My Xbox360 Drama

[Morfiend]

So, as some of you might know from the Just Cause thread. My Xbox 360 died recently. After about 5 minutes of playing a game my fps would start dropping in after about 45 seconds I would have 0 fps and the system would be frozen. At first this was only Just Cause, but after about a day it started happening to Saints Row and then my other games. After about 12 hours, I could no longer even boot a game, and the whole xbox would just freeze up during the games intro.

I ended up taking my xbox back to Target, where it was still under the 90 day warrenty. They gave me a brand new system, and I was happy. Got it home, and opened it up, and it had a big crack in the faceplate, and even when I took the faceplate off, the inside had a bunch of cracks in it. So I took that one back. They gave me another new system.

So, now I have my 3rd xbox360. Its nice and new, with no cracks. But I have frozen twice while playing Saints Row today. but this time it didnt freeze the screen. It went to a black screan with a bunch of fractaled graphics on it. Then the second time it happened, it looked like the Matrix code running on my screen, but horizontaly not vertically.

Looking online, it seems lately a lot of poeple are having problems with their xbox360s dying. Some people have had as many as 6 systems. Now I love my xbox, but its pissing me off. Anyone else have any problems?

Also, I wanted to note, my system is in a very well ventelated area, and there is no major heat source close to it. Also it is sitting flat not verticle.

[schild]

Keep. Getting. It. Replaced. Abuse those return policies.

[Merusk]

Hm.. and here I'd been starting to think about picking-up a 360 in the next 6 months because Sony's falling on their face this gen.  Guess I'll stick with the original plan of waiting for a price drop and give MS a little more bug-workout time.

[Brolan]

We have had one since late December '05 and aside from the disk scratching problem, no issues. 

It's only frozen up twice during many hundreds of hours of heavy gameplay.

[schild]

Mine froze only twice. Both times before the DOA patch (which was a week after release).

[squirrel]

I've had one since Feb. 06 and the only issue i had was a heat related one. During summer when we had 30+ degree heat and no A/C the console wouldn't play Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Everything else ran fine for hours but NfSMW crashed 100% within 5 minutes. Once temperatures dropped it started playing again. Not hugely confidence inspiring but pretty minimal issue for the 1st build of the machine. Now I know to keep it well ventilated and cooled in my new house.

I've also heard MS is pretty much in no ask/no tell mode with returns right now. They'll just swap it out without any real issue as they're sensitive to criticism on reliability - or so i've heard.

[WindupAtheist]

This makes miss SNES/N64 "hit it with a hammer and it will probably still work" construction.

[Strazos]

That N64 was a goddamn Tank.

[schild]

Only problem with the N64 was even when it worked no one wanted to play it.

[Big Gulp]

Only problem with the N64 was even when it worked no one wanted to play it.

My roommate's old bhong and copy of Mario Kart disagree with you.

A room full of high-on's swapping controllers around is a blast.

[sinij]

This whole situation with X360/PS3 clusterfuck is funny to me. A while ago a lot of pro-consol people argued that their way is superior arguing that there are no hardware conflicts, games don't require patching and always work with hardware you have, and Nintendo/PS1/whatever being specialized device will always be superior to general-purpose PCs.

Well none of it is true for any of this generation. Patching and bugged releases is as common as on PCs, hardware issues are very common and all you have is overpriced limited-by-design computing device that locks you into narrow set of exclusive titles. You also can’t replace or upgrade failed components and end up repurchasing the same obsolete crap multiple times during its run.

Welcome back to PC gaming.

[Riggswolfe]

I must be lucky. I've had my 360 since Feb. and no problems. This in a neighborhood with frequent brownouts that causes all kinds of fun with my electronics. (I keep buying UPS and they keep dying on me.)

[Sky]

Only problem with the N64 was even when it worked no one wanted to play it.

My roommate's old bhong and copy of Mario Kart disagree with you.

A room full of high-on's swapping controllers around is a blast.

Our old Goldeneye group also disagrees with you. From running a game on my buddy's old crt bigscreen (bought just for goldeneye) at a party to running local tournaments. Good times. I even owned a controller though I never had an N64.

There may have been a bong involved there, too.

[OcellotJenkins]

Oh hell yeah, my friends racked up many many hours playing Crack Kart and one of the wrestling games.  And yes, bongs were definitely involved.

