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See the original image at 8bitjoystick.com

Inside Source Reveal the Truth About Xbox 360

8bitjoystick.com — A redmond based Xbox insider spills the beans on why the Xbox 360 keeps dying.

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  • PooChunk, on 01/20/2008, -45/+12WOW! this guy knows his tech and now I'm somewhat regretting selling my 360. I know the 360 comes with a year warranty for the RRoD, but wasn't it extended to 3 years because of the massive failure rates.
    • Ataxia2008, on 01/20/2008, -19/+11He's also a bit of an arrogant prick nearer the end of the article...
      • whyufail, on 01/20/2008, -2/+11Not really, just a bit jaded. ***** like that happens all the time. Clock puncher comes up with a great idea by accident, and the upper management who "knows better" disregards it or whips it out a year later as his own idea...
        • johnmalc, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2"Xbox's mission statement is to preserve the Windows monopoly and extend it into the living room, as a media extender for a Media Center PC, along with a host of other MS and other company's hardware devices that fit into a digital entertainment lifestyle. MS has the bucks to keep losing money on Xbox for a long time, maybe forever. They've already lost around 6 billion dollars."

          For real?
        • itsgotyou, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1sounds like a dilbert comic strip
        • triplehelix, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2yes johnmalc, for real.
  • bigmac375, on 01/20/2008, -9/+76So if the dvd drive is another big problem, then why don't they extend the warranty on that too? Are they really going to make me RRoD my 360 when another one of my drives dies, just to get it fixed?
    • xxgigavirusxx, on 01/20/2008, -12/+8Cause its a temporary issue.. mine does it all the time

      I can play games but its a MAJOR pain swapping discs

      Unlike RRoD where u cant play at all
      • p_o_b, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3I have found that if you tap the face of the tray right after you hit the eject button it will open every time. That is just a light tap not a smack.
      • mcraze123, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3The dvd drive problems are not temporary. Sometimes it could be dust or hair in the tracks or dvd tray alignment problems which is most the time. I've also had to replace lenses and increase the voltages to the lasers on them to get them to read games which is a problem with all cd/dvd players. There is also a problem with some 360's where the game gets scratched by the lense assembly during game play. To me the 360's have a high failure rate for the dvd drives and should be covered under the 3 year warranty. BTW pob is correct, pushing the tray in correctly aligns the tray.
    • limitbreakerx, on 01/20/2008, -3/+17This problem is a major deterrent to playing games. Every time I want to play, I'm forced to reconsider because I know that I'll have to stand there for 5 minutes ejecting and closing the drive... hoping for the disc to spin up and let me play.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -2/+25Did you try blowing on the contacts? ;-)
    • Yarnage, on 01/20/2008, -30/+4The hardware warranty extension DOES cover your DVD drive.... idiot
      • knailbomb420, on 01/20/2008, -2/+17No it doesn't
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -2/+15The regular warranty does. The 3-year extension does not, but should.
      • kingmanic, on 01/20/2008, -1/+15the 3yr extension is RROD only. the 1 year covers drives.
    • chris9902, on 01/20/2008, -0/+34if your 360 breaks for ANY reason just say it's the RROD. they wont send it back to you unless it fully works so everything else is replaced free.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2That's the advice I always hand out. ;-)
    • smek2, on 01/20/2008, -4/+9We're talking about a company here, which used to primarily develop and sell their own OS and which was unable to keep their products running stable.
      • CrossCrucial, on 01/21/2008, -2/+0"keep?" I was under the impression they came NIB unstable? lol

        IMO, the most stable thing M$ ever produced was the original xbox. Maybe they stole it from Apple and put an X on it? hmmm
    • virtualball, on 01/20/2008, -2/+11If it's the DVD drive that's causing the RRoD, just wait for the Xbox 360 Air! :P
      • bigmac375, on 01/24/2008, -0/+1hahaha, cant wait to plug in my external usb drive!
    • MrFisty, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5It's BS. I'm on my third 360 because of faulty optical drives. Now this one is starting to grind and ring brand new discs (no, it's not vertical). I wonder if the warranty covers me kicking the ***** thing out the front door in a fit of rage?
      • virtualball, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2The answer is no. Though, maybe your homeowners insurance would :)
      • bigmac375, on 01/24/2008, -0/+1actually the answer is yes, as long as you tell them their hunk of twisted plastic and metal has three red lights.
    • bobmckenzie, on 01/21/2008, -1/+3It is naive to think that there is any motive, other than profitiblility for a publicly traded company. The company has no obligation (regardless of what my/your moral compass may see as objectionable) to provide their shareholders with anything other than revenue. I certainly do not support the behavior of releasing defective products, but the nature of any publicly traded "C" corporation does not allow for conscious. This is more clearly illustrated by the medical insurance industry.
      • triplehelix, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2incorrect. corporations do have a moral obligation to society to conduct themselves in ways that won't harm society. just because consumers have shown they will accept shoddy craftsmanship, heavy polluters, and toxic materials, doesn't mean corporations don't have an obligation to avoid them.

