Mental this is why I hate Microsoft and call them Microshaft

[Zeus]

Today, just as I was about to beat the second-last level of Call of Duty 6 on Veteran, my system screen froze up. I lost my entire progress on that level (I hadn't saved at any of the checkpoints) and had to re-do it (if you knew how hard that game was on Veteran, you'd really appreciate what that means). A few re-starts later, I got the RROD error. This is now the second different system I've gotten it on and third time overall I've had to send my system in for repairs. And I don't have a launch system, after it went down for RROD, I traded that one in for a Halo-edition one which was one of the first models to have the new chips in them (and had an HDMI port). As if that's not bad enough, this happens right at a time when I've gotten a whole bunch of big Xmas titles (I've got Brutal Legend and Dragon Age on the go as well) that are already out and one that's coming out on Tuesday (L4D2).

To save a measly $50,000-$100,000 in production costs, look how much grief they're causing their customers who are actually going out and buying their games (I've gotten all of these games new except for Brutal Legend and Batman, which I borrowed). I can't even rely on my system to work. Sure, the repairs are free (if they weren't, they'd be in HUGE shit with a lot of people) but I'm losing 2 weeks of play time at the worst possible time of year (I'm hoping it'll be only 4 days like it was last time; their repair department kicks ass up here actually). Not only that, if I were someone who actually paid for Live, they're not even sending me a 1 month card to compensate me for my lost time like they did 2 years ago. So people are losing 2 weeks of online play that they paid for (not me, but others would) without any compensation whatsoever.

You gotta at least agree that shit like this deserves some rage from their customer base. Not only do they fuck you hard and force you to pay for it, they don't even have the goddamn decency to give you a reach-around.

[Mental]

How often are you leaving your 360 on?

[Imakeholesinu]

Buy a PS3. Haven't had an issue with my 80GB system that was purchased right before MGS4 came out.

[Zeus]

Buy a PS3. Haven't had an issue with my 80GB system that was purchased right before MGS4 came out.

I have one but a) there are a lot of 360 exclusives that I play; b) MANY more people I know have a 360 so if I wanna do multi at all between now and May when my Live Gold runs out, I get the 360 version and c) I can't get TVersity to work consistently with the PS3. Watching stuff on my TV from my comp is something I basically need now and I can only consistently do it with the 360

[Zeus]

How often are you leaving your 360 on?

At one time? Usually not more than 3 or 4 hours. It has been getting a helluva lot more use recently since I've been off of work but it's relatively well ventilated and it's not like the system itself was hot or anything.

Regardless, this shouldn't really be a factor at all. I buy a high-end machine and I can't even turn it on because of a retarded, minute cost-saving decision made by an exec who has no semblance of a grip on reality. And it's not like this is the first time it happened, it's the third. This is not something you should be even worrying about when playing your system. I used to leave my NES on for DAYS at a time and I only turn my current PC off every month or two. But my 360? Getting some decent use out of it only means it's gonna fail? Shitty, shitty design.

[kali o.]

A piece of ELECTRONICS you purchased broke?! OH NO!@!!!! EVERYONE STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

It's technology. Technology breaks. It might even break on a higher than usual percentage rate. Either way, it's been addressed, acknowledged and is fixed for FREE. If that's not an acceptable reality for you, then trade it in or stop investing in it (ie: new games)...you've had (according to you) 2 previous issues from which to learn your lesson. Are you masochistic or retarded? Pick one.

There was no nameless shadowy exec in the MS looking to fuck you over during a coD play session, nor was there one saying "hey let's waste millions of dollars in repair writeoffs for the pleasure of annoying our consumer base".

There is a design/production defect. That's it.

[Blotus]

I can't get TVersity to work consistently with the PS3. Watching stuff on my TV from my comp is something I basically need now and I can only consistently do it with the 360

Is that what you use for MKV files? 'Cause everything else works on either the 360 or PS3.

There was no nameless shadowy exec in the MS looking to fuck you over during a coD play session, nor was there one saying "hey let's waste millions of dollars in repair writeoffs for the pleasure of annoying our consumer base".

You don't know that.

[kali o.]

You don't know that.

There is room for logic in the absence of fact...

...and I know that didn't require a serious response, I just couldn't think of anything clever or witty.

[Zeus]

A piece of ELECTRONICS you purchased broke?! OH NO!@!!!! EVERYONE STOP THE PRESSES!!!!

