(Brief explaination about the issue.)
So, if you purchased an Xbox Live Arcade title like Pac-Man, with your profile, on your current Xbox 360, then it's 100% unlocked and fully playable to anyone who uses that console; regardless of what profile they're signed into. Now, if the content (Pac-Man) is 'migrated' to the new Xbox 360 Elite system from your old Xbox 360's hard drive, that's when things get confusing... the game will ONLY be fully playable by the profile that purchased / downloaded the content, and they MUST BE SIGNED INTO XBOX LIVE for this to happen. No other profile that logs into the new Xbox 360 will be able to play the full version of Pac-Man... PERIOD.

1. I own an HDTV that only accepts a 1080p signal through the HDMI port.
2. My wife & son have their own profiles & enjoy earning their own achievements.
3. I don't purchase premium content soley for myself.
4. I've purchased 39+ Xbox Live Arcade titles including the obscenely priced Lumines Live & extra content.
5. I've purchased premium content for several games for everyone in my house to use.
6. I own, at this point, far too many Xbox 360 games.... in other words I've invested an @$$ load of money in Microsoft and their console already! (Things get especially frustrating when I take the hundreds of Xbox 1 games I've purchased into consideration.)

I, like many of you, feel taken advantage of... If you're one of the 'minority' out there that don't see an issue with how Microsoft is handling the Xbox 360 issues, or haven't been following the 'events' that have taken place since the console launched, here's a brief re-cap.

1. The failure rate of the Xbox 360 appears to be fairly high, especially with the consoles that were sold at launch.
2. Microsoft finally admits that there was a problem and will replace or fixes the dead xbox 360 consoles that were purchased at launch... if you paid for service before they took responsibility for the problem they'd be refunding your repair costs. (This is a very good thing. It restored many 360 owners faith in Micro$oft.)
3. Dead Xbox 360 consoles that were replaced would not allow premium content that was purchased on the 'dead' system to be playable unless the user is logged into Xbox Live.
4. Microsoft realizes the necessity of a larger capacity hard drive and a Microsoft representative says the solution would be to purchase another 20 GIG HDD for the console; $99.99 (1 HDD would be for game content, the other would be for trailers, movies, demos, etc.)
5. Early in the Xbox 360's life cycle, a Microsoft representative basically said that HDMI wasn't a necessary feature for the Xbox 360 to have. It was also said that if a the consumer demand for HDMI output was high enough they would provide a 'solution'.
6. The 'solution' to the "HDMI issue" is to purchase another $480 console... The Xbox 360 Elite.
7. Microsoft released the 120 GIG HDD with supplied transfer cable & software; $179.99
8. The software / transfer cable will not 'migrate' content from two 20 GIG HDD's, so anyone who took Microsoft's advice and purchased an additional drive will have to forget about the content on one of the two drives.... or keep a 20 GIG drive to access that content.
9. During a Major Nelson 'blogcast' it was mentioned that they were working on a 'solution' for all of the people who were upgrading their Xbox 360 to the Xbox 360 Elite and wanted to migrate all of their current content to the 120 GIG HDD of the new console.
10. The 'solution' for anyone migrating data from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox 360 Elite was made public on Major Nelson's (Larry Hyrb) blog..... They'll send you a free cable and software to take care of the migration, but all of the premium content you purchased will be unplayable / locked if you're not signed into Xbox Live with the same profile that purchased the content. (If you're a person who has a console that isn't always connected to the internet / Xbox Live you're screwed.)

Check out the comments section of that topic in Mr. Hyrb's blog, or the 50+ page post in the Xbox.com forums... you'll see that I'm not the only customer who feels 'screwed'. (There's even a website called Broken Xbox Live Marketplace out there!)

1. Do NOT buy premium content via Xbox Live Marketplace or Xbox Live until a REAL solution to the DRM issues.
2. Be vocal. Let the world know that these 'solutions' are inadequate / unacceptable.
   NOTE: You don't have to be rude to get you point across. A well thought out & rational email will be read and responded to much faster than a massive rant written in all caps or "1337 speak".