        personally i'm against corporate personhood, but as long as they have it, they are bound by the same moral obligations as any other person.
        • bigmac375, on 01/24/2008, -0/+1ahh, there's the rub. they're moral, not lawful obligations.
    • DupontNumber24, on 01/21/2008, -1/+1I hear you! I am on my 7th and 8th systems and only 2 have been due to rrod. The rest have all been dvd drive related.
  • slicecom, on 01/20/2008, -37/+27Wow! Great interview! Very insightful.
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -12/+15Also completely dubious since nothing is said in it that isn't already known in the public domain.
      All this article is, is fanboi bait/fodder.
      • toefer, on 01/20/2008, -1/+8There's nothing on Wikipedia pages that isn't also in the public domain as well, but sometimes it helps to gather it all up in one place. No?
    • Dylson, on 01/20/2008, -2/+3'There just weren't enough people to do the job that needed to be done.' What. The. *****. I'm so glad the truth finally comes out.
  • clak, on 01/20/2008, -95/+2Damn, I'm an Apple fanboy. How the hell did I wander into here? Forgive me, folks.
    • KaiUno, on 01/20/2008, -2/+54Everybody likes to play games. No wonder a game deprived apple fanboy ends up here.
      • Ataxia2008, on 01/20/2008, -23/+3Totally invalid point. I'll be playing Crisis on my Macbook Air once it's released.
        • fxspec06, on 01/20/2008, -1/+13When you're done you can finish up by smelling your own *****. But you already did that earlier didn't you?
        • R3trodude, on 01/20/2008, -6/+5*Crysis.
        • Ataxia2008, on 01/20/2008, -17/+1wow. Case study - "How NOT to take a joke on the internet"
        • JohnPocket, on 01/20/2008, -2/+8 Enjoy your 15 frames per second!
    • Dylson, on 01/20/2008, -0/+5Well, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
  • MadDoggie, on 01/20/2008, -15/+26Doesn't standing the console up make it more likely to chew up disks? That's why I've never stood mine up. That and I have a cat that would be euphoric at the opportunity to knock my 360 off of my entertainment center.
    • TiMMY8765, on 01/20/2008, -0/+69no, moving it from standing to laying or laying to standing while it is running chews up a disc
      • TalkingBanana, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3such was the fate of my Bioshock...
    • totorototoro, on 01/20/2008, -1/+13Can't help you with the cat problem :p, but I don't see why a vertically oriented drive would necessarily chew up disks more....the Wii, the iMac, the new Dell AIO, etc, all have vertical oriented drives with no issues.
      • kaytrio, on 01/20/2008, -3/+6I think a lot of us got burned with the ps2 standing up, so we're still scared...
        • Ataxia2008, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3the slimline has a drive where the disc is held in the middle, instead of on a tray like the original PS2, so I assume it's less prone to disc scratching. I don't care anyway, I've chipped mine, so a new disc costs me about £0.50 ($1)
        • KMartSheriff, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6No I think that was just you.
        • Ajajadude, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1I never had that problem with my original PS2.
        • rarson, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2My PS2 burned me through a faulty laser. It won't read any DVD media at all. My console is a version 9. Lucky for me, the only disc I need is a copy of the PS1 game VIP (yes, the game based on the Pamela Anderson show of the same name, don't laugh, it was only like a dollar used), which I use to boot off the memory card and run my PS2 games off a hard drive.

