About six weeks ago, my XBox Elite starting going on the fritz. Games would freeze, or the dashboard would go all wonky; other times it worked fine for hours. This lasted four about two weeks and then, finally, it happened: the Dreaded Red Ring of Death.

I thought I’d spell out in detail my repair process here, for anyone else going through the same thing and for my own future reference.

March 23, 2007: Manufactured

May 31, 2007: Purchased

Early July, 2008: Began freezing, stuttering, etc.

July 21, 2008: Red Ring of Death

July 28, 2008, 5pm: Called support. Spoke to Seema (sp?). Given option of getting a box in the mail or getting a label via e-mail I choose the box.*

July 29, 2008, 9am: Log into my repair status on XBox.com, Stage 1 active (”Repair order submitted”)

July 30, 2008, afternoon: Stage 2 on XBox.com (”Waiting for device at service center”)

July 31, 2008, afternoon: Empty box arrives (no one home, didn’t get to Purolator until after long weekend)

August 5, 2008, 1pm: Picked up box at Purolator/Sent XBox 360 back out

August 6, 2008, 9:37am: XBox 360 arrives at Celestica (received by Marcel)

August 7, 2008, 9am: Stage 3 on XBox.com (”Device received at service center”)

August 14, 2008, 7:30pm: Stage 4 on XBox.com (”Device shipped to customer”). However, it isn’t until August 15, 2008, at 7:37pm, that Purolator actually picks up my XBox from repair center.

August 18, 2008: Purolator claims to have attempted to deliver my XBox, even though my girlfriend was home all day and no one rang the bell. Hmph.

August 19, 2008, 1pm: Replacement XBox 360 arrives. I rejoice.

All told, just over three weeks to get it back - 22 total days, with six weekend days and one holiday, to make it 15 business days, well within reason. And, as promised, a 1-month XBox Live Gold Subscription to make up for the lost time.

(Ironically enough, I renewed my subscription just DAYS before it started going on the fritz. If only I’d waited I wouldn’t have wasted that month! Ah well.)

There is conflicting word on the Web (imagine that!) about whether MS ever sends out brand-new units or only refurbished ones. Some people say only refurbs; others swear they’ve gotten brand-new consoles. It seemed pretty solid that Elites were replaced only with brand-new units for the first little while, then reports started cropping up recently that Elite owners were getting refurbs too.

My replacement system has a manufactured date of June 26, 2008. Pretty recent, right? No way that could be a refurb… after all, for that to have been sent to me on August 14, it would have had to have been sent to retail, purchased, played, broken, sent in, repaired, tested, certified and ready to go in about six weeks. Impossible right? So it must be a brand new machine.

Problem is, I’m not convinced that “manufactured date” means much of anything.

“Manufactured.” What does that mean, exactly? It means to make or produce something. Pretty broad definition, and since the XBox itself doesn’t say it’s brand new or refurbished on the back how are we to know how it was manufactured? Was it built with all new components on that day? Was it an old system, that had defective parts taken out and repaired parts put back in that day? Was a mixture of old and new parts assembled on that day? How would one know?

Then there’s the reports that the serial number can tell you the date. If these reports are to be correct my new console has a manufactured date of May 2007. Which is true?

It LOOKS new enough. It’s got no dings or scratches on it or any outward sign that it was used before. It sounds a little different than my other one - not quieter, just a slightly different pitch to the drive spinning - but other than that, and the fact that on my old system the engraved HDMI label was curiously upside-down and this one is right-side up, the two units are identical on the exterior. It also didn’t have that clear plastic coating on the DVD drive or infrared panel that you usually get on new electronics, but that means nothing either, really.

Interior, who knows? I’m sure as hell not taking it apart and voiding my warranty, and besides, what would I compare it to?

Ultimately, it’s here and it works and that’s what matters most.

I am a little concerned about the warranty, though. My system died 14 months into my 36-month warranty. Replacement consoles have a 1-year warranty. So do I still have 22 months, or only 12?

Hopefully it won’t matter and my “new” XBox will last well past those 22 months. I’ve already moved it into a “cooler” spot so hopefully that will increase its lifespan.
* I see on the Canadian XBox forums that there is an increasing problem going on regarding this label-or-box issue. Seems most people are not being given a choice like I am; they are simply being told “You will be sent a label via e-mail” with no mention of the box.

