Just as I was getting back into GTA IV in a big way over the past few nights, my Xbox 360 Elite red ringed today. It started with freezing and white vertical artifacts. They were lines of a sort. The 360 froze every time I booted it, but no red rings. For a while I wasn’t getting any ring at all. Once I unplugged the power and plugged it back in I got the red ring.
Microsoft’s online return website was easy to use. I just registered the console and picked the option to have a box sent. No muss no fuss. Now I just have to wait for the box and the transfer to happen.
I didn’t expect to ever get the red ring. My console is about 15 months old from the time of purchase (it is about 30 months since the manufacture date). The console hasn’t had any prior problems. I’d also heard anecdotally that Elites seemed to have less red ring problems. It was probably just the case that there were less Elites out there to red ring so you don’t hear about them as much. I can dream of getting a Jasper Elite as an exchange, but it’s doubtful. I don’t think any have been found in the wild yet.
Now to figure out what I want to play on my PS3 or PC. Maybe I’ll finally play through Crisis Core on the PSP. My library is feeling very 360 slanted all of a sudden.
is still available for $79.99 on Amazon’s site.