It's technology. Technology breaks. It might even break on a higher than usual percentage rate. Either way, it's been addressed, acknowledged and is fixed for FREE. If that's not an acceptable reality for you, then trade it in or stop investing in it (ie: new games)...you've had (according to you) 2 previous issues from which to learn your lesson. Are you masochistic or retarded? Pick one.

There was no nameless shadowy exec in the MS looking to fuck you over during a coD play session, nor was there one saying "hey let's waste millions of dollars in repair writeoffs for the pleasure of annoying our consumer base".

There is a design/production defect. That's it.

They get the nickname they deserve for how they treat their customers. That's all I was trying to say. But I'll address your points above.

First off, I have never, ever had any system I have ever owned break down on me aside from my original NES and that took 6 years. The ONLY reason this one broke is because of a fatal design due to a silly penny-pinching decision. I even switched systems to a newer model with the "fixed" design issue (the Halo system, one of the first with the new chip design and HDMI port) and that screwed up. So even when they fix something, they don't even do that properly. Did they do a massive recall or completely re-design it so there's no way it can happen again? Nope, they didn't care to. The system only needs to work for a total of 3 years for them to care.

Second, they fix it for free.....for a certain time only. It's so damned bad that the Microplay over here sells consoles only (no cords or harddrives) for $100 for people who are completely fucked since they paid big bucks to be early adopters. I'm lucky that my system is still within that warranty period. If (when) it happens again, I'm screwed, I have to buy a new system. I'm the type who collects and still plays his NES so what, I have to sell my 360 games in 4 years 'cause the systems won't work anymore? That's shitty. My VIC 20 still works for cryin' out loud.

Third, the point I was trying to make to Mental was simple: this shouldn't be an issue at all. There's no excuse for it whatsoever, particularly not for a company with that much experience.

Fourth, the only reason I don't have more games for my PS3 is 'cause they've been screwing the pooch for so long that very few people I know have the system and I'm more of a social gamer nowadays. For instance, if I bought Call of Duty 6 on PS3, I'd have no one to play Spec Ops with and that, to me, is a big portion of that game. So, much like using Windows, I'm stuck for the next little bit with the 360 games. Maybe next year I will switch my cross-platform to the PS3 for most titles but right now, particularly with Live active 'til May, I'd be losing too much.

Fifth, I never suggested anything about it being a planned breakdown at the worst time, just that due to their idiocy, it not only has happened multiple times but this time just happened to be at a pretty bad time.

Besides, did I mention that this shouldn't really even be an issue at all and is only one 'cause of Microshaft's idiotic decision making?

[Zeus]

I can't get TVersity to work consistently with the PS3. Watching stuff on my TV from my comp is something I basically need now and I can only consistently do it with the 360

Is that what you use for MKV files? 'Cause everything else works on either the 360 or PS3.

There was no nameless shadowy exec in the MS looking to fuck you over during a coD play session, nor was there one saying "hey let's waste millions of dollars in repair writeoffs for the pleasure of annoying our consumer base".

You don't know that.

TVersity will play mkvs but it won't turn on the subtitles. I was hoping a more recent update of the program would give you the option but I haven't seen it yet.

Also, there are some regularly-used video formats that don't work natively on either system other than mkv, namely h264 and flv. Try putting a Bleach ep on a stick on putting it in either system, it won't work. I have enough shows in those two formats that it's a bit of a pain.

[bovine]

I use dis.

http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

[Zeus]

Thanks, I'll give it a try if my TVersity starts to go haywire on me again on the PS3. For some reason, the last few days it's worked without a hitch, just in time for my annual shafting by our favourite monopoly. TVersity works like a rock with the 360 and I watch enough stuff that way that I need at least one of them to work.

Question: does it actually turn on subtitles for mkv streaming?

[SineSwiper]

All you can do is stir up a major shitstorm with their support dept, and demand that they send you a new system with the updated ASIC chip.

[SineSwiper]

It's technology. Technology breaks. It might even break on a higher than usual percentage rate. Either way, it's been addressed, acknowledged and is fixed for FREE. If that's not an acceptable reality for you, then trade it in or stop investing in it (ie: new games)...you've had (according to you) 2 previous issues from which to learn your lesson. Are you masochistic or retarded? Pick one.

There was no nameless shadowy exec in the MS looking to fuck you over during a coD play session, nor was there one saying "hey let's waste millions of dollars in repair writeoffs for the pleasure of annoying our consumer base".

