On December 20, my Xbox Live account was hacked. The breach was sophisticated, more so than Microsoft wants to acknowledge, but at the heart of it is EA's popular sports franchise FIFA.

This breach isn't a new, hip hack that is sweeping the net, it has been happening for quite some time. My Xbox Live account housed over 3,000 MS Points and in one fell swoop, my balance was wiped clean.

Utilizing FIFA 12, players can purchase and trade digital cards with other Live members. Though this feature is also available in games like Madden NFL 12, the worldwide popularity of FIFA 12 has made it a breeding ground for criminal scum. Players get into Xbox Live accounts, purchase card packs, trade them to other accounts, and later sell the content for real money. Xbox Live breaches are not new, but the FIFA 12 hack is putting everyone on Xbox Live at risk in a new way.

Read more: Detailing the problem with Xbox Live and FIFA 12 »

Now that the New Xbox Experience is here, and has blown our minds with its transplendent introduction film (I hear there are also some new features), the software side of the Xbox 360 has never looked better. But this free upgrade also presents a question of whether to boost the box itself.

As it happened, I was the last to learn that I needed a new Xbox 360 hard drive. I mean, my current hard drive works fine. Sure, it's only a measly 20GB in size, but that's enough for some Police DLC, and a few episodes of the Batman Animated Series. What more does a gamer really need? Read more »