[murdoc]

I've had one since Feb. 06 and the only issue i had was a heat related one. During summer when we had 30+ degree heat and no A/C the console wouldn't play Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Everything else ran fine for hours but NfSMW crashed 100% within 5 minutes. Once temperatures dropped it started playing again. Not hugely confidence inspiring but pretty minimal issue for the 1st build of the machine. Now I know to keep it well ventilated and cooled in my new house.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted, is the only game I've played that caused my console to lock up. I've moved my 360 out into the open, so it shouldn't ever overheat, so I'll have to fire up NfsMW again and see if I have the same issues.

[MisterNoisy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16874300004

$15-20, works whether your 360 is horizontal or vertical, and plugs in-line with the power cord, so it turns on and off automatically and does a bang-up job of keeping the bugger cool.  A bit noisier than running the 360 by itself, and the noise is of a higher pitch than the stock system's fans, but imo it's worth it to keep your $3-400 box from going China Syndrome on you.

[Strazos]

What's sad is that something like this is actually neccessary.

[NiX]

What's sad is that something like this is actually neccessary.

No it's not. When I worked at EB we had a launch 360 running 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. It never locked up. Neither of my 360s or my friends have locked up either. It's hit or miss with the 360 and really depends on how you have it placed.

[Morfiend]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16874300004

$15-20, works whether your 360 is horizontal or vertical, and plugs in-line with the power cord, so it turns on and off automatically and does a bang-up job of keeping the bugger cool.  A bit noisier than running the 360 by itself, and the noise is of a higher pitch than the stock system's fans, but imo it's worth it to keep your $3-400 box from going China Syndrome on you.

I have one of these, and I found out from the Xbox phone support that using the Intercooler voids your Xbox warranty. Good thing "I havent installed mine yet".

[Ookii]

Only problem with the N64 was even when it worked no one wanted to play it.

Schild hates the N64 with a passion for some odd reason, maybe it touched him in a odd place.  I guess he thinks everyone agrees with him, since he generally does that with any opinion.

Our 360 used to crash every once and awhile (not DOA related) until with stuck it (along with the power supply) on a overturned wireframe box.  It's run great ever since.

[MisterNoisy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16874300004

$15-20, works whether your 360 is horizontal or vertical, and plugs in-line with the power cord, so it turns on and off automatically and does a bang-up job of keeping the bugger cool.  A bit noisier than running the 360 by itself, and the noise is of a higher pitch than the stock system's fans, but imo it's worth it to keep your $3-400 box from going China Syndrome on you.

I have one of these, and I found out from the Xbox phone support that using the Intercooler voids your Xbox warranty. Good thing "I havent installed mine yet".

As long as you don't mind fibbing in the event a warranty claim came up, I'd recommend it - it clips on and off easily and it keeps my 360's external surfaces at a temperature only slightly higher than ambient, which was a huge change for my 360.  Why MS refuses to certify it as an 'authorized' accessory I have no clue - I guess it's a refusal to admit that the built-in cooling solution is less than optimal.

Edit:  Heh - just caught your quotes.  :P

[schild]

Only problem with the N64 was even when it worked no one wanted to play it.

Schild hates the N64 with a passion for some odd reason, maybe it touched him in a odd place. I guess he thinks everyone agrees with him, since he generally does that with any opinion.

Our 360 used to crash every once and awhile (not DOA related) until with stuck it (along with the power supply) on a overturned wireframe box. It's run great ever since.

Durrr, we stuck it on a wireframe box the day we got it.

[SurfD]

This whole situation with X360/PS3 clusterfuck is funny to me. A while ago a lot of pro-consol people argued that their way is superior arguing that there are no hardware conflicts, games don't require patching and always work with hardware you have, and Nintendo/PS1/whatever being specialized device will always be superior to general-purpose PCs.

Well none of it is true for any of this generation. Patching and bugged releases is as common as on PCs, hardware issues are very common and all you have is overpriced limited-by-design computing device that locks you into narrow set of exclusive titles. You also can’t replace or upgrade failed components and end up repurchasing the same obsolete crap multiple times during its run.

Welcome back to PC gaming.

Now, I may be missing something with the PS3, but every single one of those problems you listed (with the exception of the failed component replacement thing) can be tracked back to a single source:  the XBOX is not a console.

PS2: Console
Game Cube: console
Wii: Console
PS3: Pretty sure it is still a console
XBOX / XBOX 360:  Poorly designed windows PC in a cute looking console like case.

Here is a tip.  If your "console" has an operating system, chances are, it isnt really a console.

