Welcome to the 8th Circle of Hell..

[Major Ocelot]

Well I after having beyond the worst luck with my previous 360(s) I decided to give it my 8th and final shot.
For those who don't know (or haven't heard my whining on the forums) my previous Xbox conked out on me 7 times consecutively and on its final run it scratched 4 out of 6 my games beyond playability. So you could understand my seething hatred for all things MS and Indian call centers (Never calling MS 'help' service again, I can tell you that much.).
But I digress, so I saw an ad on TV 2 days ago showing a $278 (aus) 360 Arcade pack, comes with controller and memory chip etc.
Went around stores, all sold out. Until finally after hours I found 1 last one, snapped it up like no ones business. I saw a pretty dero family gunning for it to, thank god for my lanky frame.
But this morning guess what's in my email Inbox. Its a message from a TradingPost seller I had made an offer to the other day saying he would like to do the deal. I had made really lowball offer of $300 for a month old 360 pro pack that not only has all the cables etc but it comes with games too. Including GTA IV and Guitar Hero III with the GH controller, plus more games. This 360 also had a BenQ drive and the falcon chips in it, as well as HDMI.
All I could do was stare .......

After all the BS of running around Victoria and pushing passed overweight bogans to get to the electronic department, after all the greasy looks I got from fat clerks with too much make up on, after pretty much being farted on by a pensioner I have a much better deal.

So I have since braved Big W a final time to returned the Arcade pack and have the go ahead to pick up this other pack today.
I don't think I've ever put so much physical effort into getting a console before, let alone a 360.
Yes I do plan on flashing the DVD drive, in my eyes I've earned it after all the BS I've been through. If anyone objects then I dare you to stay sane after what I went through. Also I have since learned of Xclamp etc. So voiding warranty is not an issue with me, besides like I said earlier I'm never dealing with MS support ever again.

So yeah that's my epic saga on how I got a 360, and I pray this is the final chapter. If it conks out on me through RROD, then I'm seriously boycotting MS and even getting MAC. I don't care otherwise.

I plan on spray painting the box black and doing a 'Grin Reaper' piece on it as well (its my favorite Banksy work ever, if not any graffiti) I also plan on painting blood dripping from the Rings of Light, just because its ironic for me.
I'll post some pics when I'm done with it to see what you think.
Well this was just a huge block of text to read, but I just wanted peeps to know and have it out there for members like Fedos, as I know they just think I'm a fanboi.

Cheers, feel free to respond with your own tales of hate and ordeal if you want, regardless the console.

[Black02SLPSS]

Your a very dedicated individual. Personally I dont have a 360 but I can tell you that I would have boycotted them after my second console died due to the RROD. I wouldnt have that sort of tolerance a piece of hardware that kept dying on me. However I do hope this one works out for you and lasts for a good long while.

[Major Ocelot]

Cheers man. I wouldn't really say that I'm dedicated to MS at all, in fact I am quite the opposite. It's just that I spent my own money on it, and I expect what I buy to retain an aspect of quality.
But although the 360 is the worst built console ever, this is my own (albeit biased) opinion, it has some JRPG's that desire and I am an otaku whatever console has the RPG's I will have to own it.
I know that the PS3 will get the better RPG's in the future, but seeing as I can get average RPG's now I may as well.
Plus Mass Effect begs me to play it as well as Fable 2.

[sorrow880]

Holy crap! I had no idea you went through THAT many 360's Major! I wouldn't have the patience or forgiveness you have.

Eitherway good luck and make sure you play Lost Odyssey soon (just in case it dies on you again, lol)...it's a lot of fun. And Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery are coming soon.

[tmacfan4321]

Use some of the painting tutorials on Xbox-Scene if you want a really well done job. Just spraying the outside won't look great. Get yourself some Krylon Fusion as well.

[Major Ocelot]

Hah so you caved man? The only reason I considered getting it again was because of the cheap price, even then I was a bit cautious.
I've played through LO for the most part at my cousins, I thought it was reealy derivative of FF:IV, considering the characters and some of the plot points. The two kids for instance and Sed? Please. Lol.
I plan on having a binge of RPG's this weekend and I'm playing through LO (or should I say reading through :P) and what ever else I can find at the rentals like Mass Effect or something.

Use some of the painting tutorials on Xbox-Scene if you want a really well done job. Just spraying the outside won't look great. Get yourself some Krylon Fusion as well.

I've been a stencil/graffiti artist for a few years now so I know what I'm doing in that respect. Thanks heaps for the concern though and cheers for the site, I will definitely be checking it out.
I'm going to paint the Grin Reaper on though, too small to spray the details I want.

Best pic I could find, its awesome eh?