Now here's my final two cents... My suggestions to Microsoft regarding the DRM / premium content problem:

1. Use the iTunes method of DRM. Allow the user to authorize / de-authorize up to 5 Xbox 360's so the content can be moved when the console dies or is replaced.
2. Issue 'codes' to people that legitimately purchased a new Xbox 360 console that would allow them to download, to their new console, the specific content they've already purchased... for free.
3. Send discs to people containing the downloadable content / Xbox Live arcade titles that they've purchased so that they can use the content when not connected to Xbox Live. (Not very cost effective & highly ullikely.)
4. Refund all of the Microsoft points that were used to purchase the premium content so that it may be repurchased on the new console.
5. Remove DRM from all content except for Movies / TV shows. (This one is just as unlikely as #4... but it's still a solution.)

UPDATE:
Microsoft is, for a limited time, offering the transfer cable to all Xbox 360 Elite owners..... for free. An authorization form must be filled out and submitted to receive the transfer cable and software disc. The authorization form asks for the serial number from the CORE or PRO Xbox 360 console, as well as the serial number from the Elite system you've purchased.

Does this mean that our plea for a DRM change has been heard? Will the serial numbers we provide help change the console ID that our downloadable content is liked to when 'migtrating'? I'm not sure... I haven't read anything official yet.

C'mon Microsoft... your loyal customers just want to get what they paid for; I have faith that you'll satisfy us in the end. After all, not letting my family play the live arcade games that I've purchased for us all, is like a a movie company telling me that my wife and son can't watch the DVD's I've purchased. I don't think it would go over well if SONY pictures told people they had to purchase another copy of Spider-Man for eeach person in a family if the DVD player in their living room broke.

Please don't let this issue go unresolved; let your voice be heard:
 Slashdot It! || Digg it! || Sign Online Petition

QUICK UPDATE:
As I said earlier, I had to work a booth at the Best Buy achievers show the other day. While I was there, after playing the new Forza on the Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero II on an Xbox 360 Elite, a Microsoft rep informed me that the 120 GIG HDD was now shipping to retail stores.. the best part was that they were NOT street dated. Today I called a local EB games and told them to expect the 120 GIG HDD's, and to call me ASAP.... less than a half hour later I got the call, so I flew to the store and picked up 2 of the the Xbox 360 120 GIG HDD's... $179.99 each(OUCH!)

I'm sure they'll be trickling into stores everywhere very soon!

(One of the many reasons I married her.  )

1. Tenku (Japan only)
2. Avatar: The Last Airbender 
3. Avatar: The Legend of Aang  (EMEA/ANZ)
4. Breakdown
5. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Cars
8. Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
9. Daisenryaku VII
10. FIFA Soccer 2007
11. Full Spectrum Warrior
12. Guilty Gear Isuka
13. Innocent Tears (Japan only)
14. Jet Set Radio Future
15. King of Fighters 2002  
16. King of Fighters: Neowave
17. Mad Dash Racing (Japan only)
18. Mech Assault 2
19. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
20. Nascar 2006: Total Team Control
21. NFL Fever 2004
22. Oddworld Munch's Oddysee
23. Panzer Dragoon Orta
24. Petit Copter (Japan only)
25. Phantom Dust
26. Reservoir Dogs
27. Return To Castle Wolfenstein
28. Rugby League 2
29. Sengoku Warriors (Japan only)
30. Sonic Riders
31. Soul Calibur 2 UPDATED
32. Spider-Man 2
33. Star Wars: Republic Commando
34. Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
35. Tiger Woods PGA Tour  07
36. Tony Hawk's Underground
37. Ultra Bust a Move /ULTRA Pazzle Bobble
38. Unreal Championship 2

OFFICIAL Backward Compatability List
(AS OF 4/19/2007)

