It seems finally Microsoft is starting to pay for bringing their monopolistic ways to the world of gaming consoles. 360's sales plunged 60% in the fourth quarter. I bet the losses will continue to mount when more and more people like me, trade their 360's for PS3 games and accessories or the PS3 itself.

It just does not pay to support a company that has lied to all of us by rushing a defective product to the market.

It has been almost two years since the Xbox 360's launched and up until a couple of weeks ago, it was nothing but smooth sailing for the first next generation console in the market. Sure, the Wii has outsold the 360 consistently since its launch, but most people may argue that the Wii is not really competing for the same market as the 360 is.

Microsoft's console has the sales, the games and an excellent online service. It has the ingredients to win this generation's race. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the design flaw on their console has finally surfaced and they can no longer hide it from the public. The news could have not come at a worse time for the company. It was just a few days ago when they admitted that 11.6 million of their consoles are faulty. Instead of initiating a recall, they made a feeble attempt to appease their customers by extending their warranty to 3 years.

This is view by some as a bold move by the software giant, but not by me. Extending the warranty does not really solve the problem for 360's owners like me. Sure, if I do get the 3 rings of death I will get my console repaired for free. The thing is that my console does not really need a repair, does it? My console needs to be redesigned. No customer wants to buy a product to go through the hassle of having to return it for repairs. That is what it is: a hassle.

Microsoft's attitude resembles that of the Big Tobacco Companies. Let's just get customers without much regard for the aftermath. Sure, I am under no delusion about Nintendo or Sony. They are not charitable organizations, but they do seem to care more for their customers.

In part, Microsoft's attitude is understandable; after all they are used to being a monopoly. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for us consumers, the console market is all but a monopoly. They cannot just sell a "lemon" and tell the customers: "do not worry, we promise we are going to make it all better.

Even though some people might think this problem will go away, I doubt it. I think we are just seeing the beginning. It will not be long before the lawsuits start appearing. As a matter of fact, lawsuits have started for other issues with Microsoft's console.

If you ask me, I think Microsoft has lost momentum, not only because of the hardware failures, but because of porting exclusives like Gears of War. Now, PC owners will be able to play 360's 2006 flagship, and will be able to play it with more content that will not be available for the console's version.

On E3 2007 things looked dull for Microsoft. Most of the games shown were multiplatform coming also for the PS3.

On the other hand, Sony seems to have taken this opportunity to take a punch to its main competitor by reducing the PS3's price by $100 and doubling its sales. Adding to Microsoft misfortunes, this year's Sony conference brought jaw dropping exclusives like Killzone 2, Heavenly Sword or MGS4, and that is without counting timed exclusives such as Haze or UT3, which will not come to the 360 until next year and when it does, will be a crippled version without the capability of installing user created mods.

Sorry Microsoft, but you have disappointed me. I wanted to keep my 360 as a complement to my PS3; now I am just trading it for PS3 games and accessories. I just cannot risk getting a bricked console just to enjoy Mass Effect (which I am sure it will come to the PC within the year anyway).

Game over Microsoft.

Well, since my last blog post I have been playing some more on the 360 and I must admit that things are looking a lot better for the Xbox 360.

It took a year after launch but I am finally enjoying all the new games coming out. Dead Rising was a blast and with a very original game play, it kept me busy for a while. Test Drive Unlimited is an excellent driving game, even with all its flaws on the multiplayer department. Splinter Cell Double Agent is amazing. True, frame rates can really drop at times, but all in all the game play and the graphics are pretty good.

Well, I think I have learned my lesson: never buy a console when it’s just out. Better wait 9 months to a year to get things warmed up. I am looking forward to Gears Of War now.

I was going to get a PS3 at launch, but I think I am going to wait a bit, until there are more titles to play with. I am still getting it of course, but I do not want to make the same mistake I made with the 360. All consoles have a poor lineup of games at launch and to be honest, apart from Resistance, the PS3 is no different.

By the way I just read a post on the PS3 forum that said: “Fanboys: The end of gaming”, or something along those lines. I think it’s not the fanboys that ruin games; it’s the trolls that need to put down other people’s hardware to make them feel better about themselves.

It was back in March, when I decided to finally purchase an X-Box 360.

It took sometime to get me convinced, since I was not a huge fan of the original X-Box. The way I remember the original, the little time I had it was: huge and bulky console with a poor game library compared to the PS2.

Oh well, I got my 360 and I was so excited at the beginning. I bought me: Condemned, DOA 4, NBA Live 06, Burnout, Oblivion, GRAW, Top Spin, Tomb Raider. It wasn’t long before I started noticing the lack of games. It’s been what: nine months since release? Let’s sum them up:

Out of the little titles released, only 2 got more than a 9 on Gamespot. Notice I am not even talking about my own opinion, but about reviews on the net. If you ask me, Oblivion looks better on my PC than on the 360. The frame rates on the 360 are mediocre to say the least; especially when we are supposedly talking about “next gen”. GRAW is an excellent game to play with a lot of eye candy on it. Frame rates are decent on that game, but I got kind of disappointed at the fact that I could also play it on my PC too. What was the point of purchasing the 360? I asked myself. So far, apart from playing DOA 4 and watch girls with huge breasts, there has been not much point at all.

Oh well, I stopped purchasing games for the 360 already. Now I just use it to watch ripped episodes from Lost and other series. Even for that, it’s kind of annoying, since the noise can get to your nerves.

I visit the Xbox 360 section on GS from time to time, to find “the flop of the week”. The latest flops have been, in no particular order:

Chromehounds with a score of  7.9

Prey with                                              7.5

Frogger                                                6.7

Over G Fighters                                    5.9

X-Men                                                 5.3

Final Fantasy XI                                   6.0

Major League Baseball 2K6                 6.8

Tomb Raider: Legend               7.8

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat   7.5

Anyway, there are many more here.

 The average score is not too promising.

So forgive me if I talk crap about the 360 on the PS3 forums. It’s not about fanboyism, but about a pissed off and unhappy customer.

Anyway, I would never dare to go to the 360 forums to whine. I hate trolls.