My PS3 seems pretty reliable, but it and the 360 are obviously much more delicate than an N64 or Gameboy.  My 360 has died several times all by itself, and my friend's has died twice for the one year he's owned it so far, but luckily he bought one of those slim PS3s. 

If only next generation consoles use solid state storage devices, life would be easy, also manufacturers are not solving the heating problems as they should, they only put enough effort so the console can live enough to go out of the warranty period, with enough cooling and solid state storage they could last forever like the old days

" How does a spoon assist you in getting a console to run correctly? I remember blowing the hell out of my NES (hurr he said blow his NES), that is all though. "

Comparing cart-based systems with no moving parts to a 360 and PS3 is apples and oranges.

Seeing as how those systems are about as complex as a cordless phone while the new ones are routinely pushing the limit of what we can do with microprocessors in consumer electronics 20 years later, I'd say it makes sense that they fail more often.
 
Plus, the warranties are getting better to compensate. My older brother owned a NES for about two weeks before it died on him and nobody would replace it. That's why I grew up in a Sega-only house until the PSX/N64 generation.

Had to send in my 360 and my launch PS3, never had a problem with my Wii.

" I still have my launch 360, works fine. "

My SNES stills its proudly on my dresser, played quite frequently.  Killer Instinct never gets old.  I've probably beaten Blackthorne a hundred times.  The SNES controller feels so small in my hands, but I can throw it at the wall as hard as possible and it probably won't break. 
 
My Halo 3 version Xbox 360 has gotten the red rings twice in it's lifetime.  Everytime my SNES doesn't turn on, I just sit there and blow into the cartridges a thousand times, and repeatedly smash the cartidges into the console, somehow thinking that the more force applied, the higher the chances the game will turn on will be.  It usually works.

my SNES went dead 2 years back, but not after 15 years of service. I still have my N64 and me GBC in working order. both for around 10 years. and my bro has an original GBA that still works.

Yeah, but as things get more complicated and we demand more from our consoles, the more likely they will crap out.  My SNES still works and so does my Game Gear.  But would we willing to trade away online play, wireless controllers, hard drives, demo downloads and multimedia functions just to have a system that only plays games, and I mean only plays the disc, no updates, no online play, no dlc, no downloadable games.
Also remember, that the consoles we used to buy were relatively more expensive when you consider inflation.  My SNES cost 200 bucks when I got it Christmas 92.  Today, that would be 300 bucks and it did a lot less than a 360 or PS3 does today at 300 bucks.

I still have my launch 360, works fine. And my first SNES.

Im guessing thats just how its gonna continue to be since as these consoles become more and more technologically advanced, they become more expensive to mass produce so companies try to find any possible way they can to produce them for as cheap as possible, which leads to them dying becoming  a lot more common. Its rather disappointing especially since you have to pay so much for something that you have no idea if it will even last more then a few years.

How does a spoon assist you in getting a console to run correctly? I remember blowing the hell out of my NES (hurr he said blow his NES), that is all though.

Last night whilst watching the Superbowl (I'm English, so it was an evening event for me), I got nattering to my friend about retro gaming. Last year I went on a mental GBA frenzy and played all the games I couldn't afford whilst growing up; The Minish Cap was a particular highlight. This led off onto another topic that I brought up previously in my last post: remember when consoles used to work forever?
 
Old consoles: they were analog, they felt cheap...some of them were spring loaded and required additional impliments to help them run*. But you know what, they worked. And they still work. I plugged my N64 a few days ago and it worked. Not only did it work but its didn't drop frames or struggle, it didn't mis-read anything or just crash out at random. And it was bloody good fun too. My GBA still works. My original GameBoy still works. My GameGear still works.
 
I know systems these days are a lot more complicated, with more components to help them screw up, but is that any excuse for them to conk out after just a few years of ownership? I don't think that it is.
 
My PS3 YLOD'd a few months ago and I was gutted. So gutted, that I took to it to bits with a screwdriver and a heat gun and fixed the damn thing. It won't stay repaired forever though and sooner or later I will have to replace it. I think thats unacceptable, personally.
 
But is it now a standard part of modern console ownership?
 
*I always kept a spoon near my consoles, lost track of how many times I have used one to get my console running in some form or another!