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What is there to say about me? I'm 22, I've worked at both Gamestop and Game Crazy, and I obviously have an obsession with video games. I'll play pretty much anything, but I have a not-so-secret obsession with rhythm games so you've been warned. I'm also a proud member of Stereotoid, home of the best damn album reviews this side of the interweb.

Still, I'm always up for a good multiplayer romp, so if you ever wanna play a couple games send me a request on Xbox Live, PSN or Steam. I'm a bit of a shy little introvert, but once you get to know me I'm not that bad.

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Death Of A Console; In Memoriam.
vApathyv | 9:26 PM on 01.26.2011 27 comments


January 26, 2011. On this tragic day, my Xbox 360, born August 23, 2007, left this world.



Good night, sweet prince.


Now, unlike most people who this happens to, this wasn't a surprise to me. A little backstory is necessary here...


I got this 360 during the same week that the limited Halo 3 360s came out. My second Xbox had crapped out a week earlier, and when I heard news of this new version of the console I figured "Oh, well what perfect timing". So, I picked it up, but it being a 360 and what not, I was always ready to fear the worst. Except, it never really came. A year passed by, things were still great. Two years, still nothing, it ran good as new. A variety of games, dashboard updates, and Xbox Live antics followed, but around the year three mark things started to get a little unsettling. The box began to get louder, hotter, and would freeze up at random intervals. Initially I didn't think much of it, but it began to get more and more prevalent until, eventually, the worst thing possible happened- the dreaded Red Ring Of Death.



AKA that thing I have tattooed on my wrist as a reminder of how many times this has happened to me.


Of course, like any sane gamer would, I began to curse God's name and frantically seek some way to rectify the situation. I realized that I was currently a jobless bum at the time and had no way of replacing it, even if I wound up trading in every last game I owned. However, thanks to a bit of Craigslisting, I found a guy in my area who specialized in 360 repairs, including red rings. Despite hearing nothing but bad things about going down this route, I reluctantly decided it was the best and only way to do anything about it. So, I dropped it off and, to my surprise, within an hour he had it working beautifully. Of course, I went home and dropped hours into Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I was overjoyed, I still had video games in my life!


Fast forward a couple months, to about October. It was the same week as my birthday, ironically. Despite it being my birthday week, things weren't exactly going well. My car broke,I wasn't able to find a job STILL, my laptop broke, some jealous woman almost succeeded in causing my girlfriend of two years to break up with me (We're still together and better than ever thank God), and I got ridiculously drunk on the night of my birthday and wound up dropping my phone in a toilet while giving myself a concussion (Which ultimately led to me having a permanent scar on my forehead...I'm actually kinda proud of that part). It was during this week that my Xbox decided to stop reading disks. I, of course, panicked like I did before. Knowing there was no way I could ship it off thanks to the red ring repair I did over the Summer, and thanks to the fact that I'm STILL FREAKING BROKE (at the time), I decided to attempt fixing it myself. And, holy shit, I did it. I freaking fixed my own Xbox. I felt like a God...but of course, that was short-lived.


See, the thing I learned about disc drive failures is, there doesn't really seem to be a way to 'fix' it...not permanently at least. The only real way to do anything about it would be to just full-on replace the disk drive, or at least that's what the internet told me. Now, the fix that I performed on it, gave it about another month before I had to open it up again. And then a few weeks. And less, and less. Until Saturday, where I had to open it up yet again...this time, it only managed to last a couple days. Turns out, I think the thing is finally done. Gone. Fin. Dead.



Seems like only yesterday that I first bought him.


Now, the big question I've found myself asking is...what do I do about it? I just got laid off a couple weeks ago, so once again I'm in a jobless position. And as sad as it is for me to admit, I really rely on videogames to make my day less...well, shitty. And in the ultimate act of God hating me, it couldn't have come at a worse time. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is finally about to arrive, I had rekindled my love of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 after a long absence, I've been getting more and more hooked on playing Xbox Live with Dtoiders, and finally decided to come out of my shell and start being a part of Friday Night Fights. But then, this happens.



It seems so empty without it...


So, sad as it is for me to say, I don't think I'll be playing much games for a while. You may see me logged onto Xbox Live, but unless it's an arcade game, don't expect me to be playing anything. It's weird...what does a gamer even do when he doesn't have a console? Can he call himself a gamer when he literally lacks the ability to play games? I guess there's no point in thinking about it right now...for now, I can look back on the better times. Here's hoping I can remedy the situation soon.



A toast to the fun that we used to have.


Requiescat in pace, old friend.



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25 comments | showing # 1 to 25
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rexwolf2's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:21
rexwolf2
Rest in peace, poor console. I know how you feel, sorta. My original Wii stopped reading disks when some idiot knocked it off of a shelf, and that was before I had it hooked up to the internet, so it was essentially a useless brick. Thankfully, I soon realized that I had a warranty, saved all of my files on a card, and got a replacement. Good luck trying to find something to replace your 360.
Kraid's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:21
Kraid
Baawwwww, cheers bro!
LawofThermalDynamics's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:29
LawofThermalDynamics
Cheers man. You deserve it. That box went through much and it left a fighter.
wafflability's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:33
wafflability
That really, really sucks. I hate the fact that after a 360 dies it's pretty much a useless brick. We do take defective 360s as trade-ins at Gamestop, but a) You get basically no money because of the refurb fee and b) Since you broke the seal on the back we can't due to policy. I hope you find a way to get a new one soon.

Also, I feel like RRD is the Xbox equivalent to cancer; and every Xbox is smoking 20 packs a day.
Jack Maverick's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:37
Jack Maverick
On the other hand, it's good that it lasted you this long.

