Broken Xbox turns into gamer's dream come true

Xbox 360 hardware failures aren't exactly unusual, but when Halo fan Nathaniel sent his Xbox 360 to Microsoft's warranty repair center, he got back a little less than he was expecting.

Although Nathaniel's Xbox began life as just a regular, launch-edition console, he'd customized the case with original artwork from noted Halo fan artist Luke McKay, signatures from Halo development team members, and other unique scribblings. In other words, it was a one-of-a-kind -- so when it broke, he was understandably nervous. But after being assured by Microsoft support staff that his precious artwork would be safe, he sent the broken console in for repair.

When it came back, to Nathaniel's horror, it had been scrubbed clean. His collectors' item had become just another garden variety console.

Gamer hits the jackpot!

One week later, Nathaniel's story took a turn for the awesome. Halo's creator Bungie spotted blog postings about his sad story and set about seeing what they could do to make it up to this loyal fan. So while Nathaniel still doesn't have his unique Xbox 360, he does have a huge grab bag of hard-to-find Halo memorabilia -- including a model Master Chief helmet signed by the studio staff and a copy of the game's soundtrack autographed by its composer, Martin O'Donnell -- to make up for his loss.

"Bungie has far surpassed any response I could have anticipated," said an overjoyed Nathaniel in a public statement. Read his full letter and check out pictures of his swag right here.

MORE ON YAHOO! GAMES:

PRICE IS RIGHT FOR THE PS2 BECOME A REAL GUITAR HERO