Tech designed to die

I've never had a problem with my game hardwear but they dont need to make that break... because in 5 years a new system is going to come out and they'll just stop making games for the old system. Its easy to phase consoles.

As far as other tech... ive had my iPod since 2004 and it works fine, but i do think this stuff is not built to last for more than a few years. Look at cellphones. They are practicly disposable. I've had 4 in the past 3 years. I wouldn't call it consperacy... just poor craftsmen ship in a rush to get the newest stuff out the door... isnt capitalism grand.

"Planned obsolesence"... I'm not much a conspiracy theorist, but it doesn't take one to see how MS abuses this with all their OS iterations.

Planned obsolescence has been around since the 1920, and it was also the catalyst for the golden age of Industrial Design during the 30's and 40's. Because of war time material rations manufacturers needed a way to move products without retooling entire factories, and they did this through design.
These days its tech, which is constantly progressing, that ususally leads to a products end of lifecycle.
As an Industrial Designer, I can say that I've never heard of anyone engenerring products to break just to sell more of them as replacements. It would be better to focus on good design to move units, because you end up with happier customers who will be more likely to upgrade with your brand when the time comes.

Ive had problems with my PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 twice( I paid Microsoft $139 plus packing and shipping fees to replace my malfunctioning 360 with a slightly less frequently malfunctioning 360.) I also had problems with a 3 week old Panasonic plasma. All had to go back to the repair center.

2%-3% failure rate my ass.

Just one thing to add... Cell phones seem to be a differnt story because due to most phone companys two year contract set up, the phones are not ment to last longer then those two years. This seems to lead to some really shitty phones, however (case in point) my girlfriend is up for a new phone in a week or so, and I know for a fact she is not getting a motorola because of all the problems shes had with her current phone. So most likey that once shitty model has lost Motorola a customer for life. Now times that by a few million. Just not good business to make crappy products.

I've spent the past decade of my life working at various hardware companies large and small, old and new... And I can promise you that no-one out there intentionally builds products to break. However, sometimes in the interest of profits, and more frequently in the interest of pushing the price down to a point consumers will find it palatable, corners are cut, and sometimes cheaper technologies and/or components are used.

The standards that consumer electronics (specifically, home theater components, televisions, game consoles, mp3 players, etc.) are held to are quite high; but nothing that is what consumers consider "reasonably priced" will contain high-end enough components to withstand the beating that your average user will give a product (especially a portable one like a cell phone or mp3 player) on a daily basis.

And for the record, I bet you have actually had all sorts of gaming hardware break on you; or is all of Joystiq still rocking the controllers that came with your PS2s in 2000? Personally, regardless of console, I find myself replacing controllers every 6-8 months...

I still currently own my launch Dreamcast, launch Xbox, gifted PS2 and Gamecubes from 3-4 years back if not longer, my launch 360, and Wii (though obviously its the baby as far as age goes.) Portable systems, which are generally designed to be more sturdy, I still have my original advance and advance sp. However i have had to replace both my DS Lite and PSP. I generally baby the hell out of my electronics, so things tend to last. Plus i am a firm believer in extended warranties. Despite my success with hardware, i am a realist.

I still have my original monochrome Game Boy and it works great.

I still have my original Atari 2600 and it works great (I have bought replacement joysticks over the years because of decathalon!)

PS1 I had to fix 2 times
PS2 I had to fix 3 times

Palm IIIe still working.

Sony Clie (2 of them) both broken.

SONY...are you getting the freaking picture here?

Yeah, i baby the hell out of my tech as well, especially CDs and DVDs, i was taught to treat those things better than i would treat a small child

i still cringe when i watch my friends handle discs

atari 2600 - gift, 6 months after launch, one of 2 joysticks replaced
atari jaguar - launch, still working (though rarely touched)
intellivision - launch, console works, but # pads dead from over use
colecovision - launch, still 100% functional
nes - 2 (it froze on level 99 on buble bobble & met up with my combat boots)
SNES - launch unit still running strong
N64 - launch, still kicking
gamecube - launch still ass kicking
all nintendo handheld still rocking (b/w GB, GBC, GB avance - all from launch)
ps1 - 3 repairs
ps2 - 4 replacements
xbox - 1 replacement
xb360 - i'm on my 3rd (2 thanks to the october update)

my point being, that the older tech does appear to be more durable. yet, still companies like Nintendo continue to crank out quality hardware year after year (except the ill-fated virtual boy) i hope that they continue this trend, Wake up Sony & MS !! either that or you should include a 1 year warranty with the console for free! not the crappy 30 day warranty's that they both offer. if you buy a console, buy the damn warranty

That doesn't make sense for consoles.

Microsoft and Sony want you to buy games more than consoles; that's where they make their money. They want the consoles to last (even though they don't). This is especially true in the first 1-2 years of a console generation where they lose money on every console sold. It's in their better interest to make a quality product so you'll keep feeding them income via games.

Nintendo makes money off everything, but they make high quality products that generally last a long time. So this theory in relation to gaming consoles is no good.

My experience:

1 bad slot in a NES - I think it was my fault..don't remember...wasn't that 20 years ago? $50 to fix

6 bad PS2 lasers - 3 of those were mine, 2 killed by burned DVDs, the others just wore out prematurely...difficult to fix. Lasers range from $20 - $60, and adjustment is a pain if necessary.

1 bad Xbox laser - killed by a burned DVD...easy fix laser can be changed in 5 minutes, no adjustment needed. $20-30 part

2 failed Xbox 360s (only one is mine)
(don't own PS3 or Wii yet). 1 is under warranty, the other will be $140

Never had a problem with my GB, GBA, DS, SNES, Genesis/SegaCD/32x, PS1, C64, or Lynx.