[HaemishM]

Actually, all consoles have an operating system, since that's just the frame your software runs on. Also, the PS2 first-gen hardware had SERIOUS problems with DVD drives just dying, and there were even games that wouldn't work on first-gen hardware that were released many years after launch.

But for the most part, consoles have less compatibility issues than PC's. Like about 50 billion times less.

[SurfD]

I dont know Haem.  From what i recall of Console emulation, most consoles have a BIOS, which while technically an OS, is pretty barebones (like you said, its mostly a skeleton framework for your games to run on, and perhaps includes a basic media player and memory card manager).  The XBOX line however, runs on what amounts to a stripped down version of fucking windows.  I mean, come on.

[HaemishM]

The 360 does not use typical PC CPU's, unlike the first X-Box. The OS is indeed another version of Windows, but the hardware is not typical PC architecture. Isn't it a Motorola chip?

[Morfiend]

So after the third freeze last night on my new console, I went puttering around in the settings trying to figure out the date mine was made. No luck there, but I did notice the time was wrong. Straingely enough thats one of the first questions the Xbox support always asks. "Is your time and date correct". I reset my time and date, and then played Saints Row for about 6 hours with out a single freeze.

[Sky]

But for the most part, consoles have less compatibility issues than PC's. Like about 50 billion times less.

ATI or Nvidia. EAX or not.

That's pretty much the gamut of game compatibility in modern windows.

[schild]

That's funny, I remember early PS2s having more problems than Germany, circa 1942.

[SurfD]

But for the most part, consoles have less compatibility issues than PC's. Like about 50 billion times less.

ATI or Nvidia. EAX or not.

That's pretty much the gamut of game compatibility in modern windows.

While somewhat true Sky, you are overlooking the "does my video card get along with my motherboard","is my ram a timebomb just waiting to go off when i run that memory intensive game", "did the latest drivers break half my games", "does that new soundcard conflict with my video card", and on and on problems that PC users can suffer.  Consoles have the advantage of being standardized platforms.  Anything that runs on my PS2 damn well better run exactly the same way on my friends, or on that total strangers on the other side of the country. 

I mean, just look at the wierd bugs they patch in ATI drivers every cycle.  I can remember a time when every other ATI card model had a different bug in World of Warcraft, from one model not rendering certain textures to other models crashing you to desktop every time you looked in a certain direction in a specific zone.

[Azazel]

That's funny, I remember early PS2s having more problems than Germany, circa 1942.

That's why my personal answer since PS/Saturn has been "wait at least a year". Given what I'm reading about the 360, it's a wise philosophy that holds it's value. I have neither the room nor the inclination to place a wireframe box in the middle of my lounge room for a badly-designed console, regardless of it's manufacturer.

As for the N64 - damn. Goldeneye SP and MP, the WCW/nWo game, and WWF No Mercy. Oh, and Rogue Squadron. good times, good times..

[Brolan]

... I have neither the room nor the inclination to place a wireframe box in the middle of my lounge room for a badly-designed console, regardless of it's manufacturer.

...

That's too bad because when you have the Call of Duty 2 in the 360 and it's driving a multimedia projector and Dolby Digital receiver with 7 speakers, it's like, damn, I'm in a fucking war...

[Azazel]

I'm sure it looks and sounds awesome, but I can't get into console FPS controls.
Besides, I'm sure that within a year or two at tops, the 360 will be stable and far less likely to spontaneously combust. And have explosion-fodder even better than CoD2 which will hopefully be budget-priced by then.

[squirrel]

I'm sure it looks and sounds awesome, but I can't get into console FPS controls.
Besides, I'm sure that within a year or two at tops, the 360 will be stable and far less likely to spontaneously combust. And have explosion-fodder even better than CoD2 which will hopefully be budget-priced by then.

Well it's certainly not exclusive to the xbox, i have my pc hooked up to my tv and receiver as well, but i will say that certain games - any driving game (PGR2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted) and sports games (FIFA World Cup, Tiger Woods 2006, etc) are pretty fucking awesome in HD resolution with a kicking sound system. Same goes for PC games though - I play BF2 and CoD2 on the PC on my HDTV and surround sound and they're just as awesome. But it's faster and easier to get going on the xbox.

[Azazel]

Oh I believe you. Though I don't have a HD-TV, and won't likely upgrade till the government here gets their shit together re: Digital TV, I will no doubt own a 360 within the next few years. I'll just wait till the second or third hardware revision when they've finally got their shit together.

I have mounds of PC/PS2/XBox/GC/etc games to play in the meantime still.