-
Website
http://venturebeat.com/ -
Original page
http://venturebeat.com/2008/09/05/xbox-360-defects-an-inside-history-of-microsofts-video-game-console-woes/ -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
One funny observation: Shane Kim:
We won’t know the winner, he says, until somebody sells 100 million units.
Uh, sure. Let's just forget Bill Gates' boasts that the "first console to sell 1o million wins" Now Kim is claiming its 100 million?
I'd be fascinated to see you explore how Microsoft manipulated the gaming press and public with their supposed metrics of what constitutes victory in the console wars. They pushed two metrics repeatedly: First one to sell 10 million, and "attach rate". Neither of these metrics were ever used before to determine anything in previous console wars, and both metrics are based solely on one thing: which console launched first. It is no wonder Microsoft pushed those two metrics as the sole determining factor in the war (as opposed to profits, for example) what is amazing is how obediently the gaming press followed along.
I hope that this unit will last longer or will be the best solution to RROD issue.
I will monitor closely to my console and report them here if got problem.
GREAT ARTICLE!
Good luck!
Here is the contact info:
Phone
Assistance by phone seven days a week.
1-800-4MY-XBOX
International (direct dial to U.S.): 425-635-7180
Hearing Impaired (TDD device): 1-866-740-9269 or 425-635-7102
Hours of operation (every day):
9:00 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time
6:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. Pacific Time
saw this article" Microsoft Hit With California Class Action Lawsuit For Xbox 360 Failures"
http://dailygamesnews.com/2008/10/microsoft-hit...
I hope Big companies learn .
This is either the fourth or fifth busted console. Last go around MS actually mailed me a broken console, it RROD on first power on.
So if some are saying this article is late in the game, I'd like to say it is still valid. As a hardware engineer I'd say it is almost criminal how MS has let this junk out the door, but as long as they are willing to take the hit on their budget, and replace my console with a smile, I'll keep sending them back. Maybe they have it licked in 08? I think not as they are trying to cut costs.
The important lesson is spend as much as it takes up front to get the right product out the door, because it will cost you a heck of a lot more latter. How many engineering hours does a billion dollars (which is probably conservative) equal?
Martin
I'm on my 6th bloody system. The games and Live keep me coming back for now, but there will come a breaking point.
And Andy, you know what D V D stands for don't you? Try again. And quit nitpicking.
Microsoft should be held accountable for all the lost time and additional effort and cost of dealing with their failed electronics, especially in view of their obvious culpability. Microsoft knew or should have known their customers were going to experience a significantly higher that acceptable failure rate!
It would be interesting to calculate the true cost on an XBox 360 when you add up all the lost gaming time and the cost in time and materials to return failed units.
Just like it's operating systems, Microsoft depends a lot on the free labour and lost productivity of it's customers as a given.
CD Baric
Why don't you just sue MS for emotional distress?
My word... I've read all these comments and your's is the most insanely outrageous!
As an XBOX fan, you should be applauding this comment. Then getting on his side.
Don't defend Microsoft... You paid them, not the other way around.
We stay with MS because of the software/live/warranty. Prolly in that order. And by warranty, I mean the best warranty of any device you own, all told. (which is the east MS could do!)
Gears is a renter and I've never liked the Halo series.
The only reasons to own an xbox360 are RezHD and Ikaruga.
But even those aren't good enough reasons.
A friend is already in his 3rd 360, my brothers are on their second and their original black XBox came with a defective drive... And Miscrosoft still deserves loyalty? Uhhh... no...
My choice was easy... A white, faulty console, or a shiny, ridiculously looking black one? I went for the latter...
PS all the way :x
Unbelievable.
You are probably like those people who slam coffee makers in their reviews because the little beep to let you know the coffee is ready is...wait for it... TOO LOUD!
It's a fan, it cools things, and if you are that freaking anal about a FAN blowing..you need to see a professional. Seriously.
The 360 fan is louder than my PC when gaming, louder than my TV when playing games, louder than my PS3 when playing games, louder then my Wii when playing games, and it remains loud when turn off and it is still charging my controller.
My microwave and coffee maker may be as loud... but I don't care because they are not putting out music and sound effects to immerse me in the act of preparing food.
Noise is a legitimate gripe when audio quality is important and other gaming devices are not nearly as loud.
