This is a multifaceted look at where the Xbox is at now from my perspective, and where it's going (I have some very close sources who know a lot about what's going on, which you will be privy to).

First off, let's start with the Software:

This generation, the Xbox has been my favorite system by far. Gears of War, Dead Rising, Saints Row, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, those have all been some stellar applications in my book. Some people will disagree with those, some will say they are great, whatever. The fact is I love most of what the 360 has to offer...

But the hardware is junk. I say this as my 2nd Xbox died last night. No I'm not going to mourn, or complain. Hell, I knew what happened the second my screen went black in the middle of Lost Odyssey.

Now this you people may or may not have heard before, so I'm saying it again.

From my source at ATI, the major problem with the Xbox 360s (not the only causes of failures, but the major proponent of the 3 red ring kind) is that Microsoft moved from using lead solder joints to some silver/zinc/copper mixture to be more eco friendly. This is what I say...

No SciFiCat, not really, I love animals, but the fact Microsoft is buying into this whole hybrid eco friendly imagineering BS to save a few trees or whatever from a little bit of lead is entirely BS. Anyone who owns an Xbox 360 knows it heats up and can fry an egg. Hell the PS3 can do that too, but what it has is lead solder joints and more internal cooling space. Something the electrical engineers at ATI and Microsoft warned the design team about.

This heating and cooling causes thermal stress on the solder joints and cracks them over time. As we know, you break a circuit you get no electricity flow. No electricity = no game time fun hour for you.

So, the current gen 65nm process, plus some crappy design features DO add up to the 20% to 30% failure rate, although I personally now believe that all Xbox 360s have this flaw.

So what is the future of the 360?

From the Software perspective : A slew of multiplats, as it has always had to compete with the PS3, but Gears of War 2, Mass Effect 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 are just a few of the things that will keep people coming back for more. Including me.

From the Hardware perspective : Now pay attention here. I've posted this in one of my unions, but will elucidate it again.

There are secretly (that is Microsoft will not divulge upon heresay, or anything for that matter) Xbox units that are being made that have lead based solder joints (Supposedly) and the 40 nm processor (you know the "Falcon" Xbox, that's it). This will make the machine run cooler and will be near impervious to thermal damage. ATI is testing 135 of these commercially bought Xbox 360s right now.

I will know more later. And perhaps get one of them, along with like 5 or 6 free wireless controllers, brand new (they just have hundreds laying around from commercial boxes.

Also, the Xbox 720 (it's the codename don't sue me) was awarded to ATI again. Production is tentatively slated for 2009 (late). Expect your next generation Xbox in mid 2010.

Now whether you believe me or not (I know most of you will as you are on my friend's list), this is the truth from someone who is knee deep in the proverbial mud.