Lots of people are reluctant to apply hardware mods, especially to console games. However, after the jump, I'll provide step-by-step instructions for how to mod Geometry Wars 2 to improve your scores. It will not invalidate your warranty, it doesn't require any soldering, and Microsoft won't be able to detect it over Xbox Live. It might seem slightly shady, but it's no worse than buying a fancy stick controller to play Soul Calibur IV. And it's a whole lot cheaper!

After the jump, read detailed instructions for modding your copy of Geometry Wars 2.

Step 1: You'll need two (2) items for what I'm calling the Improved Score Mod. The first item is some adhesive tape. If you don't have adhesive tape, masking tape will do. Duct tape should be a last resort. Next, you'll need a smallish flat object of some sort, with a thickness somewhere between a two-by-four and a piece of tissue paper. You have a few options here. The best case scenario is index cards, although you may not have these in your house if you don't collect recipes or if you're not learning a foreign language.

Another option is to tear the cover off a paperback copy of a Neal Stephenson novel. I'd recommend the Cryptonomicon, since it's so long you're never going to actually read it. That thing is like a thousand pages.

Step 2: If you use index cards, like I did (I collect recipes, in case you're wondering), you may need up to three of them, depending on their hardiness. Fan them out like a poker hand, as demonstrated in the photo above, to determine exactly how many you're using.

Step 3: Now collapse them so they're carefully aligned, as in the photo above. This may take two hands.

Step 4: Now take a single piece of adhesive tape. Take care that it doesn't fold over on itself. It's very difficult to disunite adhesive tape after portions of the sticky sides have touched each other. If this happens, go back to the beginning of step 4.

Step 5: Apply the tape to one edge of the collapsed cards as shown above. Then fold it over to bind the cards together (not shown).

Here is an un-modded copy of Geometry Wars 2. The appearance of your copy of Geometry Wars 2 might not be identical. For instance, you might have a different jerk-off's name in the upper right hand corner whose score you can't beat. Ignore this for the time being.

Step 6: For the purposes of the Improved Score Mod, locate this area of your Geometry Wars 2 game. It should be in the upper left hand corner, immediately above and to the left of all the colors and shapes.

Step 7: Carefully line up the bound index cards, or whatever item you're using. The picture above is an example of improperly aligned cards.

This picture indicates the proper placement of your index cards, or whatever item you're using.

Now apply another piece of adhesive tape, similar to the manner in which you did it in step 4. Since this step requires considerable precision, you might need help with this step, like I did, which is why I don't have a picture of me doing the step. Call in your little brother, your wife, or have one of your buddies come over. Your modded copy of Geometry Wars 2 should resemble the picture above.

If you've properly modded Geometry Wars 2, you'll find that you without being able to check your score by moving your eyes valuable degrees away from the things that kill you, you'll die less often, and your score will increase by as much as 4%. Tomorrow I'll post instructions for v2.0 of my Improve Your Score Mod, which covers whichever jerk-off's score is in the upper right hand corner, as well as the location of the notification messages that pop up if your thoughtless friends send you messages or log onto Xbox Live.