Q: Why is it those without the ability to have any kind of relationship beyond their vibrating video game controller upon the 'genitals' - and their moms making some delicious chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies with a nice tall glass of milk, side order of blankey (Thanks mom! Go away now. New Gears vid!) - feel that they must make rude comments about someone else who made an unassuming comment? Especially when it's completely off-topic? Especially when the original commenter is apparently female?
A: This is due to the apparent nature of what we, in the real world, like to call 'assholes'.
In your attempts to prove how awesome you are, you prove otherwise. To be a man, children, you must work hard to be a better person.
Let the next batch of children comment upon that, dear sirs and madams. Preferably, without the vibrating controllers on their aforementioned 'genitalia'.
Superb article! Thank you!
grammar use. yay.
Congratulations hypocrite!
You're fucking pathetic.
great article, btw.
At this point, I will be waiting at least another six months before taking another look.
-B
Microsoft is still recycling that enormous pile of steaming 1st gen 360s into the loop by sending them out as replacements for newer machines that die of RROD. So, you buy a newer 36 to attempt to avoid the problems that plague the older 360's but yours dies anyway (even the newer 360's have a failure rate > 10%). You send it in to get repaired & you get a lemon back which will only last a year.
With a process like this, you know that the RROD problem is never going away until MS both solves the problem in a new Xbox design and stops sending out the ticking timebombs as replacements.
This repair problem is a huge, huge cost to MS. A billion dollars is not trivial, even to MS, it represents their profit for about one month. If they had to replace 360's using only the newer run hardware, the cost would skyrocket even more.
Pfft! Just got my third one 9-2-08 since one year! If it fails again...I'm gonna take the hit; blast it with a 12 guage shotgun(put it on Youtube of course); and go out and buy a PS3. I loved it when it worked but....
SCREW MICROSOFT!
4-20-09 FAILURE OF #3 --Sorry guys, I did not do the 12 guage thing! Just went back to Best Buy and met #4. MS has me by the short hairs.
I have 2 that are fine. If you are that worried about it..buy the thing at Best Buy and get the 2 year plan on it. If it dies...they just hand you a new one. Easy.
You shouldn't be forced to spend extra money to have Best Buy replace an item that should just work in the first place.
What does it matter that you have two that are fine? I got one that wasn't fine. It didn't last a month. It's still happening at an unnacceptable rate.
As far as I'm concerened, the horse won't be dead until MS solves the problem once and for all. There will always be a percentage of defective units, but let's see them get the failure rated down to under 5%. After all, they've been making the things for three years now.
I've opened a 2600 before and their circuit traces are rather large as are the solder pads on the circuit board. This leads to less chance of a contact breaking free of the board through thermal expansion/contraction.
That's not even counting the fact that the 2600 has no moving parts apart from the switches on the unit.
What happened last night though, totally caught me off guard. I was playing Geometry Wars 2 and doing quite well. I was about to beat my own high score on deadline. When all of sudden. My 360 came to life and attacked me, ahhh! No not really, hehe.
Seriously though, my screen went black and there was the RROD. Staring me in the face. This 360 had a major heart attack. It just instantly died. It won't work for anything. It's flatline. I guess something inside it. Just gave out. So now I'm waiting for that box from MS. To ship it for repairs. I'm actually glad it happened now and not in November. When Gears 2 comes out. I'd be more pissed.
I tried explaining to the agent on the phone last night. That I don't want a refurbished system and the agent, who I assume was an Indian man. Judging from his accent. He kept telling me, "no sir! we fix your system, you get a refurbished system." But I want a newer model or a new system. I said and he said "No sir. It does not work that way, refurbished only. Only refurbished" I couldn't get through to him. Now I'm afraid I'm just gonna get another 360 time bomb.
It sounds like you had the four red lights instead of three, meaning you had your component/composite/whatever video cables pop out on the Xbox 360.
Check your sources before you post or contact costumer support.
I'm hoping that MS learned their lesson and uses this to their advantage in the future.
i had 2 of them, both broken so i went angry and mad.. hammertime
The failure rate of the 360 console is anything but ancient history. My brother-in-law’s console just perished this past month and in our house the 360 has the lowest “attachment rate” of any of our systems. Why you ask? Because in the back of our mind we always consider that it could die at any time.
When I see the xbox360 now in the area I live. Is a white box that the people patch to play pirated games, and they use it until they get their rings.
So is an investment related to: how much do you play and how much the console is gonna last. I'm sure that if you're not a hardcore gamer playing only once per week. If your console fails after 6 months doing that you're going to be angry.
