GigaOM

[...] of the popular videogame blog Kotaku is on his ninth Xbox 360 due to red rings of death problems. Au closes his Xbox 360 is doomed post with: when it comes time to buy a console for the holidays, which one [...]

[...] The trouble Microsoft is with its Xbox 360 - Wow, Microsoft has some bad problems and terrible luck. [...]

[...] Is the Xbox 360 doomed? [...]

[...] article I wrote on my other blog that was sortof a response to an article I read on Gigaom around the time of the red ring of death thing was [...]

[...] Continue … [...]

@Wagner James Au,

Which one is more popular & Why? PS3 or Wii?

It seems like PS3 after lowering the price is getting momentum. Wii doesn’t have very many games, and remote control novelty wears off after a while.

Thanks.

I don’t really care that 360s have a 1 in 3 faliure rate, what I care about is that Microsoft are supporting customers and are going to fix it. They seem to be getting a lot of flack for doing the decent thing - and who cares if it’s costing them $1b, all I care about is me and the service I get.

I own a Wii but the 360 is a far better machine, it’s online play is flawless and the although the Wii has a great controller it is essentially a Gamecube. It doesn’t matter how many Wii’s Nintendo sell, it all comes down to the games and while the 360’s has a huge library of excellent games, the Wii only a handful.

great read, and really a great point I don’t have any one of the new console but I will get one this holiday I really what a 360 but I am really thinking of getting the wii or maybe the PS3 only if they cut $100 more so I can get it for $400 and not $500.

is blog title is proofread?

As an Xbox360 owner since launch day and no problems whatsoever there I don’t wholly agree. The games line up is superb and graphically there is very little difference to the PS3. I am worried though, for other reasons… if they are trying to become the living room PC they are certainly taking their time about it. It’s software is designed as a media centre extender whereas it is far more than capable at being a media centre in it’s own right. It can’t play media from external harddrives or from over the network with out another PC running. If you’ve seen xmbc running, you would know what the possibilities are. Where’s the internet integration (radio, flash video, etc?). The Wii has a browser for heaven’s sake.

We’ve had two 360s in the house display the “ring of death”. We were lucky enough that it went away & that we haven’t had a problem since.

The 360 won’t go away because it appeals more to “real” gamers. The Wii has more universal appeal & that’s why it will probably leapfrog past the 360.

C’mon James! The 360 is hardly doomed. Neither are the Wii or PS3. They’re all going to be fine this year. A few things:

• Xbox 360 has Halo 3. This will probably be the biggest game of the year.

• There are lots of casual games on Xbox Live Arcade.

• Don’t insult Car & Driver like that.

I believe the 360 will start to fall hard on it’s face starting now. Many people bought a 360 due to it’s next generation status. Out a year before PS3. Graphics are better with the PS3 already and not many machines are having problems unlike the 360’s. Also, many people didn’t realize that they were purchasing another computer for their home. Another point is that although the initial cost for the 360 is cheaper, with live added into the cost you as a consumer will be paying more. Finally, how many games for the 360 are you needing pay extra for content. Mini expansions anyone? Ridiculous!! Plenty of games feel weak/short. That’s okay though, just keep shellin’ out the dough for extras that should be included.

As others said the Wii sells more because it has a larger market not because it’s more popular with the gamers that’s like saying a Cavalier is doing better then the Ferrari because it sells more

In truth most gamers who have the money have either a Xbox 360 + Wii or PS3 + Wii then there are the millions of none gamers out there that are content with bouncing around like complete morons and playing “stick your leg out game” lol

The Xbox 360 is doing great if any console should worry it’s the PS3

Halo 3 will save their day, and they know it. Everyone has been waiting for Halo 3, including myself.

i got an xbox 360 at xmas 05 and it died recently it kept freezing and showed red ring of death and it cost me 85 quid to get it fixed of microsoft and im still waiting for my 360 to get back to me its nearly been a month without it.

I think the author is way off the mark on this one.

Firstly, the Xbox 360 has the strongest line-up AAA games coming in the latter half of this year of any console I can remember. Good games sell consoles: FACT. One of those games also happens to be Halo 3, which already has pre-orders of over 4 million units, and is guaranteed to shift a few 360s also.