There is a design/production defect. That's it.

Technology breaks for a reason. In this case, it breaks because some morons in Microsoft thought it was a good idea to cut corners and design their own ASIC chip.

Good companies don't make shitty decisions like that.

[bovine]

Thanks, I'll give it a try if my TVersity starts to go haywire on me again on the PS3. For some reason, the last few days it's worked without a hitch, just in time for my annual shafting by our favourite monopoly. TVersity works like a rock with the 360 and I watch enough stuff that way that I need at least one of them to work.

Question: does it actually turn on subtitles for mkv streaming?

Yes, it "transcodes" it using whatever audio language and sub language you pick at the beginning. The downside is that you can't change sub and audio sets on the fly. It works great, but I've had some weird problems with it finding my ps3 without my assistance.

Bovine recommends.

[Zeus]

All you can do is stir up a major shitstorm with their support dept, and demand that they send you a new system with the updated ASIC chip.

Already done, that's a given

[Zeus]

Thanks, I'll give it a try if my TVersity starts to go haywire on me again on the PS3. For some reason, the last few days it's worked without a hitch, just in time for my annual shafting by our favourite monopoly. TVersity works like a rock with the 360 and I watch enough stuff that way that I need at least one of them to work.

Question: does it actually turn on subtitles for mkv streaming?

Yes, it "transcodes" it using whatever audio language and sub language you pick at the beginning. The downside is that you can't change sub and audio sets on the fly. It works great, but I've had some weird problems with it finding my ps3 without my assistance.

Bovine recommends.

Very nice. I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks

[bovine]

Let me know if you like it, if you have any problems with it, and how you may have solved them.

[kali o.]

Technology breaks for a reason. In this case, it breaks because some morons in Microsoft thought it was a good idea to cut corners and design their own ASIC chip.

Good companies don't make shitty decisions like that.

So you just repeated what I said (ie: design/production defect) but decided to ascribe the "cut corners for more profit" reasoning on MS' behalf? Well, that's less stupid that zeus's THEY ARE ALL OUT TO GIT YA reasoning, I'll give you that. But it's probably more complex reasoning behind the decision, in addition to costs.

Let's not forget that both the PS3 and 360 launched with pretty beefy specs that priced them well beyond their initial MSRP and the accepted historical price points. Sacrifices had to made - the chip is just one example that turned out poorly.

Either way you slice it, zeus's rantings and ravings are stupid...the fact that no one else calls him on it makes me sad

[Zeus]

Well, that's less stupid that zeus's THEY ARE ALL OUT TO GIT YA reasoning, I'll give you that. But it's probably more complex reasoning behind the decision, in addition to costs.

Kali, please don't Seek this argument up by not actually reading my posts or responses to your claims. Nowhere have I ever said "they're out to get you" or suggested that. That's not what I was trying to say and explained that in my response above.

You've always been fair in the past with your responses, don't just ignore what people are saying to make a point that you may think exists but actually doesn't. Don't sink to Seek's level, you're better than that.

[Julius Seeker]

For the record. "Seek's level" is someone who can't help to take amusement in Zeus who is whining about an Xbox 360 system death issue well documented over three and a half years ago; well before the time of his purchase of his latest Xbox 360. These issues have led him (as the title says) to both hate Microsoft, and to justify him in the usage of a word as childish as "Microshaft"; all while continuing to buy Microsoft's products.

I don't really see any purpose to his posting this for any other reason but to satisfy a need to whine, and annoy Xbox 360 owners who are happy with their purchases.

Anyway Zeus, just ignore me. I would like you to continue showing us how big of a fool you can make yourself into; afterall, if you stick your nose far enough up your ass, so that your head is lodged well inside, I'm not really here am I? =)

[Flip]

Haha, i love how every time Zeus mentions Seek that Seek feels like he needs to defend himself or say something.

Dont you get it? That behavior is allllllll part of the joke.

[Julius Seeker]

Haha, i love how every time Zeus mentions Seek that Seek feels like he needs to defend himself or say something.

Dont you get it? That behavior is allllllll part of the joke.

Yeah, man responds to his name... Hillarious!

[Flip]

Haha, i love how every time Zeus mentions Seek that Seek feels like he needs to defend himself or say something.

Dont you get it? That behavior is allllllll part of the joke.

Yeah, man responds to his name... Hillarious!

Exactly.

