Xbox 360 is a piece of junk. If you're on the fence about getting one, don't...

[TheMarvell]

I hate Xbox 360. I hate Microsoft. Yeah, I'm about to go on a griping spree, so if you don't feel like reading about someone complaining, I understand. But I NEED to get some things off of my chest on a forum that isn't completely about gaming or "console war" bullcrap.

Back in September 2007, I decided to buy an Xbox 360. I looked very carefully at all the games I wanted on it vs the ones on PS3, and the 360 won by miles. I then decided to research the hardware. People reported high failure rates, but I figured it was like this with every console. A lot of people complained about PS2's failing, but mine has been strong since 2002, and still works fine. So I thought it was just the vocal minority that had bad ones. What's happening to me, however, is an entirely different scenario. There's no way I can be a vocal minority when I've gone through 4, yes 4, FOUR piles of garbage that is known as the Xbox 360.

My first 360 worked like a charm...for about two months, then the disc drive broke. It stopped reading games entirely. I was annoyed, but I bought a 2 year Best Buy warranty for this very reason. I got my trade in, no problem. And I even got a free game out of it with the holiday bundle of that year. This second console, however, had it's own issues. For whatever reason, I could never get the Audio/Video to transfer to my tv screen until I rebooted the 360 five or six times. It worked, but it was annoying as hell, and I figured it was only a matter of time before it dies. So, after the holiday rush, I took it back to Best Buy and got a third console. This one takes the cake. It Red-Ring-of-Death'ed right out of the god damn box. Un-freaking-believable. I returned to Best Buy the following morning and got my fourth console. This was back in March of 2008.

A year and a half goes by without any problems, and here we are in September of 2009, two years after my initial 360. I'm playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for a couple hours, and then all of a sudden I get these green streaks going vertically across my screen. At first I thought, oh crap, is my TV going out? I quickly turned it to cable, and everything was fine. I thought maybe it was a game glitch, since there are a lot of reported glitches for the game. So I turn it off and wait to play it again the following day. I turn it on and pop in Lego Batman. About 10 minutes into playing, the same green Matrix like lines appear. Now I know it's the console. I think maybe it's the A/V cord screwing up, and I just need a new cord. But after googling it, and posting my issue on GameFAQs, it appears that the issue is that there is long term heat damage done to the consoles graphics card (the error E74 came up). The system is, from what I can gather, fried. And worst of all, the original date on my 2 year warranty was September 13th, 2007. Today is September 20th, 2009. My warranty is expired, unless it "renews" with each replacement console, but I doubt it (I'm still going to Best Buy to at least try though).

I want to kill someone at Microsoft. The failure rate for this system was recently reported as an alarming 54%. It is my FIRM belief that it's much higher than that. Maybe about 85%, if not, 100. Yes, I think every single console they create will eventually die within 5 years. This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've EVER had to deal with in gaming consoles. I've had NES, Genesis, Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, and for a short while, Gamecube and SNES. NONE of them died. NONE OF THEM. How in the holy hell has Microsoft royally screwed up this console that FOUR of the consoles I've had completely broke?!?!?!?! I am SO tempted at this point to just chuck my 360 out over a ledge and sell every single one of my games and pick up a PS3 instead. I love a ton of games for 360, but god damn it, none of them are worth going through this many consoles.

I know Microsoft has their own warranty policy that I could still use. But you know what? Why should I use it when I know they're just going to send me a refurbished, half-assed fixed console? So many people report that the ones they get back from Microsoft are still broken or don't last long. I'm at such a loss. Had I known this was going to happen, I'd never touch a 360 ever. I'm partly tempted to pick up an arcade model for the cheapest price, and just put in the hard drive from my current console, but that's still $200 dollars. God, this is such BULL****!!!!

**** you, Microsoft. Burn in hell.

Thanks for reading. Any suggestions, ideas, or even just sympathy is greatly appreciated.

[GhostMachine]

Sorry to hear you've been having so many problems, but my only suggestion would be to try and sell your games and buy a PS3. Because if you end up having to buy another XBox 360, you'll probably end up with the same problems.

(Saw your comment about your PS2, and it seems to me that Sony really knows how to built quality systems that last; I've had mine probably as long as you've had yours, and the only times I've had problems with it turned out to be the game disks that were the problem, not the actual game system)

I am anti-Microsoft to begin with, as I think they're an illegal monopoly who should be kicked out of everything they have their fingers in aside from the software business.