Secondly, MS have owned up to the fact (finally) that there has been a problem with failure rates, specifically the Red Ring of Death syndrome. The warranty has been extended to 3 years to combat this problem. Also, according to anyone I know whose 360 has failed, the repair service has been very efficient. Hardware revisions are also being made to prevent this happening to newer consoles.

Thirdly, Peter Moore leaving, although I’m sure a blow to the company, should not really affect the consumers decision to buy a 360, nor was it sudden or unexpected. EA approached Mr. Moore several months ago with an offer that meant he could return to the Bay Area of San Francisco, where he grew up, and is not at all indicative that he is deserting a “failing system” as the author seems to be trying to imply. How many non-hardcore gamers do you think even know who Peter Moore is?.

The Wii has done phenominally well with hardware sales, however, the target audience for the Wii is considerably different from that of the PS3 and Xbox 360. Therefore, any success that the Wii enjoys, should not necessarily be at the expense of the others.

The point is that, far from being on the way out the Xbox 360 is poised to start making waves again.

I don’t mind the 360 being a media extender but thats a good point about it not having a brower. I mean Mickysoft - they’re supposed to be the browser kings yet there’s no Internet Explorer for the 360. Streaming content off the net through the Wii is one of the best things about the the console, apart from the mini-games of course ;)

What does “doomed” mean exactly? Is the suggestion that Microsoft will pull the plug or just that the installed base will plateau?

It doesn’t seem to be much of a debate that the Wii will surpass Xbox in installed base but hardware sales aren’t MS’s primary concern. A better indicator will be the attach rates for games and for content purchased on Xbox Live. I’m not suggesting Microsoft doesn’t care if it’s installed base plateau’s. But it’s competition certainly isn’t the Wii. Everyone I know that has a Wii also has a more traditional console as well.

I don’t tend to agree with this. I have a first gen xbox that is still going strong.

I think the games line up is second to done. Mass Effect and Halo 3 are good exclusives to be had. COD4 and GTA4 coming to ps3 and 360 means there is no reason to payout for a ps3.

I do think MS are shooting themselves in the foot with the price point. Lets face it they can afford to drop $100 off it and this would make them the winners of the next gen race. What they would lose in money for the console they would make up on games sales easy.

this is a terribly biased article, very sloppy. the 360 has the largest install base of any next gen systems and is still outselling the PS3 2 to 1. if you dont believe go back and check out the npd’s for the last 6 months. nintendo is doing really well, but is it really microsoft you should be writting your fanboy sob story for. Sony might need your pity more mr wagner

Wrong!!

Between myself and friends, I’ve never had this happen. I believe there are problems (but then again don’t cell phones, PCs, and cars all have problems too ?). Nine failures in a row tells me its something in the environment. I think the Wii is great, but it’s Pizza and Apples. They are different products. I don’t believe there are many (if any) people that go to the store thinking “should I buy an Xbox or a Wii.” The Wii is great family fun. But you can’t watch or play in HD. I agree the price could be lower. Same is true of the Wii — it’s a bit overpriced for circa 2002 technology.

I have had 2 360’s die on me. (both red rings)
They are in the same exact environment as my PS3. The PS3 has not had any problems.

This is a HUGE problem for the 360. I tell all my gamer friends who have yet to jump to the next gen not to buy the 360.
I expect a lot of xbox users with problems are doing that.

What’s up with the Title of this story? Anyways if Sony delivers some great titles by the holidays I think you start seeing the xbox being pawned on Ebay. Xbox is the thing now but Sony is the future.

if sony delivers some titles?? They’ve only been saying that since the console launched yet its all bout next year with Sony(their biggest exclusive launches are still 2008). You can only overhype games for soo long before that hype starts wearing thin. Better question is Sony gonna sacrifice the PS3 winning this generations battle in lieu of winning the war in hi-def media??(blu-ray)

Insignificant anecdotal evidence aside (comments included),

I don’t think that anything Kotaku can say is going to have any sort of noticeable impact on the 360’s sales in this holiday season. It’s the third one it has been through, come on!