          See, sometimes "pirating" is the only way to play when your hardware is faulty (I should note that all the games on my hard drive got there because I copied the original discs that I paid for). My PS2 isn't modded in any way, either.
      • whyufail, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4Because the 360 uses a tray load system which is very dumb for a system that was obviously designed to be vertical most of the time. Theres no spindle for the disc to hold to, and its not a loader like the Wii. So basically what happens is when it goes from vertical to horizontal with the disk in it, it free floats for a bit and pops out of the tray, still spinning mind you, and slices itself over and over again against the little plastic parts that keep it steady in the tray while running normally.

        Thats only if you're moving it while running of course *which is kinda dumb unless its an accident*. Otherwise it just leads to lovely "disc read" errors every so often because the disk can get jostled around and not be read correctly.
    • J3EBS, on 01/20/2008, -2/+12Mine is stood up. For some reason, the DVD drive doesn't open the first time I press the button. Usually it's on the 3rd or 4th try. An extra 5 seconds or so, but it's enough to make it annoying. As for ruining discs, hasn't happened here.
      • knailbomb420, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Mine is at the repair center for that reason right now. I have never had the RROD, but this the 6th time I have had to send it in for DREs and the tray not opening.
      • CapitalIdea, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Yeah i get the drive not opening problem but i found that if you shift the faceplate about (or take it off) it usually fixes it.
    • MadDoggie, on 01/20/2008, -0/+10Guess I'll try to stand mine up tomorrow then and bolster it from the feline. That's what I get for listening to the guy at Gamestop.
    • Calypsoaf, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3I've had 1 disk chewed, and it was because I moved the 360 and did not remove and reset the disk prior to starting it up after the move.
    • PPCG4, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2I have a H3 Special Edition 360 and I stand it up. It seems like the air coming from the rear exhaust vents isn't as warm as when I had it on its side. Plus, heat rises, so when it's on its side, it doesn't rise through the top vents like it does when it's standing. Plus I think it looks cooler :)
    • Scrappy1850, on 01/20/2008, -6/+1kill that ***** cat
  • shirosamurai, on 01/20/2008, -44/+27Buried as *****. A poor attempt at ***** at that.

    The guy who submitted this is the same guy who 'wrote' the interview. Click his name - he either really hates Microsoft or he's trying to get hits to his website (or both). Check out his comment on another submission - "It's not *****. My source actually worked on the Xbox 360 for a long time and they proved it to me without a doubt.". Golden.
    • bpacana, on 01/20/2008, -20/+9No really folks! What shirosamurai says is TRUE!!! Digg further... this guy interviewed himself!
      • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -6/+14No my source is real.

        What can't a digger submit an article they worked on?
    • ninjasquirrel, on 01/20/2008, -9/+12Exactly what I thought... any of the information in that "interview" could easily be found months ago. I found almost all of it in September when I was researching the 360 problems before buying one...
    • theycallmebubba, on 01/20/2008, -9/+11Not to mention the fact that it had one of the poorest-written intros I've read in a while...
    • rbross2005, on 01/20/2008, -7/+11So why is his comment getting buried again?
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Because Digg is eager to spread any FUD that paints MS in a poor light.

