LOL:

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/

and

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit … re-article

I can remember a time when people made consoles that actually lasted.

Oh wait, that was only Nintendo, and they still do.

The NES did have it's fair share of problems, though.

nothing that couldnt be fixed by blowing on the circuits or jamming a piece of cardboard in with the cartridge to keep it pressed down enough to maintain contact...

Maybe so, but it was incredibly sturdy! I remember as a tender young gamer between 6 and 9, kicking that thing down the stairs, throwing it across the room, generally beating the hell out of it and it still never croaked on me.

Maybe it was sturdy and everything, but I remember that with all the NESes I've had, in the latter half of their lifespans you just had to nudge the damn console for the game to freeze up. And every time it happened I'd give up this loud scream ghastly enough to kill a banshee.

The NES had a sturdy outside, but, like many humans with hard exteriors, it's inside was a mess (and I'm not saying that to knock the old grey box, it's probably the one console I had the most fun with when all is said and done). The SNES and N64, on the other hand, certainly live up to what Amazingu said above. They were freaking indestructible.

Sega made some sturdy shit, too.  Never had a single problem with my Master System or Genesis, with the latter still kicking today.  Can't comment on the Saturn since I've never owned one, but my Dreamcast is still fine, despite the fact the loud drive sounds like it could crap out whenever it feels like it. 

With Nintendo, I've only ever had one problem with their systems -- two, if we're counting one of my DS Lites that had a static line running through the middle of the touch screen.  My first Wii had to go out for replacement, in lieu of a syncing problem that even THEY couldn't figure out the cause for.  Barring those, Nintendo does have terrific customer service, so those misgivings are forgivable.

What a violent little bugger you were.  I'd hate to have seen you on a Battletoads or Ghosts 'n Goblins run.

I have no defense to that. It's true!

I bought Nintendo Wii and it had a graphical problem(spots, it looked like dead pixels on the tv lol), had to buy new one.
and had zero problems with 360 and ps3, so there.

Your mileage may vary of course, but I'm still running the same NES console I received for Christmas in 1989 without a hitch.

are you guys really going to compare 8-bit simplistic nes motherboard to powerhouses such as 360 and ps3 with HDD, dvd drives, video cards, multiple core processors and so on?
there are lot of things that can fail.

Well no, technically, they're comparing the Wii to 360 and PS3. And, of course, the output on the two "frequent breakdown" machines is a good order of magnitude higher than the Wii (which is essentially a PS2 with motion controls).

My take on it? If our present technology can't sustain hardware that will last 5-7 years working with our current graphic capabilities, then we should not yet be playing such damn pretty high-def/high-res games. Apparently Microsoft and Sony both didn't know how to deal with overheating issues.

That is true in theory, but in practice, what is going wrong here is overheating, which has nothing to do with all those fancy things you mentioned. It's just crappy design.

they released some with hitches? was that the limited redneck version so you could play in the back of the pick-up?

really?
because I know people whom systems failed because of blu ray/dvd drive going out or system update bricking their consoles.
there goes your theory.

I know people who can respond to perfectly civil forum posts without being an ass.

Some even know how to use capitalization.

The NES and other early systems were not simple pieces of electronics when they were released.  They were fairly advanced for their time but they were designed to last (the NES I'd say less so than others).  Modern systems obviously use more advanced technology but the technology for keeping them reliable (cooling systems, power efficiency, etc.) should be developed at a similar pace.  At least enough so that far less than half of systems fail within their first few years.

another "statistician",
half of the unit systems failed huh?... you're good at making up numbers.
their fail ratio definitely could improve significantly but people like you make potential customers scared of buying them because they'll think they bought a time bomb that will self destruct after certain period of time and it's not worth the money.
but I should have known better before posting a reply - it's the internet!
where everybody whines.

ps.just because I don't use capitalization on regular basis, doesn't mean I don't know how to use it, stop being an a$$.

No, his "theory" doesn't go. He said the failings are due to crappy design, and you just confirmed it by saying "I know people whom systems failed because of blu ray/dvd drive going out or system update bricking their consoles".

Are you employed by Sony or Microsoft to attack people drawing attention to the deficiencies of their new consoles, or what? So you haven't had any problem with your PS3 or 360 (yet...). Great. But the thing is, for some people, this problem (overheating, etc.) has occurred (for some unfortunate bastards more than once). It doesn't affect many consoles, but still a significant enough amount for it to warrant concern, in my opinion. If the fault is indeed systemic, then it means that its not just a string of accidents or isolated events, but a potential problem that could hit your or anyone else's PS3 or 360 sooner or later. And that is pretty shitty, isn't it?

As for "scaring potential customers"... f--- that shit, your average customers are brainless cattle anyway, no need to take their dumb asses into account.

hehe, no I'm not employed by sony or microsoft.
I always take sides with consumers, but I also see three corporate giants trying to make the best systems they can.
it's not like they're making faulty systems on purpose... have some understanding.

