WTF?!!!!!! My 360 just died...

[GateofThunderforceIII]

So I was watching a DVD on my US 360 this morning and the picture froze. So when I ejected, the dreaded 3 rings of light came on. I unhooked all the wires and the harddrive, hooked them back in (except for the HDD), turned it back on and the same thing.

I called Customer Care and talked to a human agent and she said I'll have to ship it back to Microsoft for repair. Good thing for the extended warranty, but I picked it up from EB on this day last year (26DEC2005), but I prepaid for it in full about a couple weeks before, so I don't know what will happen with that. She said I ought to be covered, but we'll see.

What the hell?!! I've had some bad luck with Microsoft gaming products (XBOX 1 and 360) and strangely enough, zero problems with Sony PS2 consoles. And I take very good care of my stuff. Needless to say, I'm extremely disappointed. I'll be without the 360 for probably a month or more. At least, M$ will be sending me a box to ship the console in to make it a little more convenient, but all this crap wouldn't be necessary if they made products that last. I'm looking at a Japanese core 360 from Play-Asia, but I don't know...

I hope all you other 360 owners in this board don't go through this garbage.

[mannerbot]

That sucks man. Props to MS for extending the warranty to one year for all consoles though, I knew I passed on that service plan for a reason.

[EOJ]

Sorry to hear that. I just bought my JP X360 a few weeks ago, and so far it's been fine (the manufactured date is 6-Oct-06). I'll be pissed if that dies because since it's a JP console, there's no warranty coverage for me in the USA!

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Yeah, that shucks. Personally I haven't had any console last me less than 5 years. Crappy Sony hardware included. It's all a matter of luck and not buying preowned stuff.

[GateofThunderforceIII]

Twe, I've been wondering about getting a Japanese 360, especially with my unplayed copy of Senko collecting dust, but after this incident, I don't know...

That would be nice if a hardware veteran like Sega come up with a simple yet long lasting console with less moving parts, ie no disc trays, back to cartridge format (no DVD/CD Roms, no lens readers) with high quality pin connectors, no touch sensitive buttons (PS3 eject/reset) etc. I'd pay for high quality hardware made to last with less parts that can go wrong...

[EOJ]

I've heard the recently manufactured models are a bit more reliable (they fixed a few probs from the first batch). Like I said, mine has a manufactured date-stamp of 6-Oct-06. If you buy one, make sure you buy a brand new one from a reputable store (like ncsx.com or play-asia.com) to make sure you don't get any older new stock.

I ordered Senko last week actually, and I'm looking forward to trying it out in a week or two when it arrives.

I don't really know why any US shmup fan would buy a US X360 really. The JP X360 plays all the US games except a few (mostly EA titles that have region lockouts), and you can buy cheap Asian versions of the rest.
Then you get to enjoy all the great JP-exclusive games like Senko no Ronde which are *all* region-locked to Japan-only. I guess the only real advantage of a US system is the warranty coverage (and I can understand some people would really want that).

[FatCobra]

This why I wait to buy next-gen stuff until it's near the end of 5 year cycle.

[system11]

My 360 died. On an IRC channel I frequent I know of 3 other people with dead machines. In a game of Rainbow Six Vegas a few weeks back, of 14 people there was -one- person who hadn't had a failure, some people had lost 3 or 4. These are not random monkey bitches who joined, it's a group of friends who have been playing together for years, all careful adults.

It's an incredibly unreliable console, at least the early ones (which they're refurbing and sending back out - wonder why so many people get repeat issues...)

[Thunder Force]

My 360 died too. I'm currently waiting for Microsoft to send it back from repairs. I've lost 3 now in total, in the past year, and took ridiculous precautions when playing the latest one, hoping to prevent it failing, but alas it just extended the inevitable.

No other gaming system in my 20+ years of computer and video gaming has had a failure rate as high as the 360 for me, nothing even comes close.

Personally I haven't had any console last me less than 5 years.

That used to be the case for me as well, until the 360.

[Acid King]

I don't think you'll have a hard time getting microsoft to fix it for you. What with them making a big deal about the warranty extension and fixing bad consoles.

[ahnslaught]

All this stuff is really informative, as I firmly believe most users here take really good care of their stuff. It's really sad hearing about fellas who pay good money only to have to replace these pieces of shit. Maybe MS should have used more powerful fans for better heat management or something, I don't know. Hopefully the systems will get more reliable once the smaller processors are being implemented sometime in 07.

I suppose I'm pretty lucky, but I've not had a console go bad on me at all throughout my 20+ years, and reliability is a pretty big concern for me. I was really debating which to get (360 or PS3) with recent news like VF5 coming to 360 as well, but the 360 option is really looking worse, what with failure rates, add-on wireless and online costs, and region locking.

