I went with the product replacement plan at GameStop. $40 or whatever, and if my 360 up and died, I could get it replaced at no cost. The first one I got was defective, and died on me after about 2-3 months. I should've taken it back within the first 30 days, but all my friend's told me that the heat it was immenating was normal. I took it in and got it replaced and bought another product replacement for the new box. This one has been much better to me, and isn't scalding to the touch, even after playing it for hours on end.

So wait.. You paid $40 for a replacement plan.. It broke.. You got it replaced and had to buy ANOTHER replacement plan? How long does it last? Why not just pay $50 for M$FT's one time?

I believe it lasts two years. I'd rather do that and be guaranteed a brand new 360, and not have to wait for 3-6 weeks to play again, while waiting for a "coffin" and the actual repaired/refurbished unit to be returned.

"also the fact you're left without for weeks at a time, only to get a system someone else took a dump on"

So, you got my system?

rotfl

While I've enjoyed my 360 since I got it in early November, I was without it for almost a month while it was out for repair (March). Had a PS2 for 5 years and never had single issue. Same with original PS.

Now maybe it's just the new complexity of the hardware...but how are PS3's so far on reliability?

All else equal (PQ, game catalog), I would probably spend $100-150 more for a PS3 if they were a lot more reliable. I work a ton now, so the 4-5 hours I play a week, I want to not have to worry about something F-ing up.

I haven't heard any bad PS3 hardware stuff yet.. which is odd considering their 0-3 record to that point. Here's hoping it ends up being solid as if I get one, I'd like one before they switch out the PS1/PS2 abilities from hardware to software.

i don't think anyone could tell you for certain for at least a few more months



but yea, I haven't heard anything yet

I'm thinking of cashing in my BB warranty and getting a new Xbox mine seems to be locking up more and more lately

I wonder if there's an increase in 360 failures during the Summer with the warmer months? Lately it's been warm here in LA and I've noticed some stutters while playing games and this morning I tried to eject a disk and the system locked up. I've only had 1 or 2 lock ups and I've had it over a year. It was fine after I rebooted and these things might not have anything to do with a potential breakdown but who knows.

Found this on the Gears forum regarding more achievements and the next update.
Gears Forum

Hopefully the achievements will be changed to include player matches.

Condemned will be $19.99 starting tomorrow til (??) at Gamestop/EB.

Ad: http://www.ebgames.com/gs/weeklyad/c...i_052707-4.asp

(Chromehounds will be $22.50).

Bioshock fans,
You can pre-order the 360 verson from Fry's website for $49 (as opposed to $59), along with free shipping.

No word on the "special edition" though...

The special edition has already been announced as a Gamestop/EB exclusive.

I have finally joined the realm of 360 owners! Hooray for me.

Anyway, I wanted to ask a quick question about the Live service. I know that I can establish a connection by hooking up the Xbox to the router. Can I also establish a connection connecting the Xbox, via Ethernet cable, to my computer? My wireless router is in my bedroom; my computer and 360 are in the living room. I haven't bought the wireless whatever I need yet.

And speaking of which, what's the best option for buying the wireless thing? I mean, are there off brands or something that might be cheaper and work just as well?

Oh, and one more question. I got the 360 as a birthday present. I was also given some cooling thing for it. Anyone else use/hear of this? Does this thing really work? I realize I didn't have to spend any money on it, but is it worth however much it was?

some coolers actually can hurt the unit--putting a fan over a fan can cause the internal fan to not spin as fast as it wants---it creates a vortex of mixed pressure on the spinning blades.

I have the cooler on my unit, it does make it louder, but it doesn't lock up as much when I have it on it, I also don't get as many dirty disk errors.

Be careful with the cooling units. I had read some horror stories and some people were saying that the cooler was scorching the back of their 360 and then MSoft wouldn't honor the warranty because the user was interfering with the design. Something to keep in mind.

Make sure you call and get an extended warranty on the thing for peace of mind. And enjoy - especially with Live - the 360 is an awesome machine with a pretty good catalog of titles right now imo.

Mad Tracks Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade Tomorrow
 

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archi...29/550761.aspx

Mad Tracks Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade Tomorrow

3D racing party game Mad Tracks will be available for download beginning Wednesday, May 30, at 9:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. Pacific Time).

From the media alert just posted:

Players can race through 15 challenges consisting of nine mini-games and six different races behind the wheel of one of 12 sleek compact cars. “Mad Tracks,” from Load Inc., features 12 power-ups to keep engines revved up and players in the fast lane ahead of the competition.

“Mad Tracks” will be available worldwide (with the exception of Korea) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone.

Game Features

* 15 distinct challenges (6 races & 9 mini-games) provide a full-fledged racing game experience
* 12 stackable power-ups (rockets, freezer, oil drop, EMP and more!)
* 12 sleek looking cars to choose from
* 4 player multiplayer over Xbox LIVE and 4 player local multiplayer via split screen mode
* Championship mode & Arcade mode
* 2 free gamer pictures
* Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

Regarding service, I tried using the wireless 360 router but was only able to connect about half the time, even though my router was only a few feet away from the Xbox. I just opted to run a long ethernet cable from my modem (in my spare bedroom) to the 360 (in my bedroom). I get connected 100% of the time now and have never been dropped from Live.

Mad Tracks looks like a 3d version of that old Micro Machines racer they had back in the day.

Though I guess, more accurately, it looks like Toy Commander.

Could go either way.

I had the same thoughts. I'll definitely check out the demo :)

Anyone here tried the DIRT demo. I thought it was ok and the demo is kind of lame because you cant see you racing with the other cars, only by time.

Isn't that what rally racing is? Anyway, if you try some of the other car/race types, you will race vs. other cars (i.e. choose the 3rd car type)

I thought the demo/game was okay - the best part of the demo/game to me was the menu - it was cool - other than that, I wasn't really impressed - but then again, I'm not racing game fan -