Posted December 17, 200816 yr Its interesting seeing all the people on here hyping Xbox IM really glad I got a PS 3 omg a guy having to replace his 360 twice already Plaintiff says Microsoft knew Xbox could damage discs A recently unsealed document from a lawsuit against Microsoft has revealed that the company?s own engineers knew the Xbox 360 could damage discs if moved or reoriented while in use ? go figure. While many of us would consider it common sense, it appears that Microsoft has received around 55,000 complaints from people who ended up with scratched discs for doing just that. http://www.techspot.com/news/32897-plaintiff-says-microsoft-knew-xbox-could-damage-discs.html In all fairness, though, it has been reported that the system is not as well suited to a vertical configuration as Microsoft would have you believe, even if the system is treated in a careful manner. The plaintiff in the case argues that Microsoft knew the uniquely-high speed of the Xbox 360 drive ? 7,500 RPM compared to 4,000 and 3,500 RPM for the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively ? could lead to these problems. There are also allegations that the company considered and rejected three possible solutions to this issue before the console was released in 2005, which included increasing the disc holder?s magnetic field, reducing disc rotation speed or adding bumpers to the disc drive. The company opted to implement none of these measures for various reasons, with the last one being ruled out as too costly, so instead a warning was added to the product manual and the disc drive itself. Speaking from my own experience, I haven?t had a single issue with scratched discs in more than 2 years since buying a 360, though I would certainly never think of moving the console while a disc is spinning inside. As for the infamous ?Red Ring of Death,? it?s been a whole different story for me, having replaced my Xbox 360 two times already.
December 17, 200816 yr http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/siliconalley/personal-tech/2008_12_sonys_ps3_a_sinking_ship_sales_plummet_sne.html
December 17, 200816 yr Author haha all that means is in January there will be a price cut but at least its not Cheaply made being pushed out with bugs and hardware flaws and no on line fees at all FREE While it's certainly true that Nintendo continues to lead the console war by a gigantic amount, many publishers believe the PlayStation 3 is capable of closing the gap over the next few years. Heck, the PS3 has already narrowed the gap significantly and is creeping up on the Xbox 360. According to GameDaily, Activision has faith in Sony's machine. During a conference call after the publisher's third-quarter earnings report, Activision CEO Mike Griffith talked about his company's expectations for console growth, and he had some encouraging things to say about the PS3. He said he thinks the Xbox 360 will grow by another six or seven million units for this calendar year, but the PS3 will grow by another eight million units. Of course, Griffith says the Wii will continue to sprint along and sell another 15 million units this calendar year, but that comes as no surprise to anyone. He has high hopes for the handhelds as well, but again, it's nothing earth-shattering. But Activision is arguably the world's largest publisher, and to have them projecting good results for the PS3, that's undeniably good news for owners of Sony's next-gen machine. And they've got a ton of games in the hopper, so the more they're willing to see the PS3's success, the better the prospects are for the future. We've heard similar things from publishers like EA, where they believe the PS3 has a lot more potential in terms of both technical achievement and sales. And with great exclusives like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, LittleBigPlanet, and Resistance 2 leading the way, the path continues to be blazed.
December 17, 200816 yr Not to mention you have to return the crashbox every year to Microsoft for repairs. Red Ring of Death anyone? Glad I got a PS3.