No of course they're not making them faulty on purpose, but the fact remains that they ARE faulty, through bad design choices. And it even seems both MS and Sony made similar mistakes.

To be honest, I've never had any trouble whatsoever with my PS3 *knocks wood*, apart from Fallout 3 crashing repeatedly, but that's just Bethesda for ya, so I was surprised to hear the Yellow Light being such a common problem.
My 360 on the other hand, has Red Ringed 3 (!) times already, 2 of which happened within 1 year after purchase.

I have never had ANY of my consoles die even once, and I own most major consoles from the NES and up (I did have to exchange my Phat PS2 for a Slim because the laser stopped functioning though). No, the NES wasn't perfect either, but as has been said, most problems were solved by blowing strategically.

I refuse to believe this is due to the more complex contents of the machine, as Adam said, every machine was complex for its time, so that shouldn't matter much, especially in the case of the 360 which shouldn't be anywhere near as complicated as the PS3, because Sony likes to make their hardware unnecessarily complex.
Come to think of it, most of Sony's consoles have a pretty high failure rate, although in case of the PSX and PS2 its mostly Laser related.
I maintain that these faults are due to inefficient design more than anything else.
Sony maintain that their design is absolute and if you have problems, obviously YOU are doing something wrong. Gotta love that.

That said, I'm not fearmongering at all. Like I said, I have had no significant trouble with the PS3, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
But from a purely statistical point of view, I do feel people should be warned about the high defect rate of the 360. Happened to me 3 times, and I honestly do not know anyone personally who HASN'T had it happen yet.

No one said they were making them faulty on purpose.

I think Ramza is right when he says that the companies' desire to flash impressive graphics is the root problem. The overheating problem is probably a sign that we shouldn't be at quite this level of processing/graphics yet if we wanted completely stable consoles. But these things have an arms-race logic of their own, and when companies like Sony and Microsoft are desperate to stay ahead of the curve of development, these kinds of problems are bound to persist.

First of all I didn't say half of systems failed.  I said the failure rate should be far less than half.  In any case:

Game Informer survey: Xbox 360 Failure Rate Reaches 54%
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1014486p1.html

SquareTrade statistics: 23.7% of Xbox 360 owners report system failure
http://www.pcworld.com/article/171303/x … nsole.html

The latter is from an optional, extended warranty provider that only a small percentage of customers even deal with, so I'm inclined to lean towards the former's numbers.

Actually I am a potential costumer and, aside from the bomb exaggeration, that is exactly how I feel.  For a long time I was torn between the 360 and the PS3 but as I don't see a huge difference in the quality of the software library, the slightly superior specs and the far greater reliability of the PS3 play equal roles in me deciding to go with it.

Even with the 360's upgraded warranty, I don't care to invest my money in a product well-known to be unreliable.

My second-gen PS2 finally gave out on me sometime this past Spring, after about 8 loyal years of service.

Tried cracking open the case on it, and washing off the disc-reading lense with rubbing alcohol and paper towel, but no go. Thing had a good 8 years of dust caught up in the thing; smelled like cheetos. Old dust always smells like cheetos for some reason.

Okay, it didn't completely DIE, but it did give permanent disc read errors with a few games. Didn't want to take anymore chances with it, so I traded it in for a slim PStwo. The slim PStwo definitely runs much faster...

But hey, 8 years is the longest I've ever kept a game console, so, hurray for the bugger putting up with me for as long as it did!

...

Still worried about the prospects of getting a 360 vs. PS3. Think I'll wait just awhile longer.

In the meanwhile, the Wii is proving to be quite a charming little device! Wii Shop Channel still needs more virtual console titles, though...

you guys are going to be arguing this until you both have the yellow spot of incontinence...

Just as you're gonna keep on cracking lame puns until you get hit with a fist-related teeth disorder.

That reminds me of how Shinji Mikami blasted Sony for intentionally making shitty hardware to move more units. No one really wants to be known for making shitty products.

Can you imagine how wonderful it would feel to to power your 360 up without having to worry about the small, but very real possibility of your console getting shat on by a hardware issue?

The only piece of gaming hardware I've had fail on me on its own (that is, not from family members being idiotic and such) was my PS2, which Sony replaced for free. I've followed a lot on the failure rates of this gen and keep a large and powerful floor fan trained on my PS3 and 360 whenever I use them, and it's worked well so far (he types, tempting fate).

Aside from all that, though, I'm not sure why the topic makes tempers flare like they have in much of this thread. Tech is tech, it'll always be fragile.

c'mon dude.. if the weapon used against you is words, then you defend yourself with words. if the weapon used against you is physical, then you kick their ass.
did you know george lucas got his inspiration from one of the early ABC after-school specials about a bad little league coach? it was called the umpire strokes zack