Nintendo vs. Sega (and other lesser console wars)

[Steevy Maximus]

The Red Ring, as I recall, was resolved within a couple of years. It wasn’t as widespread as LONG as I think some of you are portraying it. I got mine in 2009-ish and never had an issue. And despite that, the 360 was cheaper For nearly its entire run, with a FAR more robust online infrastructure. Sony never charged for PS3 internet access because they really didn’t believe it was going to be as vital as it ended up being.

The PS3 was the “Saturn” of that generation, in terms of design. It was overly complex, and like what they did with the Vita, loaded the system and controller with gimmicks and forced them on developers. The complexity prevented Sony from being able to bring the price down as quickly or aggressively as Microsoft. Microsoft Kept It Simple.
The biggest reason the PS3 managed to win out was because the generation lasted long enough for them to actually put out some quality games, and the Asian markets’ utter disdain for western gaming products.

 

[The Predaking]

At launch, the Xbox 360 was available in two configurations: the "Xbox 360" package (unofficially known as the 20 GB Pro or Premium), priced at US$399 or £279.99, and the "Xbox 360 Core", priced at US$299 and £209.99. The original shipment of the Xbox 360 version included a cut-down version of the Media Remote as a promotion.[6] The Elite package was launched later at US$479. The "Xbox 360 Core" was replaced by the "Xbox 360 Arcade" in October 2007[109] and a 60 GB version of the Xbox 360 Pro was released on August 1, 2008. The Pro package was discontinued and marked down to US$249 on August 28, 2009, to be sold until stock ran out, while the Elite was also marked down in price to US$299.[110]

Two major hardware revisions of the Xbox 360 have succeeded the original models; the Xbox 360 S (also referred to as the "Slim") replaced the original "Elite" and "Arcade" models in 2010. The S model carries a smaller, streamlined appearance with an angular case, and utilizes a redesigned motherboard designed to alleviate the hardware and overheating issues experienced by prior models. It also includes a proprietary port for use with the Kinect sensor.[26][111][112] The Xbox 360 E, a further streamlined variation of the 360 S with a two-tone rectangular case inspired by Xbox One, was released in 2013. In addition to its revised aesthetics, the Xbox 360 E also has one fewer USB port, no AV connector (and thus is HDMI-only), and no longer supports S/PDIF.[113]

IMO, it wasn't fixed until 2010 when they released the S model. Every Xbox before that using the old design, no matter what revision, will get the RROD. It's only a matter of time.

 

[Pocket]

According to the Xbox 360 subreddit, it's actually the 2008 "Jasper" revision that fixed the reliability issue, with 2009 models (that use the "Kronos" GPU revision instead of 2008's "Zeus") being the least likely to fail even compared to the S and E.

Ultimately, though, it was a common problem in the industry at the time, caused by cheap solder being used even inside chips. The PS3 had a similar issue that didn't become widely known until several years later because early PS3s barely got any heavy use, and even computer graphics cards from that era are hard to find used in working condition because of their high failure rates.

 

[The Predaking]

According to the Xbox 360 subreddit, it's actually the 2008 "Jasper" revision that fixed the reliability issue, with 2009 models (that use the "Kronos" GPU revision instead of 2008's "Zeus") being the least likely to fail even compared to the S and E.

Yeah, I can see why people think that, but my buddy at work bought a Jasper that got RROD. So that is why I personally am calling it at the S revision in 2010.

 

[Pocket]

"I get that a lot of people collectively have reached a consensus about something, but I have a single data point that doesn't perfectly line up with that, so I'm choosing to believe that instead."

 

[Princess Viola]

Also no one has ever claimed that later revisions of the 360 will never red ring ever.

All the RROD is is just 'general hardware failure', that can happen to literally any Xbox 360 manufactured from day 1 to the day they discontinued it.

The later revisions starting with Jasper are just more reliable than the older models with their very high failure rates, but 'more reliable and less prone to hardware failure' =/= 'will literally never break'.

 

[Exatron]

Facts don't matter for perception. I mean, I'd hope everyone recognizes by now that joystick drift has been a problem for all the current- and previous-gen systems. That didn't stop WatchMojo from declaring Joy-Con drift specifically to be one of the worst console defects of all time. Even worse than the RRoD...

 

[Princess Viola]

WatchMojo is clickbait bullshit but also, while yes stick drift is something that can happen with virtually any analog stick (unless they use hall effect sticks) because of just general wear and tear, I think it totally fair to point out that the Joy-Con analog sticks seem to have both a higher chance of starting to drift and seem to start drifting at much earlier in their lifecycle compared to other controllers than you'd expect.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

There's only one Mojo that's truly worth watching...

Spoiler

 

[Exatron]

WatchMojo is clickbait bullshit but also, while yes stick drift is something that can happen with virtually any analog stick (unless they use hall effect sticks) because of just general wear and tear, I think it totally fair to point out that the Joy-Con analog sticks seem to have both a higher chance of starting to drift and seem to start drifting at much earlier in their lifecycle compared to other controllers than you'd expect.

I struggle to believe that when I had to buy three PS4 controllers to get one that didn't start drifting within a week. The one that came with the console had me convinced that The Last of Us (first game I played on my PS4) had a faulty control scheme since I spent my entire playthrough fighting the camera. My second game proved it wasn't just the game when I could not get the camera to face forward. I did a quick bit of research, learned about drifting, took it apart for repairs, and went back to playing. For about two days, before it became nigh unplayable again. Second controller I bought only lasted about a week before it started drifting terribly.

At this point, by the way, I had four pairs of Joy-Cons (three from launch) and two pro controllers (one from launch). None of them had any drifting yet. Two of the Joy-Cons did eventually start to drift, but they never progressed past irritating. They never reached the unplayable state my PS4 controllers did. This was the point where I started buying hall effect joysticks for all my controllers on both systems.

Yes, it's anecdotal. What's not anecdotal is that there are a hell of a lot more Switches and Joy-Cons out there than there are PS4s or X-Boxes. Statistically, unless the problem is much worse on the other consoles, we should be seeing more drifting Joy-Cons than other controllers, simply due to the sheer number of them. Also, since every article you read will point out that a lot of drift is caused by debris getting into the joystick, I'd point out that the Switch has a much younger user base on average. Watching how my kids are about washing their hands (the younger one especially), I tend to keep a couple controllers reserved as mine. The controllers can sometimes feel downright nasty after they've used them. And that's not even getting into the physical abuse they tend to dish out.