[AfghanAnt]

I've had mine for a year now and no problems. This is complete bull though. I hope they replace your machine because from what I read it looks like you deserve that much at least.

[Courtnall6]

My Xbox 360 Elite is still going for over 2 years now...my PS3, however, konked out just one month past the one year warranty. I'm still debating on getting my old one repaired or just get the new snazzy PS3 slim.

I do agree though that the failure rate on both systems is ridiculously high (more so on the 360). I know people on their 2nd, 3rd, and 7th 360s. Not too many people I know that have a PS3...mine was the only one to crapped out though.

[Ares_God_of_War]

that sucks about your X-box Mine has been good so far however I went through 3 PS2s. also about the PS3 if you want to play PS2 games you have to find an old one or buy an old one used because the new one doesnt play PS2 games.

[Tortuga]

My first 360 RROD'd but I got the free replacement.  In the meantime, I bought a new one from a store with a ridiculously lax return policy (basically, it doesn't matter how long I've had it, I can return it).

By the way, the Jasper models of the 360s (which came into production late 2008, iirc) have turned out to be quite reliable.

Feel free to send me your games

[JeyNyce]

I love the 360 and I'n playing with my 3 console (the first one RROD, the second, remote wouldn't work with the unit).  If I was in your shoes I would just sell everything and get a PS3 slim.  You'll have game and a blu-ray player.  See if you can get the console fix (for free) and then just sell it.  PM me with a list of your game, I'll take some off your hands. LOL!

[Talavar]

Yeah, the 360 has problems, and Microsoft sucks.  But guess what?  So does the PS3 & Sony: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/09/playstation3_and_the_yellow_li.html

At least Microsoft extended the warranty for RROD errors; Sony has yet to make a similar warranty extension.

[electro]

I've had 1 go out on me - Sent it to Microsoft & they had it back to me in about 2 half weeks - Fairly happy with that & I love the Games lineup & online setup of the 360 - I used to have a PS3 but, The game lineup & online was horrible for the first couple of years - It looks like the PS3 is finally starting to get some good exclusive games like The Last Guardian & GoD of War sequel - Maybe I should not have sold it after all - Either way sorry to hear about your troubles

[TheMarvell]

Well, I went in to Best Buy today. Told the employee the whole story. He said that since the warranty is technically expired, there was nothing he, nor any manager in the store could do to override what their computers will say. They're basically slaves to the computer system. He then gave me the number to their corporate office, and said if you plea with them, there's a fair chance they'll send a voucher for the original price I paid. He also mentioned Microsoft's warranty policy.

So, I called corporate. They wouldn't do anything. All they said was that since the warranty expired, they couldn't do anything, and had I called a week ago they could help me (nooo, really?! no ****, genius!). So then I explained how this was my 4th console that's failed me and how ticked off I am, and all he did was transfer me to Microsoft. Their "help line" is just an automated voice telling me to file the repair via their website. They apparently no longer take repair issues over the phone. I'll try the corporate office of Best Buy again this week, just to see if I can get another employee who will help me out and realize how much bull**** this truly is. I'll even lie if I have to.

So, it looks like I'll be sending it in for now. I'm very ticked off about all of this. I'll try Microsoft, and if something else happens, I'm done. Screw dealing with this bullcrap. I'll be selling my 360 stuff if this doesn't work. And I had tons of fun with all my games on it and was really looking forward to the fall season games. Mass Effect, Halo 3, Gears of War, Lost Oddyssey...easily some of the absolute best this generation. But I can't deal with this. I'd rather try my chances with a PS3 over getting a sixth 360.

[Tortuga]

The thing is, the one you'd get now would be substantially more reliable.

And you can't blame businesses for wanting to make money and protect themselves...it's what they do.  If making money were such a bad thing, wouldn't you be giving away your games for free?

I'll PM you my address so you can send me your games

[captmorgan72]

Hey, I got dibs on his games.

[Ares_God_of_War]

Can I haz ur stuff?

[TheMarvell]

The thing is, the one you'd get now would be substantially more reliable.

And you can't blame businesses for wanting to make money and protect themselves...it's what they do.  If making money were such a bad thing, wouldn't you be giving away your games for free?

