Robbie Bach: broken Xbox 360s did not affect brand preference
Fun fact: the Xbox 360 hardware issues did not affect customers' overall view of the console. Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Group, told a group of reporters, "The amazing part of that whole situation is that when we look at brand preference, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, none of that data has moved through that whole process" (via VentureBeat).
In case you think you misread that, Bach continues. "It speaks to the fact that they love their games and Xbox Live. Does it frustrate them? Yes. On the other hand, they know we're taking care of them," he said. Bach, who was not part of yesterday's executive reshuffle, covered quite a few topics (and managed to dodge most of them): the next Xbox console, Japan failures, a hinted Wii remote, "Wii 360" and the loss of Bizarre Creations.
In case you think you misread that, Bach continues. "It speaks to the fact that they love their games and Xbox Live. Does it frustrate them? Yes. On the other hand, they know we're taking care of them," he said. Bach, who was not part of yesterday's executive reshuffle, covered quite a few topics (and managed to dodge most of them): the next Xbox console, Japan failures, a hinted Wii remote, "Wii 360" and the loss of Bizarre Creations.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Huey2k2 @ Jun 13th 2008 1:03PM
Yea, I love my 360 and all, but that is total BS.
Tiptup300 @ Jun 13th 2008 8:15PM
I bought my shiny new ps3 since my 360 was continually freezing every time I played it.
SoulBlade @ Jun 13th 2008 1:04PM
Well... he does make sense given that many owners have gone through multiple 360s and still enjoy it. However, there's definitely a contingent that avoided the console (and continues to) because of the stability issues.
Avoli @ Jun 13th 2008 8:15PM
/sign to ending statement
SapphicAlure @ Jun 13th 2008 1:05PM
Everyone loves the sexbox!
Controllers are too big though =[
Dishwasher @ Jun 13th 2008 2:02PM
If the controller is too big your hands are too small.
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 13th 2008 2:24PM
...and we all know what small hands mean.
ChooChooCharlie (MK 0430-8740-2222) @ Jun 13th 2008 2:57PM
small gloves?
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 3:09PM
It's my Sexbox.... and her name is Sony!
SapphicAlure @ Jun 19th 2008 8:19AM
Lol =P I like my small hands and small gloves.
beatboxtaun @ Jun 13th 2008 1:06PM
With 3 red rings of death on one system and 1 on my elite AND having 2 out being repair you'd think I'd hate the system. But, MS, you have me wrapped around your little money dirty finger!
Ninegauger @ Jun 13th 2008 1:06PM
Microsoft made some poor decisions to say the least... but that's better that the outright lies their main competitor tried to push on us.
SoulBlade @ Jun 13th 2008 1:09PM
Like MS saying there wasn't a problem with the product until they had to institute a billion dollar program for repairs?
Dave @ Jun 13th 2008 1:35PM
I'm sorry, what? Do you plan on elaborating on your ridiculous statement?
baby sea tuna @ Jun 13th 2008 2:10PM
4-D gaming comes to mind. As does pretty much everything to come out of Ken Kutaragi's mouth.
Trev @ Jun 13th 2008 3:12PM
There's goofy PR statements, and then there's overheating, fire-starting power bricks, two hardware revisions that still can't stop your system from keeling over dead because you had the audacity to turn it on, and DVD drives that etch rings into game discs.
Better? No.
It's not that I hate the 360, I wouldn't have purchased one if I did, but if I could go back in time and nix the shit hardware in favor of installing someone like Reggie or Kaz at MS, I'd do it. Say dumb things and make me a machine that works, that way I can laugh at you AND play games.
tl;dr comedy > disc-eating housefire deathbox (no, I don't hate it)
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 3:13PM
Yes, those do. But remember when anyone could sell anything over Xbox Live? I do believe Velocity Girl is STILL upset she can't sell her T-Shirts on the marketplace. Considering how hard CheapyD has been fighting to get some CAG gamerpics over Live for free to the community, I think that's been proven a load o rubbish as well.
Not to mention Live Anywhere... (how in the fuck is there NOT a Live app for Windows?)
Kuturugi makes the claims ridiculous and we all have a laugh. Microsoft makes em believable and just never does em.
Mr. Cantu @ Jun 13th 2008 3:23PM
@Sir Fidlious Wong
"Not to mention Live Anywhere... (how in the fuck is there NOT a Live app for Windows?)"
Isn't there? What's Games for Windows LIVE?
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 3:50PM
Games for Windows Live only works from within the Games For Windows apps. When Live Anywhere was announced, they talked about it being anything from a cellphone application to a desktop application that supported cross system messaging. Meaning, how it was SUPPOSED to work is if I'm working in Maya or something, Fenix could send me a message from his Xbox 360. But how it IS is I would have to be into a game application for myself to show up as online.
Basically, Microsoft was in the perfect position to standardize and crossplatform Windows with 360 and it seems like they've done everything in their power to counter that cause. The only good thing to come from the Games for Windows/Live Anywhere initiative, I think, is the fact that my 360 controller works with several shooters on PC now and finally console ports to PC make SOME sense...
