The 2007 fall update for the Xbox 360 has brought some nice fixes and features yet there is still one thing that drives me crazy. I’ve got a large list of arcade titles on my console and actually play them frequently. Yet when trying to access the game I want to play I’m forced to sit through a large delay as it populates the list of games I’ve downloaded. The dashboard acts as if it’s searching either the hard drive or Live to populate this list each time it’s accessed. I don’t understand why Microsoft doesn’t just keep this information in a simple database or even a flat file on the hard drive for instant access to the list of games. Microsoft, thank you for adding native Divx and Xvid support, but can you please add some more performance tweaks to the dashboard? With the specs of this machine there is no excuse for delays in any of the dashboard screens.

Well, I never thought it could happen to me. Last night my Xbox betrayed me. I saw the lights. The dreaded three red lights that meant my Xbox was lost to me. All the good times we’ve had. Taking down the Locust Horde, getting destroyed in Madden, drunken beat downs handed out and taken in Fight Night, and taking down the Third Reich. Twice. Then this little game called Halo 3 came out. It was so innocent at first. A week of campaign to build up some skills. Then dabbling in online play. Nothing too bad at first. A little Snowbound. Then a some Epitaph. But then it got intense. Some social slayer with some shady people. A little ranked deathmatch with the likes of individuals named K0Kn0Kr and DrtyH0r69. I fell into the darkness of unprotected gaming with multiple partners of shady backgrounds. I shared Needlers, used grav lifts with other players. Maybe it was the late night benders, or being so slutty with my choices of online partners. Whatever it was my Xbox 360 caught the internet death virus, paying the ultimate price.

For the next 2-3 weeks I will mourn my loss. Then I’ll forget that weak excuse for a console once the replacement arrives. Will I change my ways? Perhaps, but then where’s the fun?