $100, but make sure you have a good warrantee.

There have been some stories about people buying refurbished machines off the internet (not directly from the company) that had some cosmetic damage, or that had some minor problems, so buyer beware. Any time you buy anything off the web, make sure you are dealing with a reliable dealer and there is some kind of warrantee or money back guarantee.

There are also lots of stories out there about gamers having trouble with their new xBoxes, sending them back, and getting refurbished machines that didn't work any better. Again, this is due to a problem with the system's design. It can't be stressed enough: get the warrantee. Shell out the money for the longest warrantee and make sure you are covered in case anything happens.