Warning for those considering buying a 360

[DXZeke]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

IF no one bought a warrenty, well, Sony and MS would still make money off you to repair these systems. They don't have to give you a 90 day warrenty, period. It's just a standard thing for most anything now a days.

Over the years...

My Launch PSOne died.
My Launch PS2 died.

I've got 1 Launch XBox 1 (with a thompson)
I've got a Halo Xbox

I've got 2 360 launch systems... one that gets played once a month (my brother on his SDTV) and mine that gets used every day on my HDTV.

When I worked at EB Games and Gamestop the majority of "broken" systems were PS2s.... mainly is was azzhats that put their systems on the carpet or backed their systems fan up to a wall and said "I'll fry you bizazterd!"


I think that Sony truly did try and put out quality systems. I think that Microsoft has truly tried to put out quality systems. The issue is... producing these next gen systems so fast with all the parts they have - it's going to be a crapshoot.

I truly do think that the Wii will be pretty good with hardware failure. Why?
The Cube even in it's little package lived. It's rare to hear one of those dying.
All the Wii is, is a beefed up game cube... which isn't bad because current gen has some decent looking games too.


I think that Graphic's Whores have killed our industry.
Instead of invovating and trying to push something new game companies go to the "brands" and push the sequels down our throats instead.

I'm calling it now... and i've had this conversation with some of you guys on this board...

Next Gen will see the death of 2 companies. Only one will be standing after it's all said and done. Nintendo. I am by no means a fan boy of any company. You just look at what Sony is doing with the PS3... they are putting their games division 1.7 billion in debt for the PS3... the 360 has the MS game divison nearly 500 million in debt thus far... (google it if you don't beleive me). Nintendo is making money... DS Lite Money.... and soon to be Wii Wii money.

[Rodster]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Zeke one reason why the Cube rarely if ever failed was because the Cube used a side intact fan that had 2 openings one on each side of the system which never allowed the unit to even get warm. So it was nearly impossible to have component failures.

I've been around electronics most of my life. The number one reason for electronic component failure is "HEAT", followed closely by electrical surges.

[Money99]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

DXZeke, I agree with a lot of what you wrote. "Graphic Whores" are the reason we have new consoles every 3-5 years. It's amazing when I read a quote from developers that say they still haven't tapped the full potential of the PS1 yet. Sure, they stretched out all they could for graphics but as far as innovation, the surface wasn't touched. And that's the same for the PS2 and Xbox.
Instead, we get these new consoles which, like you said, basically rehash the exact same games we played 10 years ago but with prettier graphics. How many FPS's are out there that play exactly the same way, controls and concept, of Duke Nukem from 1994? Only the graphics are better now.

Anyway, the only thing I disagree with you on is the death of TWO companies. I can definately see Sony going down. And before the PS fanboys jump all over me, I'm not a Nintendo or Microsoft fanboy either. I just can't see this new direction Sony is forcing the PS3 down to be a good thing. They're trying to turn it into something more than a gaming machine. Something completely out of the scope. Heck, didn't their CEO even say he doesn't even refer to it as a gaming machine?
Combined with that philosphy, the incredibly high price tag, and the lack of consoles available at launch, I think Sony could be on the verge of destruction.
Microsoft is coming out with some highly anticipated games the same month that the PS3 is due to launch. And when kids go to their gaming store and see they can't buy a PS3 for $700 (after a game, etc), they might decide to buy a 360 and Gears of War, or Call of Duty 3 for a lot less.
And Microsoft is also throwing tonnes of incentives and deals out there right now to grab market share.

Nintendo is going for a completely different gamer. They themselves said they refer to the Wii as a secondary console. Lots of people here have said they could buy a 360 and a Wii for the price of ONE PS3.
So Nintendo should be okay.

Of course, I might bevcompletely wrong about all of this and Sony's philosophy might destroy their competitors completely. But I think Sony is the one that is on the edge and Microsoft and Nintendo might give that extra nudge to push them completely out of the game.
Wouldn't it be weird if Nintendo emerged as the #1 console, AGAIN, in the next phase of next-gen after being a paltry 3rd the past 10 years?

[pk500]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

I think that Graphic's Whores have killed our industry.
Instead of invovating and trying to push something new game companies go to the "brands" and push the sequels down our throats instead.

I'm calling it now... and i've had this conversation with some of you guys on this board...

Next Gen will see the death of 2 companies. Only one will be standing after it's all said and done. Nintendo. I am by no means a fan boy of any company. You just look at what Sony is doing with the PS3... they are putting their games division 1.7 billion in debt for the PS3... the 360 has the MS game divison nearly 500 million in debt thus far... (google it if you don't beleive me). Nintendo is making money... DS Lite Money.... and soon to be Wii Wii money.

Very thought-provoking, supported points, Zekester.