Kotaku readers who want a 360 have already purchased it. Those who are buying for the next round of games, Mass Effect et al, are going to be convinced on the merits of the game, not the console. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, more casual gamers who are pondering a purchase at this point in the game aren’t reading Kotaku.

I think this story is crap, how is the xbox doomed, when there are 10million already out there and now you get a better warranty.More games on the xbox than the ps3, cheaper games, and better to come.
The Wii sells becasue its asy to play, they have reached another sector of the market.Xbox will never die becasue M$ are far too big, they lost nearyl 2billion but yet they still make a profit!! youre not gonna kill off that war machine!

Got to agree, I know about 10 people with xbox 360’s and of them 8 have had at least one fail n them, im on number 4 myself. As soon as the PS3 starts bringing out the top titles im switching over!

Maybe it might be important to mention that Microsoft has NEVER made a dime on an Xbox. In fact, they have lost millions, excuse me billions on a device that is nothing more than a niche device. As the article states “a worldwide installed base now of 9.36 million to 10.15 million, respectively. It took the 360 nearly two years to get that audience; the Wii, less than one.” Showing that Nintendo knew how to turn a profit were Redmond failed.

The Xbox and the Zune have done little for Microsoft. With lack of sales of the Zune (while Apple has sold well over 100 Million iPods at a nice profit) and nothing but broken Xboxes causing MS to take a 1.1 BILLION DOLLAR write-off!

I think this Xmas will not be a great time for Xbox. By the end of the year Apple will have sold more iPhones than MS sold Zunes and enough Apple TVs to help ensure that Xbox will not be the living room PC. How many people over 40 buy Xboxes?

Apparently, there are not enough of the “real” gamers to turn a profit. At this rate it may be MS that pulls the plug when their stockholders finally have enough!

Stephen using that rationale Sony and MS should totally abandon the video games business all together after this generations results to date

Why are you comparing iPhones to Zunes?? One is a phone and one is a music player , they are not even targeted toward the same market.

If there is any nichey device in the video game world it is the Wii. So far it has failed to produce any substantial list of AAA games beyond Wii Sports, sure it has sold like crazy and is always in demand(due to Nintendo not upping production) but does it have any legs to last this generation? That is still a huge question in the gaming world.

Understand this…The 360 online/games are top notch with nothing even to compare it too… Yes hardware is a problem but Im
still here and I dont intend to jump ship. At the end of the day Microsoft delivers the content NOW while Sony is full of wind with its next year/later BS. By the time Sony gets it together the 720 will be close at hand.

wagner, you have a typo in the title.

This is just a silly attempt to grab traffic and has no basis in reality. I read the gaming blogs, how come they aren’t claiming this? Because their readers would know it is total BS. The 360 has a unbeatable lineup of games (Halo..Mass Effect…Bioshock…anyone found anything more than 2 good games for the Wii? so far, every purchase has been awful and make the controls seem like a terrible idea).

Secondly, Xbox with XBLA has a perfect outlet for casual gamers. Couple that with a likely price cut and you have a box that is far more powerful than the (two Gamecubes duct-taped together) Wii for a comparable price to the Wii just without the gimmicky controls. Plus, casual gaming and serious gaming can and will have a future…this is not a zero sum game.

I better stop now because there are so many flaws in your argument I could go on for some time.

Xbox 360 is surely not doomed! For all the broken consoles they are being fixed, and the 360 has the best selection of next-gen games on the market.

Om, your contributor just got beat down for everything he wrote, and never responded.

I know nothing about this space, but Wayne needs to respond to these comments to remain credible in any way.

Brand management Om. Oh wait, you are getting bought out by weblogs/aol? Thursday it is…

XBOX 360 is not doomed. This about it… a company would not spend 2 billion to extend warranties. Therefore they plan to stay in the game. If they really wanted out, all they had to do is keep that stupid 6 month version and not give a damn and slowly sneak out of the hardware game.

I own an XBOX 360 and I’m not seeing any major issues on it. I have had no red ring, and the biggest issue I’ve had is hitting eject and the door getting slightly stuck. However, this only happens 1 out of 20 times possibly so no big deal.

