On Wednesday evening this week I hit the eject button on my 360 to get the 300 DVD out of the drive and was greeted with my second remediless E74 hardware error.

For the uninitiated, an E74 is a general hardware error. Not a "red ring of death" per se, but just as bad. No recovery, console is bricked. You get a single flashing red LED in the lower right quadrant. I called up XBox customer support and got the process started. It's changed a bit since last time.

When I previously got the E74, I was playing the not-so-graphically-intense Beautiful Katamari when the right side of my monitor started doing what seemed like a graphics check. The console became unplayable at the end of the level when it loaded the King of All Cosmos, so I had to restart. There was the E74 saying that my first Elite was at the end of its life cycle.

Prior to that, I had my first XBox 360 Premium for two months (this was back when Microsoft only had a 90 day warranty on them) and got a Full RROD. They replaced that console and the one they sent me has worked fine ever since, except no longer ejects the DVD tray if it is empty. Have to take the faceplate off and use a paperclip or something. For the next three weeks or so, I've moved that console to my living room where I more actively watch Netflix or other DVDs.

They changed the return method for whatever reason - no longer sending you a coffin with the UPS return label. Now, it's just a label, and you have to get your own box and packing material. I've got a UPS center about half a mile from my house so that's no problem. Thankfully, the shipping and the repair / refurbishment / replacement are all going to be free, for a third time. Somehow, it doesn't make me feel "lucky."

The manufacturing date on my currently dead Elite is 10/31/2007. It only lasted about 18 months, then.

Being my third dead console since they launched in... 2005? I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't speak well for failure rate. I share my fellow users' frustrations though. Your box ever die on you? Send me a comment to ease my suffering. Till next time!

Another level named after another obscure Japanese game that I had to look up in Wiki. I know, some gamer I am... never even owned a Sega Saturn. Looks a lot like Ikaruga, which I am familiar with, also made by Treasure.

Anyways, I am a sad excuse for a gamer. I don't even get an hour a week in anymore. XBox Live has turned me into a Netflix whore, and I watch more movies and series now than I did when I paid for DirecTV. That's also off, for now, through July at least. It's not that I don't like gaming, it's just that with all the other expenses and uses for my time, I don't get to do much of it anymore.

On that note, I'm 116 days from being married. Looking forward to it - the freedom from having to spend so much time in transit, the wear and tear on my vehicle, the constantly having to be on show in front of so many people. Maybe after that I'll get "less QQ and more pew pew." Certainly would be a welcome change.

Let's see how long Level 29 lasts...

Thank you, GameSpot / Blizzard for FINALLY giving us some more SC2 meat to chew on. HOpefully this won't be thr ONLY vid for the next year, and that many more will follow!