Archive note: This post was originally published on GameSpot by ThumbsUpMaster on September 6, 2008. It is preserved as part of the ThumbsUpMaster GameSpot Blog Archive.

Readable Archive Version

Is it just me or is the Xbox 360 one of the worst consoles in video-game history? The games are fun, don't get me wrong, but the console itself is a load of crap. Out of all my friends, they had to send their Xbox 360 back to Microsoft at least once. My friend, Rooster, has it the worst of all. His 360 recently got the infamous "Unable to read disc" error so he had to send it back to Microsoft (this is like… the 5th time?). I hate the 360 hardware so much, I let him borrow my 360 until he gets his back. I have my brother's 360 anyway. I, myself, can cope with my 360's faultiness even if it makes the simplest procedure of opening the disc tray a hassle. In order to open my 360's disc tray, you either need to pry it out with a fork / pencil / etc. or hit the top of it. I usually go for the hitting. It's much faster and let's out my frustration more easily than stabbing it with a spoon. Now it's time to actually play a game! I plop in my Gears of War disc and have a great time playing on Xbox Live. Sometimes, even my brother wants a shot at playing Gears of War on his Xbox 360. So I let him borrow it. It's too bad his 360 made that loud disc scratching sound that can be compared to it saying "MMM GEARS OF WAR, OM NOM NOM TASTY." The 360 wasn't turned. The 360 wasn't moved. His 360, at it's own will, created a giant circular scratch around my disc and I am now without a working Gears of War disc. Great. There's no reason to play Xbox Live for a while, since I'm not a big online player and only play online when my friends invite me (which is usually Gears of War). So I call up to cancel my Xbox Live subscription… but I can't because the scam artists at Microsoft were charging without me knowing. Listen Microsoft, I bought a 1 MONTH subscription! I didn't buy 2 MONTHS! So, in order to cancel my Xbox Live subscription, I need to pay up. You can say I'm paying to cancel a subscription.
Tip: Next time you buy 1 month of Xbox Live with a credit card, in actuality, your paying for a life-time because the only way to have Silver again is by calling Xbox Live support and asking them to cancel your subscription.
Screw you Microsoft, screw the Xbox 360, and screw the developers who make exclusives for the 360 because they have the stupid idea that a lot of people own Xbox 360s, when really, it's just the same people buying the console over and over again and recreating Live accounts because they're previous Live account got suspended for not paying what they didn't pay for. Give me a PS3, please.

Original GameSpot Version

Is it just me or is the Xbox 360 one of the worst consoles in video-game history? The games are fun, don't get me wrong, but the console itself is a load of crap. Out of all my friends, they had to send their Xbox 360 back to Microsoft at least once. My friend, Rooster, has it the worst of all. His 360 recently got the infamous "Unable to read disc" error so he had to send it back to Microsoft (this is like... the 5th time?). I hate the 360 hardware so much, I let him borrow my 360 until he gets his back. I have my brother's 360 anyway. I, myself, can cope with my 360's faultiness even if it makes the simplest procedure of opening the disc tray a hassle. In order to open my 360's disc tray, you either need to pry it out with a fork / pencil / etc. or hit the top of it. I usually go for the hitting. It's much faster and let's out my frustration more easily than stabbing it with a spoon. Now it's time to actually play a game! I plop in my Gears of War disc and have a great time playing on Xbox Live. Sometimes, even my brother wants a shot at playing Gears of War on his Xbox 360. So I let him borrow it. It's too bad his 360 made that loud disc scratching sound that can be compared to it saying "MMM GEARS OF WAR, OM NOM NOM TASTY." The 360 wasn't turned. The 360 wasn't moved. His 360, at it's own will, created a giant circular scratch around my disc and I am now without a working Gears of War disc. Great. There's no reason to play Xbox Live for a while, since I'm not a big online player and only play online when my friends invite me (which is usually Gears of War). So I call up to cancel my Xbox Live subscription... but I can't because the scam artists at Microsoft were charging without me knowing. Listen Microsoft, I bought a 1 MONTH subscription! I didn't buy 2 MONTHS! So, in order to cancel my Xbox Live subscription, I need to pay up. You can say I'm paying to cancel a subscription.
Tip: Next time you buy 1 month of Xbox Live with a credit card, in actuality, your paying for a life-time because the only way to have Silver again is by calling Xbox Live support and asking them to cancel your subscription.
Screw you Microsoft, screw the Xbox 360, and screw the developers who make exclusives for the 360 because they have the stupid idea that a lot of people own Xbox 360s, when really, it's just the same people buying the console over and over again and recreating Live accounts because they're previous Live account got suspended for not paying what they didn't pay for. Give me a PS3, please.