News-Record.com

Tiger Direct is selling a refurbished 60 gigabyte Xbox 360 for $189.99 (regular $299).

No sense letting that video game you bought brand new for $60 collect dust on your shelf after getting tired of playing it.

Instead, you might want to consider trading or exchanging them for new titles.

PC Magazine lists 10 retailers and online services that let you trade in your used video games in exchange for cash or trade-in credit for new titles.

After a successful trial last December, Microsoft announced it's bringing back its "deal of the week" to Xbox Live on Mondays.

Starting today, Xbox Live Gold members (membership is $49.99 a year) will get a discount on different content each week including arcade games, add-ons and Xbox originals.

It begins today with a 33-percent reduction on the price of the critically acclaimed puzzle arcade game Braid. It's now available to download for 800 Microsoft points, or $10, for the next seven days. It was originally $15.

Gamespot described it as offering "expertly designed puzzles that offer a hefty challenge without frustrating."

The one drawback, according to Gamespot? The original download price of $15, which costs more than most Xbox Live Arcade games.

Maybe someone at Microsoft was listening.

Coming later this month: discounts on game add-ons for Ninja Gaiden II and Project Gotham Racing 4, and the original Xbox classic, Fable.

Anyone who has an Xbox 360 or is considering buying one has probably heard of the infamous "red ring of death."

That's when three lights on the front of the console start flashing red, indicating there may be a major hardware problem caused by the unit overheating.

Mine had been working like a charm until Microsoft's extended, 3-year warranty on my console expired. Shocking, I know.

If you're in my boat, you can pay $99.99 and have your Xbox shipped to Microsoft for repairs, which can take several weeks. Or you can try fixing it yourself (several Web sites describe how, but I can't vouch for their effectiveness) or trading it in for a new one.

I chose the latter. I exchanged my 360 at GameStop for an Xbox 360 Arcade ($199). Got $40 in credit after a refurbishing fee GameStop charges. But I got to keep my 20 gigabyte hard drive, which still works. (The Arcade version doesn't come with a hard drive.)

Bottom line: I spent $60 more for a brand new Xbox 360 versus repairing one made in 2005. Plus I'm optimistic this one won't experience "the red ring of death."

Reason?

My Xbox 360 comes with a redesigned motherboard, a 65-nanometer graphic chip. In English, that means it will consume less power and run cooler.

At least so far, there have been no reports that I'm aware of regarding hardware failures plaguing the newer models.

Now what to play on your new 360. We talked about a new horror shooter game called F.E.A.R. 2 in our recent GameBuzz video. Plus why it seems girls are used in video games and movies to creep people out. What's up with that? Watch below.

We've talked about recent price cuts regarding the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 as the two duke it out for video game supremacy. Now there's even more good news for gamers: At least one retailer is offering the 360 for even less. Find out more in this week's GameBuzz show.

I have a love/hate relationship with Tiger Woods. No, not the man himself. It's the series of golf video games that have been made in his name lately. The latest offering is full of more bugs than you can shake a club at.

But what's worse, he's out there pitching this game oblivious (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) to all the problems it's having.