1. 4x4 EVO 2
2. AirForce Delta Storm
3. Aggressive Inline™
4. Alias™
5. Aliens versus Predator™ Extinction
6. All-Star Baseball™ 2003
7. All-Star Baseball™ 2005
8. Amped®: Freestyle Snowboarding
9. Amped® 2
10. Aquaman: Battle of Atlantis
11. Army Men®: Sarge's War™
12. Atari® Anthology™
13. ATV: Quad Power Racing 2™
14. Avatar: The Last Airbender
15. Bad Boys 2
16. Big Mutha Truckers
17. Baldur's Gate™: Dark Alliance™ II
18. Barbarian
19. Barbie™ Horse Adventures™ Wild Horse Rescue™
20. Batman Begins™
21. Battle Engine Aquila
22. Battlestar Galactica™
23. BLACK™
24. BMX XXX™
25. Breakdown™
26. Brute Force™
27. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
28. Buffy the Vampire Slayer™: Chaos Bleeds
29. Burnout® 3: Takedown™
30. Cabela's® Big Game Hunter™ 2005 Adventures
31. Cabela’s® Dangerous Hunts™
32. Cabela’s® Outdoor Adventures™ 06
33. Cabela's® Deer Hunt™ 2005 Season
34. Cabela's® Deer Hunt™ 2004 Season
35. Call of Cthulhu®: Dark Corners of the Earth™
36. Call of Duty™: Finest Hour™
37. Call of Duty® 2: Big Red One
38. Call of Duty® 3
39. Cars
40. Casino
41. Catwoman™
42. Chicago Enforcer
43. Circus Maximus
44. Close Combat: First to Fight
45. Colin McRae Rally 4
46. Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers™
47. Commandos 2: Men of Courage™
48. Conflict: Desert Storm
49. Conker: Live and Reloaded
50. Constantine™
51. Counter-Strike™
52. Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
53. Crash Twinsanity™
54. Crash Nitro Kart™ ²
55. Crimson Skies®: High Road to Revenge™
56. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon™
57. Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics™
58. Dark Angel
59. Darkwatch™
60. Dead or Alive® 3
61. Dead Or Alive Ultimate
62. Dead to Rights®
63. Deathrow
64. Destroy All Humans!
65. Digimon® Rumble Arena® 2
66. Dinotopia²
67. DOOM 3®
68. Drake™
69. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
70. Dynasty Warriors 4
71. Egg Mania™: Eggstreme Madness
72. ESPN Major League Baseball
73. ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002
74. Euro 2004
75. Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick
76. F1 2001
77. Family Guy
78. Fable®
79. Fable®: The Lost Chapters™
80. Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin' da Rules
81. Far Cry: Instincts
82. Fatal Frame™
83. Fatal Frame™ II: Crimson Butterfly DIRECTOR'S CUT
84. FIFA Soccer 2003
85. FIFA Soccer 2004
86. FIFA Soccer 2007
87. FIFA STREET
88. Fight Night 2004
89. FlatOut™
90. Ford Mustang
91. Ford vs. Chevy
92. Forza Motorsport™
93. Freaky Flyers
94. Frogger Beyond™
95. Full Spectrum Warrior™ 
96. Futurama™
97. Fuzion Frenzy®
98. Gauntlet®: Seven Sorrows™
99. Genma Onimusha
100. Goblin Commander™: Unleash the Horde
101. Grabbed by the Ghoulies™
102. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
103. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
104. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™
105. Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt.
106. Grooverider: Slot Car Thunder
107. Guilty Gear Isuka
108. Half-Life® 2
109. Halo®
110. Halo® 2
111. Halo® 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
112. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™
113. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone™
114. He-Man: Defender of Grayskull
115. Hitman: Contracts™
116. House of the Dead 3
117. I-Ninja
118. IHRA Drag Racing Sportsman Edition
119. IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005™
120. Indigo Prophecy
121. Incredibles
122. IndyCar® Series 2005
123. Intellivision Lives
124. Jade Empire™³
125. James Bond 007™: NightFire™
126. JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future
127. Judge Dredd®: Dredd vs. Death™
128. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
129. Kabuki™ Warriors
130. Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer
131. kill.switch
132. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
133. LEGO® Star Wars®
134. LEGO® Star Wars™ II: The Original Trilogy
135. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events™
136. Links® 2004
137. LOONS—The Fight for Fame
138. Magatama
139. Manhunt
140. Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX™ 2
141. Max Payne
142. Max Payne® 2
143. Maximum Chase
144. MechAssault® 2: Lone Wolf
145. Medal of Honor European Assault™
146. Medal of Honor™ Frontline
147. Medal of Honor™ Rising Sun
148. Mega Man® Anniversary Collection
149. Mercenaries™
150. Metal Arms™: Glitch in the System
151. MicroMachines
152. Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
153. Minority Report
154. MLB SlugFest 20-04
155. Monster Garage™
156. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
157. Mortal Kombat® Deception™ (PLUS: Original MK1 Bonus Disc!)
158. MotoGP
159. MTV Music Generator™ 3
160. MTX: Mototrax™
161. Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit
162. MX Unleashed
163. MX vs. ATV Unleashed
164. MX World Tour™: Featuring Jamie Little
165. Namco Museum™
166. Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection
167. NASCAR 2006: Total Team Control