The truth is PS3 did lower its prices.. but check your info fanboys… they lowered it on a model they discontinued. So once those 499.99 models are gone, they won’t be back.

Not to mention in tests with HD experts, XBOX 360 is a better machine because of its 3 cores rather then the one. Allows the xbox to work on multiple things at once while the PS3 does the game, but limited to a specific number when doing several at a time.

Graphics have been proven much much better.

Also a win point for me. I don’t need to own a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player… I can now rent movies online with Xbox Marketplace and watch it and enjoy and no need to spend 40-50 for a movie that is the same as its DVD counterpart but only nicer looking… bleh

I couldn’t care less about Microsoft losing money on the 360 - why should we? As long as the great games keep coming why should the consumer care? It’s hardly an Atari Jaguar or a Sega Dreamcast scenario. Almost 12 million 360s have been sold and the great games keep coming thick and fast. The best game on the Wii is Resident Evil 4 - a two year old port. That says a hell of a lot.

The 360,Wii,and Ps3 are all fine machines.
I prefer them in that order.

If MS fixes it’s broken boxes i am cool with it.
Games rule and the 360 has em.
Never cared much for the ps2 even though it had 3000+ games,2950 of em where garbage.
Ps3 price drop is temporary on higher priced machines…..scam.I woulnd’t buy a ps3 but wouldn’t complain if i got one for a gift.

I wouldn’t be suprised if MS droped the 360 price later this year.

The Wii is great but it is a kid/woman machine.Everyones wife wants one becuase you can exercise and do cutey moves in the games.For those who don’t wish to flail around it isn’t for you.Gotta love Mario and Zelda though.MS could learn from these games,They need to ditch the half hearted attempts at family games and commit to them.

Also read that the Ps3 is supposed to have a 10-15 year product run.The 360 is slated for 5,Wich will make the Ps3 obsolete when the next-next gen Box comes out.

My only comlaint.MICROSOFT lighten up on OUR xbox’s let us do what we want with them.
I understand you think they are still yours(With Windows,you really don’t own windows it is licesned to you and MS can take it back if it chooses)
but we paid the cash for em,hands off.

bleh bleh bleh.

We love gaming, do you? For those who love Web/Tech/Geek News and comedy… Check out Episode 21 of our vLog! We think it’s pretty swell. (link)

This year the Xbox 360 is going to be a huge seller. With Halo 3 and GTA4 (with extra content exclusive to the 360) This holiday is going to be a big one. I am personally excited about Blue Dragon and Mass Effect also coming out for this Holiday Season. With all the great games on the schedual this will be the biggest year for Xbox Ever!

From a personal standpoint I buy because of the games, not the system, but if it’s bound to crash on me I might not buy anything. It’s starting to sound too much like a computer.

Hardcore gamers will buy the Xbox but the mass market gamer? No. MS thinks Halo 3 is enough to convince non-Xboxers to pay for a console, controllers and sign up online and commit to playing hundreds of hours. THis was NOT going to happen before this debacle but now - MS has put the nail in their coffin.

For the average consumer, why would they buy a console that MS admits is flawed but isn’t willing to recall and clearly label a new box?

The Xbox is dog food from CHina and the Ford Explorer.

If MS intends to save it - they better rename it because the division is already in the hole for $16 BILLION and they will never crawl out of it.

(link)

The point is that I think everyone is missing is that a console should not crash. I know when I go home I can fire up my Wii, PS2, SNES, NES, N64 and not worry that it won’t work. The 360 is like any other MS product, it’s made without any thought or attention to details, thus it’s crap. I think since windows has taken over the world people have become complacent with failure and so it’s ok and almost expected for the Xbox to fail. Now you have to mail it back and wait 4 to 5 weeks for it to be returned, with the knowledge that it’ll happen again. I call those people MS drones and they do exactly what MS gives you, more crap.

