Well, if there was any kind of adjustment on the Heroes set it would have shown up on the new receipt they gave you. If it didn't show up you should be free and clear. The receipt would have to show that they charged you something to go against your credit card.

I think I may not even worry about it knowing that once they scan my receipt everything will go crazy. (that's just my normal luck).

Has anyone heard anything about being able to purchase shows, movies, etc via 360 in Canada? I thought that it was supposed to be available by the end of the year, but I haven't heard anything in ages.

Hrm, can't you set up a US account? You could buy the points off eBay, right?

No go at my Best Buy for the extra movie. Said that I would have to bring everything back for them to do a return and rebuy, and that it'd invalidate the rebate I sent out because of the repurchase. Still, I'm tempted to stop by another BB and see if they'll say the same.

On another topic, are any of you using the 360 to play media files off a usb drive? I tried encoding an mp4 file with Nero 7's Recode. The 360 recognizes the file, but gives an error. It's already downloaded the update for it.

BS ALERT! BS ALERT!

I strongly doubt that there's any way that the rebate people can know if your purchase has been retruned or not. They would have to search the databases of every retailer in the country. The assumption is that you can't return it without the UPC symbol from the package and that's why it is required for the rebate. Well, I'll know for sure when my discs come in, but nothing's been rejected for me and it's been over a month...

Interesting....I bought the drive with TWO free HD-DVD's (although I got the BOX sets....so I'm not sure if I want to risk getting a third HD-DVD. Also, if they do a return/rebuy, that may screw up the rebate I already sent in.

Yep, that would be playing with fire.

Dashboard update has kind of been dated: Early December. Read more here: http://videogametalk.com/news.php

Heh, it's already better than the PS3's fall update.

That'll be a good one to fuck with on a friends console.

Are reports about getting Tivo during this fall update true?

I really wish a future update would raise the 100 spot cap on the friends list. I constantly have to go through my list and purge some people to make room for any new people I meet.

I can't believe that 2 years after the launch of the system, they are still limited in the space you have on a friends list. I'm not asking them for unlimited spots, but at least doubling it would be nice. I play a fair number of games and meet people that are cool to play with so I get them on my list. Then, I have a big chunk taken up by clan mates so that we can get in games together.
They need to either make the friends list bigger or implement clan lists so that you can free up those spots on your friends list by putting them in your clan list to see when they are on and what they are playing.

I read recently that the limit was not going to change. Maybe on Nelson's site?

Yep. Major Nelson's podcast. It has to do with optimizing the OS. The trade off in performance isn't worth an additional # of friends when the average user only has 30 friends.

He's said it's a tech limitation on the system. He said it on the CAGCast like 2 weeks ago.

Any doubts about the 360 being the dominate console this generation are ending for me. I had no doubt it would rule the US and UK, but it outsold the PS3 in Japan this week. Halo3 did pretty well and now Ace Combat was the #2 selling title behind Mario in Japan. I'm not going to say the 360 will sell huge numbers there, but the Japanese are slowing coming around and the 360 has a chance to a least be respectable there.

Have to give it up to Microsoft. They learned from the original and built a great online experience and made sure to load their system with AAA titles.

The Wii will have continued success, but I really consider it a separate kind of thing now. It definitely can't match the 360 in software sales in the US and that is what matters most to third parties. The PS3 is just in big trouble. No good way to spin it.

I'm surprised at how stalled the 360 has got compared to the Wii though. I mean it's clearly doing better than the PS3, and will probably have a great holiday season (though not as good as the Wii again). But, it's still not like superb numbers. I've talked to a lot of my friends who all love the 360 but are hesitant to get one for a number of reasons (RROD, price drops, "too addicting"). It's pretty interesting, I've shifted slowly from the Wii camp to the 360 camp, especially with the slew of game on 360, but I agree that it's all but over for the PS3.

I would not count one good week of sales because of the release of an single anticipated game a good sign, it'll be buried back under the PS3 next week. Microsoft has still failed in Japan because they STILL don't understand that the market there is different.

In case you're all wondering, the 360's smattering success in Japan last week was whopping 17,673 units, far beyond the PS3's miniscule 17,434 units. Microsoft has won Japan! Final Fantasy XIII is coming in glorious 640p!

Yeah hyperbole is amazing isn't it? Yes the 360 won one week, and that's cool as hell, but nobody actually expects it to mean much, it spiked when Blue Dragon came out as well and was promptly back to 3000 units a week.

That said, at least there is occasional increased interest in the system, which is an improvement over the original brick. Your 640p comment was kind of out of nowhere.

A hyperbole for a hyperbole.. yeah, I'm punchy this morning, I'm sorry.

Now that the PS3 is $400 and the same price as the 360, the only real problem is that there aren't any damn games. Once PS3 games start coming out at a consistent pace, the PS3 will kick the 360's ass in Japan at least.

Eh

The internet is buzzing with fanboys this week, it is making my head hurt

But now the 360 is cheaper with pack-in games (and not the worst movie from a decent trilogy). But I agree, gamers go where the games are, the PS3 needs to step it up... and somebody needs to develop a 360 or at least Dreamcast-style control pad for the PS3 so I can play shooters on it.

Tivo? I hadn't anything about that....

I don't know, i think Microsoft is perfectly aware that the market is different and have tried to meet those requirements. They've certainly tried to hit the RPG market, as well as a couple of the more quirky games.

Is there anything out in Japan for the PS3 that they're going crazy over that warrants the sales?

If they're aware they certainly aren't acting upon it and neither are the Japanese third parties that are actually developing for the Xbox 360. Ninja Gaiden II, Dead Rising and Lost Planet, for example, are all Japanese developed games made for Western audiences. Microsoft seems to think that Mistwalker is going to support them in Japan with one RPG a year, good luck with that. I suppose it'll be interesting to see how Infinite Undiscovery does (tri-Ace, 360 only) and The Last Remnant (Square-Enix, dual platform) do.

I think the PS3 is heading in the same direction.. most of the games that are going to be popular over there are being made for the DS and Wii now. Developing for the 360/PS3 is understandably an expensive endeavor, so I think there will be an unnerving focus on the US/European markets for those systems given the massive size difference in the markets compared to Japan. I do expect Sony has a LOT riding on Final Fantasy XIII but that game is easily another two years away.. and it's also the one RPG popular in the US.