168. NBA LIVE 2004
169. Need For Speed™ Underground 2
170. NFL Blitz 2002
171. NFL Blitz 2003
172. NFL Blitz 2004
173. NFL Fever 2004
174. NHL® 2004
175. NHL Hitz™ 2003
176. Ninja Gaiden®
177. Ninja Gaiden® Black
178. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
179. Open Season
180. Outlaw Golf 2
181. Outlaw Tennis
182. Outlaw Volleyball
183. Over the Hedge™
184. Pariah
185. Panzer Dragoon ORTA™
186. Phantom Crash™
187. Phantom Dust™
188. Pinball Hall of Fame™
189. Pitfall®: The Lost Expedition™
190. Predator Concrete Jungle™
191. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time™
192. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
193. Pro Race Driver™
194. Psychonauts
195. Pump It Up™: Exceed
196. Pure Pinball
197. Puyo Pop Fever²
198. Quantum Redshift®
199. RalliSport Challenge
200. Rainbow Six Lockdown
201. Rapala Pro Fishing
202. Rayman Arena
203. Raze's Hell™
204. Red Dead Revolver
205. Red Faction® II
206. RedCard™ 2003
207. Reservoir Dogs
208. Return To Castle Wolfenstein
209. Richard Burns Rally
210. Robotech: Battlecry
211. Rocky™ Legends
212. Rogue Ops
213. Rogue Trooper™
214. RugbyLeague 2
215. Samurai Jack
216. Samurai Warriors™
217. Scarface
218. Scooby Doo!™ Night of 100 Frights
219. Scrapland
220. SEGA GT™ 2002
221. Serious Sam
222. Shadow The Hedgehog™
223. Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures
224. Shark Tale
225. ShellShock: Nam '67™
226. Shenmue II
227. Shincho Mahjong
228. Sid Meier's Pirates!®
229. Silent Hill® 4: The Room
230. Smashing Drive
231. Sneakers™ ⁵
232. Sniper Elite
233. Soccer Slam
234. Sonic Heroes™
235. Sonic Mega Collection™ Plus
236. Sonic Riders™ 
237. Soul Calibur 2 
238. Spawn® Armageddon
239. Speed Kings™
240. Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy™
241. Spider-Man™
242. Spider-Man® 2
243. Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball
244. Splinter Cell: Double Agent
245. SpongeBob SquarePants™: Battle for Bikini Bottom
246. The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie
247. SpyHunter® 2
248. SpyHunter:® Nowhere to Run™
249. Spyro™ A Hero's Tail
250. SSX 3
251. Stake™
252. Star Wars Battlefront™
253. Star Wars Battlefront™ II
254. Star Wars®: Episode III Revenge of the Sith™
255. Star Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™
256. Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™
257. Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic® II: The Sith Lords™
258. Star Wars Republic Commando™
259. State of Emergency
260. Street Fighter® Anniversary Collection
261. Street Racing Syndicate™
262. Stubbs the Zombie™ in Rebel without a Pulse™
263. Super Bubble Pop
264. Super Monkey Ball™ Deluxe
265. SX Superstar™
266. Taz Wanted
267. Tecmo Classic Arcade
268. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™
269. Test Drive®: Eve of Destruction
270. Tetris Worlds™⁴
271. The Great Escape
272. The Hulk™
273. The Incredible Hulk™: Ultimate Destruction
274. The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
275. The King of Fighters Neowave
276. The King of Fighters™ 2002 & 2003
277. The Legend of Spyro™: A New Beginning
278. The Lord of the Rings™: The Return of the King™
279. The Punisher™
280. The Simpsons™ Hit and Run™
281. The Simpsons™ Road Rage
282. The Suffering
283. The Terminator™ Dawn of Fate
284. The Thing™
285. Thief: Deadly Shadows™
286. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07 
287. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
288. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon™ 2
289. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon™: Island Thunder™
290. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® 2 Summit Strike
291. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3
292. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3 Black Arrow™
293. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®
294. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Chaos Theory™
295. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® Pandora Tomorrow™
296. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
297. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater™ 4
298. Tony Hawk's Underground 
299. Tony Hawk's Underground 2
300. Torino 2006™ Winter Olympics
301. Tork™: Prehistoric Punk™
302. Toxic Grind
303. Trigger Man™
304. True Crime: Streets of LA
305. Ty The Tasmanian Tiger™
306. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger™ 2: Bush Rescue™
307. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger™ 3: Night of the Quinkan
308. Ultimate Spider-Man
309. Ultra Bust-A-Move
310. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
311. Urban Freestyle Soccer
312. Vexx™
313. Vietcong™: Purple Haze
314. Volvo: Drive for Life
315. Wakeboarding Unleashed: Featuring Sean Murray
316. Whacked!
317. Winback 2: Project Poseidon
318. World Soccer Winning Eleven 9
319. World Series® Baseball 2K3
320. Worms 4 Mayhem
321. Worms™ Forts: Under Siege
322. Wrath Unleashed™
323. WWE™ Raw™ 2
324. X2 Wolverine's Revenge
325. Xiaolin Showdown
326. XIII
327. Yourself!Fitness™
328. Zapper™

