The Middle

First off, the Xbox Live Arcade is phenomenal. I personally think it's going to sell tons of boxes, and be the real reson the 360 is a success.

That said, I'm really not a fan at the moment.

The Start: You get a shiny new 360, connect it to the net, and you get a ton of great games, all at your disposal to download and play all you like. In fact, you can buy these games to unlock the demo mode and get the full functionality. However, there are restrictions, which I understand as this:

1) Any time you're connected as the user who downloaded the game, you get the full version.

2) Any time you're on the box where it was originally downloaded, you get the full version.

That seems awfully nice of Uncle Bill, doesn't it? He's letting anyone that comes to your house play your game! And letting you take it places! Man, what a nice guy.

The Background: Imagine if you will, and I know this is hard, a household where TWO people play games. Two people, under the same roof! Playing games and living in harmony. In fact, these two strange folks even have separate, individual accounts on the xbox live service.

Tragedy Strikes: Your shiny new 360 develops a nasty habit of failing to play games within weeks of it's purchase. You call Uncle Bill, and he promises to make it all okay. He's so kind, in fact, that he sends you a letter that says:

"So that you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker, we have replaced your Xbox console with a replacement unit."

Well, there's only one problem with that, now all my downloaded and paid for content doesn't do what it used to!

The Lingering Questions: In the above scenario, what have I done wrong? Why is it my problem the product they sold me broke? Why is it my problem that it's cheaper for them to send me a new box than replace my disc drive?

And who in the world do I have to call so my girlfriend can earn her own Zuma achievements? I mean, she's really good!

So as I understand it, the only way around this is to use the second account on the console to BUY the download again. Now, I realize that I'm talking about something like $5 here, but it's not the money that bothers me. What happens when I buy Madden 2009 for $75 electronically in the future?

The Conclusion: I bought two things from Microsoft. A console and a download. Then one of those things broke. "So that you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker", they screwed the downloaded content. That's what I call broken. I understand DRM, I understand they're trying to be fair and restrictive at the same time. Here's the lesson: That doesn't work.