With the RROD being a well-known issue just a few months after the launch of the console I can't believe more people don't take advantage of plans like this (from BB or wherever).
and the 360 owns ps3 in the one area where it counts - playing games. My ps3 is turned on only for blu-ray movies. The janky PSN just can't compete with xbox live. It is free, but like most other things in life you get what you pay for.
Microsoft should consider themselves lucky that aside from the RROD issue the 360 is a very nice piece of hardware with some excellent features. I own a PS3 and Wii and a few games for each but i hardly ever use them. I own around 60 games for the 360 and play it daily. It has nothing to do with brand loyalty and everything to do with my opinion that the best games have been on the 360.
This is a great article that puts all the information in one place, and hopefully every electronics company can learn the lessons that MS was forced to deal with. It was a terrible situation but in the end they did the right thing. Im sure it hurt them in the long run but it didnt kill them and you know what they say about that.
number 4 for me as well
Thankful for the 3 year warranty,but it still sucks.
Going to have to play Wii for a few weeks until my zombie box returns(hopefully working).
Since buying my 360 in '05 I have had no problems with it. I have had minor difficulties, but Microsoft has taken care of me every time. Sure, in a better world we wouldn't have had the three lights in the first place but in retrospect I think Microsoft made the right decision in releasing the 360 when they did. In terms out outdoing Sony, I think Microsoft has it in the bag... and as for the Wii; can we even call that a gaming console anymore? As a gamer, I'm certainly not as interested as I was two years ago.
Conclusively, at this point I am completely satisfied as a 360 owner. Even if I have had to go through three different units. Affordable, high quality gaming made for GAMERS, and a company that actually stands up and admits its faults and takes care of its customers; I couldn't ask for much more.
They screwed up. They're doing their best to take responsibility and address it. If they're a little slower than we would all like, well, huge corporations are about as nimble as a super tanker.
Most importantly, I think the state of the console race would look pretty much the same as it does now even w/o this.
The problem was that people modded their boxes (DVD drives) using software methods - enabling them to un-flash that software without a trace before sending faulty consoles back to Microsoft.
So this strategy backfired.
Classic example of saying anything possible to deflect from the point! - 360's are not fixed yet!
umm....im in australia, and there was no recalling of 'every single console'.
you, my friend, are a douche.
I must admit as a XBox360 owner that the RROD issue is the biggest issue I ever saw/experienced in electronic.However, the full year ahead and the games you bought for the console might explain the forgiveness of the fans. I wish that Microsoft (and other companies) learn from this experience.
Ive had both systems scene launch ,
360 1 RROD and referbed by MS
Ps3 2 Blue Ray drive Deaths replaced under store warranty, 1 CELL death sent to sony and they charged me to fix it
One problem seems to be with this site design. People are failing to see that this is a 6 page piece because of the layout. People think there are 6 pages of comments and stop reading after the first page.
I've had to point this out to multiple people I've linked here.
More stuff like this is what's needed. Articles like this really reflect the maturity and high standards the business can achieve, amidst a sea of juvenile vituperation. I love my Xbox 360 and I'm on my third unit. The games are great and Microsoft really creatively got some good stuff going. I also love my PS3 and appreciate its fine qualities, but ultimately I end up buying a lot more games for the 360.
1) Xbox 360 quality problems as mentioned here. I wouldn't invest in a lemon so why would I want to with a Xbox 360 no matter the software.
2) Sony playing with SKUs and backward compatibility removal (here in Australia we have been screwed by Sony so many times with the PS3 that I have sold my PS2 and won't be playing any Sony products for perhaps a long while).
3) Nintendo Wii has no real appeal to me as an adult and it is not much of a real step forward with the exception of the motion control (fun at first but not a long term one for me anyway).
It all may sound like sour grapes but hey it is my money to spend and these are the reasons I am giving this generation of gaming consoles a pass. Ahh that is a relief, Dr. X...thank you for the therapy. :)
Every system I've had has had issues mostly Cartridge and disc reading issues who doesn't remember blowing on cartridges or flipping the PS2 upside down lol. But that took years of heavy playing to happen this RROD happens about every 6 months and since I hardly game anymore and my older brother moved away this 360 gets the lightest use of any system we ever had and its failed twice in the span of about 2 years.
The other problem I have is recomending friends buy a 360 when its likely it will fail the guy that took over manufacturing said he was still finding problems this January that is truly scary to me. This isn't counting all the systems my friends have had fail.
