Seems like the 360 is a stinker.

[Fragony]

http://www.360-gamer.com/news.asp?id=1143

Also had a ring of death, xbox360 has severe hardware reliability issues. Well that was already known, but I didn't realise it was this bad. To make it worse, it only uses one core now and it overheats, wait untill the more demanding games come, thing is a timebomb. Thinking of selling my 360 and getting a ps3 instead.

[Mikeus Caesar]

http://www.360-gamer.com/news.asp?id=1143

Also had a ring of death, xbox360 has severe hardware reliability issues. Well that was already known, but I didn't realise it was this bad. To make it worse, it only uses one core now and it overheats, wait untill the more demanding games come, thing is a timebomb. Thinking of selling my 360 and getting a ps3 instead.

Swap one very crummy plastic box for a slightly less crummy one?

Silly boy.

Buy a Wii.

[Fragony]

Already got a Wii, probably the main reason my 360 still works, hardy play on the noisy pos, currently collecting dust on the shelve

[Mikeus Caesar]

Already got a Wii, probably the main reason my 360 still works, hardy play on the noisy pos, currently collecting dust on the shelve

Why not send your noisy pos my way? I'd be more than happy to play it until it explodes, nevermind burn out.

I have to say, out of the big 3, Wii seems to have come off best. With the exception of people accidentally throwing the 'Wiimote' at TV's, there don't seem to be any problems with it. It's cheap, reliable and good fun.

[drone]

If you like to mess around:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTM5
Makes it cool and quiet.

[doc_bean]

I've read about PS3 failures too.

[Fragony]

PS3 has a faillure rate of 1 on 30, the 360 1 on 4(!), Wii 1 on 100. A console with such terrible hardware issues should never have been released, and Microsoft keeps insisting that problems are caused by users. The thing heats up, and there is nothing currently here that is even close to testing the raw power of the 360. Powerful it is for sure. Gears of War, currently the best looking title uses only 1 of the 3 processors, and already it crumbles under it's weight.

[lars573]

http://www.360-gamer.com/news.asp?id=1143

Also had a ring of death, xbox360 has severe hardware reliability issues. Well that was already known, but I didn't realise it was this bad. To make it worse, it only uses one core now and it overheats, wait untill the more demanding games come, thing is a timebomb. Thinking of selling my 360 and getting a ps3 instead.

From what I've heard the 360's failure rate has gone down. M$ has been tweaking the production process to get it down. That said the PS2 also had a large failure rate. The thing just needs lots of ventilation. If you treat it like a PC you should be fine.

[Kekvit Irae]

Swap one very crummy plastic box for an even worse one?

Fixed. 600 dollars for a Blu-Ray player with only one great game? Sounds like the CD-i all over again.

There are great games for the 360. Gears of War is one of them. Seems like the only thing the Wii is good for is producing games that are tech demos for the wiimote or party games. While fun for awhile, they soon lose their novelty.

I sold my Wii for a 360, and I couldn't be happier. And my 360 has yet to malfunction.

[Fragony]

There are great games for the 360. Gears of War is one of them. Seems like the only thing the Wii is good for is producing games that are tech demos for the wiimote or party games. While fun for awhile, they soon lose their novelty.

Took them long enough to release good games on it, now it indeed has a great library. Takes some time, same with the Wii, the killer games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 (and hopefully Manhunt 2) have yet to appear, now we have mostly poor ports from ps2 titles. Wii will have impressive graphics and the wiimote will advance gaming

[TB666]

Well I just ordered a 360 and hopefully should have it in a few days.
Most people that I have talked to that have it aren't having any issues with it.

[Xiahou]

Took them long enough to release good games on it, now it indeed has a great library. Takes some time, same with the Wii, the killer games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 (and hopefully Manhunt 2) have yet to appear, now we have mostly poor ports from ps2 titles. Wii will have impressive graphics and the wiimote will advance gaming

I make the DS comparison. That is, when it first came out, most games were glorified tech demos for the touch screen. I don't remember how long it took anymore, but it was quite awhile before any truly great games came out for the system. Now, the DS has a solid library of really good games.

I had hoped Nintendo would learn from the DS launch and improve things for the Wii launch. And in a way, they have- there's at least a handful of must-haves for the Wii available now, but the real blockbusters are yet to come. They will come though, the huge numbers of consoles the Wii is selling alone is enough to dictate that it will get good games.

[frogbeastegg]

I want: Blue Dragon, Viva Pianta, Prince of Persia Classic, Castlevania, and maybe Band of Bugs if it's as amusing as it sounds.

I don't want: The sound of a jet plane and red lights as soon as the warranty expires.

Redesign the thing so it's quiet and functional and I'll probably hop for it at some point. Otherwise, no way.

The breakage issue is made worse by M$ trampling all over EU and UK consumer rights, and forcing people to pay £80 to have their defective consoles repaired. When talking of expensive games consoles the "reasonable period of time" quoted in the law is years, not a single year. Furthermore the problem with the consoles strongly appears to be the shoddy construction and cheap materials they are made from, making M$ doubly liable.

[Bob the Insane]

And even then they could not build them fast enough to meet demand...

I have had mine for 18 months so I guess it is due to die at any moment...

Hmmm, might be a good time to trade it in for one of the new black elite versions...

@frogbeastegg I got the Prince of Persia classic. It is great fun, but odd to play with a controller rather than the keyboard... the fencing is just as I remember...

[doc_bean]

Redesign the thing so it's quiet and functional and I'll probably hop for it at some point. Otherwise, no way.

Apparently the newer 360s have a seperate heat sink, so they should be safer.

