OBGYN dude,
I've done all that legwork prior to posting. I've unplugged, plugged, removed the HDD, even decoded the error code. It's giving code 0102 which pretty much translates into "hell if I know, prob a hardware failure". There is plenty of open space around it, and it doesn't feel hotter than usual. I honestly think AC3 killed my XBox. Never had a problem before that game.