Even with this its a good system at the core but I don't like feeling cheated and sitting around for a month waiting for a system to come back who want to spend 300 on hardware that in my mind is gauranteed to fail.
Very well informed and a pleasure to read.
Peachy
An update for you: Our 8th 360 died January 2007 (Elite with hard drive issues), but no problems since then. MS seems as though they finally have a grip on these problems.
BTW-I'm happy to see you still out there with great reporting. I went to the Mercury News a couple weeks ago and wondered where you had gone...
Thanks again, Dean.
Upon purchasing my 360 I was fully aware of the RRoD issues but still liked more 360 games, the achivements system and xbox live was the better choice. PS3 was interesting but I only knew 1-2 person that had the system and the online looked not up to par (but is improving as they told me recently) I also own a lauch day Wii but ironically it's in the process of being repared ... The graphic chip fryed.
Anyway I look at it this way: with the 3 year rrod warranty and the improved falcon I have, I am assured of getting a working xbox until the next generation arrive...so thats good with me...and until it break, if it ever does, I'm having a blast on Xboxlive and i'm really enjoying my purchase.
happy gaming!
If they would have just given a press release on how to fix it yourself, the 15% of the population that is competent enough to unhook the clamps and screw in new bolts would have just fixed it themselves instead of paying $100 to send it away for a month.
The other 85% of the population would have had their competent friends fix it for them or give up and send it in.
But yeah, Microsoft could have saved a lot of money and a lot of face by just teaching the public how to fix it themselves.
It is marketed and sold by an American company, just as the PS3 is (SCEA).
At least the PS3 has an American designed and licensed GPU that stays attached to the motherboard. :-)
I'll NEVER trust them again. I'm happy with my PS3.
In the end, it was a) Go to market first and have 360s break or b) wait to fix the 360 and get swallowed by competition. With the Wii's current sales I'm not sure which choice was better for MS.
For how long will Microsoft be able to get on with these disrespectful and even illegal practices towards the market? They have done this since their conception, and yet they are one of the most sucessful companies of the World.
http://www.vanwensveen.nl/rants/microsoft/Ihate...
http://antitrust.slated.org/
I work in the returns department of a major electronics retailer and in the last year I have seen returns of the Xbox 360 drop to levels below that of the PS3.
The failure rate is about the same but the number of people returning the PS3 because of buyer's remorse is higher. I'm not sure if it's the cost, the perceived lack of games or the lack luster online experience that is the driving factor.
We almost never get Wiis returned. Though we do get some both on buyer's remorse and failure but the rate on both is lower.
Another factor that might be why we don't get as many 360 returns is because of how well MS handles the return and repair the 360. I guess they got a lot practice when they were still in the middle of the bulk of the problems that the 360 had.
All three systems have great games and do relatively well. The Wii did what the other two hope to do in attracting non-gamers. The 360 has the best line up of games and best online experience. The PS3 has the best total package. It's a great time to be a gamer! This holiday season is going to be awesome!
http://www-xbox360repair.com/xbox-360.htm
But what happens when Microsoft releases their next console, how many consumers will remember the shoddy manufacturing and poor after sales service of the Xbox 360 and wait till the second or third generation is released. This could have a huge effect on the next console, especially if Sony or Nintendo release their next console at the same time.
Microsoft has a good foot-hold on the console market now but we will have and see how many consumers have been scarred by Microsoft’s blatant discontent for its customers.
Are son had one that went out after 10 months he was lucky to get that far...
sent in to texas got a coupon for 400.00 dollors from them
he got a new xbox360 and some games for it
week later the ethernet went out had to return it to best buy they gave us a new one
sooooo we will wait and seee
P.S. buy the extra warr...
Buy a 360 from Costco. They will replace every single one for free (no extended service plan needed). I'm on my third and turned it on for the 3rd time and it broke! Sweet. I'm taking mine to Costco tomorrow!
and yes, i'm a ps3 owner ... never bought a 360 for many reasons, and one of them is the RRoD and MS's hardware, software and early launch failure.
" 'If you take the question of whether it was the right thing to try to be first, the answer to that is definitely yes,' Bach said in July 2008 "
This is basically where I feel the real problem stemmed from. Pushing something onto the market to meet a impossible deadline.
Maybe I'm just a lucky one.
