I Am the Newest Member of The Club of Having had my 360 break on me. It sucks hard.

[Skelix]

Just have more than 1, that way when one breaks you can mail the other out and still have a system to play.

I'm playing one right now, have a broken one in various pieces and an unopened Elite still in the Amazon packaging.

I'll never miss out on free dlc again!

[unwinddesign]

Mine quit working earlier this year, it was fixed and so far hasn't messed up again. Has there been a console worse than the 360? The games and features of the system are great but the system itself is crap. Compared to the other systems I own it seems like the worst made of them all:

1. Many die
2. Pick your 360 up, hold it. Then hold a Wii or PS3. The 360 feels so hollow, flimsy, and fragile. It feels like a Saturn. A Wii, PS3, DC, GC, etc feels solid.
3. Worst D-Pad I've ever used
4. Very stiff A/B/X/Y buttons, they feel like something from a late 80s toy.
5. Horrible Analog sticks, as bad as the ones on a Hyperscan. The "crater" in the top was put there to keep thumbs from sliding off, but it does the opposite.
6. Fat controller, but it's made by a U.S. company and I guess most people from the U.S. have larger hands than people from Japan.

Oh well, the 360 has the most games so we are stuck with it.

The 360's controller is the best one I've ever used. Don't know where the hell you get stiff buttons and crappy analogue sticks, but it's really the opposite. Since I don't play 2D games, the DPad is of no consequence (although this obviously varies with the user). And calling it fat? WTF? It's about the same size as a Dual Shock, slightly smaller than the GC's pad, smaller than the original Xbox's pad...maybe it's massive compared to the Wii or SNES controller.

The console itself is fairly heavy, and does not feel hollow. It feels no "cheaper" than the plastic casing of the Wii or PS3.

They do break, but that doesn't give you a warrant to just make up a bunch of random shit to support your thesis that "the system build is the worst out of every system ever made." Worst out of this gen? Yes. Worst ever? Doubtful. The PS2 was a giant sack of ass when it came out, as was the PS1. The Dreamcast had a fair number of issues, the original Xbox had notoriously horrible drives...the list goes on. The cart based systems were nigh indestructible, but now it seems that all bets are off. That being said, the PS3 and Wii are well constructed, so Microsoft needs to step their game up with some revisions, otherwise people are going to get tired of this shit, good games or no.

[SegaAges]

Mine RRoD'ed on me once about 6 months or so ago. I havent had any problems with it since.

[darkhades]

I am curious, is there anyone here with a launch 360 system and has had absolutely no problems? Pehaps I may just be the luckiest mofo'n 360 owner around.

[NE146]

Since I don't play 2D games, the DPad is of no consequence (although this obviously varies with the user).

Well there you go. The 360 D-Pad is definitely the worst thing about the 360 controller. If they could only fix that one simple thing (I mean how hard can it be????) then the 360 controller would be one of the top of all time imho.

[garagesaleking!!]

hey, i have another question, does anyone know microsoft fixes an xbox sent in with the e74 problem? do they do a permanent fix on it? or just something that will break again at some point?

[Garry Silljo]

Just have more than 1, that way when one breaks you can mail the other out and still have a system to play.

I'm playing one right now, have a broken one in various pieces and an unopened Elite still in the Amazon packaging.

I'll never miss out on free dlc again!

People were telling me this doesn't happen?

[eugenek]

I am curious, is there anyone here with a launch 360 system and has had absolutely no problems? Pehaps I may just be the luckiest mofo'n 360 owner around.

I'm curious, about how many times do you switch the system on in an average week? There's some speculation that it's the number of power cycles (and not total playtime) that frequently causes RRoD. So maybe if you turn it on once every couple of days it may not matter if the system is on for 8 hours every time.

[G-Boobie]

Just have more than 1, that way when one breaks you can mail the other out and still have a system to play.

I'm playing one right now, have a broken one in various pieces and an unopened Elite still in the Amazon packaging.

I'll never miss out on free dlc again!

Even though I currently have two(MS 'lost' the second one I sent in, so I bought an arcade. The other one showed up two months later much to my[and MS'] surprise), that's nuts. Planning on buying multiple 250 dollar consoles because they're poorly engineered? Are you hiring?

[ProgrammingAce]

Well there you go. The 360 D-Pad is definitely the worst thing about the 360 controller. If they could only fix that one simple thing (I mean how hard can it be????) then the 360 controller would be one of the top of all time imho.

Patent issues, same reason sony uses the shitty D-Pads they do. Talk to Ninty, they hold the patent. I don't think anyone has found a better way to make them that isn't already owned by Ninty or the arcade manufacturers.

Sucks.

[Princess-Isabela]

you all lie - I'm on my launch 2005 360 and it plays perfect.
liars...

[darkhades]

I'm curious, about how many times do you switch the system on in an average week? There's some speculation that it's the number of power cycles (and not total playtime) that frequently causes RRoD. So maybe if you turn it on once every couple of days it may not matter if the system is on for 8 hours every time.

I guess on average I play it about 5-10 hours a week, probably turning it on once every couple of days. The last couple of months I've been playing almost every day, 2-4 hours a day.

[neist]

My DVD drive is failing, so I feel for you.

Me too.

I've just been installing every game on the HDD now, and uninstalling them after I'm finished with that game. It's annoying, but at least I don't get random disc read errors.

Apparently theres a new chipset coming out soon (Jasper? I don't recall the code name). Hopefully that one will be better. I'm really hoping that somewhere down the line they actually revise the 360 hardware into something more efficient, especially if they still want the thing around in 5 years.

