Robbie Bach: broken Xbox 360s did not affect brand preference

Well, I guess we'll see if this is really true when Xbox 720, or what ever they name it comes out....

it contributed 100% to my brand preference. If my 360's mobo hadnt fried, I probably wouldnt own a PS3 right now.

i go to where the games are at. we will see by the end of this generation were the games are at. MGS4 is the only thing "right now" IMO.

i go to where the games are at. we will see by the end of this generation were the games are at. MGS4 is the only thing "right now" IMO.

The hell it didn't. I was leaning toward a 360 until my friend had to send his off for repair. It's been all PS3 for me ever since

What ridiculous corporate spin-doctoring.

I'm adding my thoughts as a former Xbox consumer. I've been buying Xbox products since the original system launched, and I was a Live subscriber since day one. I purchased my launch Xbox 360 within 6 months of release, and the disc drive died in less than a year. Luckily the EB Games warranty replaced it.

My second 360 died within less than a year, also of a dead DVD drive. I called Xbox support, and after two hours on the phone and plenty of arguing with the Indian on the other line, I was able to get my system fixed free of charge.

I received a refurbished unit within a few weeks, which also lasted less than a year. Another dead DVD drive. So at this point I had three consoles die on me, all from dead disc drives. Please bear in mind, I baby all my electronics, especially my consoles. Around this time I read online that a large number of users also received this error as opposed to an RROD.

So I contacted India (Xbox tech support) again, and this time was told I would need to pay $100 to have my console fixed. I was furious, and refused. I then decided to "red ring" my console myself. After killing it, I contacted Xbox support again and received my coffin.

So now we're on 360 number four. I received it after a three week wait, and it was a refurbished unit from 2006. I was not happy, I was hoping to have at least gotten a newer revision console. Guess what? It had video issues out of the box. It worked, but with an intermittent video display error.

Enough was enough, and I dumped every piece of Xbox gear I owned. In hindsight, I only stayed with the brand as long as I did because I had 60+ people on my friends list, including many local individuals/friends. I really wanted to get a working system, but after four tries, I couldn't give Microsoft my money any longer.

I've also had a 60GB PS3 since launch. It has many hours of gameplay, and other than the GTA4 save bug, I've had zero issues with it. I've logged hundreds and hundreds of hours in Warhawk, CoD4, GTA4, Uncharted, Resistance, Vegas 2, Gran Turismo Prologue and hundreds more in Folding@home. Zero problems.

Many of the games I really want are multiplatform anyway (Fallout 3, Borderlands, Mercenaries 2, Ghostbusters, Street Fighter IV, etc), so I'll really only be missing out on Gears of War 2 and Fable 2. Both of those titles will be ported to PC, so I guess I'll have to wait a year or so to play them. It's worth it to me.

So yeah, I may have only been worth $1000 a year to Microsoft in terms of hardware and software purchases, but there are many more like me. The ranks are growing, and we're pissed off. The PS3 is building momentum this year and I think it's only going to get better. The race is going to get a hell of a lot closer soon.

This guy reminds me of the Iraqi Minister of Information.

"On the other hand, they know we're taking care of them."
Charging $20 for replacing a 360-caused scratched disk? Yeah right.

I have just sent back my second 360 due to the DVD drive ejecting and not reading disks. 60G Ps3 still working fine.

I work for a games retailer and will be putting off as many customers as possible from buying the 360.

Actually, I'm not too surprised by this. I think all but a couple of the people I know who had/have a PS2 have replaced it at least once, if not twice. Usually because it would just stop recognizing certain disc types. But clearly, that did nothing to hurt the PS2's sales.

He is spinning the data. People aren't exactly thrilled with the brand. They are just grudgingly accepting the problems because they don't have any other choice. The Xbox 360 has the games and online features they want.

The situation is like a kid who is forced to eat a despised vegetable so that he or she can eat their favorite dessert. The kid is frustrated but caves in.

The successor to the 360 will be a much harder sell as many will probably take a wait and see approach.

Honestly, I just have to say that I bought a PS3 for three reasons:

- Less breakdowns (reported at least)
- Built in wireless
- HD media (Blu-Ray)

First of all, I sympathize with anyone who has gone thru the problems with the 360. I work for a certain specialty videogame retailer and have seen many come back, so much so that we stopped offering warranties on them until just recently.

Having said that, I love my 360 and have had no problems. My primary amount of time gaming is done online - started with Socom up until now and Live is so vastly superior to PSN it's ridiculous (I own a PS3 for the record). My solution is this, and I'll certainly apply it when the next Xbox comes out - get the store warranty. If there's a problem, just bring it in and get it replaced - the $50 or so is more than worth the peace of mind of getting a brand new console if there's an issue. I would NOT want a refurb unit as a replacement and I tell every customer who is dealing w/MS on the RROD issue to simply insist on a new console for as long as it takes to get their way. (This does work, you just have to escalate the issue until someone listens). When my regulars have come in telling me their 360 bricked I'll usually just replace it for them right there with a new unit, warranty or no. I don't want their bad experience to be tied to my store, staff, or company and I'd rather them leave happy.

The 360 is an absolutely fantastic gaming console, but the hardware issues were inexcusable and I can't blame anyone for turning on it. The problems have definitely been fixed (I haven't seen a new 360 come back in a long time) but the damage has been done to its' rep, and shame on MS for letting it happen.

In all fairness though, and so many people seem to forget (convieniently?) that the disc read error on the PS2 was equally rampant and it took a lawsuit to get Sony to acknowledge the problem and correct it. The original large PS2 was a crappy piece of hardware and I roll my eyes whenever some Sony fanboy screams RROD!! whenever the 360 is mentioned. Sony seems to have learned this gen (my PS3 is a horse, I routinely fall asleep with it on at night watching a movie) and I can't imagine MS would let the same thing happen with their next console.

Not for nothing the Wii has some issues too, one of my part timers, who is a Nintendo fan to an extent that makes Fernando look like a Nintendo hater who wants to see Miyamoto raped by rabid penguins, has had to send his Wii in to Nintendo three times; and he is not the only one I've heard this from. Nothing even closely resembling the PS2/360 debacle but I'm just saying.

360 FTW

Am I the only one who has never had a problem with his X360? Not even a lockup...

At work a few of the guys asked for my recommendation on game systems. I recommended the 360 because its whats popular. So then they asked me about the games that i have for it and how much i enjoy the system. So i told them about Halo 3 and my disappointment's in the fact that it was once again halo 2.5 with an enjoyable story, and that mass effect was pretty good. But then they asked me how often do i play it, i said once in a very long time. So then they asked me but your always talking about the games your play if its not the 360 then what are you playing computer.

That spawns a long conversation about the system i would have and play if i could only own one. So now almost everyone in my department has PS3. We play online, our boss now has one and once we finish this project later this month there will be one hooked up to the projector in our conference room. There is something very fun about hunting your boss down in alderny city and running him over with a bus.

Its funny... Some of the sdf have gone undercover posing as "normal" gamers that have 360's that they are not satisfied with, so they tell all their friends to get ps3's...LOL!! "yeah, I love my 360, but I get sooooo tired of rrod.. so I got a ps3." -Yeah, Right.

I went thru 5 premiums going rrod on me, an Arcade with to this day no problems whatsoever that gets alot of game time, and a Premium. so yeah, Robbie is correct. The ps3 has nothing I want to play exclusively. And it doesn't have LIVE.

I have a couple of friends that have ps3's.. For multi-platform games they buy for the 360. They have WAAAY more friends on Live than the ps network whatever.. And theyre into movies... The real reason why they own a ps3.. Just before GTA4 dropped, another guy I know at a barbershop realized how many of us owned 360's and ran out and copped a 360 to play us in GTA.. He didn't know anyone on the ps3...

What else can you say, he already made fun of the users. "Way to go, Robbie! You are my best friend!"

Uh yeah... Except for those people who have had to pay $100 for a DVD drive failure with no RROD for being 10 days out of warranty. Namely me. Not only that, I got it for my birthday and it sat wrapped in a box for 2 months before I even got it as a present.

Think again Robbie, I'll pass on the XBOX 1080. Sign me up for a PS3 and PS4.