When Microsoft announced it was revamping the Xbox 360 dashboard, concern, not congratulations, was the first thing I thought of voicing to Microsoft.
The update promised better graphics, avatars, easier access to movie and TV downloads — in short, a more robust interface than the "blades" presentation that greeted gamers when they started up their consoles.
Something more robust implied a need for more processing power, more work for Xbox. And that meant more worries that my console would crash and display the "red ring of death" yet again. (The consoles tend to run hot and warp the circuit boards.)
I am on my fourth Xbox — this time, one of the black-box Elites sporting a large hard drive, HDTV compatibility and an alleged resistance to crashes. Twenty months have passed and … well, so far, so good.
Of the three that died, the longest surviving one lasted a grand total of nine months. After the third died, Microsoft decided on its own to replace it with an Elite, without question and without my request. Meanwhile, my first PlayStation 3 and first Wii are humming along. Both were among the first ones sold in the United States. Both have performed flawlessly.
Both sit in a warmer room.
Perhaps Microsoft thought it looked bad that a gaming reporter couldn't write about Xbox games any more after the third crash, and that he might have better luck with a console upgrade.
It's unnerving to think though that my latest luck could run out anyway, even though the console is dusted regularly and has an extra cooling fan attached, even though as an added precaution the Elite sits in the coolest room of my house — which during winter turns downright cold.
Now I'm tentative about turning on my Xbox. It might survive my next bold move toward the galaxy's fringe with "Star Trek," or my next diplomatic overture with "Civilization"; it might not. Microsoft supposedly made the Elite systems more heat-resistant, but they are not impervious to crashing.
Microsoft might worry about my Elite, too, given my track record. However, I believe the company has more pressing concerns:
* None of the Xbox titles announced for 2009 has "Halo"-like market appeal. Microsoft enjoyed substantial media attention and a subsequent increase in Xbox 360 sales when "Halo 3″ arrived in September 2007. So, what's next? A "Halo" prequel. By a show of hands, how many of you who aren't "Halo" fans have heard of it?
* Casual gaming has made a huge leap forward due to the graying of the gaming population. However, Xbox 360 is not a console for casual games; it was designed to become the hub of home entertainment — the place everyone would go to see movies, listen to music and surf the Internet, perhaps all at once, in addition to playing richly designed games in high definition and with surround sound.
But for reasons already explained, it's probably not be wise to try multiple tasks on Xbox.
* The swooning economy will get worse before it gets better. Just ask President-elect Obama. In the coming months, more jobs will disappear and disposable income will reduce to a trickle (if it hasn't already), thus making even a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade — still the lowest priced system around — sound unappealing after Christmas.
Microsoft needs console sales to remain strong through the first quarter of 2009. Otherwise, it will have to raise prices on Arcades to cover the cost of a recent hardware upgrade. Or raise game prices.
Or, maybe Microsoft will get in line to ask Washington for a bailout.
So, now I look at my Xbox 360 with concern that it won't last and that I cannot afford a replacement. And Microsoft probably won't be as generous next time.
And I probably won't care.
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Not saying I agree with the article but it is an interesting read and he makes some valid points.
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