The screen’s cold hum is like a steady heartbeat. I press the start button, expecting the familiar beeping sound that usually signals my adventure begins. Instead, it pauses and then blinks slowly, as if thinking hard about what to do next. I tap the controller harder—maybe it needs more pressure? But no matter how I press or hold down, nothing changes. The power-up menu stays frozen on the screen, a blank white space with only a spinning circle for company.

I try using the right and left buttons to navigate, but they too are stuck. It’s like the game is playing hide-and-seek with me, hiding from my attempts to make it move. I wiggle the controller, hoping some invisible creature might scurry out and fix this mess, but nothing happens. The screen stays quiet, waiting, as if it’s planning something.

I decide to push the power button harder, maybe it just needs a good restart. But when I do, instead of turning off, the screen turns black for a second before showing the frozen menu again. Now I’m stuck in this loop, pressing buttons and watching the same circle spin like a bored kid on an amusement park ride.