¹This list of titles that have passed hand certification for compatibility with Xbox 360 is provided for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. To ensure the highest quality gaming experience, in the event that an unforeseen technical issue is discovered after hand certification is completed, Microsoft® reserves the right to remove any game name from this list. Please check back often to see the most current list of games.

²Currently the North American versions of these games are the only ones supported as backward compatible titles on Xbox 360.

³The December 2005 update includes the Monk Zeng content from the limited edition of Jade Empire.

⁴Offline version only; versions included with Xbox LIVE® Starter Kits or as a bundled game with other Xbox Live titles do not yet play on Xbox 360.

⁵Currently the Japanese version of this game is not supported as a backwards compatible title on the Xbox 360.

Breaking: IDIOT Thompson Blames Va Shooting on Games

  

Dr. Phil's Comment on Larry King Live:
MCGRAW: ..."The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me -- common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high. And we're going to have to start dealing with that. We're going to have to start addressing those issues and recognizing that the mass murders of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose."

KING: "Well said."

- CNN.com (transcripts) 

 

Hold on a second Jack & Phil.... Did you read / hear about this tid-bit of information?

Bush marks ‘day of sadness’ for the nation

"In Centreville, a suburb of Washington where Cho’s family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse, people who knew Cho concurred that he kept to himself.

 

“He was very quiet, always by himself,” said Abdul Shash, a neighbor. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet."

- www.msnbc.msn.com

I'll admit it, I've NEVER played Guitar Hero before... I didn't want to play either Guitar Hero 1 or 2 on PlayStation 2, and I never had the desire to play it on any of the store kiosks I've seen. I never really understood the hype behind it. I used to look at it and say, "What's the big deal? It's Dance Dance Revolution with a guitar instead of a dance pad."

