Is Xbox 360 doomed in 2009?
When Microsoft announced it was revamping the Xbox 360 dashboard, concern, not congratulations, was the first thing I thought of voicing to Microsoft.
The update promised better graphics, avatars, easier access to movie and TV downloads — in short, a more robust interface than the “blades” presentation that greeted gamers when they started up their consoles.
Something more robust implied a need for more processing power, more work for Xbox. And that meant more worries that my console would crash and display the “red ring of death” yet again. (The consoles tend to run hot and warp the circuit boards.)
I am on my fourth Xbox — this time, one of the black-box Elites sporting a large hard drive, HDTV compatibility and an alleged resistance to crashes. Twenty months have passed and … well, so far, so good.
Of the three that died, the longest surviving one lasted a grand total of nine months. After the third died, Microsoft decided on its own to replace it with an Elite, without question and without my request. Meanwhile, my first PlayStation 3 and first Wii are humming along. Both were among the first ones sold in the United States. Both have performed flawlessly.
Both sit in a warmer room.
Perhaps Microsoft thought it looked bad that a gaming reporter couldn’t write about Xbox games any more after the third crash, and that he might have better luck with a console upgrade.
It’s unnerving to think though that my latest luck could run out anyway, even though the console is dusted regularly and has an extra cooling fan attached, even though as an added precaution the Elite sits in the coolest room of my house — which during winter turns downright cold.
Now I’m tentative about turning on my Xbox. It might survive my next bold move toward the galaxy’s fringe with “Star Trek,” or my next diplomatic overture with “Civilization”; it might not. Microsoft supposedly made the Elite systems more heat-resistant, but they are not impervious to crashing.
Microsoft might worry about my Elite, too, given my track record. However, I believe the company has more pressing concerns:
* None of the Xbox titles announced for 2009 has “Halo”-like market appeal. Microsoft enjoyed substantial media attention and a subsequent increase in Xbox 360 sales when “Halo 3″ arrived in September 2007. So, what’s next? A “Halo” prequel. By a show of hands, how many of you who aren’t “Halo” fans have heard of it?
* Casual gaming has made a huge leap forward due to the graying of the gaming population. However, Xbox 360 is not a console for casual games; it was designed to become the hub of home entertainment — the place everyone would go to see movies, listen to music and surf the Internet, perhaps all at once, in addition to playing richly designed games in high definition and with surround sound.
But for reasons already explained, it’s probably not be wise to try multiple tasks on Xbox.
* The swooning economy will get worse before it gets better. Just ask President-elect Obama. In the coming months, more jobs will disappear and disposable income will reduce to a trickle (if it hasn’t already), thus making even a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade — still the lowest priced system around — sound unappealing after Christmas.
Microsoft needs console sales to remain strong through the first quarter of 2009. Otherwise, it will have to raise prices on Arcades to cover the cost of a recent hardware upgrade. Or raise game prices.
Or, maybe Microsoft will get in line to ask Washington for a bailout.
So, now I look at my Xbox 360 with concern that it won’t last and that I cannot afford a replacement. And Microsoft probably won’t be as generous next time.
And I probably won’t care.
I believe I saw this article in early 2008 as well. Multiple times in fact. It didn’t work out too well, heh. Kind of like Year of PS3. We all know how that turned as well.
Wow…where do you get off?
You’re afraid to install the NXE update on your XB360? Then don’t review it. And don’t talk about how you’re afraid it’ll break your XB360 either. Read the forums, and read the reviews…there have been minimal issues with the NXE update and people are raving about it.
A Microsoft-Washington bailout? They’ve sold over 25 million consoles, continue to be ahead of the PS3 by 6 million or more, and sales are rising because of the reduce price and the NXE update you’re so afraid of.
Do you even understand what responsible reporting is?
You don’t have fact number one to support anything you’ve said in this article. If you’re so afraid of your XBox breaking…pack it up and send it to Child’s Play where some sick kids will get to have some enjoyment.
Articles like this are a waste of time and money.
This article is about why the Xbox 360 could be doomed in 2009, but could also be about the Playstation 3. If the 360 is going to fail, it will be a year after the Ps3 fails. stop nuthuggin for Sony and print an unbiased article.
RRoD is a hardware issue, not software, NXE is all software.
Hardware upgrade ? New 360’s are coming out with the Jasper chip that is smaller, runs cooler, quieter and costs much less.
What does PS3 have that has Halo or Gears of War market appeal ???
God of War 3 is the only thing close to Halo or Gears of War. Killzone 2 wont’ have near the numbers. The average joe PS2 owner got raped on the original Killzone and won’t go for Killzone 2 no matter how pretty it is.
I agree with the other commentors. I have had no issues with my 360 (as far as I’ve read they corrected the red rings issue for the most part and very few 360s made after Nov 2007 have the rings issue). The new dashboard is slick (besides the avatars) and you can even choose your own background (ATHF!) & watch some netflix movies.
If you are writing this article about a game system failing then it should include the PS3. It is also a great system and while it does have a blu-ray player, it costs $200 more. Before Blu-ray players started dropping below $400 that was the PS3’s biggest advantage over. Now you can get some blu-ray players for as low as $129 if you catch a doorbuster sale and regularly they are now under $200 for some older models.
I had a wii up until last week when I sold it because I never played it. Casual gaming may bring more people to the video game world but its not stealing regular and hard core gamers from the powerful consoles.
I think you pissed off the fan boys……lol
While I don’t think the 360 will have the sales that it has had in 2008, I highly doubt it is doomed in 2009. With a $200 console on the market and a strong line up of titles already out, there is plenty to keep new users happy. Add in that we don’t know half of the games coming to the 360 in 2009, I’d say its a little too soon to say they have nothing to offer.
IMBECILE!!!!!
I have to say your article is nothing more than utter trash, you have no clue what your talking about, wow you had 4 dead Xbox’s well I’ve had 5 yes five and you know what id go through 5 more, there is no console that even comes close to what MS has to offer, you wrote this before didn’t you? You should be fired, all you can do is bad mouth and for this web site to even allow you to write trash like that they should be pulled from online.
Of course you’ll care. We all know and love the XBOX 360 for good reasons. Exlusive games, a controller that feels not just OK when held but great, and of course XBOX Live which offers the best and easiest way to play games on the internet. I own a PS3 as well but in my opinion there has only been a handful of games that Ive purchased and played. If their available on the 360 then thats what I purchase. Why? Simple. XBOX Live and the controller. Graphics are normally the same on both versions so this doesnt sway my decision and whether you like Achievments or not they just feel good when you get one. PS3 Trophies just dont seem to give me that same sense of accomplishment. I will always own multiple gaming systems but will always have a favorite depending on what makes me happy!