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Six Rings In

I'd hate to be attached to the phrase "justifiably bitter". There's nothing justifiable about all this. I've been through five Xbox 360s in two and a half years and I'm now out of warranty. I'm "Six Rings In" so to speak. If the temperamental, but still functioning, #6 goes, I'm screwed. I don't even know why I keep playing the thing sometimes.

I have a PS3 and could easily transfer over most of my favorite games. I can't possibly explain why I put up with all of it. So instead of coming to grips with this cycle of abuse I'm just going to vent it all in this column. I'm going to spit on everything 360 lovers hold sacred until I feel better, and that might take a while. If you have anything to say to me, direct them at Zack@XboxFocus.com.

Column Days: Sunday and Wednesday

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Columns List

• The Essential Gear

  by Zack Rovinsky August 3rd 2008 3:43 PM CDT0 Comments

  If you play games, and I mean REALLY play games then you know that you need a whole lot more than just a console, a TV and software (though such things are still important). This guide to game accessorizing will help you bring your experience to the next level and ensure that you will be prepared for every gaming situation short of getting kicked out by your parents.
• Rejected Column Names

  by Zack Rovinsky July 30th 2008 12:15 PM CDT1 Comments

  While I fully expected to have my writing and cartoonish good looks complimented in comments, I was surprised that I've gotten some very positive feedback on my column's name. Mostly from people who either completely ignored the actual content of the column or are operating on the "if you can't say anything nice..." principle.
  
  I gotta tell you, a name that's clever and multi-layered like that just doesn't fall from the sky. There aren't a lot of people who can come up with names like that, and most of them are either writing pulp romance novels or naming shades of lipstick for makeup companies.
• Demoman Tips

  by Zack Rovinsky July 27th 2008 1:11 PM CDT1 Comments

  If you play any Team Fortress 2, I'm sure you've seen them around: the crazed Demoman, running around and dropping more stickies than a fat kid with a hole in his pocket and causing havoc. Believe it or not (I don't care if you don't) I was one of the first people to play Demo that way. While others were still using hit of miss regular 'nades I was using stickies with surgical precision and taking advantage of the larger clip size to dominate games.
  
  Even now I still dominate games. While half of that is still my skills and knack for timing and anticipating people's movements, the other half is a set of tricks the imitators still haven't figured out. I'm going to share them with you, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to write this week.
• What I loved about Microsoft's E3

  by Zack Rovinsky July 22nd 2008 9:00 PM CDT3 Comments

  I’ve been told by the people who pay me that my first column here was a bit too negative. I’ve also been told essentially the same thing in very different words by the people who got a hold of my email address. That’s why I want to turn it around and do something positive, if for no other reason than to prove I’m not the bitter shell of the person I used to be before high school.
  
  What better a thing to speak highly of than Microsoft's big shindig at E3. With all the AAA titles, AA names, and forced wackiness on display there was something for everyone. If I didn't enjoy all that I might as well give this up and start writing about the stock market.
• Microsoft Hates Us

  by Zack Rovinsky July 22nd 2008 8:02 PM CDT23 Comments

  I’m disgruntled with Sony, I’ve been annoyed by Nintendo, but Microsoft is the only one of the big three that has truly pissed me off. My experience with my 360 has been more or less akin to that of being a beaten wife in denial. I'm currently on my 6th system and I’m so freaked out that it’ll break again that I sent in a questionable claim to Xbox support just to have a box and shipping info prepared just in case it goes.
  
  So here’s a list of every wrong, perceived or real, that Microsoft has done onto the gaming community (aka my “peeps”). Note: due to space restrictions the following will be limited to gaming-based examples of how Microsoft hates us, there are many, many more.