Wow. It must be time for my bi-annual GameSpot blog update already. Well hoo-ee. Doesn't the time just fly away.

I don't usually complain too much about Xbox Live. It's without a doubt the most well-developed online system for the modern day consoles, and there's no doubt that it should be given the huge head-start Microsoft have had over the competition. I also tend to leave the "Why should I pay for it when Virtual Console and PSN are free?" argument well alone. I'm not so naive to think that these services would be anywhere near as effective without some kind of funding from the people that use it. Some may balk at the way the almighty Microsoft has the audacity to ask for even more of your hard-earned money, but then they will happily praise the XBL service and its ease of use and range of facilities.

Make your feeble minds up, you whining melodramatic children. You people don't deserve consoles or games. You only complain about them, ritually, no matter what they do right.

I digress. So with the above all in mind, I find myself with a complaint to make. Not one specifically orientated around the XBL service - that part of the deal is fine. No no, this is entirely about money, and the way Microsoft deals - most notably - with mine. This blog will track the progress of this complaint, where every month Microsoft collects my money from a very normal Visa Debit card every, but then disallows me the privilege of making a XBL purchase from the very same card.

So then. The following complaint (complete with the reference number I was given) was sent to Microsoft through their purpose-built webpage at around 17:15 on the 12th December 2007, and I'm fairly disappointed that 5 days later there still hasn't been any response:

Microsoft Reference # 1052338553

I currently have a Visa Debit card set up on my XBL account (Gamertag: LowEnergyCycle). It happily pays for my un-used Gold account every month without fail. This is important: XBL HAS ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM TAKING £4.99 FROM THIS CARD EVERY MONTH FOR A GOLD ACCOUNT THAT I NEVER USE AND CAN'T FIND ANY OBVIOUS WAY OF CANCELLING. However, whenever I try to purchase MS Points with this card (to buy something that - heck - I may actually want) it says that it can not be authorised, and tells me to enter the correct card details. Your system is too stupid to allow me to edit the card details themselves once they are entered so I can't check how valid they are. Your website is also too stupid and ill-designed to allow me to remove the card from my XBL account and start again (probably because it is tied to the Gold account status which - of course - I can't seem to cancel). And trying to add the same card details as a second payment option (in a bid to migrate to this theoretical 'working' card) produces the very same "can not authorise" error. The card type MUST be compatible with XBL because it bills me every month. What on Earth do you suggest? XBL can take money from me without any damn problem. I can't seem to find a way to cancel that process at all through your website, despite never using the Gold status for anything. Yet when I decide I'd like to use MY OWN DAMN CARD to buy something from XBL, it tells me I can't. Still, that recent and totally pointless Friends Browsing update sure softens the blow.

Wow. It's about stinking time I updated this blog I guess. So I'll just get straight to the point: Fanboy muppets - get a life.

What is wrong with you people? Some of the things I read on this website alone are shocking. The lengths you will go to just to "prove" that your choice of console is the best. In the last few months I've seen racism, VIOLENT THREATS IN CAPITALS, talk of ****ing yo' momma, every possible permutation of a flame attack, and most importantly the most narrow-minded and irrational opinions ever expressed about a freakin' digital device.

Go visit a forum dedicated to the discussion of any other consumer electronic device. Go. Now.

Did you see anybody fighting over their favorite make and model of Television? No. You didn't.

The fact of the matter is, you - as an average fanboy - have no idea of the complexities behind any one of the current consoles. You can not possibly claim that the Xbox360 "sucks balls" or the Wii "is for gay kidz" or the PS3 is"an overpriced piece of sh..." because, actually, they are all totally awesome. They are up there with the other pinnacles of human achievements. They are hugely complicated pieces of kit. And you know it. You wouldn't even be here otherwise.

Do you even know what you are arguing for? I strongly suspect that most of you haven't even touched your "rival" consoles, so how can you possibly claim any ground in such an argument?

Also: could you do any better? You think the Wii is a stupid idea - then come up with a better one. You think the Xbox360 is too unreliable - then build a better one. You think the PS3 will fail because it will lose all its good exclusives - then create a brilliant exclusive.

What's that? You can't do any of them things? Well what's your point then?

You people just contribute to this wholly immature image that the Video-Games Industry sustains in the public eye. You same people will vehemently rant about Jack Thomson or The Daily Mail or the BBFC when thy dare to oppose your precious games. But a large part of the reason why these establishments look upon video-games as nothing more than "kids toys" is really quite simple:

A significant portion of you can't help but act like kids.

So I must have either acquired a stalker who tracks my every Gamespot move and reports me without fail to the authorities every time I even suggest a naughty word, or Gamespot itself is secretly going through some kind of mass cull of users and as such has tightened security in order to get rid of people without raising alarm.

Either way I've clearly ruffled some feathers. Which is good, because there's nothing that pleases me more than knowing feathers have been ruffled.

Some people perhaps spend too much time on Gamespot (and other sites that abort any sense of freedom of speech for the sake of allowing all the family to join in) and as such, perhaps, begin to lose their sense of humour.

This is simply an observation, not a direct insult to anyone in particular. If you find it offensive, I do think that you've effectively proved my point. And since you probably have nothing better to do, please feel free to report me so I can spend another 7 days not using Gamespot's sterile forums, or better yet, become banned and never use them again.

Because that really would just be the end of my world...