Wal-Mart Xbox 360s shut down; New Xbox.com/Xbox live is ... not really ...

1. Wal-Mart Xbox 360s shut down
2. New Xbox.com/Xbox live is ... not really ...

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NEWS:

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1. Wal-Mart Xbox 360s shut down

Turns out something in the Xbox 360s is interfering with Wal-Mart's wireless "hand scanner" <immatureGiggle/> system, so the Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters told all stores to shut down the 360 kiosks.

Microsoft said it found and deployed a fix for the problem within 24 hours.

I'm wondering what part of the console conflicted -- are they using wireless controllers in the kiosks? Or do they have wireless adapters for each one, so that people can play head-to- head at the kiosks?

More info at GameSpot.com.

2. New Xbox.com/Xbox live is ... not really ...

I mentioned a couple of days ago that Xbox.com and Xbox Live were going offline for a couple of days for some sweet Xbox 360 Live upgrades and the introduction of My Xbox.

So, today it's back online. Sort of. And it has sweet features. Not.

As of late this afternoon, if Xbox.com can't resolve to your locale (like "/en-US/"), it was still serving the "under construction" page.

And the "new pages"? Not much substance. There's nothing behind My Xbox -- just a bunch of teases that I think I touched on with more detail.

Actually, they've removed functionality. You can't sign in with your .Net Passport anymore. (Still works at Bungie.net, though.)

Oh, and that MSN Messenger thing I mentioned?

See the pict below, and you'll see that I was partially right.



The Xbox tab is back online. But, again, functionality has been removed. It's not tied to Xbox Live, so it looks like for a month you won't be able to use Messenger to see if your friends are playing Xbox.

What's the deal?