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.
As pointed out by numerous posters already this is a horrendous, poorly written “article.” I would like to point out that Sony has announced massive layoffs. Guess what division/unit within Sony has been a source of massive losses? That’s right kids, the PS3.
Honestly really??? I didn’t even read this article…just saw the title via my daily xbox 360 google news search…Doomed? Com on man…the 360 is going to move units in 2009…Its the number #1 next gen box (I dont count Wii as next gen) and its blowing off the shelves in europe. Plus it’s going to break 1 million this year in Japan. It will prob make 20,000 million sold in the US in 2009. How is this doomed…its crushing the Playstation 3 and by the time they drop their price…blu ray players will be so cheap that it won’t be such a big deal to buy a ps3 vs. a blu ray player. Digital distribution is the way to go anywah going foward…I like the ps3 as a machine…I do think it is a more complete machine, but to say the 360 is doomed??? Must be a slow news day.
Where to start? This article is just ridiculous. Are you getting paid by the paper to write this baseless crap?? Just look at the sales numbers for the past few months, that will give an indicaion as to whether your prediction will hold true or not. And currently the 360 is still wiping the floor with the PS3.
Supposedly the “Jasper” chipsets are being put into 360’s now to reduce the RROD syndrome, yeah, that’s what they said about the “Falcon” chipset, remember?
The 360’s garbage hardware IS big cause for concern but i think the bigger problem they face next year is that there are hardly ANY exclusive games lined up for the next 12 months. There’s a Halo RTS, a Halo prequel and………Ninja Blade??? If Microsoft are hoping that idiot games like “Lips” and “You’re In The Movies” are gonna prevail over Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Gran Turismo 5 and God Of War 3 then they’re insane, even with the low price.
It just goes to show that you get what you pay for…….if you pay a cheap £129.99 for a console i suppose you have to expect it to have no games and be absolutely useless…………….
I quite enjoyed the article - utter nonsense, but it made me chucke.
I’m on my second xbox. I got my first one on release night from Asda (they don’t take pre-orders
When it did pack in after about 16 months, they sent me a sticker and i bundled it off to germany, free of charge. And then a new one came back about 6 days later, free of charge. I don’t know of any other warranty system that you get for free that is that good.
My second machine is still going strong.
And before you all start crying 360 “fanboi” then let me just say I owed 5 PS2 though out it’s life cycle. I think 3 had laser issues (i play way too many games) and one just died (the last is still ok though and in a cupboard.) Sony refused to fix the first 2 drives that failed (I was a little nieve about my right and such back then.)
As for games out in 2009, in addition to those mentioned:
APB
Forza 3
Project Gotham 5 (from Turn 10, the forza guys???)
Bio Shock 2 (although like the 1st it’s a time-limited exclusive)
Mass Effect 2
Lionheads new game (the Fable guys - to be annouced at E3, out in 09)
Alan Wake
Tales Of Vesperia
Tekken 6 (probably already been out on the ps? though)
But don’t forget all the cross platform games. If you want to play Resident Evil 5, Ghostbusters or Rage you have a choice of which platform to play them on - and for some who doesn’t already own a console, in this credit-crunch time the cheaper console will most likely win out.
Especially since there usually isn’t much to choose between graphics on cross platform titles, and as sales are going, chances are they will get the same as their friends, more people own a 360 (although even more people own wii’s - you don’t buy a wii to play online, you get one to get your mates round after the pub to act like tits!)