        This article is fanboy created FUD. Nothing more... totally baseless nonsense.
    • coheedcollapse, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1I'm pretty sure a large majority of Digg submissions are either friends of people who created the article or people who created the article (unless it's something from Gizmodo or something like that).
  • totorototoro, on 01/20/2008, -4/+21Interesting stuff. The point about there not being just one cause of the RROD makes a lot of sense, and explains why there wasn't an easy fix when it first started happening-probably just seemed like different unrelated glitches at the time.
    • digggggggggg, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1630% seems kinda high though. I don't think I've ever heard of anything this huge with a 30% rate of failure.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4There's always a first time! ;-)
      • jull1234, on 01/20/2008, -1/+16The 360 owners I know who have had to send in their console outnumber the ones I know who haven't had issues. To me, this seems a bit indicative of a problem.
        • Cwo655321, on 01/20/2008, -14/+3and you know everyone that owns a 360, so i guess i'll take your word on the stats being correct.
      • truspect0r, on 01/20/2008, -0/+4I think it sucks, if you look at the neowin poll (yeah its a poll) on the top-right http://www.neowin.net/ , 387 out of 710 people had at least one RRoD.
      • stoppedcode12, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1And to think that at launch, they had only 30% yield of which 30% of all yields failed
      • Math, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2Mathematically the failure rate has to be around the 25-30% mark, as there have been a few reports of people having 9 or more units in a row replaced.
        That's a statistical almost impossibility, unless the failure rate is around 25% or above, so 30% sounds reasonable.
      • SkippyDoorknob, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1The Coleco Adam had a giant failure rate too.
    • PixelD, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4Memory overheating might be a large part of that. I remember when I was fixing my RROD I had the mobo up a little too high. The bottom RAM heatsinks were off the metal case(which they use as a passive cooler) by about 3mm, this was enough to throw a RROD after about 10-20 minutes. After adding a couple shims and heatsinks to the top memory, I can say my 360 has been running 5 months without a problem.
  • MillurTime, on 01/20/2008, -10/+196Anyone else find this article physically hard to read?
    • Adgeman, on 01/20/2008, -1/+13glad it wasn't just me.
    • Ramrodicus, on 01/20/2008, -2/+15I had to hit 'CTRL +' a couple times.
    • linuxeventually, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2Either use the "Web Developer" firefox extension or "Toolbar Buttons" extension and disable CSS stylesheets.
    • jmk4422, on 01/20/2008, -9/+22You're not alone. I buried the story as inaccurate right off the bat because, well... every word of every sentence this jerk-off wrote was inaccurate, grammatically speaking, and not in any kind of forgiving sense. When someone writes like a fifth grader, well... you start to question what they're saying.
      • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -19/+8Thanks grammar nazi! Your world must be so full of joy!
      • Cybrwolf, on 01/22/2008, -0/+1Yes, and when a grammar nazi begins to speak like a elitist, well we tend to ban them!
    • hello_world, on 01/20/2008, -0/+4heh... it was emotionally hard for me...
    • GhostRican, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2ha! i read one line and had to stop.
    • thedude42, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1I think the author may have fixed most of it since the original posting.
  • BaderG, on 01/20/2008, -23/+5tl;dr
    • robdazomba, on 01/20/2008, -1/+8Shut up. Nobody is impressed with your short-attention span so stop showing it off.
  • shibainu, on 01/20/2008, -7/+34ive been getting this disc is unreadable. clean with a cloth message. 3rd 360 already
    • CkMaverick, on 01/20/2008, -3/+7I hate that! I get disc unreadable errors as well and it always happens at the most inconvenient times. Then you always get morons giving you negative rep for "leaving a game early" etc... Drives me insane.
      • sevenalive, on 01/20/2008, -10/+1well don't ***** leave the game early! lol
    • TommyDeVito, on 01/20/2008, -1/+0I have to send my 360 back because of this problem. At first it was nothing major, just had to shut the system off and remove all plugs (power cable, hard drive) before playing, but after a while it just stopped reading discs altogether.

      Xbox support is kindly taking it in for a "free" repair, because my 1-year (non-RRoD) warranty recently expired.
    • zaxroom, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1That is the story of my life, all new games that i remember hearing some where "require more power from the Xbox" don't run. In the case of Halo 3 until my buddy got a new xbox and gave me his old on i was never able to play single player only match making. I borrowed assassins creed once couldn't even play it all the time tells me disc unreadable or it just turned off.
    • gilbert2048, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1you know after the 2nd xbox360 broke i would have figured it was time to move on (or back) to a more reliable counsel or use the move onto the computer

      if you say oh computers is 2 expensive then you should have saved up for one to begin with as opposed to wasting it on the 360
    • stefan15, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0I had that too.. tried running without the HD, problem solved. Give it a try..
      Though on that note, I sent my hard drive away over 2 months ago, they said I'd receive my new one 3-5 days after I sent it. Still waiting.
  • valkyries, on 01/20/2008, -4/+11yeah that PB free solder really sucks(for computer components) compared to PB solder. and thankfully the EU is starting to realize that.
    • Krumm, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5Lead free solder sucks for pretty much everything - everyone who can is using the loopholes (it's a process controller etc) to get around it.
      If they just made recycling easier & cheaper we could have left it how it was, and had consistent quality joints.
      (Plus there are knock-off parts coming from abroad that are leaded parts re-branded as PB-free, so unless you check every part, it's pants anyway!)
  • bpacana, on 01/20/2008, -10/+3Nice interview, I wish he would have gone a bit more into the HDMI issue, about how HDMI less consoles get sent in, and to my knowlegde almost always a HDMI less 360 is sent back. And then they refit your old 360 with a HDMI port and send it back!
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -5/+12He would have gone into it more if:
      (a) he was really on the Xbox team
      (b) the 'interview' wasn't a complete fabrication
    • rohanch, on 01/20/2008, -0/+7"Refit your old 360 with a HDMI port"

      ... what?

