Two years ago, I presented my 50-something year old mother with a brand new Xbox 360 Pro. At first, she didn't know what the hell to do with it. The controller was too complicated and she was convinced that she'd never be able to play a single game on it. 

It was with much convincing that I finally got her to try Hexic. The floodgates soon opened. She's put in well over 200 hours on that game, but that's not all she plays. Over the next few weeks, I'll document her experiences with Doom, Halo 3, and Saints Row 2. Yup, mom plays Saints Row 2.

A few weeks ago, mom calls me up and says that her Xbox is flashing red lights at her. My first reaction was "shit". I knew exactly what this was - the dreaded RROD.  I tried to explain the RROD to mom, who can't comprehend that all Xbox 360's eventually fail.. she assumed that if she took good care of it (which she does), her Xbox would never die. Well, it did.

Now keep in mind that mom lives in Baltimore and I live in Los Angeles. So what's a good kid to do? Call Microsoft for her, of course. I phoned in her dead 360, helped her get it sent in, and a few weeks later she got it back. Not bad service, and she even got a free month gold subscription for her troubles. I flew out to BWI to help her get it set back up (too complicated for her), and we even went out and bought her a new 1080p LCD TV to enjoy her games on. 

Mother's Day is coming up next week. I have a few things planned for my mom. For now, I'm just glad her Xbox is back and working.