Frankly though. The cost of the units and the actual workings of Xbox live in compare to the other online services (granted I've not checked out the Wii Wi-fi recently but I have poked around Sony's) makes it in my opinion worth the troubles. There is a learning curve here to be certain. But I don't think that microsoft is trying to take it's customers for granted (unlike the feeling I get listening to Sony's press releases) I think their spin doctors are doing a lousy job of saving face.
Wake up. Companies are there to make money, nothing else. They never have cared about the customer and never will. And the truth is something they tell eventually if they are forced to. You don't get to be the head of a large corporate entity or division because you are nice or have good morals. You get there because you claw and fight your way up there and because those above recognise your ability to play hard ball and get the job done, regardless.
I am sure Microsoft would do this all again exactly the same way if it had the chance to go back. They have their successful product, and to hell with the customers.
Oooh this is such a cutting edge journalistic piece! Restating stuff that has all already been said!
/rollseyes
MS hit with new class action lawsuit over Xbox 360 defects
But what MS needs to do, must do, and hopefully the uprising will make them do, is to provide a lifetime warranty for RROD failures. Also they must make public the failure rate and put it on the box, so before people buy, they know the chance of it being shit!
I'm not sending my 360 in to get repairs, even though its free, I am going to just say fuck it, and buy a Nintendo Wii!!!!!
Evan, from Guam!!!
Don't keep feeding the MS machine, which will just keep spewing out more crappy products!
I feel VERY confident we see the same thing when the successor to the 360 hits the market.
Apart from the usual big-company cock-ups, it shows a revealing picture of how a certain large company approaches the truth when dealing with consumers. The author couldn't have made any of this up if he tried. What happened here is pure Dilbert.
All in all I hope that game consoles fail altogether. I do my gaming on a PC, and I would like to see PCs remain the focus point of gaming. PC's are much more versatile and open than mere game consoles.
Apart from the usual big-company cock-ups, it shows a revealing picture of how a certain large company approaches the truth when dealing with consumers. The author couldn't have made any of this up if he tried. What happened here is pure Dilbert.
All in all I hope that game consoles fail altogether. I do my gaming on a PC, and I would like to see PCs remain the focus point of gaming. PC's are much more versatile and open than mere game consoles.
I just purchased this 4 him last Christmas & I must say I' very angery that we never hear about this problem...shoulnt we have been contacted? I sent in all the paperwork when we get the gam...now my boy cant play w his toy & I'm out a lot of $. this makes me very angery and makes my son very sad....u need to do something about it NOW!
I think the warrentee only was good 1 yr so time is running out.
Thank u in advance, ur help would be most appriciated on this matter
24 Riverside Canton, NC,28716
828-648-7090 Ask for Eli Wright
My son's got the 3 red lights, nephew's continually froze about 5 minutes after powering on, and my niece just didn't like hers because it would freeze or skip, or the audio or video would cut out or get really loud. Basically, she didn't like it caused it scared her!
All three were still under warranty at that point, so we sent them in for repair. That's when the fun began.
The first two "refurbished" 360's were returned 6 WEEKS LATER. They worked for about a week each the kids said, but eventually both "refurbished" 360's got the flashing 3 red lights. Neither my son, nephew, or myself wanted to bother sending it back to Microsoft again. My niece's came back 8 WEEKS LATER (it took 2 DAMN MONTHS? they must be backed up - not a good sign) and it's still working, considering she only plays it about once a month now, if that.
I got a Sony PS3 as a gift when it first came out, more than several months ago, I watch DVD's on it, and the kids use it to play games every now and then. It's been almost a year now since we've had the PS3 and it works fine - although it's pricey, there's talk of them lowering the price - which they should so they can bury microsoft in the grave they're digging themselves.
I almost forgot to mention that my neighbor bought an Xbox 360 Elite, the black one that's the highest priced and supposedly highest quality with the updates that microsoft is trying to say will fix the existing defects on "older 360's" (even though the 3 premium xbox 360's that I bought were already supposed to have new hardware updates - but still ended up going shitward), the neighbor got his two weeks ago and it started out with one red light out of the box, and now has 3 red lights! He spent somewhere around $500 on it the poor guy.
Well, in a way I'm glad those xbox's don't work. First off, now the kids have lost faith in the corporate system which was always an overpriced consequence to begin with. Second they're outside playing, making friends, and keeping fit (off the couch anyway). Lastly, they've learned to use the "F" word in a rather satisfying way. FUCK greed and FUCK microsoft.