[system11]

I suppose I'm pretty lucky, but I've not had a console go bad on me at all throughout my 20+ years, and reliability is a pretty big concern for me. I was really debating which to get (360 or PS3) with recent news like VF5 coming to 360 as well, but the 360 option is really looking worse, what with failure rates, add-on wireless and online costs, and region locking.

The 360 is the least region locked machine so far (although all JP releases are), wireless is worthless for online gaming (it's always the wireless people who are laggy, nearly without fail, we found this in our clan of 30+ people), and online costs - well, you get what you pay for. While the hardware is unreliable to say the least, the network has for the most part been rock solid for years now, aside from the fiasco when they launched video on demand - now resolved. Sonys PS3 online was nuked because they put GT4 HD on it, totally unable to cope.

The one valid complaint IS the reliability, it's beyond a joke. I hope new ones are better. You'd have to be a nutcase to pick PS3 over 360 at this point in time.

[GateofThunderforceIII]

Thanks for all of your input.

To Thunder Force, have you lost 3 different 360s or have you lost the same unit 3 times? And is it one of the early production units (same question for Bloodflowers)? I suppose us victims are stuck with the shipping costs, right?

I'm starting to think M$ saw this coming and extended the warranty. And the fact that they make shoddy hardware won't earn them kudos from me with the extension. I guess this is my first and last free repair for me since it crapped out exactly one year after I picked it up from the store. Hell, now I'm really afraid to touch my PS3. That's what you get for having non gaming companies make gaming products...

[ahnslaught]

The one valid complaint IS the reliability, it's beyond a joke. I hope new ones are better. You'd have to be a nutcase to pick PS3 over 360 at this point in time.

I don't think a person would be crazy to get a PS3 at all. First, as you said, reliability seems to be a major concern with the 360.

Second, on a more personal note, the 360's library has very few must haves even a year into its release (GoW, and...?). At the moment, 360's library is very similar to the original xbox's, with tons of shooters and racing games. Other than those, the only genre well represented are GTA style games. Yes, it's unquestionable that it will improve, but at the moment, it just doesn't have enough.

PS3 is more expensive; but then again, as I said, you have to pay for other stuff in the 360 which you don't on the PS3, and paying for Live, as good as it may be, makes no sense if you only occasionally use it like me. Further, just as the 360's library will improve, the PS3's network will improve as well, so that's not really a big concern.

[mannerbot]

^ = "I LOVE SONY"

[Battlesmurf]

ahnslaught- lol... Gears of War, Rainbow 6 Vegas (It's out RIGHT NOW, and works great online- the PS3 version isn't out quite yet), Dead or Alive 4, COD 2/3 (better because of live and graphics aren't much different), live arcade (leadersboards/achievements), Dead Rising, Lost Planet (not out yet, but close), not to mention all the good stuff getting ready to come out ), not to mention silly features that I still want- like rumble. I just got rid of my PS3- they are pretty much worthless right now for the next few weeks/months. People all have their preferences with what they want to play, so I am not going to tell you what you should play or not.

I will just say that I LOVED my PS1 to death, and was overjoyed at PS2, and enjoyed it-probably more than my xbox. (Xbox did win eventually with the onslaught of modding, but as stock vs stock-ps2 was better for me). I've owned pretty much every console ever made- my 360 is currently holding one of the top slots right now, though. I am hoping that PS3 just had a crappy launch.

With all of that being said- if my 360 dies, I will replace it- but 3 times? probably not : P

[ahnslaught]

^ = "I LOVE SONY"

Or, "maybe I should stop jumping to conclusions based on one paragraph?"

[Never_Scurred]

^ = "I LOVE SONY"

Or, "maybe I should stop jumping to conclusions based on one paragraph?"

or maybe we should call Ricky Skaggs
http://blog.turntablelab.com/images/don ... metown.jpg

[Thunder Force]

To Thunder Force, have you lost 3 different 360s or have you lost the same unit 3 times? And is it one of the early production units

Different 360s, production approx late 05 / early 06.

Below are typical ways for defective 360s to eventually fail:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907536

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534

I don't think a person would be crazy to get a PS3 at all. First, as you said, reliability seems to be a major concern with the 360.

Indeed.

[dave4shmups]

That definately stinks about all the 360 failures, considering the great games it already has. Out of all of the 3 new systems, I definately like it's line-up the best. GoW, Obilivion, all the great stuff on XBLA, Lost Planet, etc, etc.

I still wonder, though, if this is the biggest hardware issue with a new console. I thought that the PS2's launch was the most problematic, in terms of hardware durability.