I don't think two will go down, but one may bow out. The difference between Sony and MS, and Atari and Sega, is that Atari and Sega were gaming companies only. When their core business sank, they were done. Sony and MS have other business to prop up their money-losing gaming enterprises, although as you said, Sony is riding an awful lot on the PS3.

Another factor to consider: Both MS and Sony see consoles as the keys to the living room, the future battleground for consumer electronics. Neither is going to quit as easily as Atari or Sega did because their consoles are the cornerstone of their respective strategies to monopolize consumer electronic entertainment options in your living room. That's why the 360 and PS3 are multimedia Swiss-army knives instead of pure gaming machines, which is a bad thing, in my opinion.

Lord, it must be fun to be a full-time, legitimate gaming journalist right now, like Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury-News. This is such an exciting, evolving, competitive business with all the players of a Broadway play. Two mega-monoliths, the lean, mean No. 3 snipping at their heels, a fickle public, etc., etc.

Take care,
PK

[Scottdau]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Question about the three red lights, once it happens once, does it do it more and then die? It did it once and didn't do it again. But I did have the lights at my house flicker. So I thought maybe it was a power surge.

[nugator]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Here is an update to my support experience-- call #7 (total time on phone has exceeded 4 hours thus far) finally seems to have yielded progress... After speaking with 3 different "supervisors" over the past few days without getting anywhere, I played CSR roulette again today and spoke with someone who acknowledged the repeated screwups on the original support ticket and apologized for the s***** treatment I had received to date.

I now have a new ticket. I still couldn't get them to utlilize overnight shipping to make up for the delays, but they are sending me Kameo as a small concession for the trouble. Frankly, the best outcome from this point forward would be for me to be able to avoid calling them ever again.

Hopefully I will have a working 360 before Thanksgiving...

[nugator]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Question about the three red lights, once it happens once, does it do it more and then die? It did it once and didn't do it again. But I did have the lights at my house flicker. So I thought maybe it was a power surge.

I hope for your sake that it is an anomaly (and related to an isolated surge)! Mine started with freezes before it deteriorated to the three red lights (has been dead since that point).

Can anyone give Scottd some hope?

[DXZeke]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Zeke one reason why the Cube rarely if ever failed was because the Cube used a side intact fan that had 2 openings one on each side of the system which never allowed the unit to even get warm. So it was nearly impossible to have component failures.

I've been around electronics most of my life. The number one reason for electronic component failure is "HEAT", followed closely by electrical surges.

Well they did a heck of a job making a solid system. I'm hoping that the design on the Wii will be smart as well dealing with heat.

DXZeke, I agree with a lot of what you wrote. "Graphic Whores" are the reason we have new consoles every 3-5 years. It's amazing when I read a quote from developers that say they still haven't tapped the full potential of the PS1 yet.

Anyway, the only thing I disagree with you on is the death of TWO companies. I can definately see Sony going down. And before the PS fanboys jump all over me, I'm not a Nintendo or Microsoft fanboy either. I just can't see this new direction Sony is forcing the PS3 down to be a good thing. They're trying to turn it into something more than a gaming machine. Something completely out of the scope. Heck, didn't their CEO even say he doesn't even refer to it as a gaming machine?

Of course, I might bevcompletely wrong about all of this and Sony's philosophy might destroy their competitors completely. But I think Sony is the one that is on the edge and Microsoft and Nintendo might give that extra nudge to push them completely out of the game.
Wouldn't it be weird if Nintendo emerged as the #1 console, AGAIN, in the next phase of next-gen after being a paltry 3rd the past 10 years?

Thanks for agreeing and then not agreeing. *laughs*

Sony is so arrogant this time around that it really errks me as a fan of gaming. To push their system has the only true Next Gen system and how it Next Gen doesn't start until they hit the street was, granted a neat little tag line, but EXTREMELY arrogant. Then these adds of how the XBox 360 required you to have those extra accesories to play. At least Sega had a some what level of class when they ran against Nintendo. This war of words with Sony and MS is so so so stupid, with Ken Kurtargi of Sony being the worst vocal peice of both compaines... Peter Moore, he needs to lay off the Coke, you just can't keep up with that guy.

Sony currently has 68.3 billion in sales revenue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

Microsoft has 44.2 billion in sales revenue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

The only thing I couldn't find was what those 2 compaines actually made in PROFIT becuase you can have huge sales, but small amounts of profit... it happens more than you think.

So safe to say, both companies are funded quite well, but again taking losses of 500 million (MS) and sony taking a 1.6 billion dollar loss.. that's not really what you're striving for. Someone is eventually going to lose out. I think that both Sony and MS have the ability to do so.

Nintendo... I wish i could have found their sales revenue. These guys are smart. Make the Wii a tad bit more powerful than the XBox 1 (it's got enough power to do dynamic and HDR lighting) and then just rely on the companies to take current gen graphics and make it about GAMEPLAY again. It's a nice theory and hopefully it pays off for them. At least now, they don't lose money on this attempt.