      That's impossible, the HDMI-enabled 360's have a different scaler chip ("H-Ana" instead of "Ana") soldered on the motherboard. Unless they are swapping your motherboard, there's no way of adding HDMI to a 360 that didn't have it before.
    • uremomsnitemare, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1That's not even his comment, he stole it right from the comments on the article itself.
  • wilhoitm, on 01/20/2008, -14/+47Why was Micro$oft so cheap and why did they cut so many corners if they have so much money? Do they still lose money on each 360 sold?
    • RyFo18, on 01/20/2008, -2/+21because managment was poor..They ignored known issues hoping that they would simply "be ok." That's not how high volume products work. You can't hope that something you know is wrong won't be a big problem. That's why ANY company needs to have good reliability goals and verification tests for their product put in place. I bet if you asked anyone at Microsoft working on the Xbox 360 what their reliability goal was before their initial release of the product that they would have no idea....The design engineers behind the product (whom will never get any recognition) did their best to put out a product that worked...the Management making decisions on the product's overal status are no doubt the ones to be blamed....Just an overall rant, with any company its very sad that the people making the product work rarely see bonuses when that product succeeds...it all goes straight to management...cruel corporate world.
      • davidlow, on 01/20/2008, -3/+4The same management failures are at play at the same company when it comes to designing and debugging software. Think of Windows and its very high levels of vulnerability and instability compared to every other operating system.
    • firstpost, on 01/20/2008, -2/+7Yes, they still lose money on them. Same as Sony on the PS3, they hope to make up for it with the games.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -2/+5According to Kaz Hirai, the PS3 is pretty close to even with the new 40GB model, as the extra PS2 silicon is gone, and the initial rollout expenses of the BR drive are getting ameliorated.

        Of course they'll likely be dropping the cost again at the end of the year, so it'll probably go right back to the same kind of losses they've got now.
      • kaytrio, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Does nintendo's wii lose money per console?
        • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Nope. They're pretty much making money hand over fist. ;-)
        • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1No, because it is basically a Gamecube -- even the old gamecube mod-chips work on the Wii...
    • Ataxia2008, on 01/20/2008, -12/+7Just look at Vista...
    • snoox, on 01/20/2008, -8/+4yes they loose money, but they money they eat is still money that didn't go to Sony
    • magicaltrevor, on 01/20/2008, -3/+4Because they're greedy, and will do whatever they can to control another market.

      Quote from the article: "MS was so focused on beating Sony this cycle that the 360 was rushed to market when all indications were that it had serious flaws."
  • djohnmalkovich2, on 01/20/2008, -33/+3Bill Gates' wife after their wedding night: "Oh, now I see why you named your company Microsoft."
  • deadnoob, on 01/20/2008, -3/+32i find it weird how new models are still getting the RRoD. i really thought they would have fixed it completely by now
    • zeptobyte, on 01/20/2008, -4/+16Legacy support.
    • kingmanic, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3The problem is more then the CPU, the only really thing new in the new one is the 65nm CPU vs the 90nm of the old ones. There was some attempt to fix RROD and the fail rate of the new ones is a huge ? right now but I hear they still break.
    • Flynnz, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Only reason I find it a bit fishy is that 10% is still really really really high, and I havent heard much of anything about the new 360's failing on the webz (like you surely would if it was as high as 10%)

      Think about it....1 in 10 people with failed new hardware not talking about it on the internet in HUGE volumes? Even discounting the people that may not know what version hardware they have, thats still hard for me to believe people that DO know are not complaining in large numbers all over the internet.
      • ProKid, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1Keep in mind a large majority of the people who buy Xbox aren't the type to post about their problems online.
        • Flynnz, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1I agree....but you are still talking about hundreds of thousands of people with the new hardware, and no one is really reporting RRoD? unlikely
      • jarrod10, on 01/22/2008, -0/+1Ya your right i Have only seen like 2 pictures of falcon 360s failing and i also read somewhere that its mostly the older white pros and arcades that are dying.
    • thedude42, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1From my understanding of the article, the RRoD isn't a specific problem, so unless they create a new fault indicator on the box, the RRoD is the PC analog of generic beep codes at POST when you have some major component failure.