The users are then getting UPS - not Purolator - labels. (Which seems odd since MS obviously has some sort of deal with Purolator.)

So the user finds a box and puts his label on it and ships it off with UPS.

But then… a day or two after getting these labels, these people are ALSO getting the Purolater box! This makes NO sense. Why would they send both? What the heck is XBox support doing?

(And how did I get lucky enough to have a support rep that gave me the choice??)

At this time it seems UPS users are having a much longer repair process and their repairs are not being updated on the XBox.com service site. I would suggest to anyone getting a repair in the next little while, to simply wait for the box. Even though you may wait an extra day or two at the front end, you’ll likely get a faster return at the back end. I think until they sort the process out a little more, you’re better off with the Purolator box.

Tags: Red Ring of Death, XBox 360

Here it is, my first ever television review. I’m not a big TV guy. I watch my sports, and about 10 Seinfeld re-runs a week, but that’s about it. The only new show I regularly watch is Lost, although I generally wait until the season is over and watch all the new eps in a couple of days…

Anyway. The point is I think most TV stinks. But people raved about The Wire. Still, I wasn’t convinced, not until my boss, who has similar tastes and TV and movies to myself, vehemently recommended it - he basically said “you HAVE to watch it.” (I don’t actually think he was saying, “watch it or you’re fired,” but it could have been implied.)

So, watch it I did. All five seasons. 60 episodes… in about three weeks. Yes. It’s that good… I simply could not stop watching. Now that Season 5 is out on DVD, the time is right for you to check it out too.

The Wire tells the story of a group of detectives in the Baltimore Police department. But it doesn’t stop there. It tells the story of the drug dealers they’re investigating. It tells the stories of the people the drugs and investigations affect, from the docks, to the schools, to city halls, to the city newspapers. In reality, the city of Baltimore is real main character of the show.

I don’t even how to tell you how good the show is. On the surface, it’s a cop show. But it’s so much more. The stories unfold in a subtle, engaging manner; there’s little flash or extravagance involved. The show lets you decide on your own who the good guys and bad guys are - it doesn’t come out and tell you.

The acting and writing are so good, I don’t even know where to begin.

But perhaps here’s one great example (I’ll try and tell it spoiler-free). As the first season builds towards its climax, you start to see just how dangerous this job is for the cops. There’s a great air of inevitability surrounding them - you just know one of them is going to get hurt or killed.

Finally, in the 10th episode (of 12), one of the cops is placed in a tough situation at the start of the episode. And you can feel it - you know, you just KNOW - something bad is going to happen. And it does.

But even though you knew it was going to happen, you saw it coming - it still shocks you. You’re still on the edge of your seat until the very moment, and you’re rocked when it happens.

You shouldn’t be. You saw it coming. But you still were.

That’s because the show draws you in, emotionally, like no other TV I’ve ever seen. It makes you care for all of these characters - really, once you are hooked, it’s impossible not to care, and instead of sitting there waiting for the shit to hit the fan and saying “I knew it!” when it does, you sit there praying it doesn’t. And when it does all you can do is choke back the tears.

That’s good TV.

I can’t decide which season is my favourite. I know I loved the first and third seasons, and I still to this day am amazed at how they turned those kids into such real people in Season 4. And although the fifth season was the show’s weakest, it’s still a damn sight better than anything else you’ll see on TV.

But something about season two keeps me thinking that was the best season. There was something simply ingenious about the way they introduced a whole bunch of new characters, and just as you fell in love with them all, they pulled the curtain back a little more to reveal just how they all tied in to the first season. I’ve never seen anything like that before. No other TV show would ever take that risk - to set aside everything you loved about the first season for the first six or seven episodes of the next, in order to expand the story, before bringing the whole thing together in a startling climax at the end.

Anyway. Don’t listen to me, check out the myriad reviews on the Web proclaiming The Wire as the best television show ever. And then go and rent it or buy it or whatever. Just give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Tags: television review, The Wire

Well, I completed as much of Lego Star Wars TCS as I think I’m going to. I completed the Story mode, then went back in Free Play mode and got all the Mini-Kits and special bricks. Then I did my best to get all of the extras and achievements, finished the bonus missions, collected 4 trillion Lego Bricks, and so on.

