Microsoft, originally well-known for computers came into the console market with the original Xbox and quickly made a name for itself, rivalling competitors such as
Nintendo,
Sega and
Sony. With the purchase of
Bungie Coporation, Microsoft managed to start something of a cult with games such as
Halo which have become Microsoft's killer ap.
Trailing behind Sony in consoles produced (who were on their second console), Microsoft got the head start on the next-generation market with the XBOX 360 the successor to the original XBOX. With a years head start, many developers began developing exclusively for the console since it was the only console out with next-generation capabilities. With a perfected
XBOX Live to boot, it truly was a console that all hardcore gamers would know about. With such a start how could things possibly go wrong for Microsoft?
The answer was simple.
Hardware. Since the debut of the console in November 2005, reports about consoles malfunctioning started circulating the web, where people had done different things and had their console inexplainably die on them. Thus the
Three Red Lights of Death of death was born and during the initial few weeks after launch, Microsoft's customer service team were contacted, they were told that it was the users fault and that they would have to pay $150 to get the console fixed.
“It’s not a systematic, single problem” said Peter Moore during an interview at E3 this year. “We’ve seen a number of issues that will create what we call a general hardware failure, as indicated by the three flashing red lights. So as a result, we’ve said: Look, if you have the three flashing red lights, we’re going to take care of you. You don’t have to worry about what it is that’s causing it, and we won’t know what it is until we get the box in” Moore stated.
With very few answers as to what was causing this problem, many went into the realms of guesswork, with
Ben Heckendorn, the creator of the Xbox360 Laptop, stating that the problem was simply the design of the Xbox 360, with circuits jammed close together, the GPU pumping massive amounts of heats and an undersized heatsink all coming together to melt a few soldering and giving you the problem that we all hate so much.
Even with such problems with the Xbox 360, people continued to stay with the company and opted to have their console replaced by a refurbished model than go to a rival company. But what is so great about the Xbox 360 that has had people sticking to it so fondly?
Well the answer to that is simple...
Community.
Microsoft and its partners have created and amazing invention called Xbox LIVE! Which has catapulted itself from just a name to being the premiere gaming platform for all genres to strive for? Their unique user interface keeps you in touch with your friends and sees what they are playing at any time. It also will let you join your friends’ game with a click of a button. This is probably the largest reason while people keep coming back. The other would have to be content. With killer games out like Two Worlds, Blue Dragon, Gears of War and hundreds of others, the 360 truly has the most next gen games to date. Keep in mind they have had a year head start on the competition. The fact is, the 360 has suffered from some major system problems that would have grounded most gaming platforms for good. However, since it have built itself a foundation as more than a gaming center, it lives on, no matter how many replacements you may need to endure.
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The PS3 may be more powerful and has Blu-ray so it might one day have better graphics than the 360 (it still hasn't proven this), but when the library for the 360 is 100 times better than the PS3, who gives a shit?
I think people are sticking to xbox despite the problems is more of a company than community.
I agree Krunal you shouldn't judge a console based off games. Its more to it than that.
A hell of a lot of people still pushing the 360 out there all seem to have some non-existent grudge aganist Sony, and vice versa for PS3 fans. It's pretty sad really.
That's pretty much all a console is about. No matter how great a console is in terms of power, without great games, it's just a box of chips and wires. I guess games aren't 100% of what the console is about, but it is such a large part that no amount of hardware power in a competitor can compete with a great game lineup.
The great games, magnificent online service, and incredible devotion to their customers. (Shelling out billions of dollars to fix the problems and get us a new box, if that isn't devotion, I don't know what is.) are what keep me with MS.
Krunal i'll let you take care of this one.