Off Goes the X360, Microsoft Steps Up.

Around ten days or so ago my Xbox 360 froze. The on screen image wasn't a still of the game I was playing at the time. A checkerboard pattern of pastel colors had replaced the imagery of Viva Pinata. I didn't think much of it at the time. All disc based systems are going to experience a hiccup every once in a blue moon. I rebooted the system and played on the rest of the day without issue. The next day it froze in the same way again. And then again a few hours later. I thought maybe it was Viva Pinata. Phantasy Star Universe worked fine. The freezing in Viva Pinata started to pick up speed. It got to the point where I can't play it longer than thirty seconds without it freezing up with this same pastel colored checkerboard pattern. Then it happened in Phantasy Star Universe. And it started picking up speed there too. So it's clearly the X360. My system is a launch unit. It's great that Microsoft had just extended the warranty for all X360's to one year, but my system was thirteen months old and out of warranty. Needless to say I was less than pleased at the prospect of having to send my system in for the $140 repair to the GPU, my system's particular issue. So I call Microsoft via Delhi to arrange my service contract. To my delight and surprise, Microsoft steps up and tells me they're going to cover the cost of the repairs or replacement and even cover the shipping on my out of warranty system. That's pretty damn cool. They informed me that they would be shipping a box in which to ship my system to their repair center. That box arrived today. I've packaged up my system and have taken it to the local UPS center. It's on its way. Hopefully I'll get the replacement soon, as there is a big update in Phantasy Star Universe this week. Riddel's system has gone back to Microsoft for different reasons. That means two of the three in the PSU group are out of commission for the time being. It's the reason we've moved our online focus to SOCOM: Combined Assault...