Xbox 360: Almost Ready to Jump Ship
It hasn’t been a full two weeks since my Xbox 360 kicked it, but now I find myself backed in a corner, just about ready to jump ship entirely. Obviously, it sucks that it broke, but that was only the tip of the iceberg as I quickly discovered. Things really didn’t look all that bad at first. After all, I have a second Xbox 360 that I use for capturing screenshots for Dashboard Themes. I figured the worst case scenario would be my console being unrepairable and me having to replace it at full cost. Of course, I’d then have the DRM battle to survive, but I was optimistic. That was, until I started using my backup console.
What Happens When the Medic Gets Shot?
I was planning to keep my gaming to a minimum while I’m using my backup console. Time is on my side since we seem to be in the middle of a drought. The other night I was playing Cars with Hannah when she noticed the loading icon stop in the lower right corner. It appeared that the console had locked up. It wasn’t responding to any actions from the controllers. I had to get up and shut it off manually. We managed to get another 20 minutes of play time in before it happened again – this time in the middle of a race. Great. The following day, Deanna comes down to the office to tell me that the Xbox 360 crashed while she was watching a DVD. And later that evening, Deanna and I were playing Aegis Wing and just received the half-way Achievements when the screen went black. If you’ve played Aegis Wing, you’ll know that there’s no continue. You have to start from the beginning every time you restart the game. That’s just perfect.
The Fate of my Dead Console
Yesterday, I heard back from Old School Gamer with the diagnosis. My Xbox 360 needs a new motherboard. And you guessed it – that’s not a cheap or easy fix. They even admit that in some cases, it just plain doesn’t work. The repair costs $299 plus tax and return shipping, which would bring the total up around the $400 mark. Since my console is still prone to the ring of death fatal error and I have no option to get it fixed by Microsoft, I’ve decided to leave it with them in return for a cool $25 – that’s how much they give you for a dead console they can use for parts.
Here’s Where it Gets Complicated
Now, I find myself between a rock and a hard place.
- My first and primary Xbox 360 is dead and I have $25 to show for it.
- My second, backup Xbox 360 is dying and in need of repair or replacement. However, I need the second Xbox 360 to capture screenshots for Dashboard Themes.
- The Falcon model consoles with new 65nm chip are still a few months out it seems. The new Elites will have them, but Elites are about as hard to come by as a Wii in Canada.
- All of this year’s big titles are just around the corner and I don’t have a reliable Xbox 360.
Microsoft is Forcing me to Buy a PlayStation 3
Or so it seems. I don’t know what to do! I want an Xbox 360, but I am not going to buy another console that is just going to die on me at any given moment. At this point, I’m seriously considering picking up a PS3 to get me through the rest of the year. Yes, I’ll miss out on some of the big Xbox 360 exclusives like BioShock and Halo 3, but what’s a guy to do? I could go out today and buy a new Premium at full price, only to have it die on me as soon as I start playing Halo 3 – I don’t think anyone would want to be around me if that were to happen. I’d probably go the way of Peter Petrelli.
I’m going to try and hold off as long as I can in hopes that a new option comes to light. But in all honesty, this is going to be a horrible wait. Gaming is pretty much my only hobby. Now after a long work day, there’s no chilling on the couch shooting dudes in the face while dinner’s on the go.
Microsoft, I hate you… again.