Comments on: xbox 360: fatality http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/xbox-360-fatality/ Rob Fahey on games, media, journalism and politics. Thu, 06 May 2010 08:45:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Rob Fahey http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/xbox-360-fatality/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Rob Fahey Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:28:04 +0000 http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/16/xbox-360-fatality/#comment-23 I've not actually got it replaced yet, but that's my own fault - I've not been trying very hard, because I've been incredibly busy with other stuff. My initial phonecall was a complete failure involving an age spent on hold before giving up, and I haven't tried again since then. I don't actually have a spare PS2 as such - there's one normal retail version, and one "TestStation", the Sony-issued ones that play gold discs and review code. Oh, and an American one, but one of my friends has nabbed that to play through some RPGs. That is, admittedly, a silly number of PS2s to own, but not as silly as the three Xbox 360s which m'colleague Tom has on his shelf... Glad you liked the editorial - I fear this blog is evolving into something rather less measured and rather more rant-filled, but I suppose that could be fun in its own way too :) I’ve not actually got it replaced yet, but that’s my own fault – I’ve not been trying very hard, because I’ve been incredibly busy with other stuff. My initial phonecall was a complete failure involving an age spent on hold before giving up, and I haven’t tried again since then.

I don’t actually have a spare PS2 as such – there’s one normal retail version, and one “TestStation”, the Sony-issued ones that play gold discs and review code. Oh, and an American one, but one of my friends has nabbed that to play through some RPGs. That is, admittedly, a silly number of PS2s to own, but not as silly as the three Xbox 360s which m’colleague Tom has on his shelf…

Glad you liked the editorial – I fear this blog is evolving into something rather less measured and rather more rant-filled, but I suppose that could be fun in its own way too :)

]]> By: Wrestlevania http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/xbox-360-fatality/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Wrestlevania Mon, 05 Mar 2007 15:22:24 +0000 http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/16/xbox-360-fatality/#comment-14 "Note how [...] one of my PS2s [is] silently mocking [its] Xbox cousin" Um, can I have one of your spares then, please? Mine's deader than a very dead thing (i.e. your Xbox 360)... ~~~~ On a more serious note; we had a UK launch Xbox 360 'Premium' in my previous office, which was played almost every lunchtime for the better part of a year, and we never experienced any trouble with it--ever. Which is odd because - call me howling bat-shit insane - I would've thought, of all the hardware revisions in a modern console's lifetime, a launch machine would be the model that carks it for most owners. PS: I'm well aware of how late* to the party I am on this post, but have you had any luck in getting MS to replace it yet? * I really enjoyed your "Three Steps Back" editorial on GI.biz last week, so was compelled to go a-Googling to see if you had a blog or similar. “Note how [...] one of my PS2s [is] silently mocking [its] Xbox cousin”

Um, can I have one of your spares then, please? Mine’s deader than a very dead thing (i.e. your Xbox 360)…

~~~~

On a more serious note; we had a UK launch Xbox 360 ‘Premium’ in my previous office, which was played almost every lunchtime for the better part of a year, and we never experienced any trouble with it–ever. Which is odd because – call me howling bat-shit insane – I would’ve thought, of all the hardware revisions in a modern console’s lifetime, a launch machine would be the model that carks it for most owners.

PS: I’m well aware of how late* to the party I am on this post, but have you had any luck in getting MS to replace it yet?

* I really enjoyed your “Three Steps Back” editorial on GI.biz last week, so was compelled to go a-Googling to see if you had a blog or similar.

]]> By: Rob Fahey http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/xbox-360-fatality/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Rob Fahey Sun, 18 Feb 2007 00:51:54 +0000 http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/16/xbox-360-fatality/#comment-5 Both the Xbox 360 and the Wii fall into the "one game a month" category for me, really - although the Wii seems to be better at providing stuff I'm still playing ages later. Zelda was a solid 40 hours, Wii Play and Wario Ware hauled out every time there are people over, and I play Wii Sports about twice or three times a week - it's like scratching an itch at this stage. The 360, on the other hand, has provided a fair few eight to ten hour games - Dead Rising, N3, Gears of War, and so on, with Crackdown by all accounts being a game which fits this profile as well. They're neat, well-executed efforts that entertain for a week, then go to live in my game drawer and never get dragged out again. The PS2 and PC are still the meat and veg of my gaming. FFXII is still entertaining me after 70 hours, and there are a bunch of other games like Digital Devil Saga 2 and Okami which are eating my time. World of Warcraft is a huge time-sink as well, of course, and I'm also playing back through Half-Life 2 and Episode One for fun. Next up, Rogue Galaxy and Supreme Commander... Next-gen just isn't doing it for me yet, I guess. It's all very shiny, but the quality is coming through on the older platforms, for my money. I just don't have the mentality of a frontiersman when it comes to gaming any more I guess :) Both the Xbox 360 and the Wii fall into the “one game a month” category for me, really – although the Wii seems to be better at providing stuff I’m still playing ages later. Zelda was a solid 40 hours, Wii Play and Wario Ware hauled out every time there are people over, and I play Wii Sports about twice or three times a week – it’s like scratching an itch at this stage.

The 360, on the other hand, has provided a fair few eight to ten hour games – Dead Rising, N3, Gears of War, and so on, with Crackdown by all accounts being a game which fits this profile as well. They’re neat, well-executed efforts that entertain for a week, then go to live in my game drawer and never get dragged out again.

The PS2 and PC are still the meat and veg of my gaming. FFXII is still entertaining me after 70 hours, and there are a bunch of other games like Digital Devil Saga 2 and Okami which are eating my time. World of Warcraft is a huge time-sink as well, of course, and I’m also playing back through Half-Life 2 and Episode One for fun. Next up, Rogue Galaxy and Supreme Commander…

Next-gen just isn’t doing it for me yet, I guess. It’s all very shiny, but the quality is coming through on the older platforms, for my money. I just don’t have the mentality of a frontiersman when it comes to gaming any more I guess :)

]]> By: Tom http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/xbox-360-fatality/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Tom Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:31:33 +0000 http://www.challengerappears.com/blog/2007/02/16/xbox-360-fatality/#comment-4 I have a UK Xbox 360 that I bought in January 2006, which is still working fine, and an American version I bought in the summer that's fine too. I have no idea why my luck has held, but I'm glad it has, because it really is the only console I bother with on a regular basis. The PS2 is more or less dead to me now, OutRun 2006 aside, and the Wii has inevitably become the "once a month for a new game" console it was always destined to be. The PS3 is sitting there in the middle swallowing all the power in the world to maintain a red standby light of disuse. I have a UK Xbox 360 that I bought in January 2006, which is still working fine, and an American version I bought in the summer that’s fine too. I have no idea why my luck has held, but I’m glad it has, because it really is the only console I bother with on a regular basis. The PS2 is more or less dead to me now, OutRun 2006 aside, and the Wii has inevitably become the “once a month for a new game” console it was always destined to be. The PS3 is sitting there in the middle swallowing all the power in the world to maintain a red standby light of disuse.

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