December 18, 200816 yr Nintendo doesn't havea hold on the market lol. 360s are selling just as well. Nintendo just ships a small amount at a time.. believe me I used to work at game stop. Nintendo has a grip on the non-gamer/child demographic while the hardcore/ casual gamer has a 360 or PS3 (or both) So no Nintendo doesn't have anything lol... except a horrid console. (I have one... believe me... its baaaaaaad)
December 19, 200816 yr Author Red Ringed' Xbox 360s still dog Microsoft http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-tec-081217-redring-11a.hmedium.jpg Gamers grow frustrated when consoles break over and over again Travis Williams drove around Louisville, Ky. for a week with a busted Xbox 360 in his trunk. It was his third console stricken by the dreaded ?Red Ring of Death? ? known as ?general hardware failure? in the halls of Microsoft. (Msnbc.com is a joint Microsoft ? NBC Universal venture.) If you look online, you?ll find lots of people like Travis. Really angry people. Every game enthusiast site has multiple forums dedicated to the Red Ring problem ? home remedies on how to solve it, condolences for people who?ve just experienced it, and gamers claiming to be on their fourth, sixth or ninth Xbox 360 It?s been almost a year and a half since Microsoft issued a big ?I?m sorry? to consumers, extending the warranty on their Xbox 360s to three years and taking a $1 billion charge against earnings to pay for repairs and beefed-up customer service. But still, the Red Ring of Death dogs the company. Getting Red Ringed is almost a badge of honor now, like a crushing hangover after an epic night out. Everyone I know ? myself included ? has gotten at least one. But after three Xboxes in two years, Williams was sick of the tell-tale red lights on the front of his console ? and the refurbished consoles Microsoft sent him as replacements. ?If I had any other type of appliance that went out this quick and this often, I?d be upset,? he says. ?You wouldn?t expect to get a new refrigerator and have it go out on a regular basis.? Many industry watchers, including Dean Takahashi, a writer for VentureBeat, have speculated that Microsoft, in its haste to beat Sony and Nintendo to market, pushed the Xbox 360 out too early. Takahashi has written two books about Microsoft, including ?The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft?s Next-Generation Video Game Console.? In it, he references internal sources and documents that show Microsoft knew the console had problems ? but launched it anyway. ?Microsoft had experience with this before, with the first Xbox where they showed improvement over time,? he told me. ?They sort of assumed they could do the same thing (with the 360), and it hasn?t happened.? The Red Ring problem isn?t the only one Microsoft faces with the Xbox 360. Jason Johnson, of Madison County, Ill., has filed suit against the company alleging that his 360 has destroyed three games by scratching the discs. A deposition of Microsoft program manager Hiroo Umeno, revealed this week in an unsealed court document, indicates that the company was aware of the problem before its November 2005 launch, and following the launch, determined that tilting the console to the left or forward would cause discs to scratchUmeno declined to comment on the lawsuit or his deposition. On the subject of the Red Rings, Microsoft is a bit more forthcoming. Company spokesperson David Dennis told me, via an e-mailed statement, that the company has ?improved (its) manufacturing processes to improve reliability and our repair process to accelerate turn-around time for repairs.? However, Microsoft still can?t (or won?t) identify the reasons the Red Rings happen in the first place. Takahashi says the root cause is usually a graphics chip that is overheating inside the machine. Dennis declined to get specific, saying only that ?we identified a complex set of various factors and interactions that can cause the three flashing red lights error message on the console.? It is true that Microsoft has gotten better about keeping gamers informed about the whereabouts of their busted consoles. Williams, from Louisville, got an e-mail from customer support just this week confirming the receipt of his console ? complete with an apology ? from ?Caleb.? And from here on out, he can check the status of his repair at support.xbox.com ? something Microsoft instituted in August 2007 to help earn back some of the goodwill it lost from gamers. Chad Lawhon, from St. Joseph, Mo., is one of those gamers. He?s had six Xbox 360s Red Ring on him ? and he?s plenty steamed about it. He says he and his friends, who he keeps in touch with via Xbox Live, think Microsoft is lucky that their console is ?really where the games are at, and that?s where the best online experience comes from.? ?With any other consumer electronic device, there?s no way I would get another one, or even come back to that product again,? he says. Lawhon is no fair-weather fan. He owned the first Xbox, and participated in the Xbox Live beta. He stood in line on launch day toget the Xbox 360. And he?s the owner of ? get this ? four of them, one for each of his family members. He loves the games for the system ?it?s the hardware that?s let him down, over and over again. ?If the 360 hardware was as reliable as the PS3, I?d be a happy camper all the way around,? he says.
December 21, 200816 yr never had a problem with my 360. PS3 seems cool just for god of war but i wont buy a console for one game.
December 22, 200816 yr Well, my 360 just bit the dust!! I have to take the faceplate off because the stupid thing won't shut off! Also the games are freezing. I have to send it out for repairs! Just in time for Christmas! Guess what it's the red ring of death!!
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