Well, I knew it was bound to happen again sooner or later. And, with Murphy's Law being what it is, it didn't happen during the super slow months of June or July, but right smack in the middle of August before some of this year's best games are scheduled to come out. Yes, as the subject line of my blog indicates, my Xbox 360 has died on me for a second time. Allow me to present exhibit A. For those of you keeping track at home, the following Microsoft branded gaming equipment and peripherals have died on me in the last year of my gaming. 1. My original Xbox360 2. My HD-DVD add-on...exactly one month past the three month warranty 3. My repaired Xbox360 On the plus side, Microsoft has manned up and now offers a 3 year warranty on their 360s. On the downside, they sure seem to need it. Oh, and it would have been nice if they offered that 3 year warranty before I shelled out $99 for their two year product replacement/warranty extension plan after my previous Xbox360 died. To make matters worse, this is not the only piece of equipment that I have had that has broken down recently. The laptop that I am typing this post on is itself a warranty replacement work laptop. Yep, last week my previous laptop went to the big refuse pile in the sky when it stopped booting completely. But wait, that's not all! It's bargain days at Jim's ****y electronic equipment place. Recently, the wife's PC hard drive from Maxent also went kaput. When I say, "went kaput", I don't mean that it got a virus and needs to be cleaned. I don't mean that the operating system got corrupted, and we need to do a backup, format, and reinstall. No, I mean it is physically fried. During a normal, routine bootup one fine day, we started hearing a bizarre clicking sound. Upon further review, it appears that the little thingie that reads the disc has slipped somehow, and the disc will not read at all. I hate electronics. I seriously, seriously do. I realize that part of this is just the cost of being on the cutting edge. But on the other hand, frankly, this shouldn't happen. Period. Who does quality control for some of these companies churning out these products? Some sort of blind, drunk and senile hamster? In any event, sadly, there is nothing that can be done about the wife's hard drive at this time. We're going to try and find a way to get one last boot out of it so we can move the truly critical things...you know like wedding photos...off the hard drive and onto a backup location. But it seems that new computer equipment might be a requirement sooner than I had originally thought. As for the 360, well, quite frankly I've had just about all the cra.p I can stand from MS with regards to their quality control. They're going to have to give me something in addition to a new 360 that I can count on breaking six months from now. I want a replacement upgrade to the Pro/Elite or whatever they're calling the new 360 these days. Is this a reasonable request? Well, frankly, I think that it is. I've spent over a $1000 on 360, HD-DVD, games, wireless adaptor, battery charger, warranty extension, etc. that goes directly into Microsoft's products over the last year, and now it is questionable on whether or not I'll be able to play Bioshock when it comes out. $1000, and right now I cannot do anything except go play on my PS3. Yep...I want an upgrade. And I want one pronto. Updated Information after calling Microsoft Well, thus far I've been unable to secure a replacement upgrade. On the plus side though, I have been able to secure a new game of my choice. The chices are: Viva Pinata Kameo Project Gotham Racing I already have Kameo, so it comes down to a choice between Viva Pinata and Project Gotham Racing. I'm not a huge racing fan, so if I am going to get a racing game it will be that new Forza 2 game. That leaves Viva Pinata. Frankly, I'm okay with that. I've always been mildly interested in the game, but never interested enough to pull the trigger and make my move to the cashier's stand. With regards to the replacement/upgrade...I have learned that Microsoft's replacement/upgades have to be approved by corporate itself...whatever the hell that means. The supervisor I spoke to said that he's never seen one approved after "only" two broken consoles. This of course makes me wonder just how many would be required. I chose not to ask at this time. Their systems that process these things are down anyway, so I told the supervisor to add the approved game to my file and that I would call tomorrow to discuss the rest of what I am entitled to. (Not my exact choice of words, but the impression that I left.) For the most part, I've backed away a bit on the upgrade, but I am holding my ground on the replacement part. I absolutely have flat refused to just get a repaired or refurbished console back. "But sir..." the supervisor said "Repaired consoles are rigorously checked for any faults before being sent out. I can assure you that your new one wouldn't break again." "If that is the case..." I valiantly replied "Why am I then calling you back about another broken console when I accepted a repaired one last time? Obviously your checks aren't rigorous enough are they? And while I am not mad at you personally, merely your companies policies in this area, I cannot take you at your word that we won't be having this conversation again five months from now." More to come tomorrow. Stay tuned.