A Consumerist reader complained that after his Xbox red-ringed – again – he called Microsoft to get a shipping box to mail his console in for repairs. But the customer service rep told him he'd need to find his own box. As he pointed out, this gives them a possible out. Who's to stop them from claiming the box was damaged in the mail?

My Xbox red-ringed for the second time this weekend. Which is almost a relief after hearing how bad my disc drive was sounding, but not so much after hearing the new policy. I was told that Xbox no longer ships out a box to you and you must find a box to ship it out in. Yeah I guess its not a big deal, but I think it gives them another thing to hold over your head; "We are sorry, Sir, but you didn't back it well enough and it appears the damage was due to shipping, we cannot help you."

Bummer move, Microsoft, especially over something that's very much your own fault.

Update: Microsoft is saying that they do in fact still ship boxes to customers with broken Xboxes (if the customers ask for one), according to Kotaku. Which would mean this whole debacle is just one case of one employee being terrible, rather than the entire company. Unless you count how people wouldn't need to ship their Xboxes in anyway if the company had bothered making them right in the first place.

[The Consumerist]

Heck took apart the kick pedal that came with GH4's drum set and used the piezoelectric switch in it, McGuyvered it into a little chamber with a diaphragm and added a tube that uses air to hit the switch. Voila, instant breath-controlled pedal!

Want to help a friend in need? Heck's posted the way to do this mod on his [website. [Hackaday]

A Microsoft spokesperson told Xbox360 Fanboy that they constantly update the console's 1700 plus internal components and that the Xbox 360 Arcade was moving to internal memory. New buyers (of which there were many) can download content and save games right out of the box. Old users... well, you probably already got the external memory anyway, right? Not like you could return it now. Try not to get too hung up on buyer's remorse. [Xbox360 Fanboy]

In about six weeks, you'll get the ability to create your Xbox mini-you, as well as get access to themes and a new games channel that lets you browse visually and includes new games details pages. Also up, a Spotlight channel that'll focus on popular and new content—games, movies, demos etc. [Kotaku]

The sources said the transition will be similar to “the shift from Game Boy to Game Boy Advance,” meaning key elements (such as Wiimote-game interaction) will stay the same while the core hardware gets taken to a new level. Nintendo's not commenting, but What They Play pointed out that R&D spending at the company has more than tripled—from $103 million to $370 million—since the Wii was released two years ago. Be still my fluttering heart. [What They Play]

Information on the homebrew app is sketchy at the moment, but we do know that it features classic controller support and comes bundled with a whole swathe of other emulators for the Wii including: Genesis / Sega CD Emu, Master System / Game Gear Emu, PC Engine Emu, Rin Gameboy Channel, Emu Loader and Wii Paint. [DCEmu via Ubergizmo]