PARENTS - TRUST THE MILLIONS WHO'VE ALREADY BEEN SCREWED, DON'T BUY AN XBOX THIS CHRISTMAS.
ps - I truly hope those lawsuits go through, there should have been a recall a long long time ago, concerning the overheating, and the 360's many other defects; because it's criminal.
This article is more relevant today than ever before. The article shows, MS has a very serious, long standing, problem with it's XBox 360, and "that problem" still remains today. (12/9/08)Despite hardware updates to fix the problem.
Note to MS: "It's a known fact": From the grade school kid, who asks Mom & Dad for a game system, to the adult gamer, "the XBox 360 system has the best concept, and interactive thinking, and that makes it the most desired system around the world. Unfortunatly it is also a known fact: That there have been serious problems with the 360 for a couple of years now.
People figured the problems would be acknowledged, but found MS more willing to play 360 roulette than deal with the issues.
I was going to get my kids a XBox 360 for Christmas this year. Thankfully my family will now be spared the financial quicksand of upgrading from the "old XBox" to the more expensive XBox 360. This article, and comments like the one made by anonymous let me know,even though I was eager to hear all was well with the 360, the truth was the upgrades were a hoax. There's always next year I guess, unless the kid's decide to just go with the PS3 that is.
The holidays, two new games and nothing to play them on for four weeks. Merry Christmas Microsoft. There are some things a warranty can't fix. Want to bet they will repair it with the same rubbish components they did a few months ago and that this will happen again in a few more?
I'm beginning to think the "360" in the name describes the turn around to get it repaired on a regular basis... I'm thinking seriously about getting him a PS3 this go around.
Microsoft is thickheaded. From what I have seen, they are more interested in the cashflow they can have now vs. the customers satisfaction.
However, the problem is that the titles that everyone would like to play comes out for the Xbox first, in most cases. So if I wanted to get a PS3, the odds of the new title coming out for it first is slim.
I am a Rockband freak. Love the game. I had a Wii in my house for a bit and decided to get the game. Once I had it, I found that the downloadable content was missing in the Wii format. Visually, it was amazing but after playing the standard songs over and over again, well it was quite boring after awhile. Yet with the Xbox, downloadable content was there, and the same with the PS3 version.
My point is that I am stuck on functionality. Which console will give me the functionality I need and the reliability I deserve from purchasing the unit.
Now, it's February of 2009 and I receive DDE messages. No, it's not the rings of death, but the system is inoperable. They fixed the rings of death (maybe?), but obviously this system is destined to break down.
However, I did not hear of this problem when I bought it. If I would have known about all of the problems with the 360, I would've bought a WII or PS3. The games for the 360 attracted me. What's the point of have a large arsenal of games while your 360 is sitting a repair plant?
The Questions I Have for Microsoft AND Gamestop:
1) Why wasn't I made aware of the high error rate? Obviously, if a product has a high failure rate, the consumer should be aware. It's not only on Microsoft's head to make the consumer aware, but what about the retail seller? Microsoft is not the only demon in this equation. How do the retail seller's come of unscathed? They are selling the products without disclosing a major ISSUE that the product has? What about Best Buy? Selling $50 replacement programs? They are racking up on the sell of the machine, and then on the sale of the warranty.
2) How come they cannot figure this out? It's been a very, very long time since the system was released. It's nearing the time that new systems are probably starting to be pondered, and yet Microsoft STILL can't even get their current disaster under control.
3) Microsoft, you make plenty of profits, why not just give the consumers refunds? I would prefer to never do business with you again. However, I'm stuck doing business with you. A refund won't be given by Gamestop, and all you offer to do is send me a "Refurbished" ticking-time bomb. Thanks for that. Thanks for the 3-year warranty extension I've been reading about. Thanks for the revolving door of refurbished machines. Instead of spending billions on repairing the problem, why not just refund the money to the customer's who want it? It's like an arranged marriage. Just like a mail-order bride, I'm stuck with what I got (that's you, Microsoft).
i like to have absolute control over my hardware, choose the best parts, best cooling, motherboard,gpu, cpu, ram, hdd, software. none of this is possible with a console toy.
if my pc has a problem (almost impossible) i know how to fix it. on the other hand console
kids have to call ms and beg. its a matter of self respect really.
and by the way, it is certainly possible to to mod an xbox. I have replaced the heatsinks, fan and dvd-rom firmware in mine. You just have to have the balls to kill the warranty.