I don’t think this a matter of the Xbox 360
being doomed as in “non-existent”, but yet doomed that Microsoft hoped that they could spend enough money and push enough games out there for the consumer for Sony to take a massive drop in sales and be frowned upon because you can get a cheaper next gen console. This was happening! Microsoft now has a big market! Bigger than the original X… Sony is now coming back w/ price cut and an 80 GB. Which we as a consumer don’t really need because of the storage with blu-ray! Once again, people will head for the PS3 later on especially because every hardcore gamer wants the best graphics possible with great games.. Sony has proved for two generations that they could provide this!! PS3 sales will go up when people realize how much money others are saving with the PS3 machine as well as getting six-axis, rumble, and a freakin’ blu-ray player. 1080p out of the box is a big deal!! Having over 100 characters on screen each with different animations is another big deal. XBox 360 couldn’t handle this!!! That’s already been proven. Hence why so much content is also being added later. There are two reasons for why XBox 360 and developers add content later. First, the better looking the game, the shorter it is because of space on disc. Secondly, they say extra content, in which you have to buy for the true experience. Microsoft and developers are providing you this in a nice way in saying “if you want new maps and characters, buy it on live”. I don’t believe that’s all there is to it!! Still, I don’t think that the Xbox 360 could hold the initial game content on the disc with all the features that your paying for. Makes great business sense, but still the consumer is the one who’s getting the shaft!! Playstation I believe will not have this happen for their system because yes it can handle all that content and then some!! So yeah, Xbox 360 in future will start to dramatically drop in sales and Playstation will continue to grow.

I have to agree with the author. Xbox 360 fans are having trouble grasping this concept: Microsoft fumbled the ball. Not only that, they didn’t jump on it with their pseudo-recall (in the form of the unprecedented warranty extension), either. What they did was really only one of two viable options to them, the other would option was a full-on recall that would’ve destroyed the Xbox brand.

The Xbox 360 will now suffer the same fate (if not a WORSE fate) as the original Xbox. It will be a system that will have difficulty expanding its boudaries beyond those that buy every system so they can play all the best games. Over the course of the next three years, Microsoft must be viewing 20 million Xbox 360s sold as a solid goal. Time to start working on the Xbox 1080, Microsoft.

Damian - I think the point of the XBox not being a standalone media center is that Microsoft is trying to lock you into their “ecosystem”, with every part being dependent on every other. Stand alone products don’t do that. They realize that their Windows monopoly is slipping, so they want to create new tie-ins.

More on topic, I think the article is dead wrong. The XBox has been getting more and more formerly PS3 exclusives, to the point that it’s now a comparable system at lower cost with most of the best software for the PS3. I think the 360 is going to be the “winner” from the utter crashing and burning of the PS3 - it’ll become the system of choice for the “hardcore” gamers. Nintendo will win this round overall, but Microsoft will win a solid second place.

Sony, on the other hand, is headed down that path previously trodden by the likes of the 3DO and Saturn.

i had a 360 since launch, no probs what so ever, stop playing them in closed spaces, MS will till you that people. just for thought read below at how sony is scamming people.

sony always claims what they can do or going to do, we are past that point, sony put your money where your mouth is. give the people what you promised them. it is a shame that so many loyal sony fans that bought ps3’s are so disappointed with their purchase and all because sony is more interested in pushing the HD format war then worrying about gaming. its so clear to see that blu-ray movies are being produced at an astounding rate compared to ps3 games. so where does that leave ps3 owners, it leaves them buying movies instead of games because they have to justify spending their money on this albatross of a console that mostly plays blu-ray movies.
ps3 owners should be outraged. the sony executes thought that ps3 would sell no matter what even without games. so their strategy was to first try and secure the numbers for blu-ray camp in order to get backing from studios, blockbuster(lame), etc. before they worried about the gaming public. now that their numbers are so fluffed from all the ps3 owners buying movies, remember there are no games for them to enjoy, it shows their blu-ray sales up and now there wining the format war.
we all have heard sony stating that their product has a 10 year life cycle, its because they knew the first 1 to 2 years they would focus on movies and penetrating the high def market before they would focus on gaming. ps3 owners and the public have been hoodwinked, lead astray, bamboozled. however, sony didnt count on the wii’s success and their buddies at microsoft. all the people that bash MS are just jumping on the ps3 band wagon. what sony doesnt want to realize is that 360 continues to outsell them when it is the ps3 that was suppose to have all the hype after their launch. it shows that their hype was short lived and just that, hype. MS is innovative and xbox live can not be touched by anything that sony copies from them. sony announces downloadable movies, ok sony how original, MS has been doing that for almost a year, do you they really think they will penetrate the market now. sony has six axis, well wii was doing it first. i think once sony gets their own original ideas they may get out of their slump. and people please dont think home is original, their has been online communities like that for years, so again lack of originality.
in summation, sony needs to do what they do best, and thats gaming. forget about an entertainment center, b/c sony cant touch MS as a true entertainment medium while they have xbox live, media center (which is awesome, if anyone has tried it), and soon “scene it” lol. games are their ticket in this battle and if they make good games, graphics wont matter, fun will.
and thats the f-ng reason why we play video “games”.

