What is reasonable for a console's level of durability?

• Should it be able to not break within 10 years of purchase with no movement other than its original setup?
• Should it be able to survive a fall (or 4) off a low shelf?  A high shelf?
• Should its cords be able to survive runaway gerbils/hamsters/guinea pigs?
• Should it be able to survive soda being poured/splashed onto it?
• Should it be able to survive being kicked?
• Should it be able to take a bullet for you?

How much are you willing to pay for the extra durability?  I mean, tougher parts do cost more money than cheaper parts.  If someone said your console would cost $50 more to be able to survive most every ordinary home console accident, would that be okay with you?  How about $100 more?  $150?

At the very least they should be more durable then the 2 360's I owned. Both were pieces of crap, utter crap. The one I got in return after repairs after I sold it paid for a new GPU  which I still have and am very happy with. Happy endings rule

NES style, 24 years old and still going

Gameboy's that survived scud missile fire comes to mind.

I would say yes to all your questions, except the bullet one. There´s no sense in paying for extra durability, since if and when a console breaks buying another should be no more than 150 us$/ euros... and this new one could be a little better. Never had a single problem with any console at all.

I would like for the consoles of today to be a durible as they used to be, but i think we have to face the fact that they are now on par or bettter then our home computers and should be expected to break down just as much if not more than our PC's. After all if u buy a $200 or $400 PC how long do you expect it to last?

I once saw a smash my Genesis video on youtube (F*kning bastards)

They had to drop it on the floor from standing on a chair about three times before it even started to act strange.

That's how durable consoles should be.

optical drives are the weakest part of the console, so expecting it to last 24 years like some fools have posted is silly, SNES has no moving parts, so of course it'll last a long time.

So realistically speaking it should at least 2 years playing every day for say an average of 4-6 hours a day, before the optical disc breaks, the rest of the console however should last allot longer if not the entire generation assuming nothing bad happens physically to the console.

Reliability should be there on the 1st day, and nothing we need to pay extra for since the console needs to work for us to buy games, and these companies make money from games sold, plus it's less money they have to spend covering warranty repairs.

I still have my original NES, Super NES. They are working fine. Now I am on my second PS One, and my second PS2. I have had my Wii for almost 3 years no problem. Do you see a pattern? Who has the best durable product there out there?

Just don't drop it. Consoles are physically not durable and will break when it falls.