"Instead, the company was ramping up to offer a new accessory, an HD-DVD drive that could play next-generation DVD movies for the low price of $199. That was meant to parry Sony’s PlayStation 3, which had a Blu-ray next-generation DVD drive built into the system."
HD-DVD's are not "next generation DVD movies," they are HD-DVD's. That'd be like calling a DVD a next generation VHS. And a Blu-ray disc isn't a "next generation DVD" either. It isn't a DVD at all, it's a Blu-ray.
The article reads like it was written for someone who had never heard of a 360 before. And be honest, who in the hell is going to read a 6 page article about technical problems with a console they never heard of.
That's why things like the towel trick worked. Heating up the 360 allowed the solder to reset somewhat, curing a RROD at least for a while.
One of the XBox mod groups Team-Executor sold RROD repair kits, that were basicly small squares of rubber that prevented the X Clamp from warping, keeping the GPU attached from the motherboard.
However, we might be too late:
"...said at a dinner in July that Microsoft’s own research shows that gamers have largely forgiven the company for defective Xbox 360s..."
EQUALS
"We've successfully regained the faith of our customers, let's ship the next terd."
I wouldn't buy a washing machine, cooker or tv with a reputation for being unreliable so why should I accept that from a game console?
The gamer who has a broken XBox will remember the fun they were having on Live and then be angry at Microsoft for producing a shoddy product so that their playing time was called to an abrupt halt.
Have you never seen the angry posts on a game's forum when the server goes down? I imagine that the reaction would be much the same for a console.
The whole point of articles like this is to point out that actually people are unhappy about this. If you're enjoying your gaming experience, great. Have fun with that but there's nothing wrong with people voicing their concerns about a product.
I for one don't want the console to fail just for the reliability to improve so I can feel confident in my purchase.
My friend has had 4 xbox failures. He's been playing more and more on his ps3 b/c it's dependable, and it gets the job done reliably...for FREE.
You have also failed to mention that MS has brought the failure rate of newly produced consoles back to the industry acceptable range, but that would ruin the punchline to the story.
-Not yet..... True, they've greatly reduced it. But they are still way off from the acceptable failure rate of 3%, even for the recently produced Xbox 360's. Reports back in Feb have the failure rate around 10% to 16% (depending on which source you rely on), compared to June '07 reports that run anywhere from around 30% to 70%. Also note that some of these website only take note of RROD failures. If you add on other system issues, that percentage could go higher...
I own an original Xbox & have been waiting to buy a new console until either the price of the PS3 comes down or MS solves the RROD. Like the article said, MS may be content to have launched a buggy console, but in the eyes of many people they have squandered an enormous amount of trust.
"I apologize your console failed but... we believe you got out of it what we expected you to so just go buy another one... Thanks"
My original xbox is just fine & still plays all the games I bought for it. I'm still angry at MS for orphaning it by cutting off all development for it when they prematurely brought out the 360, but at least my console still works...
Ummm Microsoft ISN"T the industry... hell Microsoft aren't even a proper electronics company (Which is evident in this article). 3% is an electronics industry standard so that appeals not only to Sony and Nintendo but to Samsung, Siemens, Panasonic and Canon to name just a few. Just because Microsoft says its acceptable doesn't mean it is.
The fact that Microsoft expects people just to accept what they say is right, just proves that they really are out of touch with consumers. You could argue the guarantee losses they took was listening to the consumer but in reality they were only trying to save face in the media as at that time they being torn to shreds. But yet they still send out faulty referb machines as a replacement shows that they still don't listen to the consumer or are any where near being "the industry".
I have had a 360 for 2 1/2 years and have been lucky to have not had to send my system back. I am waiting for my 3 years to be up and am expecting it to fail. No, it is not acceptable, and am hoping that they learned their lesson before their next generation. If this is not the case, MS will have essentially eliminated any success of future consoles.
I've got to doubt that Dean will ever get the same access at Microsoft as he enjoyed for Xbox and Xbox360. Sure, maybe he'll get inaccurate information from wanabe "insiders," but he's not going to be writing a book on the next console with any more access than the rest of us.
As of 09-07-2008 the X360 still has a larger library of games than the PS3. XBLA and the DISC selection library puts the PS3 to shame. The x360 is great at showing photos and home movies. Why buy a PS3? Playing with a controller is no where as accurate as with a keyboard/mouse, internet access costs $, Blu-Ray is dying, plus the subject of this article is an informal read.