[Zeus]

Haha, i love how every time Zeus mentions Seek that Seek feels like he needs to defend himself or say something.

Dont you get it? That behavior is allllllll part of the joke.

Shhhh, don't say that too often. He may catch on after the 30th time

[Mental]

Well, Zeus, I had a 360 that broke too. They sent me a replacement. This all made me very happy. Not only that, but I could even sell games I programmed myself on their console.

Therefore I must still be forced to conclude that, not only is Microsoft awesome, but that I might dust off the ol' resume and even think about considering applying for a job on the XNA team. I mean, seriously! I can MAKE and SELL GAMES for a console I own?!?!!? ZOMGZOR!!!! How do you NOT love M$? And not only that, they have enough of your money to stay in business and to let me keep doing it, too!

Sorry. I held out as long as I could, but that last sentence just slipped out.

[Mental]

[Eric]

Pfft, and you call yourself a forum troll.

[Mental]

Nope, just can't resist giving Zeus a hard time.

[Chris]

yes well...do it with less smileys next time. And I thought I was the queer.

[Anarky]

Well CoD: MW2 has claimed another xbox. I was on the 2nd to last level on Veteran.

My consoles fans were going crazy the entire time I played the game, probably played 8 or 9 hours worth. Then I got the 2 red rings. I let it cool off overnight as I slept. Turned it on this morning, got to play 10-15 minutes then bam 2 red rings and the fan spinning like mad.

Going to call support tomorrow :-/

[Eric]

Seriously, Sony should just run an ad campaign:

"How many people do you know have had broken X-Box 360s? Get a PS3, our system doesn't break."

[SineSwiper]

Seriously, Sony should just run an ad campaign:

"How many people do you know have had broken X-Box 360s? Get a PS3, our system doesn't break."

Well, the commercials are funny enough. Too bad one of those "It does everything" things it doesn't do is play 360 games.

[Zeus]

Nope, just can't resist giving Zeus a hard time.

At least we're both playing this game :-)

[Zeus]

Well CoD: MW2 has claimed another xbox. I was on the 2nd to last level on Veteran.

My consoles fans were going crazy the entire time I played the game, probably played 8 or 9 hours worth. Then I got the 2 red rings. I let it cool off overnight as I slept. Turned it on this morning, got to play 10-15 minutes then bam 2 red rings and the fan spinning like mad.

Going to call support tomorrow :-/

Fucking frustrating as shit, wasn't it? I'm just lucky that my sis has a 360 she just ain't usin' at the moment so I'm good 'til I get mine back in about a week or so. Just popped my HDD into her system and beat the game in 5 minutes.

Most annoying thing for me is I only have a 20GB HDD on my system. With the updates that I have and some of the d'loads I've gotten, I actually have to clear room to even copy one game onto it. I'm usually jugglin' 3 or 4 games at any time so if I want to use that to save my system from working too hard I really can't. The 20GB is more than enough for me content-wise but it's very constraining if I have to factor in games.

I think in about 6 months enough people will have the PS3 that I can start moving most of my cross-platform titles onto that. My Live runs out on May 1 so I'll probably start the switch around them. Couple that with the fact that for some reason, TVersity seems to be working basically flawlessly now, the PS3 will take over from my 360 as my main entertainment hub and I can limit my 360's use which should hopefully save it for future (ie. 10 years from now) use. Fucking retarded I even have to think about that but not much I can do about it.

[Mental]

The thing about it is, these consoles are breaking because I believe people are playing them for longer stretches and leaving them on more than the engineers ever thought they would. If the 360 sucked, none of them would be breaking, because nobody would be playing them. We're all so intensely grievous over our shattered 360s that M$ has to be doing something right.

I do sympathize with your plight, however. Do you have any idea if it's heat-related? You could always whip up some kind of cooling system for the replacement.

[Anarky]

The thing about it is, these consoles are breaking because I believe people are playing them for longer stretches and leaving them on more than the engineers ever thought they would. If the 360 sucked, none of them would be breaking, because nobody would be playing them. We're all so intensely grievous over our shattered 360s that M$ has to be doing something right.

I do sympathize with your plight, however. Do you have any idea if it's heat-related? You could always whip up some kind of cooling system for the replacement.

I turn on the Xbox now and the fans start to spin loud and it red rings instantly. Plus I was having graphic glitches prior to this.

If I do have to pay them $99 for a repair... do they warranty the Xbox again, or do they at least give me a new one?

