As skeptical as we've become about the prevalence of patches and updates delivered through online console services like Xbox Live, the alternative -- the old way -- is still far worse. Take Exhibit A: Bubble Bobble Revolution. Codemasters' DS puzzler was released with a crippling bug that would not permit players to pass level 30 in the game's New Age mode.

The result? More than four months later, Codemasters is finally issuing a recall, asking owners of the defective Bubble Bobble Revolution to ship their broken games back to the publisher (via pre-paid envelopes), and then wait for replacement cartridges, which begin shipping out February 23.

Xbox Live and its ilk may provide a cushion for lax QA testing, but bugs occur regardless. We'd much prefer a downloadable patch delivered to us a few weeks after a game's release than rely on a cumbersome work-around or snail mail replacement.

Exhibit B: EA offers "Work Around" for Madden PSP crash
Exhibit C: EA replacing faulty NCAA 07 PSP games