The Story Mode, was great, great fun, the best Star Wars game I’ve played in a while. It was fun being able to play through the entire saga from start to finish, and the sense of humor that Traveler’s tales and LucasArts infused into this game was really the icing on top. It was really just an enjoyable romp through the galaxy far far away. And of course it’s got all the usual great Star Wars sound effects and music.

If the game stopped there that would have been enough. But, there’s bonuses scattered throughout that require you to play through a second time to acquire them all. Of course, you don’t have to, Story Mode is the meat of the game, but for replayability (and to make sure you’re getting the most out of that $50) you can re-do each mission with any character you choose and try and find all the mini-kits and red bricks.

You can then play through each mission a third time in Challenge mode, which “challenges” you to try and collect 10 bonus mini-kits in less than 10 minutes.

Each mission also has two extra game areas where you can compete with another player (or to beat your own time) collecting studs.

Then there’s a half-dozen bonus missions to complete, including two that take place in old-school Lego cities.

On top of that, there are 20 bonus “Bounty Hunter” missions (which I have to admit were very short and ultimately pointless).

There’s also an “arcade mode” which is essentially a 2-player duel.

And finally, there’s a few specific tasks to complete to get all the 1,000 achievement points.

Basically, there is a crapload of stuff to do in this game. I only completed the game to about 90 per cent - I did not play through the missions in challenge mode. Honestly, I was ready to move on to another game at this point - as much fun as the game is, eventually you do tire of blowing up Lego bricks - so I did not get my 100% complete achievement, worth 100 points

I also never went online to complete a mission, which was another 20-point achievement. So I’m at 880 and I’ll probably stay there. It took me I think just shy of 50 hours to get that far; I can live with that.

At the end of the day, I can definitely recommend this game, especially if you like arcade-style games. If you’re a Star Wars fan, it’s a must-play. It’s also family and non-expert-gamer (like me!) friendly, as it’s fun, light-hearted and not all that difficult. I for one am really glad I picked this one up.

And now I’m ready for The Force Unleashed…

Tags: Lego Star Wars TCS

I managed to see most of the game yesterday afternoon (even though I had seen the final score in the morning). I’m glad that Spain challenged the US and even though I always like to cheer for the underdog, I’m happy for the US.

If this team had played like the US teams played in 2002 and 2004 - miserable, sulking, like 12 individuals playing because they had to, not because they were proud to represent their country - I wouldn’t have wanted them to win.

But because this group played like a team, respected their opponents and the tournament itself, because (it at least looked like) they enjoyed the games and each other’s company - in other words, they earned their victory, not just with a hard-fought win but by playing and representing the sport the right way. I’m glad they won.

In fact it’s a delicious irony that Larry Brown often uses that exact same phrase (that he coaches his teams to “play the game the right way”), since it was his 2004 team that dropped a load in Athens.

As for Spain, they hung tough, and kept it closer than I thought it would be. Man, they move the ball well, don’t they? Their big men also have great hands - they corralled a lot of those little pick-and-roll slip passes in traffic that would bounce off the hands of most NBA big men.

It’s a shame Calderon couldn’t play because even though they were three-deep at point guard, obviously a guy with his experience could have helped in a big game like this. Surely he never would have fouled Kobe on that 3-point shot like Fernandez did! Alas, that was the turning point. But a great game overall.

I’m also glad that by all accounts Calderon’s injury is not severe and that he should be fine with a couple of weeks rest. Only a month until training camp!

Tags: Jose Calderon, Olympic basketball, redeem team

Whew, that is some serious fun, using the Force to toss stormtroopers around! The physics and Force powers are definitely all they’re cracked up to be - this game should be pretty cool.

I do hope there’s a little more to the final game than the demo - the demo is essentially just button mashing - and I expect there will be. The graphics are pretty solid, although the Vader in the cutscene looked a little awkward.

The hangar and TIE Fighter sequence showed the grand, epic scale of Star Wars sets that we expect - the visuals definitely have some depth to them.

The controls are pretty slick and easy to learn… you’ve got your basic jump and slash on the face buttons, along with Force lightning (can’t wait to see this one leveled up!) and a basic Force push. Then the more advanced Force grip and toss is mapped to the right trigger.

