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Those of you who knew me in Australia were undoubtedly subjected, at least once, to my professions of love for my Xbox. Not so much because I’m a fan of Microsoft (I’m not) nor because I hate all things Sony (I don’t) but because I was quite proud of constructing what was essentially a home theatre PC for about AUS$300 (including the cost of the 300GB hard drive).

While admittedly an Xbox isn’t as good as some new top of the line HTPCs when it’s only AUS$300 I’m not about to complain about the lack of 1080p support. And the ability to play Xbox games almost makes up for those shortcomings anyway.

When I came to Japan it seemed wrong to have to part with the Xbox and so despite its size and weight I discarded less important items (like toothpaste, deoderant, undewear) and made room. I was particularly looking forward to showing off the unit to Rui, who, although I was sure wouldn’t entirely appreciate what I had done, would at least enjoy watching the movies I’d managed to put on there before I left Sydney. So after lugging my suitcase from Tokyo to Sakai to Minoh I finally unpacked the unit and proceeded to test it out.

Now maybe it’s obvious to everyone what went wrong next. I’m not sure why I didn’t forsee it. The best explanation I can come up with is that I was so used to being able to use my laptop in Japan it never occurred to me that any other electronic device would have issues. But issues I had. I plugged the Xbox in and nothing happened. Of course: there was a power problem. No worries. I would merely purchase a transformer from Yodobashi Camera. The next day I went to Yodobashi and picked one up. I came home and connected everything together. It still didn’t work. Well, it did say ‘Step Down Transformer’. I assumed that it stepped down the voltage required by the Xbox but I could see how it could mean it stepped down the voltage coming out of the powerpoint.

Back to Yodobashi, this time with Rui’s mother in tow to help translate. We spoke to a salesperson and were informed there was a button the transformer that needed to be pressed to ‘step it up’. Came back home and connected everything together. Strange, I thought that button was a fuse. Tried to press button. It was a fuse.

Back to Yodobashi, this time with Rui. Spoke to the salesperson again and was informed this time that there were no ‘step up transformers’. Well, that wasn’t good news. Came home and had a look online for what to do. The best solution seemed to be to purchase a power supply separately and connect it up. I found one from a store in Canada. The only catch was they shipped by next-day delivery. Well, really, that was a positive, not a negative. I ordered the part and sat back.

I didn’t have to sit back for long because with next-day delivery it was basically here before I went to sleep. Happy that my Xbox was practically set up and ready to go I reached for my trusty Torx screwdriver to open up the Xbox. At least, I looked for my trusty Torx screwdriver. Because although I was certain I’d packed it, it was nowhere to be found. Maybe it got lost in the move (or was possibly coming with my sea freight).

At this point I was despairing a little before Rui came to my aid. Although I wanted to warn her it was impossible to unscrew Torx screws without the Torx screwdriver I didn’t get a chance before she had removed them with a pair of plyers. Can I just take this opportunity to say how awesome my wife is? Japanese and able to pull apart my Xbox! In my new state of euphoria I was perhaps a little too eager to plug everything in. The fact it didn’t work slowed me down a little. Not to worry, it was probably my Australian lead. Rui must have a Japanese AC lead around. And really, are there any differences between AC leads?

Yes, there are. The smoke that rose out of the power supply quickly clued me in. My euphoria rapidly dissipating I thought about what I could do. My mind was drawing a blank. Despair returned and I cursed the Xbox for ever existing let alone taking the place of underwear. It was at this point that Rui chipped in with the suggestion that I could just buy a lead for the Xbox. ‘Ha!’ I said. ‘Buy a lead for the Xbox? Do you have any idea how often people would want to do that?’ ‘Wouldn’t people lose their power leads all the time?’ Rui adroitly replied.

Did I mention how awesome Rui is? After Yodobashi was no help (somewhat continuing a theme) I decided to visit Den-Den Town (Osaka’s answer to Akihabara). So the next day off I went. I got to Den-Den Town around 9 in the morning. Not such a good idea, really, considering almost no Japanese shops open before 10. And most of Den-Den Town opened at 11. Thankfully Mister Donut was open and after making my Strawberry Ring donut last for an hour and a half it was time to go shopping.

And how easy it was to find power leads. There were Playstation 2 power leads and Playstation 1 power leads and Gamecube power leads and even power leads for the MegaDrive. Damn, there were MegaDrives. And Dreamcasts. And Super Nintendos. In fact it felt like the only console for which I couldn’t get a power lead was the 3DO. Oh, and the Xbox. What I could do was purchase an old Xbox for about AUS$50. This didn’t seem such a bad option. After all, I had possibly blown up my new Canadian power supply. Then again, maybe I hadn’t blown up my new Canadian power supply and would instead find it worked perfectly thereby resulting in me owning two giant black boxes, only one of which was useful.

Not sure what to do at this point I called Rui. She suggested I just ask the store person for a compatible lead. Well, she would say that, wouldn’t she? So back I went to the last store and asked. No, they didn’t have an Xbox lead. Yes, they did have a Playstation 2 lead. In fact they had a floor of Playstation 2 leads. The clerk suggested it should work. Well, what did I have to lose? 300 yen. I could stand to lose that.

So I came home connected it all up again, crossed my fingers, prayed to Jesus, had something to eat, did a little dance and plugged it in. It worked! I couldn’t believe it. It worked! After so many failed attempts to finally see that little green light on at the front. Well, it was hard to it describe in words. Let’s just say I think I know what it’s like when your first child is born. Oh boy, now finally Rui would see the glory that was my Xbox. I plugged it all in, turned on the TV, switched to video input and…

Remembered I had a PAL Xbox. Now I’m not a man that normally cries. Indeed, it takes a special kind of event to make me weep. I’ve stood clear-eyed at funerals, watched that Princess Diana memorial tape a few times, hell, once I stubbed my toe really hard. But this, this was different. To have worked so hard, to have come so far and then to find out that, in the end, nothing really mattered.

Suffice to say I have converted my Xbox to NTSC, I can’t play most of my games yet, the Xbox does work and finally I can just pack the damn thing away and not worry about it for six months.

It’s too hot to use it, anyway.