f13.net

So my 360 - which I've never had an issue with - went tits up tonite. I tried to play some Fight Night 3 and it started freezing on the game menus or in game. I tried many titles - including a wrapped copy of Viva Pinata - all had the same problem and it seemed to get increasingly worse as time went on. About 10 minutes later, it started producing the red eye of death on every 3rd or 4th boot attempt. Removing the HD and putting it on a cold windowsill had no effect. It is now red ringing on 9/10 boot attempts. When it does boot it crashes on the splash screen or on the dashboard.

Apparently others are having this issue and some blame the recent update. (http://forums.xbox.com/9542510/ShowPost.aspx)

I believe I'm still within a year although it's tight as i got it in Jan. 06.

I must be lucky, I haven't had any freeze ups yet. I can't remember if I downloaded this update though, my XBOX live was off for most of the weekend and so I might not have.

Hey, you just helped me save $400 again.

Call 'em right fucking now.  Don't delay.

Yeah I called em. I realized that it's about 10 days past when I purchased it last year as I had to renew my Live membership last week which I did a couple days after I bought it. Didn't seem to matter though - they didn't even ask when it was purchased. After I described the symptoms and the troubleshooting I'd done and gave them the serial number the support rep just said "yup ok we'll fix it."

Since I'm in Canada I have to ship it to Ontario for a replacement, despite being in Vancouver which is 2 hours north of redmond. The upside though is that they aren't going to repair it, they're just going to send back a new one.

Given the hold time (1/2 hour+) and the fact that they didn't hesitate to replace it at no cost I'm wondering if this is something that's happening to more than the normal small amount of hardware failures.

EDIT: Yeah Yegolev - I like the 360 a lot for what it can do but I dislike it and the PS3 for the complexity they introduce to the console market. I hate fucking around with my many computers, particularly when it's to do something that should be a no-brainer (usually gaming or media related.) One of the major attractions of consoles for me is the standardization, lack of maintenance and reliability. If that starts to get eroded I have to begin to question any advantage over PC gaming they might have.

I expect home/consumer electronics (my cable box, TV, receiver, speakers, subwoofer, etc.) to have a minimum lifespan of 3 years - expected lifespan of 5 years and require no maintenance or intervention. Consoles need to match that if they want a widespread living room presence, particularly with the HDDVD/BRay media center stuff.

Yeah, that's about the same experience I had, which is kind of amusing after all the receipt anguish I went through.  Still, I called them last Wednesday and I have yet to receive the box they're supposed to be sending me.  I'll wait a couple more days before calling them back to confirm it's actually been sent.

I'm starting to get Gears of War withdrawal, and it's not a pretty picture.

Heh. Yeah I was livid last night - I'd had a few drinks and was jonseing for some Fight Night 3. Funny thing is I'm not a boxing fan at all - but after some folks here said how good this was I bought it a couple weeks ago and am totally hooked. Now I'm really pissed cause the fight it started crashing on was my career fight against Oscar De La Hoya - one of the few boxers I know anything about. And I just started a Viva Pinata garden. And am on my first GoW co-op run through. And those terrorists aren't going to leave Vegas without some convincing.

Fuck.

Question for those of you who have replaced your 360 - what do you do about the data? Do you just deal with losing all those save files, or were you able to put them on a memory card?

Not sure I qualify as I haven't yet got mine back but they said not to send the HD or any other items (power supply, controllers, video cable) so I assume I won't have to worry about data as I still have the HD.

Oh, that's nice...if the HDD isn't the problem (which I would assume they figured out before they had you send the system out).

Yeah the support guy seemed pretty confident it wasn't the HDD as am I. The problem persisted with the HD disconnected and wasn't any worse or better with it attached so...

Also, I feel for your yearning to play some Fight Night 3. I've never owned a boxing game, and never really followed the sport, but...the damn 360 demos have HOOKED me.

When I eventually get a 360, the first games I buy will be NHL 2k(whatever is the newest), Fight Night Round 3, and Rainbow 6: Las Vegas.

Im currently on my 6th 360. Great console, except for the dying part.  :-D

*blinks* Do you use yours for target shooting? Leave it in a nuclear plant? What the hell?

Wow. That's a record afaik. I know people on their 2nd console, 1 person on his 3rd but 6?

Well, first one lasted 2.5 months, and then started freezing a few times, then the freezing got more and more common, until I could no longer even boot a game. I returned it to target, and since it was under 3 months they gave me a brand new one. Got that one home, and the box was a little damaged, opened it up, and the front half of the console was all cracked and dented, so I took it back right away and got another new one. Got that one home and it lasted 5 days, before it froze with the "red ring of death" that means hardware failure. Took it back. Got another new one. And thats the one Im currently on. I did notice that this current one gets worse frameratres than any of the others, so im planning on taking this one back soon also.
I think the first few ones I got where all from the same shipment, so they all had defects in them.