As I say, it gets a little button-mashy in the midst of combat - and in fact, often times I found the apprentice moving so fast I really couldn’t even tell what I was doing, I was just pressing buttons - but hopefully you get used to the speed, and I’m sure there will be more strategy and tactics involved in the final game.

Tags: The Force Unleashed, XBox 360

Well, we’re back. Once again we’re going to try this blog thing. How many times is this? Five? Eight? I’ve lost count.As usual, we’ll mainly be focusing on the Raptors with commentary on a few other things like movies, music, video games, comic books and other nerdy things like Magic and Star Wars thrown in here and there.

Some quick notes to get us back in the swing of things:

Jermaine O’Neal

I’m not a huge Jermaine O’Neal fan, never have been; always thought he was a bit overrated. But I am a fan of this deal. Look, anytime you can trade an injury-prone 5′11″ guard for an injury-prone, 6′11″ forward-center, you have to make that deal. Especially if you’ve already got a replacement for the guard (and he doesn’t want to play backup here) and the forward-center is a former five-time all-star.

Hey, it might not work at all - it’s possible that Chris Bosh and O’Neal may not be able to play together, that O’Neal might get hurt, that Jose Calderon may not be as good a starter as we think, that Andrea Bargnani may continue to stink and that Sam Mitchell won’t be able to figure out how to get the best three-point shooter in the game open for more than 0.7 seconds per game. All these things and more are possible.

But, coming off a disappointing season in which rebounding and defense were the team’s biggest problems, getting Jermaine O’Neal is a risk worth taking. I think as long as he stays healthy, and as long as Mitchell decides on a rotation and doesn’t jerk the 2-3 positions around as much as he did last year, the team should win 45 games and be in the hunt in the middle of the east.

Team USA

First off, at this point, if you think there’s a chance the US won’t win the gold… you’re crazy. Look, like a lot of people, I had doubts about this team coming into the Olympics.

But I watched that first game against China, and there was no doubt after that. Zero. None. It wasn’t just the talent level - the US, even when it wasn’t winning tournaments, was always the most talented and athletic team. No, this time, it was the execution - they made all the right adjustments on defense, they moved the ball well on offense… they ran when the opportunities came, they didn’t force things… basically, they played like a real team. A well-coached team.

And that was the complaint about them the past few tournaments, right, they didn’t play like a team? And all the other countries did? Now that the US is playing together, playing the right way, no other team is close to them. Australia didn’t have a chance, and neither does Spain or Argentina.

I’m also, obviously, pleased with how well Bosh is playing. Especially his effort on defence. With O’Neal beside him, hopefully Bosh won’t take as much of a pounding and be forced to guard the rim as much - he’ll be able to use the quickness he’s showing in Beijing to help the perimeter guys a bit, leaving O’Neal as the last line of defense.

Also, for those that like to debate these things… this team would not beat the original (and one-and-only) Dream Team. That is the greatest basketball team ever assembled. I would say that, if those two teams played 10 times, the current team would MAYBE win one, but the Dream Team would win the other nine. Easily.

XBox 360

My beloved XBox 360 Elite succumbed to the dreaded Red Ring of Death recently. Thankfully, it was still covered by Microsoft’s extended “we’re losing billions on this, but WTF, we got the marketshare” three-year warranty. The service was fairly efficient, the only hiccup being Purolator A) making me drive to the Beaches to pick up my empty box; and B) claiming to have attempted to deliver my replacement this past Monday, even though no one ever rang my door. Whatever, it arrived Tuesday, and I’m back gaming after a month long vacation.

So the question is how to prevent the RRoD from happening again. The most rumoured cause of the RRoD is overheating; my XBox was in my entertainment unit, and although I believed there was enough airflow around it, perhaps there wasn’t. Or there was just enough to keep its lifespan at 14 months. So now I either have to find a new place for it (not easy) or buy a new, more open-concept entertainment unit (not cheap). Or perhaps suspend it on a wire from the ceiling with a fan blowing on it at all times…. Sigh. I’ll have to figure something out this weekend.

As for what I’m playing, well, I still have a few achievements left to capture for Lego Star Wars, and after that, I think I may play some Guitar Hero or Rock Band - I haven’t rocked out in far too long. I do need to pick up Civilization: Revolution at some point, and of course, The Force Unleashed comes out next month…

And for the record, I did not finish Grand Theft Auto IV. I could not beat the last mission. I’m not kidding. Final mission, I got stuck. Damn frustrating.