“Xbox 360 has Halo 3. This will probably be the biggest game of the year.”

Fuck Halo 3. In fact fuck the entire Halo series. Period.

I mean seriously, has the gaming community not realized yet that Halo is just some dumbed down first person shooter? Go play Quake 3 or 4 on your PC. With a mouse and keyboard like FPS games are supposed to be played.. at least that game takes some skill. Any idiot can pick up Halo and get good at it after a while.

Halo lacks strafe jump!

“And when it comes time to buy a console for the holidays, which one do you think gamers will buy?”

Well, gamers are going to be busy playing Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto. I don’t know what the Wii consumers are going to be playing because, frankly, I don’t see much worth playing on the Wii.

I bought my Wii back in February and now in late July I’m seriously considering selling it. I haven’t turned in on in over a month. I disconnected it from the TV about a week ago and haven’t felt the need to re-connect it.

But then, I’m a gamer. I’m actually interested in buying and playing video games. Nintendo has already made it clear that they aren’t interested in people like me. They want to attract people who don’t go out of their way to buy games.

But if they won’t go out of their way to buy games then what are they going to do once they have a Wii? Play Wii Sports forever?

Ya i don’t agree with this post at all. Waggnor is forgetting to mention PS3 price will go up here soon again because of the discontinued 60gb version. Ofcourse i saw rumor of a 40gb version that for $399. Regaurdless, Waggnor is also forgetting to mention the xbox 360 price drop that will come holiday season. Also, like somebody said above, the focus for a lot of people isn’t about the console breaking, it is about a FREE 3 year warrenty. I have not bought one yet, but a free warrenty that lasts 3 years is pretty nice

aydoubleyou, I totally agree! Halo has way too much hype for what it gives you. Story is the only original idea that it even had with the first one.. And not much of a story for that!! Halo is so overrated and it’s amazing to see such an everyday game with so much hype.. Microsoft has better games by far in many different genres…. But I’m a little different because I felt the same way with Grand Theft Auto games.. Excluding the newest soon to be installment…

Thank you Nick. Yes, Halo is overrated, by far. I give it credit for what it is, but I cant play that game for more than 20 minutes without getting bored. Walk, shoot, walk, new gun, shoot, walk, walk, walk, walk, hop in some gay car/plane, shoot some more. No strategy, its simply just mindless.

Jordan Lund, the reason youve become so bored with your Wii may depend on a few reasons:
I found the Wii to be more of a party-console. Meaning, its true light is only shown when you have a few friends over and some beer. Ive had countless hours of Wii Sports, WarioWare, Bust a move, etc etc when my friends come over on the weekend to play. But yes, most of their games can only last so long before you get tired of it.
If you want the true Wii single player experience… go get Zelda, or Paper Mario… or better yet wait for Mario Galaxies. The Wii is not meant for high end, action packed, next-gen graphic games… its meant for simple but fun gameplay that fits the classic feel of the 90’s gaming era. It’s a step back in time, rather than a step forward really.

Um, the hit Microsoft took was $1B, not $2B.

I would have to agree to this. I cannot believe people are actually defending Microsoft.

I am still waiting for a box to ship my messed up 360 back to Microsoft. It has been over 3 weeks now.The 1st time they were supposed to send me a box some frickin’ idiot screwed it up and a box was never sent. That is NOT great service.