I just got a ps2 this year, cheap console and lots of cheap but good games, the way console gaming should be

[Xiahou]

To further support my earlier assertion: Report: Japanese publishers switching over to Wii

According to a report from Variety Asia, Japan's top three third-party publishers are ramping up development for Nintendo's Wii and DS systems, at the expense of rivals Sony and Microsoft. Namco Bandai will reportedly increase Nintendo hardware development by 109 percent to 115 titles, Sega will up its titles by 96 percent to 49, and Capcom titles will rise by 5 percent to 20.

The sheer number of consoles selling along with cheaper development costs are making the Wii an attractive choice for developers.

Additionally, starting next year, Nintendo is going to allow original download-able games to be sold via the Wii Shop.

[Kekvit Irae]

Took them long enough to release good games on it, now it indeed has a great library. Takes some time, same with the Wii, the killer games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 (and hopefully Manhunt 2) have yet to appear, now we have mostly poor ports from ps2 titles. Wii will have impressive graphics and the wiimote will advance gaming

Manhunt 2 has been indefinitely shelved due to their AO rating. If (a big if) it will come out with an M rating, it certainly wont be this year.

[Fragony]

Manhunt 2 has been indefinitely shelved due to their AO rating. If (a big if) it will come out with an M rating, it certainly wont be this year.

We don't have such a rating here, it can be released here without any problems., probably will

[Husar]

We don't have such a rating here, it can be released here without any problems., probably will

Wasn't the reasoning that Nintendo doesn't want a game on their console that's rated AO? In that case they'd forbid it worldwide I guess.

[Marius Dynamite]

Being the clever cookie that I am, I bought a little cooling station from ASDA when I got my Xbox 360. I think its a "Madcatz" product and it costs 20 pounds. Basically the 360 stands vertically on it, the cooling station plugs into the USB and you switch on the fan and it keeps it cooler. That said, it doesn't reduce noise and the 360 still heats. I've never had any problems with the 360 and I've had it 6 months now and I play it a lot.

One reason I decided to get a 360 instead of a PS3 was that my PS2 and 4 or 5 of my friends PS2's broke down at around the same time (around 6 months after getting it) and that includes my little brothers. After we got it fixed it never broke again though.

On a slightly different note, have any of your PC's overheated?

[Kekvit Irae]

On a slightly different note, have any of your PC's overheated?

Usually every year, around summer. A fresh coating of thermal grease and the removal of dust in the fans keeps everything in working order for me.

[King Kurt]

Got a Wii last week - really impressed - To me the great attraction is its appeal to people who don't normaly play video games. My son and I play a lot - me on the PC, him on the PC, PS2 and gameboy. My wife used to look on with disdain and wondered what the attraction was. But one look at the Wii and she was hooked - it was her idea to buy it for our son and now all 3 of us play together in the living room and we are talking about getting it hooked up to the internet etc, etc. I think its broad family appeal, especially the attraction of a group of you playing puts the Wii head and shoulders above the others. I am not a graphics junkie - to me the attraction is the game itself - that's why I am still playing MTW - so the game experience of the Wii is the winner for me.

[Husar]

On a slightly different note, have any of your PC's overheated?

I've told that story before but I fried a brand new Athlon 1400 because I forgot to remove the plastic cover under the cooler....didn't even get into the BIOS.
(yeah, it's funny now, was quite the investment back then )
Apart from that, no.

[John86]

Mine brokedown two days ago. ONE WEEK AFTER MY WARRANTY IS UP. I swear, this stuff is planned.

[Mikeus Caesar]

On a slightly different note, have any of your PC's overheated?

Until my PC was moved downstairs, it would overheat every summer up in my steamy little attic. Every summer i'd go through the same ordeal of ctd's, bluescreens, hoping that i can keep the core temp down.

[Fragony]

My wife used to look on with disdain and wondered what the attraction was. But one look at the Wii and she was hooked - it was her idea to buy it for our son and now all 3 of us play together in the living room and we are talking about getting it hooked up to the internet etc, etc.

Hehe, my sister and her soon to be husband are buying one as well, were never interested but they adore the Wii. Ninty was on to something with this little baby

[frogbeastegg]

On a slightly different note, have any of your PC's overheated?

Once, years ago when the Pentium II was current. It overheated repeatly because the [nastiest words you know] who fitted the processor didn't put a heatsink or fan on it. He also stuck in a celeron instead of my nice Pentium II.

Other than that incident, no. I always make sure my electronics are well ventilated and keep a close eye on them during hot summer days. Generally speaking I start to suffer from the heat before they do, so they get turned off to kill the extra heat they pump out.

[Fragony]

There have been some incidents with me overheating

[Azi Tohak]

I haven't heard anything about reliability problems recently in the states. Maybe it has been fixed... maybe Mr. Gates used his Ninjas to kill all those who dared question his [edit] ... [edit].

Ahem... now that I'm back from [edit] ... [edit].

Back again.

Anyway, I was very unimpressed with it to begin with. Looking back at the start of the PS2, I'm sure I would have thought the same (but all I played was my N64). However, with Obilivion already out (not my style, but by all accounts a great game), some lame FPS, Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, BioShock, DMC 4, RE5, XBLA and ... that other Mistwalker game coming, I'm sure to buy one once I return to civilization (e.g. the USA).

To me, the big flop is the PS3. One decent game (wow! another shooter! It's not like we don't already have thousands of them to play!) and it costs more than a camel. Sony should start over again. (Then there is the PSP... blech.)

Azi

[Bob the Insane]

A little OT - I got The Darkness the other night... Looks fantastic... Very "next gen"...