Samuel: Hi, my name is Samuel. How may I help you?
Brandon: hi, I just bought my son Battlefield 1943 for Xbox 360, and when connecting to EA servers after accepting the Terms of Service, it just sticks at "connecting…"
Brandon: we’ve owned the game for 2 hours now and he’s still not able to play
Brandon: I just need to link his Xbox 360 gamertag and his EA account
Samuel: Alright.
Samuel: In order to assist you with this issue, we need the following information:
Your EA .com account name: (The e-mail address)
Gamer Tag / PSN ID:
Email address on which you want to link your Gamer tag / PSN ID:
Email address listed on your Gamer tag / PSN ID:
Date of Birth listed on the account:
Zip Code:
Brandon: EA account: (hidden)
Brandon: gamertag: (hidden)
Brandon: email for gamertag is also: (hidden)
Brandon: dob on what account? EA or xbox?
Brandon: zip code (hidden)
Samuel: Thank you and please allow me a moment while I check this for you.
Samuel: Thank you for your patience.
Samuel: I appreciate it.
Brandon: no problem, I just want to get this fixed
Samuel: checked the records but I was unable to find any information about the Gamertag. Please provide us with the correct name of your Gamertag so that we may assist you in the best possible way. However, if your Gamertag name is correct though sometimes it doesn’t display in our records. In order to merge your Gamertag properly with your EA account, please follow the below given steps and get back to us.
1. Go the Xbox live marketplace.
2. Download any demo game available there.
3. Start the demo and choose the "Multiplayer > Xbox Live" option
4. At the EA Login/Register screen, put in your EA account name (email address) and password.
5. Read and accept the Terms and service.
6. Exit the demo.
Brandon: that’s the problem!
Brandon: none of the games work!
Brandon: they are all say that cant connect to EA servers
Samuel: Yes it is and after performing these steps get back to us and we would link that for you.
Brandon: the only game that appears to work in Bad Company 2, but it wont let me do it on his account because its a child account
Samuel: Is there anything else that I may assist you with today?
Brandon: nor will it work for Fight Night Round 4
Brandon: because hes a child account
Brandon: tell me what game can I download to fix this?
Samuel: Any demo EA game available there.
Brandon: all the ones I’ve downloaded say "cant connect to EA servers"
Brandon: I’ve tried with face breaker, battlefield 1943, battlefiled bad company 2, fight night round 4
Brandon: what more do I have do try?
Samuel: That is it and get back to us after performing this.
Brandon: I DID THOSE STEPS
Brandon: IT DOESNT WORK
Brandon: NONE OF THE GAMES WORK
Brandon: THATS WHY IM TALKING TO YOU NOW
Brandon: IVE BEEN DOWNLOADING DEMOS AND TRYING TO FIX IT FOR 2 HOURS
Brandon: I’ve done those exact steps you listed
Brandon: they are listed on your support site
Brandon: I did them EXACT with 4 different games
Brandon: none of the games connect

Samuel: Okay then please provide me your EA Account e-mail address and gamer tag that you want to connect.
Brandon: EA account email: (hidden)
Brandon: Xbox gamer tag: (hidden)
Samuel: Please be inform you that I have linked the gamer tag from my end.
Brandon: okay let me try to connect
Samuel: Sure.
Samuel: Since I am not receiving any response from you I have to end this session.
Samuel: Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts support today.
Samuel has disconnected.

So he left while I was testing the connection on Aidan’s Xbox… and guess what? Shit still isn’t fixed.

FUCK YOU EA

I had to give up my PS2 this evening… why? It’s all about growing up.

No no no… you got it all wrong… I’m not growing up, silly goose. My son Aidan is growing up. Seeing as I have an Xbox 360, Dreamcast and 2 laptops in my garage, I figured I could spare the hardware (well not really, but I’ll find a way to cope with my loss). He’s 3 1/2 now and we’re trying to find ways for him to become more independent.

