Depressing Reminder: Xbox.com down for maintenance.


I nearly forgot that today was the day that Xbox Live was to be down for a backend update. Luckily, I just picked up Metal Gear Solid 4 to keep me company for a few hours after work, not to mention that both Heroes & a Pittsburgh Steelers game will be on TV tonight!

If that’s just not enough for you, Xbox.com came up with a funny list of the Top 10 Things to do while Xbox Live is offline… including tips like 9. Play through the story-mode of the original “Gears of War” so you have a story refresher before “Gears of War 2” launches in November. Practice your Roadie Run. A preview of “Insider Moves” to come? 😉

Sadly, you’ll even notice the “My Xbox” section of Xbox.com is offline. I guess I’m going to have to keep myself entertained chatting with folks on other sites, like Unscripted 360.

The Xbox Live Police

I’ve never been huge on just linking off to other people’s sites, I really like to provide good analysis and news updates of my own. You know, unique content (what an idea, right?). But this article is just a bit too good to pass up.

Kotaku is running a story on The Xbox Live Police – the people working behind the scenes to make sure that, when we file a complaint, Xbox Live users can get their just desserts. Operative word being “just.” Sure, everyone has filed their share of complaints, but these are the people who take them seriously.

From the article:
Any complaint that’s not a duplicate, however, gets looked at. Every single one. In many cases, the violation is clear, and they can move on to any possible punitive steps. But for others, things can get messy. Where does good-natured [smack]-talking end and genuine offensive behaviour begin? Just because someone finds something offensive, does that mean it is offensive?
…Keep reading on Kotaku.

Halo 3 Championship Tournament to begin March 11th…

It looks like Bungie has concocted a way to compete with all of the top of the line games coming out over the next two months. A tournament of unparalleled scope. Open to players in the U.S. (except Vermont and Maryland, for some reason??), the tourment details can all be found on Xbox.com.

The following information is from the website:
Register via Xbox LIVE Marketplace by downloading the free Halo 3 US Championship Gamer Picture before March 17. To download the Gamer Picture:
Sign in to Xbox LIVE Marketplace
Select Game Store
Select Themes and Gamer Pictures
Select All Gamer Pictures
Select U.S. Army & Halo 3
Select Halo 3 U.S. Championship Gamer Picture and select Confirm Download

The tourney will be comprised of three rounds, culminating in an 8 man. The top eight players from the semi-finals round will meet on or around May 3, 2008, to compete in the Championship Round of the Tournament on-site in New York City.

Put down that Grand Theft Auto IV, soldier… there’s Halo 3 to be played, prizes to be won, and celebrity status to be established! At least, that’s what Bungie wants you to think!

Can we be friends?

My friend and idol DeaconBlade 360, over at Unscripted 360, back on December 5th, had a great idea. The idea, itself, was actually suggested by the Microsoft people “e” and “Major Nelson.” So, why not talk ‘friends of friends.’ I really hope we get to be friends! We’re still VERY small, and we don’t have a large following… but I think what will make it most exciting – I get to watch it grow. Hopefully if I keep updating the site, the fan following will grow, my readers will want to game with me, and boom! We’ll all be the start of something big. 🙂

So, taking the idea from Unscripted’s u3660 friend finder, we have Gamertag WinBreak. Add WinBreak to your friends list, and let’s watch it grow together… starting adding me and our other friends to your friends list. Like Microsoft loves to tell us, “There’s 8 million people on Xbox Live, jump in!”