Gaijin Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 Haw! The Elite's are already breaking down and some people are getting the red rings of death! http://news.spong.com/article/12415?cb=541 I'm definitely gonna wait for the 65nm version. Well, it's really no different now than the premiums save for some with different DVD drives. Wait for new chip.
David Hingtgen Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 From what I can read, it seems the newer, quieter BenQ drive might have been a one-time thing for a single production run, when a shipment of the standard drive was unavailable, and all future ones will retain the louder drives. That would suck, as I want a quieter drive even more than a cooler CPU...
bandit29 Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 Haw! The Elite's are already breaking down and some people are getting the red rings of death! http://news.spong.com/article/12415?cb=541 I'm definitely gonna wait for the 65nm version. figures. I guess I'll pass on any version 360. I like the games too bad the system is such an unreliable piece of poo. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6169917.html?...newstop;title;1 Complaints mar Xbox 360 Elite launch, transfer cable now free Lack of data transfer cable, XBLA game and video content DRM turn has turned some early buyers of Microsoft's tricked-out console into vocal critics; Microsoft now offering data-transfer accessory gratis. By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot Though several retailers jumped the street date, the Xbox 360 Elite did not officially go on sale until yesterday. The new edition of Microsoft's popular console sports a sleek new black finish, a 120GB hard drive, and HDMI audio-video output. It also has a higher price of $479--$300 more than the stand-alone 120GB HDD sold separately to existing 360 owners. Ironically, the 120GB HDD does come with a piece of equipment not included in the Xbox 360 Elite--a cable to transfer content from older 20GB 360 HDDs. This comes as no surprise, as Microsoft said the Elite would not come with the accessory when it announced the Elite back in March. The company's rationale was that the Elite is intended for consumers who hadn't purchased a 360 yet, so no transfer should be necessary. Following weeks of grumbling on game blogs, Microsoft is offering data transfer cables for free to Xbox 360 Elite owners for a "limited" time. However, to obtain a cable, gamers must first jump through a few bureaucratic hoops. First, they must download, print, and fill out an authorization form with both consoles' serial numbers. Said form must then be sent via standard US mail to a redemption center in Indiana, which will then send out an Xbox 360 data migration kit gratis. Once the kit is received, its cable is connected to the old Xbox 360 and the Elite's 120GB drive. Then the transfer--which can be performed only once--commences, erasing any existing data on the 120GB. Said data will then be replaced with all nonmovie content from the old 20GB, which is then itself blanked. The cable is thrown out, the 120GB drive is connected to the new console, and--voila!--the Elite is complete. Though cumbersome, the data transfer process will likely prove only a mild headache to the tech-savvy consumer. However, some of those same key customers are voicing their frustration about a potentially maddening side effect of transferring Xbox Live Arcade Games. Said frustration has even prompted some Elite owners to swear off all future XBLA purchases. Why all the fuss? As anyone who has ever brought a 360 HDD to a friend's house (or had to replace a broken system) knows, Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) software ties each Arcade game on said HDD to a single console. When the HDD is removed and attached to another 360, the games are playable only in demo form unless said console is online and signed into Xbox Live. Even then, transferred XBLA titles can be played only with the gamer profile used to buy the game, not other profiles. On the widely read tech blog Ars Technica, editor Ben Kuchera vented about the fact the DRM affects XBLA games transferred from regular 360s to Elites--even though the same person owns both. "Why can't this be something that turns on when you move the games, and then you can call and get them unlocked again?" Kuchera said. "If I bring my Elite to a friend's house that doesn't have ethernet in the living room, we can't play Geometry Wars? That's silly." (Like many media outlet staffers, Kuchera received a data transfer cable with his Elite unit, which was provided by Microsoft.) The DRM on XBLA games also affects television content downloaded on Xbox Live Marketplace--and is apparently permanent. "While all of your Xbox Live Arcade games and Xbox Live Marketplace TV shows will transfer [to the Elite HDD], you will have to be connected to Xbox Live (to verify your identity) in order to access that content," the company said in a statement. "This process is permanent and we advise [you to] not transfer your data if you wish to access it while offline." While TV shows bought from Marketplace can be transferred to and watched on Xbox Live-connected Elites, movies rented from the service cannot. "In all cases, movie rentals downloaded from Xbox Live will not be available after content transfer," said Microsoft. "If you have movie rentals, watch them first!"