[Zeus]

Mental, if you look at the history of the system, there's multiple issues with it, mostly heat-related. It's not always the same thing going down but it certainly is related to the insane heat it outputs. And after all this was happening, they found it it was due to a design decision made by bean-counters to save something on the order of $50,000 to $100,000 on design/production costs.......a horrendus error in judgement that's likely gonna cost them over $1B in repairs and warranty claims alone throughout the system's life (they booked a contingency of $1.5B ).

That's not even the worst part. Two years ago, they released the new "Jasper" chip (or something like that) that was supposed to be in all new consoles and fix the problem. It was their fucking response to the problem. That was in August or so of 2007 and my Halo 3 system came out that year in September, so it was part of the new, "fixed" wave of systems. The idea was (at least what they portrayed) they contain the issue to their first couple of years of systems, bite the bullet, then start anew. Admirable and completely understandable. They fucked up, they fixed it, they deal with the backlog of issues. If that's how it ended up playing out, I would be praising them right now and would still be playing my system.

But instead of a full fix, it's actually a temporary fix, on that only really fit within their 3-year warranty range. The over-heating / general hardware failure issues still occur with the "new" models, just not as early on. Basically, rather than stitch up the wound to close it for good, they just put more and more gauze on it so it would take longer before you had to change the dressing. That's the root of my bitching, the fact that even when they "fixed" it they really didn't, they just patched it up well enough to get them through their newly-developed warranty period. If it goes down after 3 years and 1 day, you're fucked, they don't give a shit.

That's what I mean when say they shit on their customers or they shafted their customers. They didn't even fix the problem, they just patched it up long enough to get them through a warranty period. Rather than giving their customers a reliable product they gave them one that they know is defective since it was a cheaper alternative than doing the proper fix. They're shafting the customers knowingly, period, which is the worst kind of company behaviour towards its customer base.

Hence, their nickname "Microshaft"

[Zeus]

The thing about it is, these consoles are breaking because I believe people are playing them for longer stretches and leaving them on more than the engineers ever thought they would. If the 360 sucked, none of them would be breaking, because nobody would be playing them. We're all so intensely grievous over our shattered 360s that M$ has to be doing something right.

I do sympathize with your plight, however. Do you have any idea if it's heat-related? You could always whip up some kind of cooling system for the replacement.

I turn on the Xbox now and the fans start to spin loud and it red rings instantly. Plus I was having graphic glitches prior to this.

If I do have to pay them $99 for a repair... do they warranty the Xbox again, or do they at least give me a new one?

It's out of warranty, that means you pay for any repairs done

[kali o.]

It's out of warranty, that means you pay for any repairs done

That ain't what he asked. 90 day warranty i believe. You can always extend that though -- and if you have pay for anything, demand free shit.

[Zeus]

It's out of warranty, that means you pay for any repairs done

That ain't what he asked. 90 day warranty i believe. You can always extend that though -- and if you have pay for anything, demand free shit.

Ah, sorry. My fault

Here's another kicker for those people who are under warranty: if you play for Live, they don't even compensate you for that anymore. They used to send you a 1-month card but no more. You just lose the 5-10 days of time you paid for and you get nothing.

[Lox]

I got a 1 month card when I sent mine in back in August. When did this change?

[Zeus]

I got a 1 month card when I sent mine in back in August. When did this change?

Not sure but the CSR i talked to told me that they would not be compensating me for my lost Gold time. I'm hoping he's wrong

[Anarky]

It's out of warranty, that means you pay for any repairs done

That ain't what he asked. 90 day warranty i believe. You can always extend that though -- and if you have pay for anything, demand free shit.

Oh... I'll be extending it

[Mental]

I will nod vaguely at the quite probably warranted accusations of mechanical incompetence, but seriously, for an American console, I still think the 360 is fucking spectacular.

Also, they've lost their assholes on this so much financially that I don't expect the next generation to be nearly as bad.

I just don't run mine all the time anymore, since I need it to work as a dev kit more than I need to make another run at the Assault Heroes hard single-player leaderboard (#10 in the world last time I checked, baby!)

[Zeus]

I got a 1 month card when I sent mine in back in August. When did this change?

Not sure but the CSR i talked to told me that they would not be compensating me for my lost Gold time. I'm hoping he's wrong

Thankfully, I was wrong about this. I did get a 1 month card when I got my 360 back last week. Good on them for at least recognizing they need to reimburse you for that