Very thought-provoking, supported points, Zekester.

I don't think two will go down, but one may bow out. The difference between Sony and MS, and Atari and Sega, is that Atari and Sega were gaming companies only. When their core business sank, they were done. Sony and MS have other business to prop up their money-losing gaming enterprises, although as you said, Sony is riding an awful lot on the PS3.

Another factor to consider: Both MS and Sony see consoles as the keys to the living room, the future battleground for consumer electronics. Neither is going to quit as easily as Atari or Sega did because their consoles are the cornerstone of their respective strategies to monopolize consumer electronic entertainment options in your living room. That's why the 360 and PS3 are multimedia Swiss-army knives instead of pure gaming machines, which is a bad thing, in my opinion.

Lord, it must be fun to be a full-time, legitimate gaming journalist right now, like Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury-News. This is such an exciting, evolving, competitive business with all the players of a Broadway play. Two mega-monoliths, the lean, mean No. 3 snipping at their heels, a fickle public, etc., etc.

Take care,
PK

I really hope that some of us guys on this board get to do something on a bigger sclae in the game industry. Getting to do journalism would be such a kiss !!! job.


Again guys, thanks...

Sadly i do think that Next Gen could turn out to be a potential huge road block for the gaming industry... basically tanking like Atari did back in the late 80s. It's very possible...

...The "Crash" of 2007-2008.

[Flyermania]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Has any other system had as many issues as the 360 has? I recall the PS2 having some disc scratching issues when it launched, but it sure seems like the 360 may have the worst luck of the bunch.

I have had no allegiance to any system over the years, but in August decided to trade in my Xbox and go for the 360. Mine died twice within the first 30 days, so I eventually returned it for a full refund. I had never had any problems with any console prior to this experience. Another issue I had is the "warrenty" that I purchased from Best Buy....what they don't tell you is that the extended warranty ($40 for the core, $50 for the premium system) is not transferrable to the replacement unit. If your 360 craps out and it gets replaced by the extended warranty, you need to buy a whole new extended plan on the new unit. Nice way for them to make a buck.

I am disappointed in the quality issues of the 360...I knew going in that a PS3 was not going to happen for me due to the price. Now I am at the point that next-gen may not happen for me again for a while --- I am very skeptical of the 360 (unless I read about a lot of improvements on the quality end). Not to say I won't buy a Microsoft sysyem again, but I will be leary.

On the bright side, this whole experience has brought me closer to my old friend, PC gaming.

[Rodster]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Has any other system had as many issues as the 360 has? I recall the PS2 having some disc scratching issues when it launched, but it sure seems like the 360 may have the worst luck of the bunch.

On the bright side, this whole experience has brought me closer to my old friend, PC gaming.

Flyer without question the 360 is the most unreliable console made that I can recall. So far my launch system has been rock solid, though I wonder when am I going to get the 3 rings of death?

I'm with you man as I've gone back to PC gaming as well, although it's mostly Sports Games, Racing Sims and now Flight Simulator X.

[USF11]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Sony currently has 68.3 billion in sales revenue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

Microsoft has 44.2 billion in sales revenue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

The only thing I couldn't find was what those 2 compaines actually made in PROFIT becuase you can have huge sales, but small amounts of profit... it happens more than you think.

So safe to say, both companies are funded quite well, but again taking losses of 500 million (MS) and sony taking a 1.6 billion dollar loss.. that's not really what you're striving for. Someone is eventually going to lose out.

Microsoft is a company that is worth almost 8x times as much as Sony or paper. Sony is in a terrible business situation being against microsoft.


Goto http://www.nasdaq.com and MSFT and SNE are the symbols. You will get a better idea of how the companies are doing.

[jgo777]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Microsoft is a company that is worth almost 8x times as much as Sony or paper. Sony is in a terrible business situation being against microsoft.


Goto http://www.nasdaq.com and MSFT and SNE are the symbols. You will get a better idea of how the companies are doing.

Yeah, MS has net income (profit) of 12.5 Billion last year. Sony came in at 1 Billion. MS is in a much better position to absorb losses in its console division.

[Rodster]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Yeah, MS has net income (profit) of 12.5 Billion last year. Sony came in at 1 Billion. MS is in a much better position to absorb losses in its console division.

Agreed MS is in a great position, once Vista hits the streets their profit will go thru the roof.

[USF11]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Agreed MS is in a great position, once Vista hits the streets their profit will go thru the roof.

Hmmm I wouldnt bet on it. Companies are smarter about software nowadays, from their standpoint I just dont see them running out for vista software like say windows 95.

[ChuckS]

Re: Warning for those considering buying a 360

Sorry to hear you had problems.....so far for me it's been fantastic.