follow-up: i still ♥ roku and a question about gaming

A few months ago, I blogged about our Roku streaming device. Shorter wmtc: I love it. We now only use streaming or DVDs - no more cable - and it's been great. And Roku is now available in Canada. If you don't already have a gaming system that allows you to stream on your television, I highly recommend picking up a Roku - and make it a Roku2 XS.

We were using our Roku XD for a couple of months when I learned that a different model supports a USB drive and a media server. We didn't know this when we bought ours, and since we bought it in Buffalo, we might not have been able to find that one anyway.

We tried a couple of home media servers in development, most notably Plex, but they were awful. (Maybe one day Plex will be a brilliant personal media server. Right now... no.) Finally, in frustration, we upgraded to the Roku2, just to get the USB drive. It. Is. Great. MLB + Netflix + being able to play anything we download = perfect.

Well, almost perfect. When Amazon Instant Video comes to Canada, it will be perfect. (Right now Canadians can watch Amazon Instant Video by using a tunnel or proxy server. I can do that on my computer, but can't stream it through Roku.)

The Roku2 remote also functions as a game controller, and Roku2 comes with a few games, including the full version of Angry Birds. I've never played video games before - not because I don't like them, but because I know I would like them too much. I find games of any type completely addictive. You name it - backgammon, puzzles, card games, word games. Once I start, I have trouble stopping. I've always felt that if I had video games in the house, I'd never watch a movie or read a book again.

That's a slight exaggeration, but still, do I need anything else to compete for my time?

But there it is. Angry Birds. And of course I really enjoy it. It won't wipe out movies or books, but it's starting to encroach on Coronation Street.

So I've been playing Angry Birds on downtime. I completed Poached Eggs (that level 21 was a killer), and was 10 or 12 levels into Mighty Hoax. I exited. And the next time I opened the game, I was back at level 20 of Poached Eggs. The final level of Poached Eggs, and every level I completed in Mighty Hoax, had been wiped out. Grrrr!

Does this happen frequently with video gaming? Can I prevent it from happening again? Can I restore my previously completed levels?