[sorrow880]

Hah so you caved man? The only reason I considered getting it again was because of the cheap price, even then I was a bit cautious.
I've played through LO for the most part at my cousins, I thought it was reealy derivative of FF:IV, considering the characters and some of the plot points. The two kids for instance and Sed? Please. Lol.
I plan on having a binge of RPG's this weekend and I'm playing through LO (or should I say reading through :P) and what ever else I can find at the rentals like Mass Effect or something.

I still prefer to play my games on ps3, but I go where the JRPG's are at. And for NOW they're not on the ps3...hopefully some will be coming in the future.

I still haven't played Eternal Sonata yet so that may be my next game on the 360...I didn't really care too much for Blue Dragon...(had some major faults imo, but I won't go into them here).

I did end up getting MGS4 for my ps3, but haven't played it yet because I'm hoping they announce Trophy support for it soon. If I don't hear something by the end of E3, I'll probably just play it.

[Major Ocelot]

I still prefer to play my games on ps3, but I go where the JRPG's are at. And for NOW they're not on the ps3...hopefully some will be coming in the future.

I still haven't played Eternal Sonata yet so that may be my next game on the 360...I didn't really care too much for Blue Dragon...(had some major faults imo, but I won't go into them here).

I did end up getting MGS4 for my ps3, but haven't played it yet because I'm hoping they announce Trophy support for it soon. If I don't hear something by the end of E3, I'll probably just play it.

Dude play it now, there are so many unlockables you will be playing it more than once I assure you. I wouldn't count on any Trophies coming by E3 seeing as 2.4 got pulled.

So did you recently just get your 360 or what? Also, how long did it take you to clock Lost Odyssey? I'm in the mood for a talky RPG at the moment and that one just fits the bill.

[J3ff3]

Well I after having beyond the worst luck with my previous 360(s) I decided to give it my 8th and final shot.
For those who don't know (or haven't heard my whining on the forums) my previous Xbox conked out on me 7 times consecutively and on its final run it scratched 4 out of 6 my games beyond playability. So you could understand my seething hatred for all things MS and Indian call centers (Never calling MS 'help' service again, I can tell you that much.).

Not really, although I am confused why you put more games into a console that was scratching games. Hardly their fault.

And with all your 'modding' / spray painting I wouldn't be surprised if this one breaks too....

[darky89]

I hope that isn't your last ordeal. Don't get me wrong, that's terribly unlucky but that's already one hell of a story, and if it gets any worse you could make a movie.

"My struggle" by Major Ocelot

[tmacfan4321]

Not really, although I am confused why you put more games into a console that was scratching games. Hardly their fault.

And with all your 'modding' / spray painting I wouldn't be surprised if this one breaks too....

LOL, modding the 360 makes it into something far better than Microsoft could have ever dreamed of.

[mickice]

Hey Major, I never realised your an Aussie.

I'm getting the Xbox 360 arcade pack too.

$278 what was Big W thinking?... Our shop was out of stock, but when they get some in it's still the $278 price tag.

[Carsonal]

I guess you're just **** out of luck with the xboxes

[old_school_gamer]

I know all about trouble with the 360. I'm currently on my 5th unit(got a FALCON now)and this one seems like it's much more stable. It runs exponentially cooler, and quieter compared to my others. Heat is the 360's nemesis, so do yourself a favor and try to find an Intec Turbo Cooler. It runs off it's own power supply, and moves a ton more air in, and out of the console. Keeps it very cool, which should lead to extended reliability. Good luck on this though bro, sounds like you need it.

[Major Ocelot]

Not really, although I am confused why you put more games into a console that was scratching games. Hardly their fault.

And with all your 'modding' / spray painting I wouldn't be surprised if this one breaks too....

The difference between you an me it seems is I'm not giving MS employees BJ's. Seriously though, how could you not be pissed at a company after their wonderful, next-gen console died that many times?
With the games, it wasn't that I put 4 games in consecutively in the one system, this was a crappy cycle of; when the RROD was 'fixed' the drive was faulty. So in reality I had to call customer service almost double.
I don't blame myself for that, why the hell should I? It was their own stupid decision not to put padding in the drive. That's pretty much asking for games to be destroyed, I didn't learn about this until afterwards of cause.
Also all this 'modding' implying I'm doing more than flashing the drive. It's not that hard, I've done it for my friend and it works fine and you have to be at like 1 IQ to lead to bricking the system.
How will spray paint 'break' the system? It's a coating of paint on the outside of the casing of the system. I bet you thought I was going to do it with the casing still attached to the console. Anyway...

I hope that isn't your last ordeal. Don't get me wrong, that's terribly unlucky but that's already one hell of a story, and if it gets any worse you could make a movie.

"My struggle" by Major Ocelot

Yeah I am hoping this will be one of those, ride off into the sunset types of stories where everything works out for the best.
I'm working to be in the movie business when I get older so you never know, the story is already better than half the dross being released at the moment.
My Struggle could a good suspense/drama thriller, but if I stuck with the 8th Circle of Hell tag I reckon I could have a pretty good horror flick going. Based on a true story and all that to.

