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things I never do, cont'd
Feb. 9th, 2009 08:57 pmMy 360 went RRoD today. I could probably tell you exactly who on my friends list has any clue what I'm talking about, right now.
But yeah: I own an XBox. There are probably pogo sticks in nursing homes that get more use than this device, but somehow a gentle diet of Portal, Bioshock and Fallout 3, in short sessions over the last year, were enough to do it in. I argued with the buttons on the front of the console for a few minutes, but it was adamant in its assertion that it would give me a ring of red lights and nothing more, except occasionally muttering something about being the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi. So, I called their support line, shouted obscenities at the phone robot until it connected me to a (bored) human, who then verified that it was really, really glowing red at me (she asked how many red lights, and apparently 'one big circle of them' was the wrong answer, because that's "four quadrants",) then told me the console needs to be mailed back to the XBox 360 rape crisis center in Texas. It's all under warranty, and I should have it back in 3 weeks, which is probably about how long it'd have been before I felt like turning it on again, anyway. So, cool.
For anyone out of the loop on video games, the XBox 360 has earned a reputation as the sort of Maserati of game consoles; wonderfully fun, for the brief periods between major repairs. The web abounds with stories of the 'Red Ring of Doom', as it has come to be known. There are credible stories of people who've had to get theirs replaced under warranty 5 times in a single year - so I knew, on paper, that this was likely. I just thought I was somehow casual enough in my use that I wasn't putting it under unbearable strain. No big deal, like I said. I just have this nagging feeling that, if I'd known I was going to break it, I could've had more fun doing it.
But yeah: I own an XBox. There are probably pogo sticks in nursing homes that get more use than this device, but somehow a gentle diet of Portal, Bioshock and Fallout 3, in short sessions over the last year, were enough to do it in. I argued with the buttons on the front of the console for a few minutes, but it was adamant in its assertion that it would give me a ring of red lights and nothing more, except occasionally muttering something about being the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi. So, I called their support line, shouted obscenities at the phone robot until it connected me to a (bored) human, who then verified that it was really, really glowing red at me (she asked how many red lights, and apparently 'one big circle of them' was the wrong answer, because that's "four quadrants",) then told me the console needs to be mailed back to the XBox 360 rape crisis center in Texas. It's all under warranty, and I should have it back in 3 weeks, which is probably about how long it'd have been before I felt like turning it on again, anyway. So, cool.
For anyone out of the loop on video games, the XBox 360 has earned a reputation as the sort of Maserati of game consoles; wonderfully fun, for the brief periods between major repairs. The web abounds with stories of the 'Red Ring of Doom', as it has come to be known. There are credible stories of people who've had to get theirs replaced under warranty 5 times in a single year - so I knew, on paper, that this was likely. I just thought I was somehow casual enough in my use that I wasn't putting it under unbearable strain. No big deal, like I said. I just have this nagging feeling that, if I'd known I was going to break it, I could've had more fun doing it.