I am disgusted with Gamestop. Even God knows this isn’t right.

*sigh*

Well, have fun with your new toy, despite the obvious fact that I, yes, marginalized Diablo, should be playing on the 360, all things considered.

Sadness: the HD cable that came with my 360 is busted. You have to wiggle it just right to get it to work - otherwise, no picture. Guess I’ll call MS tomorrow. Their phone number, in case you’re wondering, is 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this “Component HD AV Cable” has component video, composite video, normal stereo audio RCA plugs, and optical audio. Pretty full featured cable! Just wish it had S-Video, as composite video is so crappy. My TV takes S-Video, but not component. The price on the S-Video cable? $29.

does it piss any of you off that i can walk into any electronic shop around here and see several Xbox 360 packages just sitting around, unloved? in japan it seems to be even worse… prices are at about $180 now and still no one is buying. and you can always go over to smashmyxbox.com and see what those guys camped out over 50 hours for. i watched the full length video and got a kick out of it.

I’ll kick you, hed. Kick you hard.

But, if you’re feeling in a Christmassy mood, sure, pick me up an Xbox and send it on over. It’ll get you brownie points for heaven, and I won’t kick you any more.

i won’t go into detail about the problems of combining NTSC and PAL equiptment. over here i just watch my region 2 DVDs on my PAL playstation 2 and region 1s on my computer. my VCR plays both PAL and NTSC tapes, but my TV will only read the NTSC signal on a specific jack using a specific cable. and there’s the whole 110v vs 220v thing. oh, and the dollar is about 1.20 to the euro, so the €400 Xbox 360 will be about $480 to you, plus shipping and customs. customs will not be kind to you, i can guarantee it. it would probably be cheaper to send a second Xbox as a bribe

yeah, so… if you REALLY want one… and REALLY want to buy all your games in europe as well… and you don’t mind your DVDs not playing on it…

guess i’m gettin kicked

The broken cable saga, in all it’s glory.

As I already said, I called GameCrazy the evening of getting my console, and they said, no, we don’t have any replacement cables. I asked for an S-Video cable. No, said the clerk, we don’t have any of those. Then I hear the other clerk say, “Yes, we do,” followed by the first clerk saying something like “Oh… uh…. hang on….. yeah we got ‘em heap cables here.” I could be exaggerating ad hominem, here.

But still, says he, no HD replacement cables. Alright, if that’s the way it’s gotta be. So, the next morning, I call Microsoft for a forty-minute phone call, which included a twenty-minute bonus trial of their hold music. Why so long, especially since they picked the phone up right away? Their computers were down. Once they had everything working again, we arranged a deal whereby they would send me a box, I’d send them the old ‘n busted cable, and they’d send me the new hotness. “However,” Katie said, “you might want to try calling your local GameCrazy back, just to make sure they don’t have one. We’ll cancel the box swapping for you no problem if they’ve got one.”

Sounds good, I say, and the box deal goes into motion. I then proceed to call GameCrazy, where the clerk (Matt, a different one than last night), says “Heck yeah, we’ve got tons of HD cables.” Silence on my part. “Can I come swap my broken one for one of your good ones?”, sez I. “Sure, come right on in,” says Matt. More stunned silence on my part. “Ok, I’ll be right there”.

Back to GameCrazy, I swap cables, go home plug it in and SWEET MERCIFUL ELECTRONS IT WORKS. Joy of joys, no more cable wiggling. But, are you sitting down? Here comes the thrilling conclusion!

I called Microsoft back, to cancel our box-swapping shenanigans. Linda answers the phone. I explain to her the shenanigans. “OK,” says she. “I’ll cancel that, can you hold?” “Sure,” I say, not sure of why she’d need to put me on hold for this, but oh well, she’s in, like, outer mongolia, due to the bad phone connection, right?

I swear, this is what she says when she gets back on the line: “I see the record here of the fulfillment order you placed, however, I don’t have any records that we were going to send you a box. But, it’s all cancelled now. Is there anything else we can do for you?”

