Microsoft already admitted their problem and put in a 3 year warranty and Sony likewise recognised their problems too and also replaced defective original PS3s.It wasn't so much poor quality as it was bad luck because a lot of companies got caught out by the transition to lead free solder.

Microsoft isn't trying to attract every person they can possibly attract, they want to attract people who value the services they offer not the people who want to pay as little as possible. Other companies can have different strategies but the way they have added value between Live, Kinect and their high selling exclusive games has been very good to them. Their top 4 franchises have sold better than the top 11 franchises of Sony which makes them the second best first party this generation.

The major problem they have is how to keep the subscription relevant for people who play only a few titles or who are really mostly interested in online content. This is the greatest failure of their strategy, it is with the marginal person who isn't that into online gaming for instance and who won't throw down $50 or subscribe for something they aren't sure about. They need to evolve their service in such a way that their offering justifies the money by somehow making their content delivery worth the added cost and if they include say 5-10 hours of free online with every new game purchase then they can easily give people the option of playing their titles online when they buy them whilst incentivising some new game purchases.

I think the echo chamber of the stuff said online has really clouded a lot of people as to what the real value of Microsofts offerings are. Whilst you may not appreciate it, things like effective moderation and skill ladders improves the experience a lot of people have online. Whilst the hardcore gamers on these forums who pwn noobs left and right have fun the people they pwn aren't so much and they make up a larger proportion of the population. So whilst it probably is less fun for a lot of people to always be matched with people near their level on these forums the wider population appreciates such things.

No they didn't, they replaced my 360 with another broken 360 at first, and refused to give me the significantly improved HDMI model to replace my 360.

360's don't malfunction because of lead free soder, they malfunction because under heat the motherboard sags. Microsoft cut corners and only clipped 2 ends on the motherboard when they should have clipped all 4 sides. A $2 manufacturing cut, is responsible for the entire first gen fail rate, and refubished 360's still don't have these $2 support clips.

I agree with you about Gold, MS has expanded the free service window from 2 days, to 2 weeks, but still. I want a pay per hour card so I can play 1 hour in one month, and then take a 5 month break and play 9 more hours online. I shouldn't have to pay $3 an hour for 6 months use.

As for experience ladders, games do a much better job then the XBL Gold service. I still think Gold is a waste of $$ and I just don't like MS as a console maker. As a game publsiher, they are great, but expensive, unreliable consoles which charge unreasonable fees for online? I'll pass, going back to Sony where customers are more then just bar codes.

@ Bold: Given the fact that semi conductor companies like nVidia have 100% failure rates on parts produced around the same time I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Had it been as simple as putting an extra clip or two they would have done it they are not that incompetent. My PS3 was repaired twice for free as well so I don't think you can ignore the mitigating circumstances at the time. They really had the first high powered device designed with lead free solder and a lot of electrical equipment at the time are duds because of it.

@ Live window: What do you mean? It's been ages since I've played with a 360 online do they give you 'free online' when you buy a game? But absolutely they should give better options for people who don't play online that much.

What does gold give you? Well it gives you good voice chat, active moderation with real consequences, universal ladders and parties off the top of my head. Is it worth the $60 USD? Well its a pretty great service to everyone aside from the hardcore gamers who come here and complain regularly. I don't know why but the latency is pretty good connected to the U.S. from New Zealand, better than PSN anyway so your mileage on connection may vary.

@Bold, they aren't incompitent, but by adding those two clips they admit that they cut corners, which lead to high failure rates. Maybe there is also an issue with the lead free soder, but one of my friends fixed RRoD 360's and knows how to mod them. He said when he adds in 2 extra clips it fixes the RRoD problem every time, and his first gen 360 is still working perfectly fine with this modification. So if soder is an issue, it's secondary compared to sagging motherboards/$2 clips.

My PS3 broke and Sony didn't repair it lol! However this is what happens when you get a used first gen model. I've never had a good experience with first gen non-Nintendo consoles (PS1 and PS2 broke near the end of life for that gen, and my PS3 lasted like a year and a half, and I replaced it with a Wii. 360, 1st gen broke 3 times, but I got an extended Best Buy Warrenty and now I have an HDMI model because of excellent customer service).

When you buy 360 games new, they used to come with 48 hour "trial" cards. So you could try out your new game online, and this would incourage people to buy XBL Gold subscriptions. When I bought Halo 4, it came with a 2 week Gold "Trial." So I assume, MS has upped the scope of free Gold subscriptions. MS also ocassionally does a free XBL Gold weekend, usually during a holiday weekend (like Black Friday weekend).

I agree XBL Gold is good, and I don't mind paying for it, but the subscription based policy doesn't work for me. I play games online randomly, and usually not for very long at a time. So with a subscription, I will be throwing out $5 a month on most months since I don't play online much. A 3 Month card works a lot better for me because usually I get bored of online after a month or two, but a 3 month car cost $25, which is half the price of a 12 month card (You can easily find 12 month cards for $40-$50 in Canada and USA).

My point is, cell phone companies offer pay as you go plans, which cost you something like 20 cents a minute and 15 cents a text to use. I would like that for 360 because even at 25 cents an hour, I would realistically probably only spend $5-10 a year for online play. That I can accept, but paying for a service when I don't use it, I can't.

Even if subscription was the only option, the ability to suspend my account for months would be nice. That way I can use a 12 month card for 3 months a year, for 4 years. $10-$15 a year (depends on what price I pay for the card) is fine.


Anyway next gen, 360 will be the last console I get, mainly because of subscription based online, extremely low reliability issues in first gen consoles, and poor customer relations in my experience. I don't trust either Sony or MS in their first gen consoles, so I'll probably get a WiiU first, and then a PS4. I'll get a NextBox as a cheap console late into it's life (Similar to buying a $130 Arcade on Black Friday last couple years, or how I bought my PSP for $90 last year and now have 20+ games).

P.S. Another rant. One reason I don't like 360 is because I bought 2 Microsoft branded Force Feedback wheels in 2008. In 2010 my dog chewed one cable, and broke it, so that wheel no longer gets Force Feedback. In only 2 years MS discontinued the wheel and didn't replaced it with anything until the Wireless Wheel in 2011. What pissses me off was that they did not stock parts for repairs, so I basically can't fix this wheel. I have to get a new/used one off ebay, but it's hard to find and expensive. I can't use aftermarket chargers because of some built in function which doesn't let you use 3rd party adaptors with the same votage/amps/connect. So MS to me has provided terrible, terrible customer service, and this is why I can't stand them. Nintendo on the other hand, their power adaptors, are backward compatible. I actually have my SNES plugged in using my Gamecube Power Adaptor, and I switch between them when I want to play a differenct console (Don't have enough wall sockets).

Wow I didn't know about this at all! Increased respect along with Fire Emblem sitting in your list.

LOL I'm working on the second Fire Emblem for DS, Hero's of Light and Shadow. It's amazing, much better then Shadow Dragon. I can't wait for Awakening, and an excuse to get a 3DS.