“It’s game time for Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive. Microsoft disclosed a series of management changes on Tuesday that will alter the shape of its business unit responsible for products like the Zune music player, Xbox gaming console and phones. Most notably, Robbie Bach, the current head of the entertainment and devices group, will retire from Microsoft after 22 years at the company. As a result, Mr. Ballmer will take a more hands-on role in Microsoft’s gadgets and games by having various division heads report directly to him.” Maybe we’ll finally see an Xbox that doesn’t sound like a tornado. I recently finally got the opportunity to fiddle around with a PlayStation 3 (the big one), and by god, the Xbox is a joke, construction-wise, compared to Sony’s beast.
Hey, it only sounds like a tornado, if it’s running. A friend had been through 4 repairs/replacements of his Xbox 360 when he was complaining that it was dead again. His brother had been through 3. I thought that they were using the console poorly but there are so many stories out there.
It’s obvious that Microsoft is really taking a hard look at what’s right and wrong. That’s amazing after seeing their history of mediocrity. I’m impressed that they’re willing to change.
Well it’s not exactly quiet, but is it that loud? I do however play (my only game, pro evolution soccer 2010) on high volume
. I’ve heard alot about all the hardware failures though, that seems to be a sore point with the x360. Thankfully mine has worked fine.
As for Ballmer taking the reigns, time will tell. I was amazed that Microsoft could even carve themselves a big market chunk in the cutthroat console business so obviously they’ve must have done something right. Ever since the NES was launched, consoles has pretty much been a japanese monopoly until Microsoft entered.
The gaming market is still pretty much a Japanese monopoly if you exclude North America. That’s the only market where the Xbox 360 contests for the second spot.
Funny that. I actually sold my 360 a year ago and replaced it with a PS3, precisely because of the noise issues. Any notion that a device that loud can be used as some sort of a “media center” in the living room is completely absurd. I do hear however, that newer models of the 360 are noticably quieter. With the bluray capabilities of the PS3 however, I am not going back.
I thought a shake up was to make things better. How is Ballmer having more “hands on” when it comes to consumer products a good thing? He must think he’s Steve Jobs or some other savior for Microsoft… too bad he was the guy that screwed a lot of Microsoft up to begin with!
Agreed. I mean, really, executives being out of touch with the rank and file of their companies is pretty much the newest premise of a reality show in the UK/and the US called “Undercover Boss”.
As much as I rather dislike the silly inside out method of most reality shows (average joes pretend they are celebrities, and celebrities pretend they are average joes is the way I describe the stereotypical scenario), I would have a little more enthusiasm for this news if Ballmer was to participate in such a circumstance and pretend to be an entry-level developer or tester. Thing is, though, I also doubt it could ever be done successfully with current I.T. culture.
I have the 80GB PS3 that was the MGS4 bundle. So it’s the big one. It’s heavy, it’s big, and it’s loud. I have to turn the TV up everytime the fan kicks on. The key is to keep the vents clean for max airflow to keep that fan from coming on so often.
I have actually considered buying a xbox for the bedroom to use with ps3mediaserver. I didn’t know it had the same issues with loud fan noise. I had never considered buy a MS product until Sony pulled the OtherOS crap the other month.
They are both equally loud if you play from HDD like any sane person would. PS3 bluray is much more quiet than X360 loud DVD but I never use it since all games can be installed on HDD. I’m not sure how it is with old X360 but new ones are pretty quiet if you avoid playing from disc.
I don’t think the slim PS3 is anywhere as loud as the Xbox 360. I used to think so, but was pleasantly surprised after I decided to take a plunge and get a slim PS3 (my kids love those Rock Band/Guitar Hero games!) My Blu-ray player is now gathering dust because the PS3 BD player is faster, and is almost as quiet. If I my ear next to the machine I can hear the whirring, but that was the extent of the loudness so far.
I’m curious to see how this goes. I began liking Microsoft with Windows XP, moreso with Vista (I consider than their OSX 10.0-10.1, so gave them the same slack I gave Apple), and tons more with Windows 7. Likewise, I’ve enjoyed my Xbox and 360. I think there’s a definite change going on over there (guessing its Balmer and Ray Ozzie behind a lot of it), and look forward to seeing what happens in the long run.
I can see some developers thinking…