Death of an XBox

After approximately 1 year and 10 months, it finally happened. My treasured XBox 360 has died.

Thankfully, it didn't suffer long. It crashed a couple times, and I knew that was the beginning of the end. Finally, after a particularly dramatic crash and a reboot, the three red lights started flashing.

Even though I knew it was coming, it didn't make it any easier. My good friend Mike, who has lost 2 XBoxs in the past, was quick to console me and offered advice on how to get on with my life. It started with a call to Microsoft, and will some day end with acceptance.

Over the next several hours, I have some tough decisions to make. It may take 3 or 4 weeks for the good folks at Microsoft to get a new XBOX 360 to me. Do I patiently wait that long, or do I give in to the great Halo 3 tempation and buy a new one?

I'll be honest. Everyone is expecting me to buy a new one. Its impractical. Its a waste of money. Some may even call it childish, but here I am, thinking about it. Verbalizing it. About to sleep on it. What will tomorrow bring? A trip to best buy, or quality time with my Nintendo DS? Or will I spend the day reading non-fiction thereby bettering myself as a human being? Place your bets.

There are 3 versions of the XBOX 360 available. The least dumb choice would be to buy the cheapest version, but in my time of grief, it is easy to consider upgrades.


The arcade version costs $280. As a general rule, I generally don't consider the minimal offering.

The premier model costs $350 and comes with 2 games whose combined worth is $120. $350 - 120 suggests that I'm only spending $220 on the acutal console. logical, right?

The elite model cost $450 and comes with 2 games and a 120gb drive. The games are worth $120, and the drive is worth $180. $450 - ($180 + $120) = $150. A console for $150 sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Seriously?

Oh, did I mention that the Elite is black? Oh yes. Black. That's old school. No more prissy white xbox 360 glaring at me from the entertainment center. Heck no. Its time to dare to be different.

Do you get the feeling I'm talking myself into anything?

That's it for tonight. Dawn is just a few hours away, and I have a lot to think about. I'm going to need some hot pockets.