The Continuing Xbox 360 Saga

So my 360 was shipped off last Friday. I got an email this afternoon saying that Microsoft had received it. And then when I checked my email again this evening, I had two new messages from Microsoft: my console was fixed, and it has already been shipped back to me!!!!!!!! I can't believe they've fixed it so quickly!!!!!!

The Xbox 360 Saga

On Wednesday night, I came home from a friend's house. We had been making a new map on Halo 3's Forge, which we had called "Tunnels." My friend uploaded it onto his file share, so when I got home, I tried to retrieve it. And that was when the trouble started.

Halo kept freezing. If I rebooted the 360 with the game still in it, it gave me the "red ring of death" (pictured). But if I pulled it out and rebooted, or had a different game in, then it was fine. Examining the disc, it looked rather scratched up. So I decided to unplug everything, then try it all again in the morning.

The next morning, I tried turning the 360 on. This time I couldn't even get to the dashboard. All I got was the red ring.

I tried to go online to look into repairing my console. But I ran into a bit of trouble with that, so I had to phone Xbox. I had to get going though, so I had to phone them back after school. Thankfully, I found out that Microsoft had extended the warranty of the 360 due to this problem. My 360 was still covered!

I ran over to a friend's place. We then went to get Halo resurfaced (which was probably kind of dumb - we should have tried it first). Once it was resurfaced, we tried it out, and it worked fine. So after school I had to phone Xbox back. When all was said and done, my 360 had to be sent in. It should be back within two to three weeks, and I'll be getting a free month of Xbox Live for the inconvenience!

This did come at a kind of bad time though. On the one hand, I have essays to write, so I won't be distracted by Halo Wars. But on the other hand, I'm planning on writing one of the essays on Halo, using some quotes from Halo 3...so hopefully I'll be able to rely on Youtube, or go over to a friend's place to research.

What's Happening this December?

I haven't really done a post about what is going on in my life for a while now. So I figured, now is a great time, as I have a lot in store for December!

Well, I just finished an update on the List. The List has 102 books on it as of this moment. As I said in my post, I am planning on doing a lot of reading. I have started another anthology, I have a few graphic novels to read, and I'd love to get another List novel out of the way before starting into next term's school books.

But before I can even begin to tackle my reading projects, I am in the middle of exams (quite literally. I has one exam yesterday, and my last one is on Monday). My first exam went well (I hope!) and I have to get going on studying for the next one. Oh yeah, and I have to keep going with my applications to Grad school.

While this is happening, I have decided to stay away from Xbox Live. I've been itching to play a couple of games (I finally opened Assassin's Creed! It's fun! Why did I wait so long to try it?). I most likely won't be able to get back onto Live until Tuesday night.

But more important than Xbox are the writing projects. I know I already wrote an Apocalypse Madness story this month (so I'm off the hook as far as that goes), but I have an idea for another story or two. I can't make any promises, but hopefully they'll work out.

And now the moment that everyone's been waiting for: Spacelord should be returning next Monday (the 15th)!!! This isn't official yet (depending on how things go, I may have to hold off until the 22nd) but that's what I'm aiming for. My official decision will become public by the end of this week. So stay tuned!!!!!