Hey Major, I never realised your an Aussie.

I'm getting the Xbox 360 arcade pack too.

$278 what was Big W thinking?... Our shop was out of stock, but when they get some in it's still the $278 price tag.

Yep, I'm an Aussie. I'm fairly sure I've told you this though. :P
It's actually a pretty small world after all, Carsonal here is from Geelong, apparently, which is where I hail from.
It was a pretty hefty price slash though eh? Every other store has them going for like $399. You work at Big W or something?

[Rareware]

Have you modded the case and/or hardware on all of the consoles that have RROD'd on you?

[Major Ocelot]

Have you modded the case and/or hardware on all of the consoles that have RROD'd on you?

Nah, never mine. This all happened pretty much when the 360 released and continued months afterward. It's been years now as I refused to get anything other than what they are calling the 'Falcon' chipset now. That and a BenQ drive.
I hate white consoles so I wanted to make this one black and add a little bit of my own flair to it as well, and I'm flashing the drive for obvious reasons.

[mickice]

Yep, I'm an Aussie. I'm fairly sure I've told you this though. :P
It's actually a pretty small world after all, Carsonal here is from Geelong, apparently, which is where I hail from.
It was a pretty hefty price slash though eh? Every other store has them going for like $399. You work at Big W or something?

No, just that me and my older brother saw the ad on the TV and went to go buy one... out of stock as expected. We walked into GAME and we asked if they would price match and the guy just laughed at us, lol.

[Zabuza]

I was lucky to have gotten a pretty decent 360 that hasn't broken yet even after I flashed it. Are you gonna have to do some soldering on your console? I had the 78 rom version which was the last one that could be easily flashed through the computer. But I hear the newer 360s aren't quite so easy to flash unless you're good at soldering. Then again I might be wrong since they probably came up with an easier way to do it since then.

[Major Ocelot]

No soldering involved just have to open up the Xbox and the Computer. You need a certain PCI port for it as well. Only costs about $12 though.

[admartian]

I'm with darky89, you should definitely write a book or move.

But sheesh! That's a lot of 360s, I'd hate to see the world's graveyard of 360s. I would've given up after my 3rd one.

You should definitiely get Mass Effect though. It's an excellent game, and can be as deep as you want.

[Major Ocelot]

I'm with darky89, you should definitely write a book or move.

But sheesh! That's a lot of 360s, I'd hate to see the world's graveyard of 360s. I would've given up after my 3rd one.

You should definitiely get Mass Effect though. It's an excellent game, and can be as deep as you want.

Yeah it is quite a few isn't it. I'm fairly stubborn with things that I pay with my own money as I don't have a full job, so my income it quite sparse. I did finally give up on the 7th though, started anew this week.
Mass Effect looked pretty good, RPG-wise, the combat segments looked pretty crappy but then again so were KOTOR's if you look back. I heard the elevators are hell though.

P.S Loving the Addy-M in your sig I should try and fit Major Oh or Major Oh Damn! in, I don't think I can I'm full at the moment.

[admartian]

Yeah it is quite a few isn't it. I'm fairly stubborn with things that I pay with my own money as I don't have a full job, so my income it quite sparse. I did finally give up on the 7th though, started anew this week.
Mass Effect looked pretty good, RPG-wise, the combat segments looked pretty crappy but then again so were KOTOR's if you look back. I heard the elevators are hell though.

P.S Loving the Addy-M in your sig I should try and fit Major Oh or Major Oh Damn! in, I don't think I can I'm full at the moment.

I know how you feel about that. I'm pretty protective about my things as well.

As per the elevators, they're not really that bad. They're annoying, but I usually take that time to have a bit of a snack and swig on the 'ol drink.

Haha thanks. Lol at being full. I reckon we should subscribe (although I'd have to wait where to get the funds from) - but what's stopping me is the "PAYPAL" only option.

When I do, expect laughs galore on my sig.

[mynd]

Just a question, has each Xbox been in the same envirionment, As in the same house everytime, 8 xbox 's makes me believe it's envioronmental.

And just to really annoy you, not one scatched disk, or RROD, PAL 360, 2 year's old
And I've got 3 kids who give it heaps.

[Major Ocelot]

Well if I could slap you I could, Mynd but I can't
Nah they were all in the same environment, being an elevated area beside the TV. Fully ventilated and the like, no obstructions what so ever and nothing near it either.
I just kept getting sent sh*ithouse refurbs is all I guess.
The new Falcon is running fine though at the moment, and almost as quietly as my old PS2, not as loud as it used to but not PS3 quite.
So, so far so good but I'll shut up now I don't want to jinx it.