In 2009, I finally had the money to afford a flat screen tv and an X-Box 360. This was a happy time in my life and I look back on it fondly. I spent many, many hours, saving the galaxy as various Commander Sheppard’s on the then exclusive game series Mass Effect. As you may know, the series is based on freedom of choice in the morality of your character. It’s a Choice your Own Adventure type style of branching storytelling, that the player crafts over many hours of gameplay. I have logged in over 100 + hours of time on the Mass Effect trilogy.

All of that was ruined this past Sunday afternoon.

As you may (or may not) know, there was an outcry of school children over the ending to Mass Effect 3 because their simpleton minds couldn’t comprehend what BioWare was putting down, so now they have an expanded ending coming out this Tuesday that spoon feeds the children who are too intellectually lazy to understand it the first go-round. I have no problems with this, the ending isn’t changed, and it shouldn’t be, and it would be cool to see what happens with various surviving crew mates.

I will never get to see this.

In preperation for this event, I had been playing Mass Effect 3 this weekend for the first time since (New York) April. I cut the game off Sunday morning to go grab some lunch. Upon my return I decided to play a round of multi-player to kill a little bit of time. Ok, sounds like fun right? I turn the machine on, and it loads up the game up until the point before the title screen comes up.

I think this is a fluke, so I cut the machine off, and on again.

The same results.

I try this about fifteen more times, take the disc out, wipe it off, and put it back in.

Nothing.

I open the tray again, take the disc out, blow into the machine like it was an NES, put the disc back in, and close the tray.

Still won’t load the title screen.

I decide to try to wipe the disc off again. As am I looking at the brand new disc that should not need to be wiped off, I notice that the 360 has carved three perfectly placed half circle scars at key points on the disc as part of some demonic ritual.

It was at this point I started to unplug the machine and was 10 seconds away from smashing it into the wall like Jason did that one chick’s face in Friday the 13th part 6: The New Blood, but luckily my girlfriend stops me, talking sense into me, telling me that I should trade it in, or at least keep until to keep streaming Netflix. She is right, of course.

It’s funny because all this week me and the mysterious J.P. Thorn have been talking smack to each other about which is the better system with him being firmly pro-PS3, and trying to win me over. We had some really epic conversations about this on Saturday, quoting scientific studies from various universities about the pros and cons of each, with the biggest con that the PS3 can turn a person into a homosexual, but the 360 is like a broken elevator.

It turns out the latter study is proven correct! He also had the ritualistic scarring happen to a 360 he had as well. And he’s not the only one. Check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems#Scratched_discs

“According to Microsoft, decreasing the disk rotation would take too much time to load a game and bumpers in the disk tray would cost 25 cents per console—a total of about 11 million dollars and a delay of the Xbox release. In 2005, they were accused of many technical Xbox 360 problems and a poor lack of solutions and warranty. According to reports in news media the new Xbox 360 S still scratches disks when the console is moved while spinning the disk, however the 360 S ships with a sticker informing users that moving the console while powered on risks this.”

1) A company that charges a monthly fee for online usage is complaining about not wanting to spend a fucking quater on a problem they knew of before the system’s release and still have NOT fixed. Their negilience just ruined a $60 video game.

2) The console was stationary the entire time. I picked up the WIRELESS controller and used it to fire up the system. This whole thing is bullshit.

So now, I’m going to trade this devil machine in to get a PS3. I was turned off of the PS3 because of problems with the two PS2’s that I have owned. One, I got at launch, crapped out three years after owning it. The other one I have to beat like it owes me money in order to get it to keep loading the stupid games up right. Be that as it may, I am not going to give the 360 another red cent of my money. If they can’t fucking spend a quater to make their shit work right, FUCK THEM.

I’m heading for the land of Metal Gear Solid 4, Heavy Rain, and Little Big Planet, at the expense of my entire 360 gaming library. I’m very frustrated by this. Not only do I lose years worth of Mass Effect characters, I am also having to part with my Skryim character, right at the time with the new DLC is coming out.

Luckily, I have a little bit of money saved up which I can use along with the trade in of all the 360 bullshit and score a new PS3 rather easily. I am not happy with any of this though, I have to build the gaming library from scratch and loose all the saves of everything I had. I could care less about the gamer score, which does nothing more but to show people how big of a loser you are by spending all your time playing video games, but the game saves….so much lost.

This is truly a dark day. But, behold, the dawn cometh! Time to catch up with an old friend…

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June 25, 2012

Categories: Ramblings . Tags:Heavy Rain, Little Big Planet, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, PS3, X-Box 360 . Author: deathstalker2

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