I have been without my 360 for almost a month and it looks like it will be much longer before I will ever play on another.

Keep in mind that when I do actually get another 360 to play on, it will be my 3RD xbox 360 in 14 months!!!!!

Microsoft was in a such a hurry to get out the 1st next gen console that they did not take the time to do it right and all of the consumers now pay the price.

Axe

Smoke some more crack. The 360 is doing fine. The games that are coming out this fall are going to be awesome. Sony is screwed. The wii is an under powered joke. Everyone I know who has one was euphoric for about a month. My first gen 360 is still going strong and I’ve got a great extended warranty for free.

Well if I was Brian I would walk under any ladders or cross any path of black cats. My 360 works since I got it in Feb 2006. No Issues at all. So the PS3 will definitely be a hit this holiday season but in no means the 360 is doomed. Did you smoke a little something today?

I think the 360 is going to have some troubles for sure, and you may see a huge spike in hardware failures after Halo 3 comes out , maybe thats why M$ has admitted to there being a problem, taking a 1 bln hit to cover warranties, and saying that over 11.5 million units have a defect.
People commend M$ for doing the right thing? What do you expect them to do after the failure rate on the 360 was making mainstream news, after Aus issues a recall, and after a European country is calling for a investigation and class action law suits. M4 hand was forced, they did not do this out of the kindness of their own hearts. IF that was the case why wait so long to admit there was a problem?

M$ wanted to get the 360 out first because clearly they would have the lead in the VG market. Due to their quickness a large amount of 360’s have encountered the red ring of death.

Sony is gaining momentum and I am confident that not only they will overtake the 360 but the wii as well. The wii is very innovative but what nintendo is doing is neglecting the hardcore gamer, which isnt a good thing.

Don’t forget about the xbox 360 exclusive, splinter cell conviction. The fact that Ubi is taking a game that used to be multiplatform, and making this an exclusive says that one of the most popular game developers is losing confidence in the PS3. The fact that it has been delayed to next year actually benefits microsoft, as people now have a reason to chose xbox 360 during the time of year video game console sales typically slow down. My only complaint is that most of the 360 games have been a little too easy too this point, with the exception of insane on gears of war.

So does that mean the PS3 is triple doomed? After all, it’s been outsold by 360 3-1..

Dont kid yourself. Under the 1.06 billion charge the Xbox division was nearly profitable last quarter. And nobody cares about the Wii, it can sell 100 trillion and it just doesn’t matter. Everybody knows the battle that counts is between Sony and Microsoft, and Sony is getting it’s ass kicked.

I’d say the doomed console is PS3. Wii cant hurt PS3/360, they are different markets. However, 360 can kill PS3 and vice versa.

With PS3’s ever lower sales, third parties wont continue to support it much longer.

Another factor is Madden 08, which has a huge fan base and is rumored to be running at 60fps on the XBox 360 and 30fps on the PS3. Even if it’s not all that noticeable to the average gamer, the take away on reviews will likely be the xbox 360 version is better.

I have both an 360 and ps3 and I’m looking forward to games coming out this fall on both platforms, but if I had to recommend one to a friend this fall, all else being equal, it’s got to be the 360 with the larger library of next gen games and cheaper price.

What a retarded article! As a 360 owner who suffered RROD 5 months after my 1 year warranty I will say MS customer service kicks A$$! While its being fixed I’m still buying games for it because frankly the Xbox 360 is the best gaming console for “GAMERS” ever. I don’t hate the PS3 I just don’t care about it. Bluray doesn’t impress me especially when most of the movies coming out are garbage. I mean I can wacth a burnt DVD and enjoy it just fine. But for the same price of the PS3 I can get a console several games and play online with people who have headsets. Oh yeah and a 3 year warranty vs a 90 day one. Was it just me or did anyone else’s PS2 break after warranty. I had 3 go down from diffeent issues even though I treat my consoles like babies. I think the real issue with most of the 360 problems in fact comes from the addicting nature of how sweet it really is. I have never spent so much time on a console and I know almost all of my friends are the same way. Dan out!

