Well, World of Warcraft downloads patched automatically. Call of Duty 4 doesn't download them automatically, but a button appears on the main menu when there is one.
I think part of the reason they don't update automatically is because of issues like the one you had. Imagine instead of a few pages of users with patch problems, everyone who bought the game had those problems.
On another note, the Wii is my only 'next gen' console, mostly for the family fun aspect of it. I have a problem with buying a console that will just play games. It's mainly a one-use tool. Sure, you can load media onto the 360, but why screw around with a controller to play a video file? I also can't browse the internet very effectively with a console, because even HDTV can't pull off web content very nicely. Even if I could see pages correctly, what about flash and java? Good luck with getting those to work on your console.
I agree that console controllers are pretty clunky. The fact that most shooters have to have some sort of 'auto aim' feature just to make up for the shortcomings of whatever controller they are using attests to that fact.
Will I ever buy a console again? Undoubtedly. Will it be whatever comes after the 360 or PS3? Probably not. The days of the standard game controller should come to an end.
