R.I.P. Xbox 360 (November 2005 – May 2009)

I have had a few scares in my life times with my XBOX 360 during its adolescent years, where I thought I had lost it forever. However with a few tricks and kicks I was able to keep my beautiful young maiden of gaming power going, churning out beautiful wonderful 3d experiences and streaming experiences to my entertainment pastimes. 

Now, as you can notice by the date, you realize that I have a launch XBOX 360, I am…was one of the few people left whose original Xbox survived this long without repairs. I was almost at 5 years!  where the extended warranty only covered 3 years of the consoles life span. So I was past my expiration date in 2007 and living on the edge ever since.

Yesterday when I was setting up my new RangeMax Dual Band N router to improve the internet connection in my house, I tested all my systems to make sure I was able to connect to the internet and enjoy the more girthier bandwidth that this new router endowed on me. My Xbox buzzed on like it did every night I came to play with it, I was able to download the new Wolverine Demo at blazing fast speeds, excited for the weekend opportunity in front of me, to sit down for some good ol’ gaming. So as I woke up this morning, finished setting up the rest of devices in my house(office pc/wii) I decided I would take a few moments to kick it with Wolverine.

I sat on my couch, pressing the Xbox button on my wireless remote controller…..my HDTV still waiting for its SIGNAL….hmmm…did I possibly unplug it when moving all the cables around? I pressed the button again to be sure I hit it, but the lights of the remote controller betrayed me as It was telling me..”Hey Man i did my job….stop pressing me, I’m on already…”. I panicked…my heart raced as I already knew the infliction has struct that I have been fearing for years. I slowly made my way to my Xbox, which is tightly tucked away behind my TV to make for a cleaner appearance in the family room.

There it was…staring me in the face…..DEATH..never have I been so close to complete emotional break down, I tried to tell myself that my Eyes deceived me and these three red lights were nothing but an optical illusion. I disconnected all the cables and replugged them in hoping that it was some sort of loose video feed connection causing my Xbox to react irrationally. No luck…..my Xbox was ice cold with death..the not even the drive spun up…nothing but a glowing red orb of pain and suffering….my Xbox has died.

What happened in the next hour or so was a blur as I sat on my couch cradling my lost son in my arms…rocking…rolling..maybe my love would bring it back to life…I’ve seen 101 Dalmatians sometimes all you need to do is rub it a bit….i hoped…..wastefully. If I was not man, my cheeks would be full of tears, however I knew that in the darkest hours of my life, I had to remain strong…could Liz see me in such broken state and still have hope for a bright future…the answer is no…strong I must remain.

In the end..my Xbox served me and its country proud, always providing me with entertainment on those rainy..and even sunny days. It never complained, it always knew what it had to do, and boy did it ever do it. So I just want to say that XBOX I loved you, and will always love you, and yes. you will be replaced, but not forgotten. In the mean time….your brother and sister PS3 and Wii will have to try and fill the void in my heart and soul.

Goodbye.