Music

Saw Counting Crows the other night, my favourite band of course. I am happy to report that even though they are old and haven’t done much of anything lately, they are still great live. The show was a nice acoustic set (although that version of Miami was a little TOO acoustic). Even though it was yet another in their seemingly endless string of co-headlining summer tours at shitty outdoor venues, and Maroon 5 was predictably terrible, I’m glad I went, as it could be the last time I see them; they’ve been so quiet, I wouldn’t be surprised if they quit any day now.

Of course at this point I’d pay just about anything to hear them indoors, at a nice venue, on their own for a full show. Massey Hall, anyone?

The Dark Knight

Dark Knight was not as good as the hype. Was it good? Yes. Was it THAT good? Not even close. Whose idea was it to shoe-horn the Harvey Dent story into this flick? HUGE mistake in not giving his transformation into Two-Face the time it deserves, and making him a secondary character in what should have been the Joker’s movie. The flick should have ended after the hospital confrontation, leaving Dent to descend into madness and take his revenge in the next flick. Mashing it all together did each villain (and Batman, who seemed to barely be on-screen) a disservice, and made the film way too long.

The acting, outside one notable exception, was fantastic. Enough has been said about Heath Ledger, of course, and Aaron Eckhardt made a great Harvey Dent. And would probably have made a good Two-Face, if, you know…

That exception? Maggie Gyllenhall. She’s not a bad actress, but she was practically unwatchable here. Look, can we please just get away from giving Batman a romantic foil? Please. Just take a look at your source material. Give me one good Batman comic with Bruce Wayne in love. Oh, look. There are none. Shocking. Her death may have sent Harvey over the edge, but did the audience really care? An utterly forgettable role

Anyway. It was still an enjoyable film even if it was 40 minutes too long. And obviously, I’m glad it’s doing well as it is; any superhero film making a ton of cash is good news for comic book fans, and a comic film that dark and “grown up” means that perhaps audiences really are ready to take the next step with…

Watchmen

Does it look cool? Hell yeah. Is it going to be good? Probably. Great? No way. Look, Watchmen is the best comic book ever made, but it’s great because it does things no other comic book ever did before, and none have done as well since. None of these things will translate to film. The story itself will translate fine, and the characters - if the acting and writing is any good - should also be solid on screen. Top it off with some nice effects and yeah, it should be a decent flick.

But I can imagine the universal reaction afterwards being, “that was good, but I really don’t see what makes that any better than any other comic book…” because the things that make a great comic book won’t be there: The symmetry in the panels. The subtle unraveling of history that just can’t happen in a two or even three hour film. The depth of the illustrations. The recurring motifs that you only notice after reading it three times. That perfect balance of art and writing.

Look, Citizen Kane is the greatest movie ever made, but you wouldn’t turn Citizen Kane into a comic book and expect it to have the same impact. Take away all the groundbreaking camera work, lighting, acting, innovative flashback structure, and editing - none of which had ever been done before in a movie… and you’re left with a biography of a rich guy.

So if you turn the Citizen Kane of comic books into a movie… removing all the things that make it a great comic… you’re left with a story of how super-heroes ended the cold war…

…

…which, on second thought… actually does sound pretty cool.

Star Wars Revisited

A Star Wars fan? Good. Google “Star Wars Revisited Adywan”. Just do it, just like that. I’ll wait.

…

OK, so now you know that Star Wars Revisited is one person’s masterpiece - a version of Star Wars edited to get rid of all the special edition nonsense, while keeping the good parts of it, and adding in a couple very subtle touches to tie the movie to its prequels. It’s also colour- and sound-corrected from the incredibly flawed 2004 DVD release.

Basically, it’s the greatest version of Star Wars ever made.

Find some way, anyway, to get your hands on it, watch it, and remember why you fell in love with it 30-odd years ago.

And hope you can find some way to “speed up the harvest” so that Adywan finishes up The Empire Strikes Back Revisited soon!

Tags: Chris Bosh, Counting Crows, Dark Knight, Jermaine O'Neal, Raptors, Star Wars Revisited, Team USA, Watchmen, XBox 360