Truly awe-inspiring, stunned silence on my part. They weren’t going to send me a box? I would have waited a week (as Katie had asked me to do before calling back) for nothing? “But, it doesn’t matter, right? It’s cancelled now, right?”, I ask. “Yes,” she says, and then she explains to me again about how they were not going to send me a box, as if this was the most important part of the phone call. “OK,” I say, weakly.

Now, how about that? Who’s running the show over there? Katie, the tier two supervisor, or Linda the tier one worker? Obviously, no one knows.

And that is the end of the broken cable saga. I’m going to go play some Halo 2 online with my free month of Xbox 360 Live service. I think I deserve it.

Gentlemen:

I was angrily prowling around the Salem Center mall looking for a Christmas present for my wife. Walked around for an hour without a “definite” gift coming to mind. Walked out of Mervins, turned left and was passing by EBgames with no inclination to go in as this mall trip was specifically dedicated for the wife. When, lo and behold, EBgames had a small, and written note taped to the glass wall that stated, “Festivus Miracle- we have Xbox 360s in stock” Since it was late afternoon, I figured that they had probably sold out and had just left the sign up by mistake. Nevertheless, I went in and waited about a minute, then asked if they still had any. They did. All their pre-orders had been filled, and for some reason, the shipment sent to them was double of their pre-orders. I bought one premium unit. I then walked about 100 feet over to Gamestop and asked if my #14 pre-order had come in. It had not. I asked how many units had they received up til today; only 3. “Only 3, since launch day you jackasses have only received 3 Xbox 360s? Then why did I just walk in to EBgames, whom you all bought out a year ago, and by this 360?” I proudly put the 360 on the counter and gave a glare of upmost disdain.

Anyway, they fumbled through words, I picked up my periperals (changed my extra wired controler to wireless), and attempted to cancel the rest of my order, but since I paid in cash, they apparently did not have $400 in cash to give back. Pissed me off, but I was starting to feel bad for the people in line behind me. So, I told them I would settle this matter later.
Came home, then remembered why I had gone to the mall as I saw my wife sitting there, but relished in my new toy.

I should tell you that I was super steathly leaving the mall, as after I announced having got my 360 at EBgames there in Gamestop, some unruly teenagers took a vested interest in my whereabouts thereafter. Had I known that I was going to get a 360 yesterday, I would have gone in armed, but as it were, I only had my dashing good looks and charm, which seem to
fail more often than I anticipate. So I did some Splinter Cell covert tactics, went into Hallmartk, Victoria Secret, and gingerly made my way back to the trusty `93 Corolla. I was surprised at how heavy the 360 box was, with extra goodies as well.

Oddly enough, I haven’t played the 360 yet. I brought it home, hooked it up, turned it on and then got the “gamer profile” window, drew a blank as I couldn’t think of a name, turned off the machine and took my wife out. Went to a friends house, watched a Xmas movie, then played Xbox Live on his machine until 3:30 this morning. Of course, I’m leaving home for Xmas and have yet to buy a gift for the wife. I may not get to play until Tuesday… I guess that gives me enough time to contemplate a new gamer profile.

Well gents, you’ll be happy to note that pre-order #14 was filled, and so it shall be laid to rest. But I still have animosity towards Gamestop, which sucks, because I still have other games on pre-order there. C’est le vie.

Merry Christmas, we’ll talk of Xmas loot later.
Cordial Regards,
Diablo

i’m still cheerfully awaiting tales portraying the coveted hardware demon crashing at the most infuriatingly ill-timed moments of playful enjoyment. keep me posted

Not a single crash yet - it’s worked flawlessly… other than that cable issue I posted about a while ago…

Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, hed, but everything has been flawless thus far. I’ve only logged about 12 hours of play time thus far, but per your request, I’ll keep you posted.

Perfect Dark Zero is a decent game, but not a must have. I’ve played mostly co-op, but some single player as well. Not as fun as the original Perfect Dark installment, but fun nevertheless. Hexic has my wife occupied. Any huge achievements are her doing, for the most part.

Halo 2 is improvement, but I have to try it online still. More on that after the weekend.