Sent my XBOX in bout exactly a week ago and already it's been repaired and in the process of getting shipped back. In reality it takes about 2-3 days for the Console to get repaired/replaced, it's just the UPS ground shipping that takes forever.xsalvioutlawx

Was it really the UPS shipping that took forever? How much time elapsed between you finding out there was a UPS tracking number, and UPS actually first moving the package?

Did it come from Mesquite, TX?

From what I understand, all Xbox's shipped to Mesquite are gathered up and regularly trucked to a "near-sourced" repair facility that is actually in Mexico. If you do a Google street view of the Mesquite address, all you see is a UPS facility; no mention of Microsoft. They allegedly shipped the boxes down there multiple times a week.

I'm thinking they are shipping them back from Mexico maybe only once a week now to save money? I got a UPS tracking number assigned this past Wednesday morning but UPS still has no information on it (as of the following Saturday evening) ... this means they are not in possesion of my Xbox yet, which I presume means it is still in Mexico. Mesquite is close enough to me that once they start it moving, I get it the next day.

Last two times I sent mine in, it was gone 7 days: UPS had it 2 days (1 there, 1 back, 2 days were weekend, 3 business days of repair). This time it's going to be longer since Microsoft is sitting on it post-repair.

Suddenly most of the blocks in the right-hand column of my profile page all have center-justification rather than left-justification. NO THANKS. It is almost OK for Tracked Blogs, but looks like garbage in the My Friends, Friend's Videos, and especially My RSS blocks.

Please restore the left-justification. This kind of cleverness isn't necessary.

All of the posts in the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (Original XBox) Forum are gone as of some time in the last 24-48 hours. Granted, there weren't a lot, but I can't see them from gamespot or gamefaqs:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/rpg/baldursgatedarkalliance/forum.html

 http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/gentopic.php?board=557893

Searching for a game for the "game association" feature needs more work. For example enter "double" to find Splinter Cell Double Agent. Among the results will be at least six occurrences of "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent" are in the list returned -- one for PS3, one for 360, one for Wii, etc.

After you choose one, when you look at the image from the regular viewing page, it shows the game association but with the platform in parentheses afterwards.

But there is no way to tell when you are uploading/editing the image which entry is which platform. You just have to choose one at randowm, then view the image and see what you ended up with. If it is the wrong guess, you have to search again, and pick another one, save, view, and repeat until you get the right one.

The platform should be listed in the search results.

You need to be aware that what used to be called just "Xbox Live" is now "Xbox Live Silver" and "Xbox Live Gold". In order to play online you need "Xbox Live Gold". The fine print on the Gold subscriptions says you need an Xbox 360, when in fact, the subscription codes work for an Original Xbox as well. There are features of Gold that your Original Xbox cannot take advantage of, like the Marketplace, for example.

Also you have to be aware by now that no more games are being published for the Original Xbox, so even if you do get online, the community that is there is only going to get smaller with time. According to the stats posted on Major Nelson's blog, here are the top ten games played on Live on the Original Xbox the week of March 12:

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1 Halo 2
2 Battlefield 2: MC
3 Madden NFL 07
4 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
5 Counter-Strike
6 Forza Motorsport
7 Call of Duty 3
8 Ghost Recon 2
9 PGR 2
10 Rainbow Six 3

Regardless, even with the RPGs and the solo play of the games listed above, you have many many hours of gameplay ahead of you to enjoy.

There already IS a FREE Xbox Live service. It is called Xbox Live Silver. It just doesn't do anything for Original Xbox owners.

Xbox Live Gold is what equates to the Xbox Live service that existed before the 360 came out, i.e. the service that let you play games against other people.

It doesn't matter whether you have an Xbox 360 or an Original Xbox. There is no "Original Xbox Live". Go down to Best Buy -- all you will find are cards for "Xbox Live Gold" subscriptions. They work on your Original Xbox.

Sure, on your Original Xbox, you don't get to blow money and points in the Marketplace, etc., but, point is, if you want to play Halo 2 matchmaking, you need Xbox Live Gold, and you're going to pay for it.

There is only one "Xbox Live" as far as getting online and playing with other people goes. It is currently called "Xbox Live Gold" (as opposed to "Xbox Live Silver"). It doesn't matter whether you have an Xbox 360 or an Original Xbox (BTW it's not a "normal" Xbox, it's an "Original" Xbox). If you want to play a game against someone else, you buy a Gold subscription.

As for whether it is worth it for an Original Xbox owner, yes, Halo 2 is apparently one of the few games that still has a significant population out there. You have to know that no more games are going to be created for the Original Xbox, so the number of people playing these games is only going to get smaller with time.

Major Nelson posts the rankings based on unique gamertags in his blog. Some recent standings:

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1 Halo 2
2 Battlefield 2: MC
3 Madden NFL 07
4 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
5 Counter-Strike
6 Forza Motorsport
7 Call of Duty 3
8 Ghost Recon 2
9 PGR 2
10 Rainbow Six 3

Is it possible for my game to be gliched?love_me_916

Two things:

1. The walkthrough here says: Should any of the hanging cages fail to fall, even after repeated attempts ... then you might be experiencing a glitch where you can't proceed further and thus have to start from scratch (or maybe from a save in Kazakhstan or before) to be able to kill the boss and proceed the game

2. There is a TRL-specific forum here. There are no posts there, so you would be the first, but you might try posting there as well, just in case someone is looking there instead of in the Xbox forums at large.

I wanna play the halo series and some star wars games and others. But i dont wanna pay $400 for a 360. So is getting an xbox a good buy still?bobstrife

Thief: Deadly Shadows, 2 more missions to go.

Next up will be Double Agent.