Do the hardcore care about reliability? Hmm, umm...yeah! I think everyone would much rather buy a console and not have to worry about it crapping out on them anytime soon. Nobody likes to have to spend money replacing a system or getting it fixed. However, hardcore gamers are more willing to forgive and forget (though inwardly complaining) as soon as a great game comes out for that system. My second 360 just died, and I'm waiting for it to return to me, but I'll still once again love it so once games like Bioshock and Halo 3 start hitting. Do we care? Yes, we just don't hold a grudge...too much.

From the article:

Imagine your blender breaking down twice. The vacuum cleaner giving up the ghost three times. The espresso maker repeatedly going kaput. Then imagine replacing the item with the same model over and over while keeping your brand loyalty and sanity.

Stephano Nevarez has had to repair his Xbox 360 three times.
Stephano Nevarez can. Since he first bought his $400 Microsoft Xbox 360 in 2006, it has failed three times. Each time, he sent the game machine back to the company and waited weeks for a repair or a replacement.

“There’s nothing in the house that breaks down as much,” said Stephano, a 15-year-old high school student from Salem, Ore.

Yet he remains a devotee of his 360 console, the more so because he wants to play Halo 3, the latest iteration of a violent space epic due in stores on Sept. 25; it is available only for that game machine.

Read the full article over at nytimes.com