I'll PM you my address so you can send me your games

See, when I got my fourth 360, I thought the same thing, because back then, it was all about the new "falcon" chipset. Now the new chipset is called "Jasper". What, exactly, makes this new model any different than the last hunk of junk? As far as I can tell, this newer model hasn't been out long enough for people to know how long it really lasts. If the original lasted for a few months, and falcon a few more, would jasper just fall in line with another few more? I feel like just because it might last longer doesn't make it a good product. Crap that lasts longer is still crap. But I'm probably being extremely cynical, but can you blame me?

as for the business aspect, I don't blame them for protecting themselves. But I also think given the circumstances they could bend. My warranty is only a week expired, and they know I've gone through 4 of these things. Cut me some slack and give me a replacement. If this was the first one that broke I might understand more.

still debating on the games. If I get rid of them, you know I'm gonna want money for 'em 

[UnfluffyBunny]

i'm currently debating the selling of games to bolster my ps3 collection vs buying a 5th 360 after my 4th rrod'd almost a year ago

[JeyNyce]

The thing is, the one you'd get now would be substantially more reliable.

And you can't blame businesses for wanting to make money and protect themselves...it's what they do.  If making money were such a bad thing, wouldn't you be giving away your games for free?

I'll PM you my address so you can send me your games

See, when I got my fourth 360, I thought the same thing, because back then, it was all about the new "falcon" chipset. Now the new chipset is called "Jasper". What, exactly, makes this new model any different than the last hunk of junk? As far as I can tell, this newer model hasn't been out long enough for people to know how long it really lasts. If the original lasted for a few months, and falcon a few more, would jasper just fall in line with another few more? I feel like just because it might last longer doesn't make it a good product. Crap that lasts longer is still crap. But I'm probably being extremely cynical, but can you blame me?

as for the business aspect, I don't blame them for protecting themselves. But I also think given the circumstances they could bend. My warranty is only a week expired, and they know I've gone through 4 of these things. Cut me some slack and give me a replacement. If this was the first one that broke I might understand more.

still debating on the games. If I get rid of them, you know I'm gonna want money for 'em 

If you want to get another xbox, here's something you can try:

Call the xbox help line (800) 4my-xbox

talk to the person and explain your situation.  You have to be nice, talking like you're going to kill someone will not work here. Tell them that you had 3 failed consoles and that you need this one fix or replace.  If that doesn't work, then speak to their manager.  Tell the manager the same thing.  If that doesn't work, NOW you can start getting heated and start complaining.  You can even say something like you are going to report them to BBB or blog about this (That line worked for me a few times  ). 

Good Luck and I hope that helps some or at least put a smile on your face

[Tortuga]

See, when I got my fourth 360, I thought the same thing, because back then, it was all about the new "falcon" chipset. Now the new chipset is called "Jasper". What, exactly, makes this new model any different than the last hunk of junk?

Without having the info in front of me, it's something to do with the smaller power source that leads to less overheating.

[marhawkman]

I got my gamecube second hand and I've had it over 5 years and it still works great.  I have a friend who has the original PS1 and plays Panzer General on it obsessively. Both systems are AWESOME!  Failbox 360 needs to be sent back to the design board.

[daerdevil]

I got my gamecube second hand and I've had it over 5 years and it still works great.  I have a friend who has the original PS1 and plays Panzer General on it obsessively. Both systems are AWESOME!  Failbox 360 needs to be sent back to the design board.

Playing Panzer General on the PS1, now that's classic!  I wish I still had my PS2 around, so I could play some of those PS1 games (I'm still convinced that's the best console I've ever owned--first DVD player too).  I skipped the PS3 because of the horrible backwards compatibility support.  Of course, MicroScam pretty much scrapped their BC support the very month that I bought a 360.  My 360, knock on wood, is 2 years old without a single problem.  If I had to do it over again, I'd pick up the PS3, just so I might play online.  I refuse to pay extra for multiplayer (especially since M$ seems to be focused on spending that money on adding crap features like Avatars and Facebook).  Good luck on the replacement.  Fairly inexcusable that these things still have problems.

[TheMarvell]

well, Microsoft has redeemed themselves to an extent. I was expecting a half-assed refurbished one coming back to me, but instead I got what appears to be a brand new model that was manufactured in May 2009 (so I'm assuming that's the Jasper model, correct?). Not only that, but they gave me a free 1 month subscription card to X-Box Live (a small perk, but still) and it came back surprisingly fast : within a week and a half. Almost everything that I've heard online about sending it in was not true with my experience, which is shocking. We'll see how long this console lasts (lucky number 5? we'll see). Don't worry, if it breaks again, you'll know, lol.

