It only does E74.

So WarTactiX and I were enjoying some nice Call of Duty Black Ops New Map Pack goodness after all the wimps went to bed, when after a while I noticed some swarming bees on my screen.

Upon closer observation, the bees were not part of the game (or real, thank goodness), but a weird screen artifact that followed certain textures around. Rather distracting (like watching TV through a screen door), but I still managed to come out on top of my team.

It disappeared in the pre-game lobby, so I figured it was a temporary glitch.

Alas, the bees returned for the next round.

So I excused myself after that game for a quick reboot, and lo and behold, the second worst thing possible appeared on my screen: the dreaded E74 error.

"No problem", I thought, and quickly swapped in a backup unit from my spare gaming consoles shelf. A quick powerup and controller re-sync, and I was back in business.

Except for the game disc that was still in the E 74 console.

Another couple reboots later, and I was back kicking ass with WarTactiX, bragging how it was no big deal, as the console was still surely under warranty (sticker says May 2010). It wasn't until later when I was entering my serial number online for warranty verification that I realized that date couldn't possibly be right. Then I noticed the "1 month Xbox live" card, still taped to the side of the unit, and a cold chill ran down my spine.

This was my Microsoft-replaced Halo Edition Xbox that I had replaced last year under warranty for the Red Ring of Death.

The one that came with just a 90 day warranty, and the option to buy an extended warranty.

The option which I rebuffed.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu