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d21lewis said:
super_etecoon said:

I do think more than any console in history that the 360 benefitted from hardware failure as a means to achieve these phenomenal numbers.  The PS2 certainly had its hiccups at launch but the RROD continued throughout the generation.  And we Americans, having grown up on American cars that always break down but that we still love and continue buying, were primed to repeat purchase the 360 umpteen times.  I'm not trying for trolling or flamebait here.  So many people in my personal world were on their 4th Xbox360 and had no problem going back to the store to buy another.  It was almost like something you just had to do. The machine and its games were that compelling to this audience.

I can't cosign on this one. I'm sure several people bought several 360s but before the 360, I was a Sony and Nintendo fan. I've said it before but the PS1 was made of potato chips and the PS2 was made of ramen noodles! It was the first time in my gaming life that I ever had a console just break on me. My PS1 eventually had to be turned upside down to play and then the "spindle" (I think that's the right word) just...fell off. The PS2 was even worse with the dreaded Disc Read Error. It was so bad that Sony actually settled a class action lawsuit. Google it! Anecdotal but I think everybody had to buy a second PS2. We just didn't know it was faulty.

It's one of the major reasons why I got an Xbox 360 in the first place. I said "I'm not paying $600 for a console that's going to break!". I got a 360 instead and, almost exactly one year later, it broke! I did get a PS3 a few months later and, five years later it broke too. The difference is that it was common knowledge that Microsoft repaired the console if you called them. Repairs didn't count as sales.

The 360 was, in my opinion, just the superior machine. Online was better. Services were better. Games mostly ran better. And it was cheaper much of the generation. Many said that we Americans were just loyal to the American console but, on paper, it was just a better buy. Nobody was a Microsoft fan or an Xbox fan when the gen started. They just did so much stuff right that gamers took notice.

I agree about the PS2. I worked at a video store and all 6 of our rental machines that I personally acquired were giving disk read errors and scratching disks within weeks of launch. They still made us money because those systems were in such demand. But I do feel that with later models the PS2 resolved its problems, whereas the 360 never did.