Consolation Prize

I’ve been having a few problems with my Xbox 360 over the last few months, it’s been locking up on games and even more worryingly scratching game discs. It’s a refurbished unit, the original one was
replaced when it was sent back to Microsoft for repairs when it
RROD’d.

So yesterday I decided to upgrade to a shiny new Xbox 360 Elite. I was quite tempted to upgrade when they were first released but I didn’t want the older “Zephyr” chipset which was still being used in early elites, preferring instead to wait for the new and hopefully more reliable “Falcon” chipset. I also wanted the larger 120gb HD which will come in very handy due to the fact that I download a lot of demo’s and arcade games from Xbox Live Marketplace.

Replacing hardware is not something I usually do. In fact apart from having to buy another Sony PS1 (I sold the original so that I could afford an Nintendo 64) I’ve never previously had to replace a piece of console hardware. One advantage I always used to tout about consoles compared to say a PC was that you never have to upgrade or replace your hardware, you buy your kit and you’re set-up for the life of the console. I don’t however think this is the case any more, especially in the case of the Xbox 360. Every new hardware variant that’s introduced is not only going to appeal to new adopters but also to the devoted followers whom will want the best kit on offer. I wonder how many Core (arcade) or Premium users have bought replacement units or upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite? I somehow don’t think that’s a statistic that Microsoft would be willing to divulge.