Apollo Leader Posted May 1, 2007 Author Posted May 1, 2007 Regarding some of the Elite's or any of the 360's malfunctioning, you will find that stuff happening with ANY electronical product. I mean in my own case I had a fan I had gotten two years go bad on me almost immediately out of the box. Right now my refurbished 360 has lasted me a good solid 9 months of pretty heavy usage. My original extended warranty lasts through the end of this year. As soon as these newer, cooler, more reliable 360's come out, I might trade my current one in, maybe for the Elite. Even with the problems I've had and others have had with the 360, its been one of my favorite systems ever and my most favorite gaming experience period.
Apollo Leader Posted May 1, 2007 Author Posted May 1, 2007 The official Halo 3 site gets a major face lift.
Apollo Leader Posted May 1, 2007 Author Posted May 1, 2007 (edited) New Gears of War map pack out on Thursday. Edited May 1, 2007 by Apollo Leader
TheLoneWolf Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 Regarding some of the Elite's or any of the 360's malfunctioning, you will find that stuff happening with ANY electronical product. I mean in my own case I had a fan I had gotten two years go bad on me almost immediately out of the box. I work part-time at a videogame store where we repair broken systems and the 360 is by far the system most often brought in for repairs, keep in mind that the 360 is not our top selling system. To put things in perspective, the DS Lite, PSP, and Wii consistently sell out, yet they account for only a small amount of our repairs (and the PSP is usually due to user error, such as dropping it). The 360 sells an average amount, yet it accounts for a disproportionate amount of repairs, this is not a good correlation. I'm not saying all 360's are duds, but from our experience I'd say 1 in 5 360's comes back for repairs within a year, personally I find that to be a discouraging number. The sad part is that the 360 has a very good selection of games now and I really do want one, but its reliability is keeping me back.
Apollo Leader Posted May 1, 2007 Author Posted May 1, 2007 I work part-time at a videogame store where we repair broken systems and the 360 is by far the system most often brought in for repairs, keep in mind that the 360 is not our top selling system. To put things in perspective, the DS Lite, PSP, and Wii consistently sell out, yet they account for only a small amount of our repairs (and the PSP is usually due to user error, such as dropping it). The 360 sells an average amount, yet it accounts for a disproportionate amount of repairs, this is not a good correlation. I'm not saying all 360's are duds, but from our experience I'd say 1 in 5 360's comes back for repairs within a year, personally I find that to be a discouraging number. The sad part is that the 360 has a very good selection of games now and I really do want one, but its reliability is keeping me back. Don't get me wrong, I think there is plenty eveidence that the 360 is malfunctioning on a higher average then other equivalent consumer electronic products. But at the same time too, I think that just a few fanboy rantings are blowing things out of proportion... the alleged 50% failure rate of the PS2 is a good example of this. (I've had my PS2 since October 2000 and after 6-1/2 years of heavy use and taking it apart so it could have a flip top, it still works fine).
JsARCLIGHT Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 Question by someone who knows little to nothing about what's inside my Xbox360: What exactly is causing these failures? Cheap parts? Bad design? I constantly hear people say "heat is the killer" but it seems to me that excessive heat should have been expected when they are doing what they are doing with these consoles... that leads me to believe they are having a rash of bad parts or perhaps they didn't properly test their design under different conditions and there might be a flaw in which when certain events occur the system can't handle the heat and fails. Of everyone I personally know here in town (three people) who own 360's no one has had a red ring of death or anything remotely close to a breakage. Then again we all don't play these consoles that often (once a week tops for only an hour or two at a time), which leads me to believe it might be an excessive heat in combination with a design flaw or parts failure causing all of this. With the rush to bang out all this hardware, plus with all this new hardware having so much put upon it and it's system being taxed so heavily to produce today's "next gen" HD graphics it seems to me that it's no wonder a lot of these consoles are blowing up under the stress. I'd think all it would take is to put one under a good load and then have it not be able to dump heat fast enough, or perhaps a power voltage fluctuation combined with the heat... then a solder blows or a transistor melts a little and poof, no more Xbox.