I don't think it would be foolish to buy a PS3, I just don't happen to want one.

[MadSteelDarkness]

Weird. My 360 (bought in May) just went tits up yesterday.

Thanks for the info, everybody.

[Never_Scurred]

Great to see that Microsoft is making consoles like they make OS's.
As close as I was to getting an Xbox360, i'm glad that I decided to wait. Kinda like last year when I bought that Xbox for Doom 3 and Halo 2. Both games got old fast and I was wishing I had a PS2. The turning point that made me get a PS2 and GC was going to the local Gamestop and seeing the ratio of good games I wanted to play to all the games the Xbox had available. It was DOJ, Gradius V and Ikaruga for GC that took the Xbox out of my house and forever soured me on FPS's. I'm glad I decided to get a system I can not only play the fuck out of but have neverending games to purchase for the future as opposed to the MS's one shelf of sports and shooter games.

As for durability problems, my first two consoles gave me the most grief-the Atari 2600 and NES. If you have owned any of these systems and have never had a problem with them, you're lying. Any system that you have to jam the peripheral(in my case, the lightgun) into to make it play on top of blowing into the carts is a piece of shit IMO.

[Specineff]

No other gaming system in my 20+ years of computer and video gaming has had a failure rate as high as the 360 for me, nothing even comes close.

Three words for you: Disc Read Error.

[system11]

No other gaming system in my 20+ years of computer and video gaming has had a failure rate as high as the 360 for me, nothing even comes close.

Three words for you: Disc Read Error.

1) Took quite a while before the mass failures
2) Only happened to people playing PSX games IIRC
3) From personal 'people I know with the problem' perspective, not as common, despite hugely larger sales.
4) Not quite on the same level as 'graphics system fucked within a year multiple times'.

To add to TFs post above, while those two MS support pages describe problems some have seen, most of the people I know haven't actually had the ring of death, they've just had the console freezing shortly after starting games, sometimes with magic carpet patterns across the screen. This is in fact what mine did too.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I think Spec should add Xbox360 to the list of great pieces of technology for him to poop on.

[Strider77]

to those who have an import 360:

have any of you guys picked up lost planet yet or plan to? i got mine over xmas and it's alot of fun.

[dave4shmups]

No other gaming system in my 20+ years of computer and video gaming has had a failure rate as high as the 360 for me, nothing even comes close.

Three words for you: Disc Read Error.

1) Took quite a while before the mass failures
2) Only happened to people playing PSX games IIRC
3) From personal 'people I know with the problem' perspective, not as common, despite hugely larger sales.
4) Not quite on the same level as 'graphics system fucked within a year multiple times'.

To add to TFs post above, while those two MS support pages describe problems some have seen, most of the people I know haven't actually had the ring of death, they've just had the console freezing shortly after starting games, sometimes with magic carpet patterns across the screen. This is in fact what mine did too.

All good points; besides which the 360's released this year were supposed to be more durable then those released last year, and, by all accounts they have not been. And MS needs to get off their arses with backwards compatibility. That's just one more area where, besides being much more durable, the Wii wins. When Nintendo said "fully backwards compatible", they actually meant it, unlike this "kinda, sorta, maybe" BS from Microsoft and Sony.

And as far as the 2600 and NES goes; don't even get me started. Both of those systems were both waaay more durable then current and next gen systems. We all went through blowing in NES carts, and the system itself, but it was built like a brick, and you didn't have to go through all the nonsense people have been going through with disc-based consoles for over the past 10 years. How many current and next-gen systems will be still be running 20 years from now? Probably none.

[mannerbot]

Uh no shit, of course a skateboard is less likely to break down than a car. And it's really easy to maintain full backwards compatability when you're using the exact same hardware.

[dave4shmups]

Uh no shit, of course a skateboard is less likely to break down than a car. And it's really easy to maintain full backwards compatability when you're using the exact same hardware.

But look at the durability of certain types of cars. How many old Subaru's do you see on the roads today? Probably quite a few; because they were built much sturdier then other cars in their era.

And it would be a lot easier for MS if they'd get off their butts and hire more people to work on backwards compatibility. There's a HUGE pool of talent out there; I highly doubt that there's any shortage of people with the kinds of skills needed to do this stuff. And console manufactuerers shouldn't promise backwards compatibility if they can't deliver on those promises.

[system11]

Fuck backwards compatability, seriously. Anyone who can afford a 360 sure as hell can afford a used Xbox. It's an absolute waste of everyones effort. The Wii only manages Gamecube games because it IS a Gamecube more or less, and the VC stuff is emulation of comparably simple consoles.