14 DAY TRIAL // Everything started about a month ago when Xbox 360 owner Nathaniel sent his console for repairs over at Microsoft. His Xbox had a great sentimental value, being signed by quite some people in the gaming industry, including the folks over at Bungie and the Xbox 360 team. Even though he messaged Microsoft, explained that everything written on it should remain there and got assurances that his console will remain intact, the truth was different: when he got the Xbox back, it was clean and all the drawings and signatures were wiped off.
His sad story took the Internet by storm and everybody knew that something, anything should have been done to compensate for Nathaniel's loss. The first company that took the matter into its own hands in an attempt to right the wrongs was Bungie - the Halo 3 developers sent him a super-package featuring a Legendary Edition helmet signed by most of the Bungie studio staff, the soundtrack disc signed by Martin O'Donnel that featured a "Do not erase" message, a jacket, t-shirt, limited edition wireless controllers and many more.
Still, one part was still missing - the ones that were actually responsible for the whole mess, Microsoft - seemed to have no intentions to try and right the wrong. At least until last week, because that was the moment when the last chapter of Nathaniel's story was written: Microsoft sent the guy a large cardboard box and, as you can imagine, it was filled with surprises. 1 brand new console, 5 cool games (DMC 4, Lost Odyssey, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Gears of War and Kingdom Under Fire) and some other goodies were hidden inside. Among the numerous signatures from the Xbox team and additional ones from the Bungie stuff, there was one particular autograph that is extremely hard to get. Yes, it was the big G itself, Microsoft's father - Bill Gates! Well, Microsoft really did it this time, when nobody was expecting anything more from them. Good job!
For full details on the story, as well as Nathaniel's personal statements, check hawtymcbloggy.com.