If you've read anything online lately, especially info coming from CES in Vegas last week....HD-DVD is on its last leg. Warner Bros announced on Jan 4th that beginning May 08, they will switch to Blu-Ray exclusively. That leaves only Paramount, Dreamworks and Universal as the studios supporting HD-DVD. Also, Universal's exclusive contract with HD-DVD just expired this month and was not renewed as of yet. I don't foresee this Hi-Def DVD war lasting much longer.

if blu ray wins, hopefully that will mean microsoft will get blu ray licensing to make an add-on external unit like their hd-dvd one (which i don't have). :intello:

overall for me, though, it's not about what movie format wins. i went with what i thought had the best games, and i've been very pleased so far. i had the original xbox for at least 5 years with no problems too, so brand loyalty did play a part in my decision.

Yep, Blu-Ray is leading by far. I see a lot more Blu-Ray movies than HD. PS3 has built in Wi-Fi and online play is free.

The only thing going for the Elite over the PS3, that I see, is the Halo 3 game. That, and it's going to cost more in the long run. I like it when it's working, maybe I'll snag a cheap one later on but I think I'm going with the PS3. I want to hear more PS3 owners speak up.

Gimme £500 and I'll go buy one and some games, then let you know what its like....

Nah, I only have a PS2, and I dont play on it much- I only like flightsims and those kinda games, so Im more than happy replaying Wipeout and R-type, and G-police; was there ever a GP3 released?....

I'm not really partial, and I will admit, the only reason I even got a new computer was to play Halo when it came out for PC, and I got a Xbox when Halo 2 came out, and I got a Xbox 360 for Halo 3, but thats just cause Halos a damn good game, and I wanted one anyway, but I personally like the 360 more. It offers better games, and pretty damn good graphics. I don't like the fact that Microsoft tries to rip you off one everything, like the network adapter, but its a pretty solid console. Even the new Premiums are nice. There coming with the HDMI port and bigger heatsink, which was exclusive to only the Halo 3 360s and Elites.

Oh, and that intercooler actually works fairly well. The only issue was with the older ones that had the hardware issue, which would cause it to run extremely hot and caused the intercooler to melt to the back. Some people complained that when they pulled it off it pulled out the socket as well, but thats because they probably didn't use the release button. Its not an issue with the Halo 3, Elites, and new Premiums anyway, since along with the other issues, they added a metal backing plate to the power socket.

Well what's the excuse/reason my Elite failed then? I want to know so I can buy a good system. For my money, the PS3 is the machine to get. Microsoft wants to nickel and dime me.

The 360 failure problems are from a few different factors, but all told they are much higher than they should be for a commercial product. The biggest ones I've heard about are from overheating issues, but both of the CPU and the GPU. There is the 3rd revision to the motherboard that incorporates a new 45nm CPU (aka Falcon) and HS redesign. GPU won't be updated until late 08 last I heard. All the new motherboard have HDMI and can be found in all models (elite/pro/arcade) however they are still working thru inventory, so not all HDMI models are falcons, some are Rev 2 (inc elites.) All Halo editions are supposed to be falcons.

I went thru considerable trouble to find a Falcon arcade edition just before Xmas. Only a visual inspection of the MB is a guarantee (other than the H3 edition.) Hopefully this one will fare better, but I got a warr from BB just incase. Fortunately thru price drops, keeping my old HDD, and buying the arcade, the gift card I recoeved from best buy I got for my original purchase of the Pro I was able to buy the arcade, a new 2yr warr and Lego Star wars. Did find out about the DLC F'up until after. I may not have re-bought it otherwise......


The thing about the elite I don't understand is that all you are really getting for the xtra $$ is a bigger HDD and a black console. The bigger HDD is only good for buying DLC (as I doubt you will fill a 20GB HDD w/ saved games.) So in effect you are paying a $100 premium for the priviledge of paying MS the ability to DL more Digital Media that you cannot transfer to any other device because of all the DRM issues, nor sell to anyone after you've watched Transformers 10 times and never want to see it again.

Also, in the 360s favor, Mass Effect is an awesome game. I haven't bothered buying Halo3 as I've read the single player was a bit short and dissapointing in the end.

ME is from the same people that did Knights of the Old Republic. Its an RPG, but also a first-person shooter w/ some tactical shooter aspects. Some run and gun, but also select and command allies in battles, and are able to develop char along a few different directions (pure soldier vs jedi like magic-user type, etc etc)

I think yours is just a fluke to be honest...

I hope so. I'm thinking of giving it another chance just because of the gameplay and the plethora of games.

An XBOX 360 is a computer. Very similar to your desktop PC and the PS3.

Microsoft writes the software for it. A hardware failure isn't Microsofts fault.

Software = Written on HD Flash or other memory
Firmware = Flashed onto the Hardware not entirely sure how it works
Hardware = The physical stuff

Usually companies stick to one of those areas.

Thanks for the update on something I already know. Obviously if I looked up the error and know what it means. If this were a PC I could blame the equipment manufacturer.


Oh wait, it says Microsoft on the box, making it a Microsoft product. If a Ford breaks down, do you call the factory that made that part and yell at them? Nope, you say Ford sucks.


I'm also 99% sure it's the hard drive. I had to re-do the mission on COD4. I just got done with it again and as soon as it needs to save it, everything craps out and gives me a blank screen. Next it will give me the 1 red light and give me the Error 64 again.

Its a little different with cars. i was just pointing that there really insnt anything they can do about it except not being cheap asses and put a crappy HD in there to begin with.

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely against Microsoft and avoid buying any of there products whenever possible.

Xbox's suck if you ask me. PS3 all the way.

My buddies have a 360 and to be honest the graphics weren't much better than my PS2...then I go to my bro's house and play his PS3 and its amazing.

I don't know what games you were playing, or if he didn't have it setup to display in 1080, but the graphics are awesome on all next gen boxes. Really at this point there are so few PS3 exclusives, and the poor market share and higher development costs has meant a number of games will just be 360 ports, so its not really going to get that much better. As things may mature you may start seeing diffs, but for now most things are not going to be much different.

M$ designed the Xbox, and its problems lay in some poor design decisions and the way they incorporated some components. There is not necc a flaw w/ the CPU, but if its crammed in there w/ a poor HSF and bad ventilation design, its going to overheat. M$ does make alot of hardware as well, much as periferals, etc. Its not like Dell designed the 360 and just runs MS Xbox/windows software.

Anyway, they both are good and crappy in different areas. Both companies are bastards to high degree as well. Just pick your poison, or try to find a wii. :)