[chicnstu]

The 360's controller is the best one I've ever used. Don't know where the hell you get stiff buttons and crappy analogue sticks, but it's really the opposite. Since I don't play 2D games, the DPad is of no consequence (although this obviously varies with the user). And calling it fat? WTF? It's about the same size as a Dual Shock, slightly smaller than the GC's pad, smaller than the original Xbox's pad...maybe it's massive compared to the Wii or SNES controller.

1. Press the A/B/X/Y buttons on your 360 controller

2. Press the A/B/X/Y buttons on a Nintendo controller and the Triangle/Circle/Cross/Square buttons on a Sony system

3. Notice the difference...? The 360 buttons feel like a 20 year old toy. Yes they work, I'm just saying they feel worse than other controllers.

Yes, the analog sticks on the 360 controller feel the same as what's on a Nintendo or Sony controller but all I said was that the dip (or having it round on top like the Dual Shock) makes a person's thumb slide off when held in one direction for a long period of time. The lines that are on the Wii controller keep that from happening. I'm playing Fallout 3 and Animal Crossing: City Folk right now. In both games you are constantly traveling. When I play Fallout 3 I have to readjust my thumb often, when I play Animal Crossing, I never have to.

And the 360 controller is fat, the part where palms and fingers wrap around looks and feels very bloated compared to the Dual Shock and GC controller. After years of holding those the 360 controller doesn't feel good, but maybe it does to other people...even though I have long hands.

The console itself is fairly heavy, and does not feel hollow. It feels no "cheaper" than the plastic casing of the Wii or PS3.

Yeah it's heavy, but what does that have to do with durability? And yes, the console does feel very hollow. You must have never held a Wii if you don't think it feels hollow.

They do break, but that doesn't give you a warrant to just make up a bunch of random shit to support your thesis that "the system build is the worst out of every system ever made."

Cussing at me because I pointed out faults? I never said it was the worst built ever, I asked if it was because I hated the problems I had with my PS and having to blow the NES cartridges every time I wanted to play a game.

And none of that is random, read them again, think about it, check it for yourself, it's true.

Worst out of this gen? Yes. Worst ever? Doubtful. The PS2 was a giant sack of ass when it came out, as was the PS1. The Dreamcast had a fair number of issues, the original Xbox had notoriously horrible drives...the list goes on. The cart based systems were nigh indestructible, but now it seems that all bets are off. That being said, the PS3 and Wii are well constructed, so Microsoft needs to step their game up with some revisions, otherwise people are going to get tired of this shit, good games or no.

I agree with all of that.

Most of the problems I pointed out are minor but having so many minor problems has made me hate the 360 console, not the games. If I sound like a Nintendo or Sony fanboy, I'm not, almost all I've played this generation is the 360, it has more good games.

[garagesaleking!!]

i actually dont like the ps3 controller, it is too small, it feels weird in my hands, and i just dont like the layout, i think the 360 controller is the best, everthing about it is perfect.

[j_factor]

Patent issues, same reason sony uses the shitty D-Pads they do. Talk to Ninty, they hold the patent. I don't think anyone has found a better way to make them that isn't already owned by Ninty or the arcade manufacturers.

Genesis and Saturn had perfectly good d-pads... better than any of Nintendo's IMO. The Turbo's d-pad was perfectly acceptable as well, and I didn't even mind the Dreamcast d-pad.

[alxbly]

Garagesaleking: Sorry to hear about your 360. My Elite died a few weeks ago... I know your pain.

1. Press the A/B/X/Y buttons on your 360 controller

2. Press the A/B/X/Y buttons on a Nintendo controller and the Triangle/Circle/Cross/Square buttons on a Sony system

3. Notice the difference...? The 360 buttons feel like a 20 year old toy. Yes they work, I'm just saying they feel worse than other controllers.

The only difference I notice is that they have slightly more travel than Sony/Nintendo controllers but I do prefer the reassuring click of the 360's buttons. The consoles I play varies quite regularly and I can't say I've ever picked up a 360 pad and thought "this feels old/bad/whatever". The d-pad isn't great, apart from that I find the 360 controller to be really good.

Yes, the analog sticks on the 360 controller feel the same as what's on a Nintendo or Sony controller but all I said was that the dip (or having it round on top like the Dual Shock) makes a person's thumb slide off when held in one direction for a long period of time.

Never had this problem with the 360 controller either. The only controllers I've had that kind of problem with are the Gamecube's c-stick. I've always been interested to hear why Nintendo went with such a crap design for that c-stick. Does anyone know why it was just a stalk without any real surface area at the top (or a proper thumb grip, like you get on every other controller). Seemed like a strange decision.

The only other time I had similar problems is when I have friends/family playing my games and they're eating in between games, so they end up playing with greasy hands. I always wash the controllers after cos I'm kinda anal about things like that.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I've never had my thumbs "slip off" of a dual shock stick either.

I think the 360 controller is the best design MS has come up with. Very balanced, very ergonomic ... but for my personal playing taste, I prefer my analogs next to each other, and a smaller over-all controller.

I've always thought that the Dual Shock design was perfection in controller engineering, and it remains my favorite controller design.

[graciano1337]

Just had my Elite red ring on me last week. And it does suck hard. Really hard.

[Streetball 21]

So I start playing COD 5 this morning on my 360, and I start getting these weird patterns/lines on my screen. I keep playing since it's not that bad, and then stop to mess with the wires, thinking there's a bad connection somewhere. Then I see one red line on my 360, and the first thing that comes to my mind is RROD. But then, I get a message showing "Error E74". After calling Microsoft, I find out it is $100.00 (I also saw it on the forums as well) which is ridiculous. My one year warranty expired on 12/26/2008. I'm thinking of claiming RROD, but I'm not too confident that will work. Not sure it will do any good to speak with a supervisor, it seems Microsoft is NOT set on replacing XBOX's with this error message. This sucks.