Eat This Blog
...and expensive. Anyone who pays $300 for 3000 points AND/OR hands their password over to this place should be pointed at and mocked.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6159255.html
I hope it's easy to tell if someone is using this service just by looking at their profile.
Today, I finally went to EB and purchased a new headset for the 360. I've been without the ability to use voice on the 360 for about a week now, since my dog Caesar took it upon himself to grab the old headset off my desk while I slept and chew the wire into little bits. What a wonderful pup I have.
As luck would have it, Caesar got a hold of the NEW headset, too, while I was playing Enchanted Arms. This time he didn't chew the wire. He did something much more bizarre. He laid down in the floor with them, licked them a few times, and then closed his eyes as if they were his favorite stuffed toy.
By the time I had gotten across the room to where he was, he had taken off with them in his mouth. When I finally took them away from him, he whimpered. I felt bad for him, so he got his favorite snack in it's place: a carrot. Yes, my dog thinks he is a rabbit.
BUT, that's not it yet. Once I finally made my way back to the 360, the system was off. I found this incredibly odd since I had been playing just 5 minutes before, and did not recall shutting it off. So, without hesitation, I turned the system back on. Then all HELL showed up on my monitor:
E 68 (This is an error code, that means hardware failure,as I soon found out) "PLEASE CALL XBOX CUSTOMER SUPPORT"
My heart stopped, then beat in reverse. My breath suddenly left my lungs, and I was unable to even stand or think properly or take in air. It was if I was having an asthma attack, and the only relief was to see the 360's dashboard.
Minutes on end went by, but they felt like hours. I tried this and that and then this again. Finally I remembered what a Customer Support Rep told me months ago when the leaderboards were down.
"Unhook your HDD and then turn the 360 on"
Worked perfectly. So, my HDD must be fried or corrupted, because the 360 works without it attached. Well, considering I have 3 profiles and about 20 Arcade games on that disk drive, I thought this to be very crappy indeed.
But, the gods of gaming shown down on me in my time of need. Just as a fluke, because I knew my HDD was done for, I hooked it back in and turned the power to the 360 back on.
It worked fine. Every profile, every game, every download and demo, was right where I had left it. The 360 acted as if nothing was wrong, and as if nothing ever had been. My heart slowly returned to normal. My breath came back. My head didn't feel like it was going to float away.
Sure, I had a panic attack. But at least I can still play my 360. It was the equivalent of going through 500 quality haunted houses without a break. I was THAT scared. But now everything is fine and dandy. Maybe some of you with a "hardware failure" should just take the HDD out and then put it right back in after turning the power on and off.
It worked for me. 
I can't say that he was ever really one of my favorite people, but this is quite the news nonetheless.
After numerous close encounters with many dangerous animals. After being the butt of many jokes. After the media publicity he received for feeding a crocodile with his one month old baby in his arms. Believe it or not, it wasn't a crocodile that did the poor man in. It was a stingray.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html
It may not be a shock to most of you since the guy has cheated death quite a few times, but 44 is too young to die. 
I have been excited to play the addictive gem of a game, Lumines, on the 360 Arcade ever since it was announced months ago. A puzzle game with a beat is something I've been aching for.
Needless to say when I got my copy of OXM today I was rather disappointed, no, LIVID, to read that the game would prompt you during the FULL VERSION that in order to proceed you would have to spend 300 more points ON TOP OF THE 1200 you've spent already to continue the VS CPU mode, and 400 MORE points to continue the Puzzle/Mission mode.
Well, that settles it. I'll buy the game. I'll buy the "add-ons" if you can call them that. Why? Because I like games, and I've spent more than this before on them. BUT, having said that, I won't be happy about it. If those "expansions" are available on the Marketplace from day one, then that means they could have been included in the 1200-point 'FULL' version from day one.
The very thought of being nickel-and-dimed to death like this is starting to take it's toll on my viewpoint of what the 360 is really all about. If I just spent $15 on the game, should I really be prompted to spend MORE halfway through the game?? Doesn't that sort of crap only happen in demos?? That shouldn't happen in the "full" $15 version AT ALL. PERIOD.
This is the worst decision ever, as far as the XBL Arcade goes!! I hope Microsoft knows it, and I hope they don't pull an idiotic stunt like this again. If nothing else, I've been a fanboy of the 360 since November 22nd. It's always been good to me UNTIL NOW, and I hope thousands of gamers raise total hell about this pitiful and ridiculous omission of certain aspects of the game just so they can suck the wallet right out of our pocket with their vacuum known as the Marketplace.
MICROSOFT, YOU SUCK FOR THIS!! PULL THIS CRAP AGAIN AND WATCH ME NEVER BUY A MARKETPLACE DOWNLOAD EVER AGAIN!! 
*smokes 50 cigarettes all at once*
Sorry about that. I'm really, really mad. 
Can things get any weirder here in Arizona?? As if having 115 degree weather and no daylight savings time doesn't screw things up enough around here. Read this article, and just try to imagine how happy I must be that I didn't go to the theater.
Tomorrow, better known as Sunday, August 20th, Netflix will be sponsoring a screening of Raising Arizona, the classic Coen Brothers film, in the middle of the Arizona desert where the film was shot. Think of it as a drive-in, only without the cars. Just a bunch of blankets on the desert bed, a cool night breeze blowing through, and an endlessly starry sky. Also, the open air should help the sound of couples talking and crying babies die away much easier.
Considering the event is totally free, I will be going to partake in this once-in-a-lifetime chance. I think the film is really great, and the more you've seen it the more you appreciate it. I can only hope and imagine that seeing it in the place where it was filmed will add even more personality to a film already brimming with it.
And don't forget: "If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass a- hoppin'."