      If you're saying that they should have fixed the main problem that causes most of the RRoD failures, I believe he did say that failure rate has dropped from 30 to 10 % indicating that a significant issues was fixed (quality of manufacture?). Everything int he article, however, leads me to believe that short of completely re-tooling the design and manufacturing process, it will be some time before the issues are completely resolved if MS keeps the unit in production.
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2The motherboard is vastly different between V1 & V2. New mounting, new placement, fewer chips, smaller chips...

        This article is simple fabrication from a fanboy looking to A) spread FUD and B) get traffic.

        Just move along.
  • Fizban140, on 01/20/2008, -9/+40Everyone claims to have the idea for the Wii before the Wii came out, who the hell didn't see that coming? You mean casual games will be popular? No way!
    • Darksoul, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2Alot of people did have an idea for it they wouldn't be in that business if they didn't know and think of that ***** its just they didn't do it because its just another ***** controller scheme I know dam well thats why they didn't do it just because Nintendo sells what they sold for the Wii doesn't make him a liar because even if they bring it up MS has the last say on if it gets created or not.
    • caustikBT, on 01/20/2008, -2/+4Congratulations on being a dumbass! He never claimed to come up with the idea of the Wii, he merely said he suggested something along those lines to his superiors and they disregarded him. I think thousands of people have had that idea to have a solid motion-controlled "fun" console, the real achievement is how well Nintendo pulled it off.
    • PEMDAS, on 01/20/2008, -0/+0We've been fascinated by the prospect of virtual reality for quite some time, and Nintendo's not blowing anybody away with a new idea, just the application of a existing idea. As things are now, the Wii's graphics and (mostly) simple games take a lot away from the realism that we desire in a world going hi-def, and it won't be until a next-gen system incorporates motion sensor controllers that we see a truly successful virtual reality platform.
    • thedude42, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2Comments liek this make me realize how few people bought and/or remember the Nintendo Power Glove. By this rationale, Nintendo had the idea for the Wii in what, 1989? 1990? Whenever "The Wizard" marketing vehicle movie came out.
  • dagamer34, on 01/20/2008, -11/+75Still fearful of buying a 360. How about fixing that disc drive so it isn't so loud?
    • emceepecks, on 01/20/2008, -12/+30Just buy one already and quit missing out. It's only loud if you are sitting right next to it in a quiet room; fire up a game and i guarantee it won't bother you one bit.

      oh yeah, and buy CoD4. it's the *****.
      • thecheatah, on 01/20/2008, -11/+6For CoD 4 get the ps3. The graphics look exactly the same and so is the frame rate, the only difference is the console you play it on.
        • CamoChris, on 01/20/2008, -4/+12So you should get CoD4 for the PS3 because it's exactly the same as on the 360?
          • Starflyer59, on 01/20/2008, -7/+5It's pretty much the same except PS3 owners have reliable online capability and no fear of console death.
          • lime148, on 01/20/2008, -5/+6They gotta justify their waste of money somehow.
      • jedikv, on 01/20/2008, -7/+3"For CoD 4 get the ps3. The graphics look exactly the same" - quite the opposite., check out gametrailers. There is a small but noticable difference in visual quality. PS3 one seems more washed out and not as sharp.
        • mdaize, on 01/20/2008, -1/+10because they havnt enabled full rgb or super white mode
        • schoate09, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Haha, gametrailers? Apparently you've missed their admittance that they don't run the PS3 on the same settings.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1For CoD4, why not use your PC? The thing looks great and runs like the dickens. (Not to mention that whole "not having to play with a gamepad" thing.)
      • Pikachelsea, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3"Just buy one already and quit missing out."

        Just fix them already and quit churning out crappy 360s and maybe those who are on the fence will consider it.
    • ninjasquirrel, on 01/20/2008, -3/+10Already done... the new units use an LG drive that is nearly silent. The Delta fans, however, are a bit louder than the older ones.
      • FoxOrian, on 01/20/2008, -1/+9Crap, I lost out. I have the Samsung drive in mine... That thing is louder than a chainsaw.
    • Arkz, on 01/20/2008, -5/+5free waranty... whats the problem? anything goes wrong just get it swapped for a new one! my launch console broke after a few months and i just took it back to the shop n swapped it out, been ok since..
      • macromorgan, on 01/20/2008, -1/+16Kia's have a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty. Toyota's have a 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty. Which car would you rather have?