DoctorWho @ Jun 13th 2008 1:09PM
Do I personally think the 360 is a more polished gaming machine? YES. Does my recent RROD affect my brand preference? YES.
I've been a dual platform owner for a while now, but 2 RROD consoles have left me scared to even turn the system on. With that said, the PS3 has become my new "preference" for all dual platform games.
I want some of whatever Robbie Back is smoking!!!
Salmon42 @ Jun 13th 2008 1:30PM
Yeah I thought the reason I bought a PS3 and sold my dying 360 (not RROD, the dvd drive is failing = no warranty for me) was because the 360 is one shitty peice of hardware. After reading this article I have come to my senses and realized it's not MS bad decision making but that I really love black consoles and the letters P and S. Nothing to do with their shitty hardware. Really!
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 13th 2008 1:11PM
This is complete BS in my opinion. I bought a PS3 just because of the fact that my 360's have not been dependable and I can't count on it to not RROD on me. Had the 360 been a dependable console I would have spent the $400+ probably on 360 games.
Chris @ Jun 13th 2008 2:00PM
Yes, but that's anecdotal. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".
Noshino @ Jun 13th 2008 2:16PM
Chris,
So all of the reports by many companies are also anecdotal?...
Or the fact that even MS has accepted (somewhat) the problem is also anecdotal?
John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jun 13th 2008 4:26PM
I have to agree with you Curtis -
I have had so many console failures on my 360 I hardly ever want to play it or buy games for it anymore ... I got Ninja Gaiden II for my birthday and still have not taken it out of the plastic! ... I would sell my 360 were it not for Fable 2, Champions Online & Gears II ... I get every multiplatform other than sports games for the PS3 ... After a while I started to loathe my 360 ... Haven't fired it up since Army Of Two
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 13th 2008 4:32PM
That is how I am to, I rarely turn on the 360 except when a huge game comes out. The last time I really played it was for Bioshock and Halo 3. It's pretty sad when you can't play a great library of games because your scared the system will break and leave you out of one for a big game release.
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 13th 2008 1:12PM
I'm so glad I bought my PS2s from Costco when my first two fat models broke down months after purchase. Otherwise, I would have sadly switched to the Xbox, when the PS2 had all the games I wanted to play.
Too bad I didn't buy my PS3 from them since GTA4 killed mine, so I've had to switch to the 360, for now at least. : (
j.howlett @ Jun 13th 2008 1:19PM
i keep seeing you post that. could you elaborate on what happened? is this more like "dead rising kills the 360", whats the issue?
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 13th 2008 1:30PM
GTA4 on my 60gb was working fine for a while, it started to freeze after I met Little Jacob. It would freeze roughly every 10 minutes and I'd have to power down the system by the switch. I installed the patch Rockstar released in early May and they went away for another few hours of gameplay.
Then it froze again and when I went to the XMB, the disc would either not detect and I'd have to reinsert it and then it would give me a "cannot start" error. It was my only game so Gamestop tried Motorstorm on it and it froze at the title screen.
Finally, I deleted the 4gb install the game requires and it went to the installation but then froze at about half of the installation.
The game seemed to have fried my Blu-Ray drive. : (
Things like demos on the HDD still worked though.
Many cannot believe software can damage hardware but it happened to me and many other PS3 owners as well, I am very saddened by this and looks like Sony and Rockstar want to keep this quiet. I hear their charging some $150 to fix this because their system is out of warranty, fuck that, you need to fix this for free no matter what or extend the warranty like MS is doing!
xFenixKnightx @ Jun 13th 2008 1:40PM
I feel for you buddy, there there.
*extends arms out for a gamer hug :(
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 13th 2008 1:47PM
Thanks Fenix, so thats the reason why I have a 360 now.
Fucking ironic I bought a PS3 thinking long hours of GTA4 on the 360 would RROD it (no offense). And yet my PS3 died and GTA4 on my 360 is running strong.
Now I'm hearing MGS4 is breaking PS3s also, I'm gonna hold off buying a PS3 for a while now, maybe wait for the slims, but they'll probably have no B/C like the 40gbs.
I'm hearing the 60gb models especially are dying from MGS4 and GTA4 like mine did and these are the best PS3 models also!
Looks like now the 360's RROD problems are solved and PS3s are breaking down from software, funny no?
Damn, I miss my 60gb PS3.........
xFenixKnightx @ Jun 13th 2008 1:55PM
LOL, I heard that too. MGS4 messing up teh PStriple =/ But the thing is you dont even have a gold membership buddy. And I never see you playing except for that one time but that wasn't even a 360 game it was a games for windows GoW :(
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 13th 2008 2:14PM
Thing is Fenix, the PS3 disaster bled me of a lot of money so I just bought the ghetto Arcade model with GTA4 for now. When I get some more money to devote to gaming, I may get the extras.
But then again, I am thinking of selling the 360 and getting a PS3 again or building a gaming PC, as I've never built a PC, embarrasing I know!
