As suspected, Microsoft has finally addressed the DRM issue with content you’ve purchased on your Xbox 360. In the past, if you bought a new console you couldn’t transfer the licenses—one customer was told by an Xbox 360 CSR to “buy the content again.” Now you can visit this page on xbox.com and transfer your licenses to a new console. Hooray for progress!
xbox live
Microsoft Confirms "Gaywood" Is An Offensive Surname, Mr. Gaywood Responds
By 5.22.08
Microsoft has confirmed to Richard that his name is, in fact, offensively sexual and will not be reinstated as his gamertag. (Kotaku posted their rationale, if you care to read it.) We’ve got Mr. Gaywood’s response, inside. [More]
XBOX Live Decides Your Surname Is Offensive Because It Contains The Letters "G-A-Y"
By 5.21.08
Reader Richard would like to use his full name as his gamer tag, but XBOX has decided that “Gaywood” is offensive. Here’s his letter:
"Gay" Player Name Banned By Xbox Live
By 5.14.08
Reader Grant says that his gamer tag “theGAYERgamer” was recently banned by Xbox Live. He hoped that a call to customer support would sort things out but all he received was a confusing explanation from an Xbox Live supervisor. According to the supervisor, it wasn’t that she found the name offensive, but it was the “greater Xbox community” that found it offensive. Screenshot above. Grant’s letter, inside…
You Call To Cancel Your Zune Account, Microsoft Deactivates XBOX Live
By 4.4.08
After he called Microsoft to cancel his Zune account, reader Will noticed that his XBOX Live account was suddenly silver instead of gold.
UPDATE: Microsoft May Slowly Be Fixing Their Broken XBOX DRM
By 3.26.08
Evening, Consumerist Editors (and hopefully readers)!
Microsoft Has No Answer For Their Broken XBOX Live DRM
By 2.12.08
Reader Kevin’s XBOX 360 suffered the usual Red Ring of Death, so he sent it in to be repaired. He got back a different XBOX 360 with a different serial number. That would be no big deal, except Kevin has purchased a bunch of content through XBOX Live… content that is no longer fully functional due to Microsoft’s broken DRM.
Scratch Too Hard On Your XBOX Live Card? Microsoft Won't Tell You The Code
By 1.14.08
Microsoft sells scratch off cards that contain codes you can use with XBOX live. Trouble is, if you get overzealous and scratch off the code along with the scratch-off stuff—you’re out of luck.
Xbox Live Gold Breaks When Using Other Microsoft Premium Services
By 12.17.05
Some Xbox 360 users have found that signing up for Xbox Live Gold while also having another Microsoft premium service, like MSN Music or MSN Direct, causes the following message to be displayed. The not quite literal quote:
“Your account has been suspended due to a problem with your payment option. Please use a different payment option or update your current information in Account Management.”
Even worse, when trying to troubleshoot the problem with Microsoft Xbox tech support, some of the reps have recommended deleting the Xbox profile and creating a new one, leading to the loss of customers’ saved games. Microsoft community liaison ‘Major Nelson’ said they were testing a fix on the first of December, but it has yet to show up.