I say that as opposed to someone tipping it over after owning it for no more than two weeks, shattering the disc inside the console, and having to replace both object. Happened to one of my friends way back when the 360 first came out. He was not happy.
vApathyv's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:42
vApathyv
@wafflability

Yeah, I know. Gamestop's actually the company that laid me off a few weeks ago...they didn't have enough hours available to support more than one GA, and since one GA had seniority over me and there weren't any openings at other stores, they couldn't do much for me as far as helping me keep my job. 'Tis a sad fate.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:54
Mr Andy Dixon
Sorry to hear that :(

But hey, the FNF peeps play dowbloadable games pretty often! Hell, you can even get the original Bad Company via games on demand for $20 if you're desperate!

So at least not allis lost!
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 22:54
Mr Andy Dixon
My God, the spelling errors!
Corduroy Turtle's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 23:09
Corduroy Turtle
And to make matters worse, you're drinking PBR! It is truly a tragedy.
vApathyv's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/26/2011 23:15
vApathyv
@Corduroy Turtle

I'm far too poor to afford anything greater. I've grown to awkwardly appreciate the terrible taste and the resulting heartburn though.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 00:10
Mr Andy Dixon
@Corduroy Turtle

How is that a bad thing? Need I remind you that IT WON A BLUE RIBBON?!
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 00:21
brainderailment
Just lost mine last week. I was dumb enough to let it sit there running idling at a menu screen while I and my also drunk friends talked for like 5 hours. I think that's what killed it, because she wasn't acting up at all leading up to that point.
Beyamor's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 00:57
Beyamor
Solidarity, brother. I've gone through five or six boxes and thank the great turtle which carries the world that warranties held up. My heart really does go out to you.
manasteel88's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 01:07
manasteel88
of the 2 360s I own only one RRoD'd on me and Microsoft resuscitated it 2 weeks later...so I only have about 2 weeks of knowing how much pain you are going through.

Coping with loss is tough. I hope you find something that distracts you from the pain.
knutaf's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 02:00
knutaf
It's "requiescat in pace". I won't correct any English errors you may have had, but with the Latin, you go too far!

You can fix an RROD by yourself. My friend did it. You have little to lose at this point!
lewness's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 06:42
lewness
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem.

And by Jesu, I mean Miyamoto-san.
AwesomeExMachina's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 09:56
AwesomeExMachina
My condolences. Stay strong.

mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 10:57
mix
Man that sucks and it sounds like horrible timing :'(
randombullseye's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 11:25
randombullseye
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Elsa's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 11:30
Elsa
So sorry to hear about your loss. My condolences!
... but as others have said, it lived a long, productive life!
Spencer Hayes's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 11:41
Spencer Hayes
Alright Apathy, I like you. Because I like you I'm going to drop some knowledge on you. It's time to take advantage of both people and the system.

STEP 1: Look on Craigslist for an xbox with RROD.

STEP 2: Get the serial number of the xbox before buying it and see if it's still under the extended 4 year warranty. (Most people don't know that Microsoft extended the warranty for RROD)

STEP 3: Grab that xbox for nearly $20

STEP 4: Send that shit to Microsoft

STEP 5: Recieve joy.

STEP 6:??

STEP 7: Profit
garethxxgod's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 12:20
garethxxgod
Good night sweet prince.May you render graphics in a better place.

What makes it all the more tragic on this end is we never got to sit down on some L4D2. Here's to hoping you can scrounge your way to another 360 soon. Cheers.
Occams electric toothbrush's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/27/2011 15:35
Occams electric toothbrush
@vApathyv: I can appreciate the cheapness of PBR but the flavor of dog cock and accompanying heartburn...it hurts.

Sorry for your loss. I had mine red ring a while back but fortunately I was able to play on the lady's machine. I hope you can return to the waking world of digital happiness soon.
free touch's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/28/2011 08:57
free touch
I cant believe you folk are saying "Well think about how long it lasted!" A crappy product is a crappy product.

But anyway... its time to do one or more of these things.

1) Sell it on ebay. Current prices for broken xboxes are roughly $35 plus shipping ($10-$15)
2) Get a new hobby. Start buying busted xboxs and make a Frankenstein. If you're sure its a disc drive failure, search on the interwebs, for specific dd.. becauses Im pretty sure they use different models in different xbox builds.
Its relatively easy to fix all this stuff... ALSO BUY THERMAL PASTE TO REAPPLY THE CHIPS.
You seem smart enough.. do your research, and do the neccessary modes.
Again, busted xboxs are around $35 plus shipping.
3) or buy a refurb. there are current refubs on ebay for $120. There are also aucton 360's, which might bank lower.
4) buy a new one.

Anyway, you have some work ahead of you. Its sucks when the 360 breaks.. it happens, and it shouldnt. It's happened to mine, and I got a refurb because it red ringed... it took them 3 times sending it back and forth before finally got a new one.

But its busted, so have fun tinkering.
vApathyv's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/28/2011 12:34
vApathyv
Yeah, my box is already thoroughly frankensteined, so I'm just going to save up to get a Slim. You're right, it shouldn't happen, but I've grown to accept that it will, and three years was a long time for the older model 360s, shitty as they were. I don't really want to make my xombified box last any longer than it should, since I've already fixed the disc drive on my own many times without outright replacing the parts, and I've had to reapply the thermal paste twice after the red ring.

I'm just gonna get a Slim. That seems to fix many problems that I would have. Sure, it sucks that that's the route I have to take but, I don't mind. It was a good run. Me getting upset about won't change the fact that it's broke.
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