Hanslow

http://theinquirer.net/?article=32171



Looks like more money for the Lotus fund then. It'll be a shame if it turns out to be true, but c'est la vie

Iain Young

I've heard about those problems from other "insider" sources as well. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but I've heard from a few developers that it's not an easy machine to develop for...

Wasn't going to get one anyway (I'm sticking with the 360 and maybe a wii), but this must be worrying for Sony...

GaryK

Its one persons take on something they 'overheard', sure they (Sony) are being arrogant to think the price wont be an issue and it really does need to come out this side of xmas but they are still the dominant market leader and it seems unlikely a company as successful as Sony would have dropped the biggest of all bollox but hey not saying it *couldnt* happen. Im a PS fan-boy but I will wait and see and with more PS only titles making it onto xbox360 it could well sway me.

Gary

bob269

It's probably just developers crying at the thought of learning to program again, i'm sure it will be a powerful machine in years to come, but this difficulty in programming will hamper the initial games lineup, lets face it the 360 line up was crap at best, however MS are going to hit Sony this autumn with a years head start on games available (estimated at around 160 releases include live arcade games)

For once MS are getting it right

Iain Young

I thought there were one or two very good games in the 360 launch lineup myself. I loved Kameo and Amped. PDZ and PGR3 were a bit naff though. There's some excellent looking games coming out for it on the run up to xmas though

Putting my developers hat on for a minute...

All the developers I know actually relish the prospect of a new system. The challenge of extracting the most from a new machine is actually exciting for us geek types . So, I doubt that having to learn a new system is the cause for their griping. I know a couple of people who are doing ps3 dev work, and whilst they haven't said anything specific (NDAs in place etc), they have said that they are finding the experience somewhat frustrating. Shouldn't stop them from being able to produce the software. It just might take longer, and potentially be more prone to bugs...

bob269

I'm sure they'll enjoy the challenge, however long development times aint gonna bring the bread and butter in. Royalty bonues aren't paid until the games on the shelf.

Iain Young

Hence the greater likelyhood of bugs in games. The people in charge of the pennies are going to want to shove software out of the door at the same rate as at present (to keep the money rolling in), but if the software is more complex and takes longer to develop, it's likely the quality is going to suffer in order to meet those deadlines. I suspect we'll see a great deal of games companies turning into EA clones, and just shoving out game after game using the same engines, just with slightly updated graphics...

Hanslow

I hope it works out for Sony. I thought that there were pros and cons of both the standard Xbox and PS2, but they complemented each other quite well. I unfortunately fell for the Final Fantasy series so would be sad to drop that series because of duff hardware

At the moment the 360 is out there on its own, so gobbling up market share. It could really do with a challenger and killer apps to push development on in all camps. I'd quite like one, but I'm waiting for at least the second revision to see if the hardware issues (minor thought they may be) get sorted. This may well be what I do if I end up going for a PS3 as well.

Strangely, maybe down to the price tag, I'm sorely tempted to just buy a Wii when they come out, regardless of revision and issues. That may well change though when the release date approaches

bob269

The hardware issues are not as widespread as made out, it's just that people post threads saying their xbox is fried, yet people don't post threads saying I switched my xbox360 on today and it worked fine. They have actually the best success rate (as in lowest returns) for any console todate.

If you're hanging on to see whats what it's worth bearing in mind MS have said the 360 + HD addon should be cheaper than the ps3. Maybe closer to the date the bluray/hddvd movie debate should be a little clearer.

Iain Young

Based on what information?

I'm currently on my 3rd xbox 360 and 2nd power supply. My brother is on his second 360, and I know 3 people at work who have had to change theirs as well. Personally, I've not been too impressed. It's a great machine when it's working though.

Also, I hear that the movie industry are not too impressed with blu-ray. Basically, it's more expensive for them to use (mainly due to being more prone to error during the manufacturing process), and so will potentially cut their profits. They've already basically junked one Sony movie format (the UMD), so it doesn't bode well for blu-ray, especially when hd-dvd seems to be gaining momentum...

D16GER

Let's be honest guys, even the date on the Inquirer's site is to be doubted, the amount of times they submit utter lies and garbage is unbelievable!

NWMark

yet mine was bought on day of release has been used everyday and is working perfectly, my next door neighbours is the same.

ive got 3 other friends with the 360 and none of theirs have had problems, only thing that has gone wrong between all 5 system is one headset and it was a dodgy wire in the connector probably caused by his lad pulling it out by the lead.

Maybe i have been lucky or you been unlucky but i have also read that their return rate is no higher than any other past console or indeed any other electrical item.

Mark

Iain Young

...and I have read that it is a lot higher. The only people who know for sure is Microsoft, and they haven't released any official figures.

I do know that the first time I rang up to get mine shipped to MS for replacement, the chap at the courier company knew the account number etc off by heart. He said they were shipping hundreds of them back to MS every week, and had done thousands since xmas. This was back in April, (up to this point it had been working flawlessly since I got the console on the day of release last year).

Doesn't sound like a small number of returns to me...

Hanslow

I know two people with 360s that were bought on day of release with no problem. I also know of people who have had problems, which takes it over a 50:50 split of problems to none. Electricals (and vehicles too) normally go through some revisions once in the market place, and I prefer to go for a latter one. I'm not that young anymore, so time isn't an issue

I still use a CRT at home too, and it's doing us fine for what we paid for it. I see no reason to upgrade to HD at all yet. Again, I want to see what SED and OLED technology has to offer on that front

I know I can wait forever, but I'll know when the time is right

bob269

MS have released a 3-5% return rate.

Mine plus 5-6 friends have all worked flawlessly since release day. Maybe you've just been unlucky or maybe our electric runs on a cleaner circuit in stoke

Iain Young

Where did you read that Bob? I'd be very interested to read their statement. I've not seen any publically released figures (and believe me, I've been looking)...

I'd say it was my electricity, but it's not just me having the problems.

First one died after about 5 months use. My second didn't work the day they delivered it from the repair center. They made me return the power supply for replacement, but the new one made no difference, and so then I returned the console again. The 3rd one seems to be working ok so far, but I was without a properly working console for nearly 2 months, and never even got an apology from MS.


Hanslow, I've not gone HD yet either. Although, having seen my brothers 360 running through his 43" HD plasma, I'm tempted to upgrade my 42" lo-def screen

Hanslow

What you need to do Iain is convince your brother he needs to upgrade, and that you'll kindly sort out storing his old plasma for him which must be worth.....oooh I dunno, about 2 mars bars and a packet of crisps by now

Iain Young

Hmm, somehow I don't think he'll fall for that......but it's worth a try