Macross73 Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 as far as the design of the box goes i wish that there another case fan for it. kind of like PC. 2 03 fans would be ok. I mean its already kind of noisy so what would it have hurt to add a fan or 2.
yellowlightman Posted May 1, 2007 Posted May 1, 2007 figures. I guess I'll pass on any version 360. I like the games too bad the system is such an unreliable piece of poo. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6169917.html?...newstop;title;1 If a cases of borked machines is causing you to avoid buying a 360 then all I can say is, your loss? I mean, the vast majority of people have had no problems with their 360's.
Mechafan Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 I going to wait to see if the 65nm versions will be better. I am on my 2nd Xbox 360. I had NES, SNES, PS2, PSP, N64 and Xbox 1. None of the other systems I own have broken. I got my NES in 1988 and it still works. Even though I like my 360, I think in some aspects it was designed poorly. I have seen this a lot in the Auto business. Not all design flaws effect everyone the same. Even the Elite motherboard shows MS make some changes hopefully for the better. Microsoft changed the warrenty from 90 days to a year and now do free shipping. That to me shows they F***ed up.
yellowlightman Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 That to me shows they F***ed up. ...and that they're trying to make things right.
Poonman Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 yeah 5% failure rate is pretty common for most consumer electronics... there just isn't hundreds of websites and forums devoted strictly to say, Sony's latest 7.1 surround sound A/V receiver. its the kind thing where if everything is good you tell one, maybe two people but when something goes bad you tell ten. my launch 360 still works flawlessly along with all my friends 360's. its also pretty common knowledge that a lot of the "red light" reports are from Sony Pony's with too much time on their hands...
Hikuro Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 I'll say it again since I've said it many times before, I feel stupid for giving my 360 away so I could make bills, and I really miss having it...I was probably one of the few here who didn't complain about it in some little way...my 360 never had an issue, it never had a "Hicup" or anything....she was a good girl for over a year I miss her.
Fly4victory Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 What has become of the Gundam game that was coming out the for the X360? Everytime look it up in Google find the same old if and there is nothing in Bandai's website about it.
bandit29 Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 If a cases of borked machines is causing you to avoid buying a 360 then all I can say is, your loss? I mean, the vast majority of people have had no problems with their 360's. Yes my loss of saving a few hundred dollars and saving my time dealing with microsoft customer service A few of my friends and my wife's students have had bad 360s. That's probably around 20, IIRC. That's enough for me not to buy it even though I like alot of the 360's games.
Hoptimus Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 What has become of the Gundam game that was coming out the for the X360? Everytime look it up in Google find the same old if and there is nothing in Bandai's website about it. Same here. It probably got cancelled.
Apollo Leader Posted May 2, 2007 Author Posted May 2, 2007 Same here. It probably got cancelled. Gamestop has it listed as coming out in October. I know a few months ago, Bandai in Japan had announced that the Japanese version of the game had been moved back to later this year. After all the bad press the first Gundam game for the PS3 got, I think they decided to make sure that the 360 game was the best it could be... I hope!
Chowser Posted May 2, 2007 Posted May 2, 2007 My 360 was made in 02/06, I only get the red rings of death after playing Dead Rising for over 2 hours. I can sit and play Gears of War or Halo 2 for 6+ hours straight and have no problems.
Gaijin Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 My 360 was made in 02/06, I only get the red rings of death after playing Dead Rising for over 2 hours. I can sit and play Gears of War or Halo 2 for 6+ hours straight and have no problems. That doesn't bother you? IF any of my consoles crapped out after 2 hours I'd say it was unfit.
Fort Max Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 How can the flaws be game specific, the machine defies sense.
Chowser Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 Oh it bothered me big time, but I sold the 360 to my brother a while back, so I'll get a new Elite around November. I'll play it when I'm at his house and it's still doing the same thing. I still have MS extended warranty through Feb. 08, so I'm sure around November, my brother is going to need it repaired.
Poonman Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 at the end of the day despite whatever "risks" there might be with playing and owning a 360 I'd still own one over a PS3 because there is ZERO games for that thing. and the controller sucks too.
Apollo Leader Posted May 3, 2007 Author Posted May 3, 2007 Show me a sign of Beta! More Halo 3 Beta footage leaked.
