The XBox 360 is a gorgeous piece of kit. No question. However, it is also quite possibly the single most frustratingest machine ever invented.

When mankind finally destroys itself, the reason will be because Microsoft made us do it, I swear.

So, I went to reclaim my old gamertag, CheekyLee. Turns out I needed certain information that no longer exists. Like, the last 4 digits of a card that expired a year ago, which was attached to a bank account I closed 2 years ago. In order to get this information, I had to set up the old machine, and ... too much effort. I called customer support. They told me I had to call billing. CALL billing, he couldn't put me through directly.

Billing told me that you only get a 60 day grace period after an account has been deactivated to reactivate it. And, furthermore, because the account was once attached to a credit card, it would remain deactivated forever.

So far, so shite.

So, I go to set up my new account. I decide to do it on the Vaio, since it would be quicker. And besides, the woman wanted to play Tomb Raider Legend. Sadly, I needed the serial number from the 360. Which is on the back of the console, underneath the wireless adaptor. Oh, and the console can't be moved with a disc in it!

So far, so even shiter.

So, I go to set it up on the console, deciding to go with CheekyLeeth instead of the now retired CheekyLee. Here, I am informed that this ID is already in use. Of course it is, I was just trying to make it! So, I try to reclaim.

"The passport ID is not associated with this gamertag."

GGGGRGRGRAGSJAHGDASGFDHAJSFDUEYGFKSABKAJB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111

So, back to the website, to tie things up there. Now .... trying to sign up for Live anywhere but via the console itself is simply not possible. Seriously, I can make a gamertag and manage friends via the web, but can only enter payment details on the console itself.

By now, I was ready to kill someone. ANYONE.

I guess I must have typed my username or password wrong the first time, or perhaps the system is just so fucking slow that it hadn't cuaght up yet, because this time it allowed me to connect the account to my passport. So, FINALLY, I got signed on to Live!

(Twice. There are 2 CheekyLeeth's on the machine now. The one with Live, and one from .... the ether or some shit.)

My friend Sarah tried to live chat with me, but for whatever reason it wouldn't let me talk. Not a problem, because by now I was resigned to not having anything go smoothly.

Wnet online to find some old friends to re-add, and arranged a game of Outrun 2 with one of them. However, when I downloaded the patch to play old games, I find that the one game I most wanted to play wasn't backwards compatible yet! No Outrun 2 on Live for me, I'm afraid. And, of course, Halo 2 had no profile or anything connected to it yet.

All in all, a hell of a fucked-up night.

Still, at least I downloaded the Geometry Wars demo. So, the night was not a complete waste. Also, I have, like, 40 whole gamerpoints thanks to something I did in Burnout Revenge, and some random stuff in my one game of Hexic HD!

So, my XBox Live adventures begin somewhere after here. Hopefully by the time I get to play anyone Microsoft won't hate me anymore!

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Feedback
	honestgamer - April 12, 2006 (07:24 PM) My experience getting online was much like yours, only I still had my CC info so I was able to keep my real name. That made me happy. It just took persistence. Not that I play on Xbox Live much, anyway...
	cheekylee - April 13, 2006 (04:57 PM) You still kick my ass on gamerscore, but my latest blog post may shed some light on that!