Roughly 4 months ago, I had another XBox 360 controller go bad on me. On this one, the X button was sticking. In and of itself, a single controller failure wouldn't be that big of a deal, but this isn't the first time I have had a controller fail. If fact, in 2 years, that was the 3rd bad controller. Well, the problem doesn't end there, as of last night, I had my 4th controller fail.

4 controllers in 2 years. Lets put this in perspective with regards to the other consoles that I have owned over the years:

• Atari - still have original controllers
• Nintendo - still have original controllers
• Sega Genesis - still have original controllers
• Super Nintendo - still have original controllers
• PS1 - still have original controllers
• DreamCast - still have original controllers
• PS2 - still have original controllers
• XBox - still have original controllers
• Wii - still have original controllers
• PS3 - still have original controllers

See a pattern there? Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have never had to purchase a controller, ever. Literally ever.

• XBox 360 - purchased 4 replacement controllers

All 4 failed controllers have had the exact same problem. The buttons fail to popup properly after being pressed. On 3 of the controllers it was the 'A' button, and on one it was the 'Y' button.

4 XBox 360 Controllers = $160

That's right, $160 for nothing more than replacing faulty controllers.

Is there a warranty plan?

Well, yes, I'm sure there is one, but good luck at trying to figure it out. I searched the web and while I found a ton of information on the XBox 360 console, I couldn't find anything with regards to the controllers.

Are the XBox 360 controllers issues confined to me alone, or have you experienced problems as well? Please sound off and let me know!

That's all for now, I'm off to the store to purchase my 5th controller.

Jeff Gertsman recently recounted us with his tale of the most memorable DreamCast games, accessories, and memories, so I thought I would share mine.

What I remember most about the Sega DreamCast is moving to Austin into a run down Apartment complex.  My single apartment wasn't ready, so they put me in a 2 bedroom that had no furniture, it was empty, bare, desolate even.  It felt like I was squatting in someone elses house, and they could come home at any second.  To further the sense of unease, the apartment was on the 3rd floor and overlooked, what else, a junkyard.  Run down cars rusted to their core with weeds 3 feet high and random tires littered the landscape. 

The first night there, it rained, and I mean it poured.  So what else to do in a strange city, in a strange apartment, with an eerie lanscape, but to put in a copy of Resident Evil:  Code Veronica and play it!

Now, I'm not much for scary games, as they usually don't scare me, any more than movies.  However, this setting, coupled with this game, proved for a really tense experience.  At times the lightening would strike at just the right time to scare the !@#$ out of me, and at other times, the rain would let down at really suspensful times.   It was an amazing experience, and to this date remains one of my most memorable gaming experiences regardless of Platform.