Butwheaty’s Xbox 360 Update

Well, Microsoft put me in the front of the line at the McAllen, TX repair center.  I shall soon receive my 4th XBOX 360 console.  I have high hopes of actually receiving a console that doesn’t break after 24 hours, as did the one I just sent in.

If this sucka breaks (again), I may just end up driving to McAllen and paying some folks a visit.

I’ll be sure to bring my younger brother along to do my whining for me (see pic).  He’s pretty good at annoying the crap outta people.  Maybe Bill Gates will be in town when I visit.

Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself and actually forecasting a breakage.  Shit, it isn’t like I’m not used to it by now.

With all the shit-360s I’ve been through, I’ve missed out the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare MP BETA (yes, I had token to play that); I missed the Halo 3 launch; I missed an XBLA fire sale.  Basically, Microsoft has forced me to watch about two months of crappy TV.

I’ll be back online Monday.

CONFIRMED: Bungie breaks up with Microsoft

Well, it’s now official … Bungie Studios and Microsoft have broken-up. Grab your tissues and wipe your tears Microsoft fanboys … Bungie will now make games for any platform they want. I still stand by my prediction that we’ll see Halo on Sony’s Playstation 3.

So how about it Sony fanboys … do you even want to play Halo on your beloved PS3? I know many of you do, just as 360 fanboys would like to play Metal Gear Solid. In this day-and-age, it’s almost stupid to not go cross-platform … games cost a ton of money, and the best way to get a decent return (sometimes, any return at all) is to make games for all the hardware platforms.

But then again, how do you build a brand name if every single game developer makes games for all the hardware? Exclusives are always going to exist; that’s why the 3DO failed. Trip Hawkins believed in one hardware platform, and he failed miserably due to poor studio support (no one believed him).

So, good luck Bungie … I’m sure your divorce from Microsoft will be liberating!

Halo on the PS3?!

Word on the street is that Bungie, a Microsoft Game Studios developer, might be splitting from Microsoft and become an multi-platform game developer.

As of right now, it’s all rumor.

Here’s a prediction; we’ll see the Halo series make it’s way over to the PS3 by the end of next year (if the split happens). We’ll see all three games on one Blu-ray disc for the PS3 in time for Christmas 2008.

And, I’m betting that Bungie pulled an Apple and developed the PS3 version of Halo 3 alongside the XBOX 360 version in a secret basement full of roaches.

I can see all the Microsoft whiners having a fit over this tidbit.

Microsoft Has Lost Their Marbles

When is Microsoft going to learn how to properly design and build a successful piece of hardware?

So here’s the deal; on Monday my XBOX 360 arrived via UPS from the repair center in McAllen, TX. I didn’t have much time to actually play anything because of a few nerds, but I was able to gain some progress in Halo 2. Sadly, Forza Motorsport 2 required a title update … and since of aforementioned nerds, I couldn’t download the update. Which, is pretty fucking stupid if you ask me. There is no reason why I cannot continue my quest in Career mode, racking up much-needed credits, without having to have the latest patch that probably only affects online play anyway. 😦

Wednesday evening was my next opportunity, after I mowed my ~2 month-long lawn. After two hours of arduous labor, I finally finish-up and head inside to exercise my thumbs. In case you had no idea where this was headed, see attached image … but, imagine the LEDs flashing.

Yep, my XBOX 360 managed to successful operate for less than one single day … directly from Microsoft’s repair facility.

Normally … and I’m stretching here because anyone who has a piece of electronics die on them in less than one day of ownership would have every right to begin gathering shotgun shells and gassing-up the Pussy Wagon … I wouldn’t be so angry. However, this is my 3rd XBOX 360 I’ve had (two refurbished consoles from Microsoft) and I’ll soon have a 4th.

Here’s another blood-boiler that got me going …

So Monday night I get a call from Mada at the Microsoft repair center asking me if I received my console. Yes, I have. She also asked if it was working perfectly. Yes, it is. She then tells me that she will call back in a couple of days to check-in and see if everything is satisfactory and to discuss possible compensation for my troubles. Ah-hah! Here’s my chance to get a free game. I tried to press the issue of talking about compensation now, but she deferred it to the next time she calls. OK. She gave me a toll-free number to call in the event I have any issues with my level of service, along with a reference number and her personal extension. I was slightly impressed that she called.

Fast-forward to tonight, the first thing I did was call the number she provided and enter the reference number, followed by her extension. It was then I heard the sweet-sweet words every fucked-in-the-ass customer LOVES to hear … we’re sorry, the extension you entered is invalid; please check the number and try again.

The irritation levels are rising…

Fine, I enter her extension again and the automated system tells me to wait for the next available operator. Great! I thought I was going to actually be talking with someone who could help me, not a script-reading operator!

Well, I watched the last half of Wheel of Fortune, all of Deal or No Deal (the gay teacher was a riot!), and into about 15 minutes of Bionic Woman (hated it) before I finally gave up to call 800-4-MY-XBOX.

I got a new reference number from Claire (yeah, I’m real sure that name gets used a lot in India) and my empty box is on the way.

So then, I run an errand that takes about 10 minutes. I get back home to try to contact Mada … immediately the automated system tells me to call back during regular business hours and proceeds to hang-up on me.

This gets better by the minute. My plan now is to try to make contact with Mada on Thursday and pretty-much demand a brand-new, shiny, black or Spartan-green console. My hopes aren’t very high.

The New Ibox

Price today: $599.99

In 8 weeks: $399.99

Get ’em while they’re hot!!!

And we do mean HOT… The fucking thing will burn up on you in less than a month.

MSFT == ENE ??

History has history of repeating itself … repeating itself.

There is a famous quote by George Santayana … “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,”

Recently, if you’ve been following Microsoft’s Xbox 360 woes (woes translates to a $1 BILLION fuck-up) with the “3 red lights of death” issue, you’ll remember a recent announcement by Microsoft finally admitting there was a problem and finally offering to fix 360’s free of charge (as well as extending the warranty to 3 years). For the complete story, read about it someplace else.

Well, following in the footsteps of greatness Enron and their shaddy execs, we have just learned that Robert J. Bach (soon-to-be ex-Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division President) sold about $6.2 million shares of MSFT stock immediately preceding the announcement of Microsoft’s professing steps to correct the infamous 3RLoD.

Here’s the schmuck:

I can’t wait for the trial.

CNN has more details …