I have to say that to the person who says the Wii doesn’t crash that’s not true. I’ve had it lock up and have to reset it. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a computer - they crash.

I have a theory the reason so many 360s are biting the dust is because people leave the power supply on at the mains when they are not using the machine, I suspect this may be contributing factor as power is still flowing through the machine even when it’s not being used..

Xbox 360 is a current generation system. It is not next gen because you have to pay $200 to buy a drive that supports a dying format (and because the drive is optional, ALL 360 games will be limited to the space of a regular DVD.

With HD-DVD soon losing, Peter Moore leaving, Microsoft pledging to use bluray, lack of next generation games (hd or bdr), debt to pay for everybody who bought a worthless $200 hddvd drive, all of it’s A-List games are shooters that DO NOT support the use of a mouse, no web browser, (in my opinion: inferior controller design), 1 in 3 failure rate, and costing $60 a year while trying to compete with 2 other consoles that provide it for free.

PS3 Is aimed towards the future. It can be a computer, a game system, and (soon) even a DVR. With Killzone 2 and UT2007 (coming early) those blow gears and halo out of the water (especially with their mouse support)

PS3 will last and is truly next gen.
Xbox360 will not.

I don’t care what anyone says, despite having a midi port the Amiga is way better for graphics and sound than the ST.

First of all, i would like to comment on some of the stupid ass comments i have read.
“Everyone I know that has a Wii also has a more traditional console as well” The Wii is a tradition console, it’s a pure game console, like the original consoles. X-box and playstation are more home entertainment systems.
“going to be convinced on the merits of the game, not the console” well if your console breaks the games are really that useful now are they?
“couldn’t care less about Microsoft losing money on the 360″ well if the stcokholders complain about a big loss in money, microsoft will be put under serious pressure, and a stop in the gaming market isn’t out of the question.
“I’m a gamer. I’m actually interested in buying and playing video games. Nintendo has already made it clear that they aren’t interested in people like me.” NINTENDO MAKE VIDEO GAMES YOU TURD! they are selling to all people., not just the “hardcore gamers”
BTW, i have only the nintendo consoles and a PS, i class myself as a hardcore gamer, since i spend a hell of alot of time playing games. SO WHAT, if you play halo, if you play it an hour a night, are you a “hardcore gamer” i was playing Zelda twilight princess for hours at a time, who is the bigger gamer?
“PS3 will last and is truly next gen” nither x-box or ps3 are next gen. They are the same consoles, with better graphic, oh wait sorry, the ps3 had “blueray” which adds a much higher cost to the console, and you have to buy half your DVD’S again, because you can’t play it on them! At least the Wii is doing something diffrent, and speading into a larger market, which dose nothing but increase the gaming community. And finally
“Fuck Halo 3. In fact fuck the entire Halo series. Period.” i actually don’t have a problem with this, i just put it in beacuse, well, it rocks!
And some one said about the wii not having great games lined up… well, from what i have neither has the PS3, in that respect well done to Xbox, they have lots of great games you can play if your machine hasn’t crashed.
Any probalem with anything i have said
Mattfellows26@hotmail.com
Tell me, Matt!

I bought a ps3 and the games kept on crashing, so i took it back to Game and exchanged it for an other
To my horror the games kept crashing and the disc tray would not open properly.So back to Game , the manager told me that a few customers had also complained about the same problems this worried me and i demanded my money back.
I love to buy an 360 as the games line looks great!!! But they have reported problems too!

wii has taken the lead… all that must be said! GO NINTENDO!

PS3 is definitely doomed. The new version of XBOX 360 (one with Falcon chipset) will not have the problems of the older machines. It runs cooler, and the system runs quieter. The newer systems will all have HDMI, and XBOX Live kicks major ass. So XBOX might not do well in Japan, but on the world scale it will dominate. BTW Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are doomed because downloadable HD content will destroy those two tangible formats eventually just look at what happened to the CD.

PS3s bluray player doesnt have HDMI does it? Thats strange for 1080 output.

I love my 360 its the shit and no wii for me i got gta 4 and its bad ass …………………………………………………………………………………….?