First thing first is getting him out of our bed. I totally blame my wife and she takes full responsibility, but he’s used to sleeping in our bed. It all started when he was really young and I worked shitty hours. My wife didn’t like sleeping alone so she brought him in bed with her. Now that’s all changed and its becoming really annoying waking up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in your back because his elbow or knee is digging in. So how do we solve this dilemma? Bribery. I told him I would give him the PS2 (along with the Guitar Hero controller) if he started sleeping in his bed… then after a solid week of doing so he’ll get a new game.

I’ll report back in a week and we’ll see how it went. By the way, while searching for the PS2 logo I came across this image. Holy fuck.

Video unrelated…

On another random note: A few days ago the most wonderful thing occurred. I played Garry’s Mod WITH my son. As most of you know Aidan loves the game. Maybe its because there’s no objective he can fail at, or maybe its because he can spawn as many Mossmans as he likes and shoot them in their face… I’m not entirely sure. But he loves the game!

About a week or so ago I custom built a laptop for my wife. I even threw in a nVidia card, the 9800 series or whatever… not exactly sure right now. Well anyways, it runs games great, even the Source Engine games. I figured… instead of Aidan taking over my computer and playing games he could play games on her laptop. So I created him a Steam account, gifted him my extra Half Life 2, then bought him Garry’s Mod. As if my son having his own Steam account wasn’t cool enough… this meant we could play games together!

It was awesome! I put him in a Ventrilo room with the transmit set to voice sensitivity and we played through a couple HL2 single player maps together. He was able to comprehend that it was his dad with him in game, he would ask me to follow him and watch him as he shot Combine and random citizens. Everything was going great until he decided to shoot me. I asked him to stop so he killed me with the crowbar. Being the tough guy I am, I respawned and took him out with an alt fire of the shotgun. BAD FUCKING IDEA!

Maybe he’s smart enough to figure out 3D games and coordination with keyboard+mouse controls, but the trauma of having his dad shoot him was too much. He broke down in tears, screaming and crying. Ask Chad he was there… it was pretty sad. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

And by learn I mean he learned not to fuck with his dad.

Edit:

By the way Aidan is 3, and Chad’s comment below was a true moment:

Aidan, put down the car and come over here… AIDAN PUT IT DOWN

He actually loves the place, just doesn’t like getting his picture taken. Oh well, these are the memories we’ll cherish. My wife took him there for the day because tomorrow he’s got to get his tonsils and adenoids removed, poor kid

My son knows the difference between good words and bad words… he corrects me when he hears me say one of them (which I normally avoid around him).

He also knows that violence isn’t good and that we shouldn’t do it. When my wife gives me a love tap (a soft punch in the arm for saying something she doesn’t like) he tells her to say sorry.

Additionally, Aidan is very aware of the difference between video games and reality. His interaction with people in games and people in real life are polar opposite.

You know how he knows these things? Because he’s AWARE of them and we teach him whats wrong and whats right.

You know what doesn’t teach kids? Making them naive by sheltering them from what you feel is wrong. Everyone will eventually encounter foul words and violence, whether it be in school or on TV. So you go about your business and try to hide your kids from all that you feel is evil and see how much they are shell-shocked when reality finally catches up to them and kicks them in their fucking face.

Anyone trying to come off saying I’m a “bad parent” for letting him watch me play is outright stupid. Video games don’t make bad children, the way they are raised makes bad children… example:

I read some comments about his GModigy video and I feel sorry for the people that bothered opening their stupid face. My son is extremely smart. He’s already counting and doing logic way above his age level. He’s also more computer savvy then most of you reading this… and most of the people commenting about how he’s being warped and all that bullshit. I feel sorry for your kids to be honest. If they aren’t spending quality time with you like my son is with me, then you’re just a terrible parent who probably touches their privates in the closet.

I love my children and do everything to raise them right. So get off your high horse.

This was recorded earlier today. I added a film grain and some background music and a silly HUD.

Anyways enjoy

For those of you who don’t remember the classic video of him playing Garry’s Mod:

Edit:

Some threads and stuff:

• http://forums.facepunchstudios.com/showthread.php?t=652890
• http://digg.com/pc_games/Left_4_Aidan
• http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/7hb3u/left_4_aidan_left_4_dead_reenactment/
• http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=762324