XBMC has never run better for me. Running XBMC Gotham 13.1. It's been rock solid. Haven't had a single issue in weeks.
I got a 3rd party bluetooth gamepad from Amazon for $20:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's been great. Got hooked on a few games now. Sev Zero is really fun. Asphalt 8 is also a blast. Dungeon Quest has been highly addictive. The kid digs Minecraft.
Being able to switch between Netflix/Pandora/Games and XBMC within about 10 seconds is pretty sweet.