For those who care (none).. a brief update.

On my 4th 360, Thank god that Mass/slideshow Effect is going on PC.. I think the console is just awful now, looking to offload it probably after Fable 2. I never play the thing now out of fear its gonna break.

PS3 still runs great, games, movies Streams from my PC, not s single little problem and my fave games are due shortly. (GTA, DW6 and MGS4)

Still no Wii, dont think I'm ever going to bother.. never liked it from day one anyway, a Gamecube with waggle functionality and even less focus on actual games.

PC gaming still on the top of my list, though I'm going through Snake Eater in preparation for MGS4.

It'll probably be another long time til' I can be bothered to update again, I rarely use this site anymore since the time around Gerst-gate (Nov) and I tend to lurk more then post.

Until then.

Now my second Xbox360 has bit the dust, after not playing it for a while due to a slow start of year I get my hands on a copy of Forza 2 only for my 360 to make horrid crunching noised followed by a nasty 'crack' now it cant read any discs.

The console wasn't even used too much, just guitar hero 2, Samurai warriors 2 and a little crackdown.

My patience is beginning to run thin with Microsoft now, sure they have a better library of games at present but that doesn't make up for their shoddy hardware.

I've just got in touch with MS, awaiting their response.

Console bought: 28/01/07

Console death: 09/06/07

At least its inside its warranty this time.. still I've never even had a PS2 with such poor reliability, I've had 5 and they've all lasted longer thn my 360's.

*update* 13/7/07

The console has been sent away for a month now and I've got back in touch with them again to find our what on earth is happening.

I was told it'll take 15 working days, but what makes things worse it that it too them 12 to get it to their service center even though it was sent via UPS couriers (so it should have been overnight)

I phone them up today because I'm losing my patience and an automated says that they are experiancing repair delays and it could take 25 days, so I hold the line to get in contact with a service rep.

I'm told that there has been problems with repairs and the cannot speed up the process but I've been told to phone up again (it took 30 mins for them to pick up last time) to find out whats happening because the rep told me "things are being rearranged so there will be delays" but I'm apparantly going to be compensated with a free game, Perfect Dark Zero, PGR or Viva pinata.. great choices, especially as I've had both PDZ and PGR and have no interest in Viva P..

On top of that I've had some preorder games delivered and I've had to cancel others because of these delays.. needless to say I'm very, very unhappy with how I'm being treated.

After months of delay, I finally picked up my PS3 bundle today on its European launch and now sits nicely next to my 360.

Just to add a little more punch to my home, I also decided to upgrade to a nice expensive 5.1 sound system.. the Sub weighs more then the 360 and PS3 combined.. I'll probably be issued an ASBO if I dont keep it down, god that thing shakes the house.

 

After spending several hours toying, moving and readjusting my cabinet my PS3 is already coated in dust and fingerprints but I'm really pleased how it all fits in.

 

Looking forward to future PS3 games like Gran Turismo and watching BR movies in high def.

 

My PSN ID? heres a clue, its the Same as my Xbox and Gamespot account.

 

 

Xbox360 has more or less died.

Powers up fine, I can browse and do anything else on the dashboard, even play a few graphically low impact titles like THP8 or the arcade games but should I put in something like Gears of War or Splinter Cell: DA.. as soon as the action picks up or there are enough complex light sources present the console freezes, no flashing red lights of doom, just a frozen screen maybe with a shaking pad if I was firing on Gears,
Even demos like Rainbow 6: Vegas and Crackdown crashed.

My 360 was well aired, was clean, discs were in perfect working order and the harddrive had 10 gig left..

It was a launch console and I hope the newer ones are in better shape.

Consoles life 2/12/2005 - 24/01/2007

Got a new 360 on 28/01/07

Right, E3 06 is over and I guess I should throw in my opinion.. seeing as it hasn't stopped anyone else, eh?

I dont often write my opinions.. or at all, so just grin and deal with it later, okay? :P

Before I rate how I saw the big 3 (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) Present their ideas to the world, I should tell you a little about my gaming background.