GutsAndCasca Posted May 3, 2007 Posted May 3, 2007 Yes my loss of saving a few hundred dollars and saving my time dealing with microsoft customer service A few of my friends and my wife's students have had bad 360s. That's probably around 20, IIRC. That's enough for me not to buy it even though I like alot of the 360's games. My 360 broke down real fast. My nephew's friend's 360 broke down (not sure how long he had his) and he "claims" that more kids at his school have had breakdowns. A coworker of my wife's had his 360 break down about a week ago. The funny thing is that personally, I don't know many (or of many) people who own 360s. But everyone I do know has had them go out. When mine died I sold it on ebay with all the accessories for a LOT less than I paid for it. I kind of regret it, because I see all of the sudden a bunch of nice games coming exclusively to the 360. But then I think of my hassle, and about all the word-of-mouth horror stories like mine and I'm just happy to be rid of the thing. Note: Sony didn't pay me money (though I wish they'd have) to post this. I don't believe that Sony paid off anyone I know to go around spreading tales of xbox doom. I don't believe that Sony has organized some massive secret campaign to make everyone be afraid of buying a 360; Microsoft has done that on their own - and paid for it themselves too!
Fly4victory Posted May 4, 2007 Posted May 4, 2007 Thanks for the info. Was worried it fell by the way side with the ring of death killing off X-boxs. Gamestop has it listed as coming out in October. ... I hope!
Mechafan Posted May 4, 2007 Posted May 4, 2007 Show me a sign of Beta! More Halo 3 Beta footage leaked. Darn video removed.
Apollo Leader Posted May 9, 2007 Author Posted May 9, 2007 A few things from over night: 1) New OS update for the 360... new features include the Marketplace having it's own slide/pane, being able to identify what game is in your system without having to take it out or play it, achievements actually being ID'd when you earn them, and so on. 2) Double Dragon! Both the original and HD versions. The 360 version of Rush'n Attack is suppose to be out in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to that. It's the arcade version so the flame thrower should be there.
BruinValk Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 My 360 was made in 02/06, I only get the red rings of death after playing Dead Rising for over 2 hours. I can sit and play Gears of War or Halo 2 for 6+ hours straight and have no problems. My X-box 360 got the red rings of death after playing Guitar Heroes II. Had the X-box since December. Apparently, there are rumors on the net that there are compatibility issues with GHII and the 360 but who knows...hopefully, I get the thing back before the Halo 3 beta is released. I still recommend the 360 for anyone interested but I would definitely pay for the extended warranty. I think it is just a matter of time before the 360 "bricks" on you.
bandit29 Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 I still recommend the 360 for anyone interested but I would definitely pay for the extended warranty. I think it is just a matter of time before the 360 "bricks" on you. So you recommend wasting my time and money? Even Peter Moore skates around the issue. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159284
BruinValk Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 So you recommend wasting my time and money? Even Peter Moore skates around the issue. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159284 Dude - I don't recommend anything to you personally, I don't know you, care to know you or care what you do with your money! If this is in reference to some flame you have on this board...I don't care, I didn't read the other statements. The 360 is a fun machine, there are issues with it, and getting an extended warranty may eliminates one of the biggest issues (crashing). Everything is a cost/benefit analysis, you do what you want with your money. Just providing info to the masses...not to you personally (read above how I much I don't care about you...and my guess, with that attitude, no one really does)
bandit29 Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 Dude - I don't recommend anything to you personally, I don't know you, care to know you or care what you do with your money! If this is in reference to some flame you have on this board...I don't care, I didn't read the other statements. The 360 is a fun machine, there are issues with it, and getting an extended warranty may eliminates one of the biggest issues (crashing). Everything is a cost/benefit analysis, you do what you want with your money. Just providing info to the masses...not to you personally (read above how I much I don't care about you...and my guess, with that attitude, no one really does) Such babies around here. I'm happily married, douchebag.
JsARCLIGHT Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 Well it finally happened this past weekend... I finally saw my first "red ring of death" doomed Xbox 360. luckily it wasn't mine! Saw it in a demo unit at the local Best Buy. Three red blinking rings, blank screen on the TV... dead as far as I could tell. I tried resetting it with the remote but it would just restart then come up blinking. Now that I've seen it, I know what to look for. So far this is the only "blown" 360 I have ever encountered in person so to me this is unusual.
yellowlightman Posted May 9, 2007 Posted May 9, 2007 So you recommend wasting my time and money? Even Peter Moore skates around the issue. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159284 Stop trolling the thread, loser. If you don't want to buy one then get over it.
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