I guess that means im on my 5th, not 6th. My bad. Anyway, Target has a no questions asked return policy as long as it is within 3 months.

Well, woke up a half hour ago, swung open my front door, and lo & behold, there was my empty box to ship this thing back.  Got it all packaged, label affixed, and I'll just swing by the UPS store on my way home from work tomorrow morning.  Does anyone know the average turn around time from getting the box into UPS' hands until you finally can play games again?

Under a week is what I'm hearing. But, it varies on the amount they have being sent in at the time.

I'm on my second. Recently, my launch day one red-ringed. Didn't matter as I was going to use my service plan that week. How did it die? I wanted to play DOAX2. Was jonesing some volleyball. I suppose I deserved it. As soon as I said, no, I don't want to download the DOAX2 update (as I don't bother with it online and only play volleyball and waverace), the thing decided to conk out. Meh, whatever. I've now had a total of two consoles break on me and one of them was my fault.

It's just something I can't seem to care about. Breaks? Either use a service plan or abuse some policy somewhere. Mine will "break" again when a revision for the 360 comes out or very strong rumors of a price drop start to appear. Nothing better than getting some store credit on a console exchange. Though, I suppose, that requires a certain amount of friendship between you and a store.

NOT A TROLL

I'm really surprised of the lack of horror stories for the PS3 so far (operational ones at least). Considering it's hardware is as complex as the 360, and Sony's bad history with both of the previous Playstations, you'd think there'd be wailing and gnashing of teeth by now. This might be the biggest shining point of it's launch.

* Fingers crossed * -- I really don't have time for this kind of shit.

Thats a really good point Stray/ I was expecting a lot of hardware problem stories. I havent heard a a single one yet. Good on you Sony.

Ironically, ton of horror stories about in store PS3 models. To say the least, what they shipped it in was inadequate.

Agreed. I still have not personally seen a demo unit that works as intended; they all seem to be somewhat broken one way or another.

That's because they slammed up against metal while shipping. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

No one can destroy the Metal! (http://youtube.com/watch?v=aC6CPwu0I44)

Stupid NBC lawyers took down the good SNL version.

The PS3 is a great machine, aside from a couple design flaws, one of which doesn't seem to affect everyone.  Too bad the controller sucks.  Should be called the Suxaxus.  Also needs more than just a WWII FPS game.

I am very sure that it isn't going to die on me because I actually bought a service plan this time.

What's wrong with the controller? Isn't it just a Dual Shock with redesigned shoulder buttons?

I like the sixaxis. Nowhere near as much as the 360's controller though.

Yeah, I don't own a PS3 but I have had about 20 hours on one and the controller is nowhere near as bad as some people make it out to be. Way better than the original Xbox (and even the original PS2 one for my hands). But the 360 controller is by far my favourite, I can play for hours and hours and never have a problem, it just fits my hand really well.

Update - the deadBox is off to Ontario and replacement is expected by wed/thurs next week. Not too bad. No real cost to me other than $19 shipping one way. Meh.

The PS3 doesn't have rumble. I think that's the main reason people complain.

To be honest, I miss it. Otherwise, it's just a slightly updated PS2 controller. I don't mind it much.

Some people bitch about having to recharge it as well, but I think they're being unfair. It doesn't take a long time, and it can last for days (days of gaming time, that is). You can still play while it's being recharged (via any generic USB cable), and it's not any worse than than a 360 Wireless (which uses batteries).

Yeah, I can't see griping about that, it's the same situation with the 360.  I can understand people not liking the controller because it has zero heft to it.  It feels flimsy and really, really breakable.  Now it may not be, but all the same it just feels cheap to me.

I don't mind the 'feel' of it - ie. it doesn't feel like i'm going to break it. I do agree it needs more 'presence' or heft. The 360 controller has that just right. I didn't really miss the rumble much, but then I wasn't playing games in which I'd notice it really - Resistance primarily and I don't need rumble in FPS's that much. I think I'd miss it more in driving games (although I use a rumble wheel now) and I'm sure I'd miss it in something like Oblivion. Actually, while I don't think I'd care if it wasn't in RB6:Vegas, I would notice it's absence in GoW.

That said, if they can leverage the 'sixaxis' stuff beyond gimmick level it might be a worthwhile trade-off. Time will tell I guess.

GoW, and most certainly Fight Night Round 3.  It's friggin' integral to that game.

But otherwise, yeah, I'm not in the chorus of jackasses screaming, "No rumble!1!one!1!eleven1!!  U suk Soney!"

Oh shit yeah - Fight Night 3 for sure heh. Yeah - don't know that it would be the same without that. Good point, damn I love that game...

The Sixaxis doesn't feel the least bit cheap once you lay your hands on the Wiimote and the nunchuck (the nunchuck even moreso, that thing feels like a throwaway piece of shit, it keeps me from WANTING to game on it).

The nunchuk feels a little flimsy, though that could be due to the small size and light weight. but I have zero issues with the Wiimote. It feels solid and even has that nice heft to it.