I've been gaming since I was 4 or 5 years and my total gaming history in order was as follows..

Atari 2600, Commadore 16, Atari 800XL, Atari STE 512 - 1040, Sega Megadrive (genesis), Nintendo Gameboy, Game Gear, SNES, Atari Jaguar, PC (has been constantly changed and upgraded since), Playstation, Playstation 2, Gameboy Advance, Dreamcast, Xbox, Gamecube, PSP and an Xbox360.. I think thats all of them, anyway.

My views on the Sony Conference

I was a bit dissapointed with the conference overall, the first half of the show wasn't needed, Gran Turismo 4 HD, while initially interesting got boring very quickly, realtime weapon switching and the other Genji Hijinks? I dont know what Sony were thinking but I bet a few of the suits in the Sony head office scratching their heads.
The latter half was better though, a good showing of games and glimpse of the PSP's part in the PS3's future looked like it has some potential, then we were given the price and date which I wasn't too suprised about, I guessed the PS3 would be between £350 to £450 because I remember Sony saying that it will be expensive, so all in all I just shrugged at the price.
Oh, and for the suprise at the end, I was expecting it to be a very similar or the same pad, but the 6 degree tilt thing? A very obvious attempt of riding the wave of another console.
for a rating I'd give the Sony con 5/10

The Nintendo conference

I wasn't too impressed with this one either, to be honest they revealed very little of interest to me, we knew about the Wii's controller and about the downloadable classics.
Lots of bells and whistles in this show, litle clips of people 'playing' with the controller and the Nintendo rep constantly telling us that it isn't about graphics, its about gameplay or what not.
So are Nintendo going to be giving me games that I haven't seen before? Not really, more of the same Mario & co, Metroid and Zelda, this is my general problem with Nintendo, People always tell me I'm wrong about them, but I dont want to play Mario anymore, they just seem to be shallow re-hashes of their previous incarnation with little character and very similar plots and stories, Red Steel didn't impress and neither did Wii sports, which I'll imagine will be fun if you have lots of friends, lots of Wiimotes & add-ons, for a little while.
To be honest I have issues with their control ideas, the day I saw the remote design I was really unimpressed with the whole concept, I can see some games being very difficult to play with that remote.
Anyway, I rate the Nintendo con 6/10, it was more entertaining then the Sony one, even if it still left me in the dark.

The Microsoft conference

Of all three, I found this to be the most interesting, initially I wasn't expecting much, I have the 360 anyway so I was just expecting an update on the games and on the HD-DVD player expansion, which they did.
Now what did catch my eye was Windows Vista and the ability to play games across different platforms, PC & 360 gamers all in one community as it were, a very good concept to bridge the gap between console and PC gaming and have them both more accessible, aside from that Halo 3 and Gears of War looked good (though GoW looked a bit choppy, hopefully it'll be sorted before release).
I'll give the Microsoft conference 7/10

for my future purchases involving the big 3?

I will be acquiring the PS3 on launch if possable, the full package not the cheaper one, and why? I have had some great times with my PS1 and PS2 and if I can expect more of the same or better? great!

I'll be picking up the new Windows Vista OS, the lure of DX10,a more stable gaming platform and cross platform gaming sounds good to me.
I already have a 360, though I'm dissapointed with the games so far, hopefully the release of the PS3 and the Wii will heat up the gaming market.

As for Nintendo I may well be giving them a miss, I was very dissapointed with the N64, the graphics were poor and choppy, it still used expensive cartredges and its pad was awful. The Gamecube was also poor, its games line up was weak with the exception of a dozen or so titles (some went multi platform eventually) and again the pad, while it felt fairly comfortable, had the button layout that a 10 year old must have designed.
Unless Nintendo do something about their games and prove to me that the Wiimote isn't just a gimmik, I'll be leaving it in the shop.

I'm sure there are people who will disagree with me but there we go, if we all liked the same thing it'd be boring.