Dude you sound like certifiable SONY fanboy. I just mostly took your words and replaced them with X360 words with a little mix of my own. So here's a little more to add.
The X360 is still the only console where you can have custom music for ANY GAME (past present & future). It can be streamed through, network, via USB (ipod, iphone etc..). It has had vibrational controllers since day 1 (sony recenlty obtained theirs..Lawsuit). Still has the BEST console online service. I'm not going to go into details about the other features, but you get the picture.
People will buy what they want to buy. You bought a PS3. Good for you. Others bought a X360. Good for them. The reasons for you not buying a X360 is your opinion. The reasons I purchased a X360 is my opinion. We all have that right. Don't make this sound like the PS3 doesn't have problems. I've repaired plenty of those things too. No console is 100% defective free. They all will break sooner or later.
But hey, I'll still have the X360 to boot up in just few seconds to play my music, play blu-ray (yeah it can play Blu-ray movies (via network, usb ext. HDD,..etc), more importantly, play games. That's the reason to own a console.
Enough of that . For all of you that don't know. As of 09-05-2008 the X360 price starts at $199USD. That's right. It's cheaper than the Wii. So go out an get one (for those of you waiting for a price drop).
"The x360 is great at showing photos and home movies. Why buy a PS3?" - The ps3 does this very nicely was well
"Playing with a controller is no where as accurate as with a keyboard/mouse" - Are you saying that you can keyboard/mouse on an xbox and not a ps3 (not true) or are you saying we should use a pc for that sort of thing. This sentence was pretty badly written.
"internet access costs $" - astute but irrelavent
"Blu-Ray is dying" - Tell me, is High Definition dying as well?
"I just mostly took your words and replaced them with X360 words with a little mix of my own." - Sadly, your "mix" is just stupid.
"It can be streamed through, network, via USB (ipod, iphone etc..)" - Certainly not that extra wireless USB adapter you have sitting around, you have to use MS's proprietary adapter or an equally expensive one. Also, I thought you need iTunes to hook up an iPod (I could be wrong on this one), but I'm pretty sure MS is installing iTunes on xboxs now.
"It has had vibrational controllers since day 1" - I really wouldn't bring up 'Day 1' for the xbox 360 as a comment following an article talking about early production issues.
"I'll still have the X360 to boot up in just few seconds to play my music, play blu-ray (yeah it can play Blu-ray movies (via network, usb ext. HDD,..etc)" - This is, by far, your dumbest comment. Somewhere along the line it is ultimately playing a blue ray movie via a BLUE RAY player which the xbox does not have. That's like saying my Fiat will do 200mph via gravity and a really high cliff.
And finally, "As of 09-05-2008 the X360 price starts at $199USD. That's right. It's cheaper than the Wii." - WHY IS EVERYONE FALLING FOR THIS?? This $199 price is horse sh*t. You're going to end up spending hundreds of dollars on add-ons when you get it home and realize you just bought a totally crippled system.
At any rate, sorry Jagosix but, you're dumb. :)
One word of advice to all of you. Sell your 360 get and get a PS3 and when you get the YLOD on it or your Blu-ray drive fails which seems to be happening more and more(happened to me on the 60gig model) you can pay them $120 dollars and get it fixed knowing you stuck it to MS! (then make cry baby blogs and stories about it).
"I never had a problem so therefore no one else ought to be having problems. Until I have the problem personally, the problem must not exist. So until I have the problem, it is my responsibility to accuse others of lying as often as I can, because I'm a hero. And I don't care about the mountain of evidence that clearly proves me wrong."
Yeah, real smart. Even better:
"If you don't love something, your only logical choice is to leave it. Under no circumstances will you spend time or resources trying to improve or progress the situation. Your only option is to leave and never look back...seriously, any criticism should result in banning yourself to the point where you jump to the other side and godammit you better love the other side without question. Whatever you do, you get what you deserve and there's nothing you should be able to do to change anything."
I also have 2 xbox360s and they too are running just fine. This article is stale and the writer is looking to get some hits by stirring the pot. MS called it him out on it and they are right.
OLD NEWS...OLD HORSE. Let it go.
All sarcasm aside, in the classical sense of the term, people like you are the only ones beating a dead horse here. Even MICROSOFT has quit beating that horse.
I'm so sick of getting RRODs. You cannot complain about hearing about it until it stops, and no, it hasn't stopped.