f13.net

Ok, so my Xbox won't load any games and it gives me an error code of 13 and 14 and tells me to call service. From what I can find, errors 13 and 14 mean the dashboard can't load due to just about anything. Since the Xbox is over a year old is service going to tell me I'm SOL?

If you haven't modded it, then they should at least listen to you. Call them. If they don't help, then modding it may actually be a good thing. SlaYer's Xbox Installer (http://slayer.xbox-scene.com/) might help. If it's a hardware problem, it won't, but I think there's a way to reformat the HD back to factory defaults with his disc. That way the Dashboard will be back to normal. Not sure on that though.

Or you could always get new one :\

Edit: Just reread and noticed you said it won't load games. Sounds like a hardware problem, so you're probably screwed.

Some guy just sued Microsoft for the same type of problem. He's looking to make it a class action.

Heh, that reminds me... last year when I was looking for a job I applied at an employment agency called Adecco.  They never did shit for me, never had any jobs or anything.  I found my job on my own back in March.

Now, all of a fucking sudden and about eleven months later, I'm getting automated calls from them like spam, telling me they have a "great position open... for X-Box customer service...".

It's all starting to come together...

I had a XBox drive reading issue about two years ago.  I had been having it one and off since I had gotten the XBox(on release day), but it finally stopped reading all disks.  I hit the net and found out it was faulty drives shipped in initial release XBoxes, and that evidently MS knowingly shipped them out with faulty drives.

I called MS/XBox Tech Support and was ended up having one of the best(no sarcasm) Tech Support experiences I have had with any company.  The guy was was not only competent, but polite and even energetic.  He was aware of the problem, took my info, told me he was sending a deliveryman out to me(I lived WAAAAAAY out in the country), and the delivery man would have the shipping box/material with him.  Once the deliveryman came out within a day or two, I received a cross-shipped replacement/refurbished XBox in it's place, and have been happy with it ever since.  And it did not cost me a penny, including shipping.

It was one of the smoothest, most pleasant Tech Support issues I have ever had, and it earned praise about MS from me(even though it was their drive issue they were evidently long aware of).

And yet PS2s do the same shit and worse. Have there been any class action suits against Sony for it? I hope so. Christ, I swear people just hate Microsoft as an outlet for anger. If we gathered all the hate for Microsoft and used it against terrorists, we wouldn't have a terrorist problem.



Yeah, I'm grumpy this morning. I'm going to try to stop smoking, too.

Well I got it to start up today a few times before it died again. I'm thinking I may buy a memory card and see if I can offload my saves onto it before getting the unit replaced. I don't really want to spend hours upon hours unlocking shit in games all over again.

Why not? If the games are fun, this shouldn't be an issue. If you don't desire to unlock things, then perhaps the game isn't so hot on the replayability scale. I'm not saying this to be a smartass. You raise an interesting point. Have games become so achievement oriented that simply playing for fun and not saving every five minutes is not an option these days?

For the most part, yes.  There's even achievement ladders in fighting games, for christs sake.  Sometimes all you REALLY want to do is fight with that one character that's hidden.  But instead of just letting you, you have to go through some BS convoluted scheme to do so.

For example, Soul Calibur 2. If you do the weapon master quests and get through to here, you get to play with this weapon.  If you defeat this many of this type guys, you get to be the lizardman.  Etc.

In racing games. "Defeat this course in this amount of time, then you get to drive the Ferarri/ porce/ semi/ oscar meyer weiner mobile".  

Hidden characters/ skins/ vehicles along with "more of the shiney!" are the only way the majority of the genere has to offer something fresh. Otherwise you'd have settled for poleposition 2, mortal kombat and streetfighter.

You bring up a good point and reminds me of a coversation I had with my wife a couple weeks back. I had rented the Chronicles of Riddick and was about 75% finished with it when I had to take it back. I told my wife that I wasn't really enjoying the game but I'd have to rent the game again in order to finish it. She wondered why I'd want to waste my time and money to finish a game if I'm not having fun and I didn't really have a reply. I guess I'm so used to finishing a game that I start playing that is doesn't seem to matter  whether I'm having fun or not. My wife is getting sick of hearing my son say "I have to get to the next level" trying to copy what I say when he's playing his own games. I seem to have arleady locked him into the achievement cycle when at his age, 4, he should be just playing to have fun.

And that's why I'd have to transfer my saves to a new Xbox. I don't want to go through the bullshit again in order to get to the point where I can play with any of the characters, cars, costumes, or sex toys. Look at the new Mortal Kombat game. Konquest mode is a fucking nightmare of time wasting. I want to play the game, I want to unlock the characters but I refuse to waste my time in Konquest mode so I guess I'll go back to playing DOAU. At least there I can just fight to unlock things instead of doing a stupid poorly written "quest" interface.

It's true enough. In the case of both Gran Turismo and Project Gotham Racing, the entertainment is about trying out different cars on different circuits. It certainly isn't as much fun trying to shave a couple of tenths off your lap time to open up those cars or circuits.

By comparison, RPGs like KotOR and their ilk are actually more re-playable at the lower levels than either racing games or beat-em-ups. Formerly the holy grail of achievement grinding, they're rapidly dropping down the league table of boring repetitive shite.

if you are interested in modding your xbox, I have significant knowledge. I've  modded 4 Xboxes myself, and it's a pretty simple process as long as you have a good guide to use. Just let me know and I'll send you a whole bunch of info.

In case you are wondering, you cannot copy Burnout 3, Ninja Gaiden, or Dead or Alive save files to a memory unit and transfer them to another Xbox. Quite pissed am I.

Well, I've now created my own Xbox to USB connector in order to softmod my Xbox so I can copy these damn save games. Complete and utter bullshit. I miss my Atari 2600.

Double-posting for teh win?

If I was having problems with my xbox, I would go to Best Buy and get a new one.  I would then take out all the new parts from the new Xbox, switch em out with the old one, and just return the Xbox.  Or if you can some how switch serials codes from both, that is the way to go.

I think there are different hardware revisions of the Xbox so your idea might not work out too hot. Board size might have changed etc.