It's a little like staring down the lovechild of HAL and the Eye of Sauron when that solemn, segmented, chartreuse power ring suddenly glares neon red at you from the front of your Xbox 360. Mark me down for "R.I.P. Xbox 360" number two then, this one a refurbished core unit which replaced my original, purchased on launch day, after it, too, sailed for silicon Elysium.
It started with a whirring hiccup every time I tapped the power circle, like the sharp grinding whine of a failing optical drive (or the mating call of a glass-gargling hyena). Then, over the past several weeks, I'd experience sudden system hangs, occasionally accompanied by screen distortion (or what we used to call "solarization" when the Super Nintendo was hot to trot). Finally last night, while working my way through The Darkness, it collapsed into full on functional rebellion. Hello RROD my old friend.
Recognizing that both of Sony's Playstations had their percentage of yield glitches, this is honestly the first time I've ever personally had game hardware actually fail fail (now twice!). Even my homebrew PCs, which I've been building and overclocking regularly since 1994, have proven practically indestructible. Not for lack of trying, by the way. My Darwin Award almost arrived when, back in undergrad, I moronically attempted to prove "plug-and-play" extended to IDE hard drive ribbon cables with the PC plugged in.
Anyway, if you've presently got the RROD blues, I'm right there with you. In the word of our former prez, "I feel yer pain."