Last week I decided to give Guitar Hero 2 a shot and picked up a copy the moment my local EB Games opened. When I got the giant box home, connected everything, booted up the game, and ran through the tutorial my "What's the big deal" attitude began to change... It became more of a "Wow, this is kind of fun / frustrating" attitude. Within an hour I no longer found myself cussing at my clumsy fingers. After roughly two hours of Guitar Hero 2 I found myself on the phone with several of the local game stores in search of a second guitar controller.

My wife and I were completely obsessed with the game in no time... er.. well, it felt like no time, but it was more like four hours of straight game play! The only issue I could find with the game was the fact that I couldn't seem to get the whole 'whammy bar' thing down. I tried wiggling the whammy bar, holding it down, and occasionally slamming it into the guitar in hopes of getting the timing right. As it turns out, it wasn't a matter of timing, or how I depressed the bar, it was the fact that 60% of the time the whammy bar wasn't functioning. (We'll get to that a bit later.)

Later that evening I convinced a buddy of mine to come over to watch some TV, have a few drinks, and shoot the breeze.... little did he know that it was all a mere ploy to sucker him into trying Guitar Hero 2.... Within an hour he was hooked! (HA HA! Another victim!!!)

The following day I had stopped by the store to pick up the guitar controller that they had been holding for me.. it was the last one.. When I got it home I found that it worked perfectly, and that using the whammy bar to increase my 'star power' was a cinch! Now I have two guitars, only one functioning whammy bar, but I didn't care; it was time for a co-op jam session! My wife and I had a blast, so I called a couple of friends and asked if they'd like to grab a bite to eat, then come over and 'hang out'. (The last time we hung out I got them addicted to the Wii and they've been trying to find one ever since!)

After we all grabbed some dinner, we headed back to our house to continue our conversations and knock back a few more brews.. I knew that eventually I'd get them to try Guitar Hero 2, but I didn't want to force the guitar into their hands the moment they walked into the house... The first thing we did when we arrived at the house was try to order the UFC fight in HD... When we saw it was $49.99 we decided we'd find something else to do.. This would be the perfect time to see if they'd be interested in a game like Guitar Hero 2.. When I explained the concept and control sccheme of the game they didn't seem too excited. I believe "So, it's kind of like Dance Dance, but with a guitar." was phrase that came from each of them. (gee, that sounded familiar.)

After 2 or 3 songs they too were hooked! They ended up staying at my place until about 3 AM, long after my wife had headed off to bed and the dogs passed out... mmmmuuuahhh ha ha hahh.... my plan was working perfectly!! The only downer of the night was the fact that the red and blue buttons on one of the guitars stopped functioning 1/2 through our 'jam session', and the whammy bar on the other would only function 30% of the time... we were having far too much fun to complain about the problems at the time.

Later that morning, at roughly 3:30 AM, I received a text message with a picture of a shopping cart containing Guitar Hero 2 and an extra guitar. Apparently Wayne & Melissa had stopped at a 24 hour Super Wal-Mart on the way home because they HAD to have a copy of their own. I even got a wonderful voice message from Melissa that morning to wish me a Happy Easter, and sort of thank me for getting Wayne hooked on GH II! (You can right click and "save as" to down load the .mp3 version of her message.)

So, now that I've convinced 3 of my friends to pick up their very own copies of the game, the only thing left for me to do is figure out how to get BOTH of my guitars fully functional so I can try to beat them on the Xbox Live Leaderboards.

      - Jay

UPDATE: Several of my friends have also experienced the non-functional whammy bar issue. Apparently this is a wide spread issue; Kotaku, 1-Up, digg, engadget, and several other sites have all run articles regarding this issue. Here's a link to a reported do-it-yourself fix for the whammy bar problem

"We have isolated this issue to two model numbers that can be found on the guitar's packaging. The numbers are 95065 and 95055. We are asking that customers who puchased their items from a retailer perform an exchange with that respective store (for a model number other than the defective two listed above). Customer's who purchased through our online story can complete an rma request for their defective item and we will exchange it for a fully function guitar controller. We do apologize for the inconvenience and will [resolve] these matters."