[Trelau]

I skipped the PS3 because of the horrible backwards compatibility support.

Wait...does this mean the PS3 has backward compatibility? (even a crappy one?) I didn't even bother to look at the PS3 when i knew (well i though i knew) that i couldn't play any of my PS1 and PS2 games on it. Was i wrong? can you actually play with your old games on the PS3?

[jtharris86]

I skipped the PS3 because of the horrible backwards compatibility support.

Wait...does this mean the PS3 has backward compatibility? (even a crappy one?) I didn't even bother to look at the PS3 when i knew (well i though i knew) that i couldn't play any of my PS1 and PS2 games on it. Was i wrong? can you actually play with your old games on the PS3?

It's possible. I mean I have the 80gig PS3 and I play my original playstation games and ps2 games when when I want to re-live the moments lol. As long as your have the right model you should be able to play them.

[electro]

Glad you got it back Marvell

[Trelau]

I mean I have the 80gig PS3 and I play my original playstation games and ps2 games when when I want to re-live the moments lol. As long as your have the right model you should be able to play them.

Aaaaah. I knew there was a catch, i remember it now. The 80 gig PS3 sold out in the first month in europe, then sony decided that it would sold better with a lower price (and a crappier console). so now we can only buy 60 gig ps3 with no backward compatibility. That's why i though it hadn't any at all, it just hadn't any in europe...
I'd have to check if the PS3 "slim" has backward compatibility. now that would be awesome. a lower price, less energy consuming, smaller and backward compatibilty...that i would buy...

[daerdevil]

Good news Marvell!  I hear RRoD skips multiples of 5 and 11.

Sony decided to pull the plug on backwards compatibility, so I'm doubting the slim has it.  Too bad really, because that might sway me to jump ship as M$ keeps ticking me off.  I just had an incident where my 2 year old was hitting random buttons on the controller, and apparently rented a movie.  Spent 43 minutes on the phone with customer support, being asked to hold while they checked on something, only to be told "sorry, we can't give you a refund".  A simple "No, we won't give back points for any reason" would have sufficed 15 minutes into the call.  In the end I've got too much invested in the 360 to realistically switch (hundreds of dollars in Rock Band related paraphernalia). 

[JeyNyce]

Congrads Marvell!

[BWPS]

I mean I have the 80gig PS3 and I play my original playstation games and ps2 games when when I want to re-live the moments lol. As long as your have the right model you should be able to play them.

Aaaaah. I knew there was a catch, i remember it now. The 80 gig PS3 sold out in the first month in europe, then sony decided that it would sold better with a lower price (and a crappier console). so now we can only buy 60 gig ps3 with no backward compatibility. That's why i though it hadn't any at all, it just hadn't any in europe...
I'd have to check if the PS3 "slim" has backward compatibility. now that would be awesome. a lower price, less energy consuming, smaller and backward compatibilty...that i would buy...

Hmm, that's backwardish. The 60 gig console was backwards compatible, and the newer one (the standard before the new 120gig slim came out) is the 80 gig which can sometimes maybe play some PS1 games, but not PS2 games. That's is the one I have.

[Tortuga]

I'd have to check if the PS3 "slim" has backward compatibility. now that would be awesome. a lower price, less energy consuming, smaller and backward compatibilty...that i would buy...

I was talking to a fellow teacher last night who had recently bought a P3S slim and he says it is backward compatible.

[TheMarvell]

I'm pretty positive the PS3 is no longer backwards compatible. Both Sony and Microsoft stopped supporting it, realizing that most people buy the newer systems to play the newer games. One of the reasons why the PS3 got cheaper is because of this. Xbox still has some backwards compatibility, but it's quite limited, and only available via emulation software you automatically download when popping in an xbox game into the 360. But they're no longer adding games to the BC list.

From a business standpoint, what they're doing makes sense, but it sucks for those who want to save money by trading in their old system for a new one, and still have the ability to play older games.

[JeyNyce]

Xbox is backward compatible with some games not they are letting you buy them and download them to your drive.  The PS3 is only compatible with PS2 games.  When it first came out you could play PS1 & PS2 games on them, but they stopped that when the second versions came out.