That was my little brother playing GOW on his PC BTW. : )
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 13th 2008 3:19PM
I don;t know, I have a 60GB and the thing runs like a tank. I did have a scare though but that turned out to be a bad HDMI cable.
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 13th 2008 3:46PM
Fidlious, have you run GTA4 on your 60gb? Try playing it for quite a while, it took a while before it started to act up on my PS3.
NATO_Duke @ Jun 13th 2008 3:50PM
I didn't hear about MGS breaking PS3s. Here's what happened to me last night. Came home, made dinner, we sat down and threw in the game all excited.
Then I started playing it, and right when it first asks if I want to save - everything turns off! Not the PS3 - the entire neighborhood's power blew right when I hit the button to say yes to the save. We laughing our ass off. The first thing we said was that this must be the most powerful game ever built.
Anyway, it was a power outage from the wind, but the timing was perfect.
The little of the game I got to play so far pleased me.
Trev @ Jun 13th 2008 5:01PM
I've got a 60GB purchased Feb'07 and played through all of GTA4 with only a couple freezes before the patch, and those were just the online problems because it worked when I signed out of the PSN. Played it for hours at a time since then with no problems.
Maybe you're cursed.
j.howlett @ Jun 13th 2008 5:14PM
sorry to hear that. whered you get your 60 gig, and was it right before gta4? i had a 60 gig since last summer.
JerJerBinks @ Jun 13th 2008 8:21PM
I have run GTA4 for well over 100 Hours on my launch 60GB PS3. Initially I had some problems with freezing, but they were fixed by the patch. No problems what-so-ever after that. The only problem I have ever had with my PS3 have been because of buggy game code. Oblivion GOTY Edition froze many a time.
Software cannot damage hardware, unless you are rubbing the game media against the Blu-ray diode. That could possibly cause you some problems down the road. You had a faulty unit, shit happens.
herman @ Jun 13th 2008 1:14PM
He must be smoking. I had over 12 360 games, but have sold/traded/given away most of them due to repeated hardware failures on 3 different machines. the last straw was sending my 3rd unit in for RROD, and the 1st time I played it after getting it back it RROD in 5 minutes. i' thru with dealing with it, i'll just buy games for my PS3 and have to miss out on Gears 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2.
commen-cents @ Jun 13th 2008 1:14PM
willingness to recommend...
sorry but yes the problems have changed my view on the system as well as the build your own system mentality that has been going on with adding things that should be included like hard drives but most notably wireless...
so im sorry to say that i would recommend either of the other systems beforehand... because xbox has the most hidden costs if you want a complete system
MC Double Def DP @ Jun 13th 2008 1:14PM
sucks that the best console for games (at the moment) is so shoddy. I still recommend the 360 for gamers who want an HD game system and recommend PS3 to those who only play 1 or 2 games every so often.
Myke @ Jun 13th 2008 1:14PM
This dude is crazy... He's the 1 that said all 360's could potentially fail.
Bottom-line, the 360 is a good console. But the RROD did it for me. I mean, i would of bought 1 at launch if it wasnt for RROD. Now, its 2008. I still havent heard of anything being fixed. Falcon is just an escape clause out of the 3 year warranty. I know how electronics are and all but when I buy something, I expect it to last. I dont care how long the warranty is, I want it to last. If other people wanna buy another system or actually go through the whole warranty hassle, then thats them. But for me, I actually want quality when I buy something with my hard earned $. Hopefully when Gears2 release, the issue is been taken care (not covered-up) so I can get an Elite. If not, I probably have to play it at my friends house....if his is still working buy then.
MC Double Def DP @ Jun 13th 2008 1:47PM
"i would of bought 1 at launch if it wasnt for RROD"
Why didn't you warn all of us that the 360 gets RROD before the system even came out!!!
baby sea tuna @ Jun 13th 2008 2:17PM
The time machine dropped him in 1955, instead of 2005. Give him a break, dude. Traversing the space-time continuum is far more complicated than mere rocket science!
klitorisaurus @ Jun 13th 2008 2:58PM
I agree, A good product doesn't need a warranty. It just works and doesn't break. To quote Tommy Boy "because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit"
Myke @ Jun 13th 2008 3:29PM
Hey MC Double Def DP, I warned people about when it launched. People just wanted them. Some people bought extended warranties and some didnt actually believe me. Oh well... Thanks BST and klitorisaurus for backing me up though.
PEACE!
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 13th 2008 5:08PM
Wow Myke, just wow.
Phi Nguyen @ Jun 13th 2008 1:16PM
I wonder if he's related to Sebastian?
"LARGE FRY MOTHAF&CKA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU BURGER KING!
ARE YOU READY TO ROCK, BK BROILER? "
AwesomeTown @ Jun 13th 2008 1:17PM
My 360 hasn't been in for repairs yet, but with random freezes (mostly GTAIV), disc read errors pratically since I got it (every so often, no matter that game), it's bound to break sometime. It's sadly one of the worst pieces of electronics I have owned, yet I love it to pieces. I don't know what my life would be like with out it. (Oh, yea I would probably play the Mario Kart Wii I have been neglecting.)