Speaking of a product's lifespan, am I the only one with the opinion that the PS3's lifespan will be artificially increased because of the enormous price tag. Think about the fact that there will be quite a long time before most of the gaming population has a PS3. Which would create the situation where the PS3 doesn't really exist as a viable gaming option for most people (myself included). This doesn't even take into account the shortage of supply and the inevitable PS3 slim, or whatever then decide to call it, repackaging.

Obviously I mean the lifespan of the product as a whole not as an individual machine.

Most of my systems work fine, my PS2 from early 2001 is still rockin'
my NES as always still has the typical NES issues
my XBOX doesn't like to read CD's, oh well, custom soundtracks aren't that cool anyway
my N64 frequently won't recognize that there is a cartridge in it, but that's what I get for buying it used in 2006
my DSlite works fine, but of course I get that stupid hinge crack

My 360 was burned by the fall update... not only is microsoft planning obsolecense into their machines... they're forcing updates on users that break their 360s and then charging them for the privlidge of having microsoft possibly fix it (i say possibly because the 'fixed' machine in many cases is just as broken as the one sent in... and you're only $140 poorer for the experience).

at least nintendo was up front about issues with the wii updates when they were causing issues... microsoft refuses to admit to any issues with their updates.

gracias MS

At first I thought I had bad luck with electronics, but the sheer number of failures I run into clearly can't be luck. Here's my Nintendo list:

NES - Mailed in for repair because it wouldn't play games
SNES - Video failed to work on my Zenith TV. Repaired.
SNES - Died. I now have the new one.
Gameboy - Repaired. Had columns of dead pixels on each side.
Wii - In repair: video covered with random white and black pixels.
DS Lite - Replaced on day 1 because of dead green pixel in the center of the bottom screen.


Other things:
Microwave: Repaired twice in 2 years
Sony 60" LCD projection - Repaired. Lamp unit failed to start light.
Printers - Replaced numerous ones. They die FAST!


Just this weekend I updated my two year old PC because its DVD writer because unreliable and the internal flash card reader was very buggy. I also replaced the main harddrive with a 250GB Seagate then found that this new drive cannot be booted from. I replaced the drive with another from Best Buy and had the same problem. I thought I was crazy, but it was true. I took it into a local computer shop because *ahem* I'M F****ING SICK OF SPENDING ALL MY TIME TRYING TO GET TECHNOLOGY TO WORK. So I let him deal with it. Got a call back 5 hours later saying that the drive is officially all f***'k up.


Broken and shoddy hardware is the norm. I could go on and on and on with all the s***t I've dealt with like the 4 year old router that died (OK, that's at least a little old but the damn thing just sits there!), to the cell phone that was replaced 3 times because the audio quality is absolute sh*t (still is), to the compact flash chip that up and died (couldn't even reformat the thing), to even the solar powered pond air bubbler that functioned at a crippled state. Basically if I buy it, it will probably need replaced immediately or will die in a few months. I always keep my receipts anymore because of this nonsense.

Literally, I can go on and on with this.

A company that I worked for once told me that all most of them shoot for is 5-7 years.. They said that usually newer, better, more efficiant items are available.. And I think its true.. Many Items do live past this, but in the field I work in now, I see many old (70s era) TVs that work great.. But then many TVs that have just died, have been newer 5-10 years..

AoE hit the nail on the head. We could manufacture TVs or dishwashers that would last for 100 years, but they'd be crazy expensive. It's not planned obsolescence, it's knowing how long the average customer wants to use your product before upgrading, and not designing something to significantly outlast that.

17. Thomas

I'd be happy if electronic devices lasted 5-7 years. That would be unbelievable to me, because in my experience devices are either defective right out of the box or break down within a year of ownership.

The controller is the ONLY thing that still works from my original PS2. I've found that some companies make sturdier machines than other companies.
I have never had a nintendo product brake on me, from my original NES (the original release ones with ROB) to my DS. There's also the famous blasted Gameboy (a still working gameboy, half melted in a missile explosion from Bush Sr's gulf war) which was on display at the nintendo world store for a while.
Sony on the other hand does seem to have the tendency to break as soon as the warranty is up. That's why I usually try and get my Sony products for free. Even the relatively flimsy DS lite has the survivability of a cockroach, compared to the PSP which feels like it might shatter if you get too into the game.
If they didn't have good games, Sony would be a completely lost cause.

I drop my handhelds and step on my consoles oftenly...
Or pulled them from the table/desk/whatever

Atari 2600: all good, 2 controllers
NES: Good, 3 controllers (one advantage) + gun
SNES: Good, 2 controllers
PSOne: Died :/
N64: Good, 4 controllers, replaced 2 controllers (1 is third party D:)
PS2: 2nd... still alive, bit noisy sometimes though, replaced 1 controller
GC: Good, 4 controllers, replaced one controller, too much Goldeneye, I think.

(I drop them all at average 5 times in their lifetimes from about 1,4 meters high, no dead pixels yet)
GB: rattles, but works fine
GBC: Both good
GBA: Good
GB Micro: Good
GBA SP: Both very good.
DS Lite: Both no problems, only light scratches from me dropping them

Wife's SNES still works after being in a closet for untold years, used Dreamcast still works but the VMU's screen is burnt out, oldschool PS2 still works but seems to have a problem getting discs up to speed resulting in longer boot times, Gamecube still works and Wavebird's on it's original batteries... I've never had a dead console. One off-brand PS1 memory card died, I've still got the one I replaced it with.

The answer? Stop sticking your consoles in places with bad airflow, and never stack them above or below other heat-happy electronics!