The Broken Console

[J Arcane]

It seems like damn near every generation seems to wind up with one console choice that turns out to be an utter lemon.

This gen seems to be the 360, before that it was the PS2, and then the PS1 before that. Everyone over the age of about 20 seems to vividly recall the amount of cajoling to get the NES to actually play a game. The Genesis itself didn't seem to have problems in it's day, but the same cannot really be said for any of the addon hardware like the 32X in particular.

Yet the weird thing is, more often than not, it doesn't really seem to affect sales one bit. The NES, PS1, PS2, all the absolute giants of the industry in their respective eras. The 360 is continuing to hold a strong #2 in this gen despite it's notorious reputation for failure.

Why the hell is that? I mean, with most any other type of consumer equipment, if one particular brand consistently broke on you all the time, you'd stop buying that brand. If I have nothing but problems with Gateway computers, I stop buying computers from Gateway. If every Ford I've ever owned was a piece of shit, I'd stop buying Fords.

But with consoles, it seems like people are more than happy to walk right back in the store and pick up another one exactly like it, even when they know the thing is liable to self destruct and leave them once again back at the store or back on the phone with the warranty dept.

I just don't get that. I've never done that with any of my consoles, in fact, I skipped the PS2 in part because of the hardware problems everyone I knew was having with them. I just don't understand the mindset of throwing good money after bad like that.

[OldJadedGamer]

Funny thing is that the main reason I bought a 360 at launch is how shoddy the PS2 was and how it fell apart constantly. The Xbox was built like a brick so I thought I would have much better luck this time with a 360 so it was pretty much an instant purchase while I was going to wait on the PS3 to see if it had the horrid problems the PS2 and PS1 suffered from.

[violent]

In my experiences, I've only had 2 systems fail on me, the original NES and the 360. The NES days, there was little to compare it to that would have made the failure terribly evident but in the case of the 360, the number of purchases turned out to be fractional of what they could have been.

[frederec]

I wonder this myself. The hardware failures are the main reason I've avoided getting a 360 to this point. I've owned multiple NES's, PS1's, and PS2's, and once hardware got as expensive as the 360 is, I couldn't justify living through having to replace it frequently. Not even counting all the annoyances of transferring data between machines.

The most annoying thing about all this is that late in the life of each console, they seem to finally be able to release a stable piece of hardware. The NES had its top-loader, the PS1 had the PSone, the PS2 its slimline. I'm still waiting for the solid version of the 360.

[GigaFuzz]

Why the hell is that? I mean, with most any other type of consumer equipment, if one particular brand consistently broke on you all the time, you'd stop buying that brand. If I have nothing but problems with Gateway computers, I stop buying computers from Gateway. If every Ford I've ever owned was a piece of shit, I'd stop buying Fords.


Windows and all your software will work on a Dell, or an HP just as well as your Gateway. You can drive a BMW or a Honda on the same roads using the same fuel as your Ford. You can't use anything other than a Xbox 360 to play Xbox 360 games, however, so you're stuck with that one brand.

[jacob.armitage]

you know the only console i have ever had break on me in every generation has been sonys? my playstation one crabbed out, shortly after i baught wild arms and just before FF7. My ps2 crapped out but it did last like 4 years or something and i nabbed a ps3 for MGS4 and it froze during a cutscene in chapter 3 and when i rebooted it wouldn't load the game, it would just hang. i popped in UT3 and the graphics where are grabbled but it played. the thing was a few days old. i called tech support, the bloke said he'd never heard of the issue so i simply returned it.

funny thing, i have two 360s and have had zero issue with either, one is a launch day machine that sits in my bedroom and the other is a newer one with HDMI in my entertainment unit.

[Tayaya]

the worst one for me was the original PlayStation. During that console's lifespan I went through FIVE of them. The one that lasted the longest was my original launch console (the one that had composite output right on the console). Got a good 4-5 years out of it. The last year of its life it spent on its side to stop the videos from stuttering, and eventually it would even go upside-down to help with the problem. When it crapped out each of the replacements was only going for about 6 months, but I couldn't warranty them because they were all chipped (big importer back then... still am to some degree). The last one I bought was rock-solid, though. Even after I took it apart myself and moved it to a purple shell, it's still rockin' the old games like a champ.

We used to joke that Sony was being pre-emptive in designing the PS2 with a vertical stand option, because they knew a day would come when people's PS2s would be standing sideways to help disc read problems. I never did have problems with any of my PS2 consoles though... each one I got rid of was because some new color or form factor had some out that I liked better. Was like Nintendo syndrome!

My 360's been good to me too. No RRoD action after 3 years of non-stop use. Gonna suck when it finally goes!

[Blue]

Honestly, the only system I have ever had fail me in all my years gaming is the 360 and it was dead the minute I pulled it from the box. That's it. Every system before has worked beautifully for me.

[Norse]

It's all about the games for me. If the games are good enough I can put up with the failures. I've only had one console failure and it was replaced fast and without any cost. I didn't exactly loose any sleep over it.

[MagGnome]

I'm terrified that my 360 will die on me. There's no way I'd spend money on a second one, so I hope that if and when it dies MS replaces it with a good system. They won't be getting my money on any future products if I'm not satisfied with this one.

[MjWoZ]

Never had a problem with any of my consoles all the way back to my NES, though my 360 just RROD it's now on it's way to the service center here in Oz, a bit disappointing since the NXE launches in a few days. But I have had a good run from it considering it's a launch unit and it has less the 5 months left on the extended warranty. Maybe now;s the time to finish Zelda on the Wii

[Stoke]

GigaFuzz and Norse have it right. You (in general) don't buy a game console for the game console. You buy it for the games that it enables you to play.

I've been lucky though so I've only had a PS2 and a 360 die on me, every other console (and their replacements) have run well. Even if I did have to blow on them occasionally.