        Why don't they just make a console that ***** works? I'd rather have an Xbox that has a 3 month warranty because it doesn't ***** need a longer warranty.

        To paraphrase Tommy Boy... "all the guarantee means is that you're getting a guaranteed piece of *****."
      • Pikachelsea, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4"free waranty... whats the problem?"

        Because I don't want to deal with the annoyance of returning my console and getting a new one, that's why. Returning broken consoles is a pain in the butt that the consumer shouldn't have to deal with, because it should just be a quality product in the first place. The blind acceptance of you people in dealing with Microsoft's laziness and condoning the absolutely ludicrous failure rate of 360s, just because "oh it has a warranty", is unbelievable. You people who keep buying up poorly manufactured products are the reason MS can't be bothered to fix them.
    • animalmuther76, on 07/30/2008, -6/+4surely the fact that some peeps have bothered to get their 360 replaced 11 times or more shows what a great system it is (just not reliable) and you cant live without it. I doubt any one would bother replacing their PS3 more than once.
      • emjaymj, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5I'm pretty sure very few people are in a financial position to just write off their $600 purchase.
        • animalmuther76, on 07/30/2008, -0/+1no you would probably get it fixed and put it on ebay
    • Varz, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2I thought everything was supposed to be fixed with the new consoles, ie all consoles with a HDMI port.
      I was thinking of modding mine (live in Australia so it's legal) but if the new ones still break I think I'll hold back.
  • cplex, on 01/20/2008, -15/+8I stopped reading when the writer confused "extend" with "extent".
    • Lionhart, on 01/20/2008, -10/+4Nice xbox 360 user icon... but you should probably try to make a better point than correcting a grammatical error if you want to defend your console so badly.
      • LukeBeaumont, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6And "Does some games more than others"

        The author needs to learn how to write.
    • IllBeBack, on 01/20/2008, -3/+6Well then why didn't you stop reading right at the beginning when he wrote "Since it's launch in Fall of 2005?" He did use the wrong "it's" there. It should have been "its" with no apostrophe.
  • xxgigavirusxx, on 01/20/2008, -5/+8Im tempted to remove my Nyko Intercooler now
    • BurntToast, on 01/20/2008, -1/+19You should. Piggybacking off the power supply is horrible and the fact that the intercooler fans create a vacuum and causes more stress on the 360's built in fans... it's bad news. Also voids the warranty for the 360.
    • Christbait, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3Get rid of it now. It does more harm than good.
    • kelchm, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1Yeah... The intercooler is bad news. If you REALLY want to use it, make sure its plugged into an externally powered usb hub.
    • frygar, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Get rid of it - the Intercoolers cause more harm than good.
  • alabamasucks, on 01/20/2008, -12/+18Such a great read, stuff like this is what i love about digg.... someone else finding kick ass stories for me to read
    • arcticblue, on 01/20/2008, -1/+9Too bad submissions like this are few and far between nowadays...
    • jedikv, on 01/20/2008, -4/+8You like questionable articles with huge grammatical and spelling errors?
      • majortom1981, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1Wow so you wont read an article if you find a spelling error? Do you dump girlfriends if they spell something wrong? Do you tell cops off if things are spelled wrong on your ticket?

        You must be a really uptight person to care aboout spelling and grammar so much.
        • sekhui, on 01/20/2008, -2/+3not uptight, educated. some of us aren't even in high school anymore! shocking, right?
        • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2For being so "educated" you seem to have quite poor composition skills. See: capitalization See: "us aren't even." You know, some people who use digg have actually graduated from college.
          • sekhui, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1i don't capitalize because this is the ***** internet. some of us have been here for more than five minutes. and for being educated yourself you have piss-poor reply button skills.

            in other news, "some of us aren't even in high school" is perfectly fine grammatically. skip english class much?
  • sleeknerve, on 01/20/2008, -19/+8My first Xbox died on the three rings of death, and my second which ive had almost a year now wont read any games, accept halo,(and i hate that game) for more that 20 minutes. Good thing im a pc gamer Its just been sitting in a corner, and im too lazy to get it warrantied. They really need to make their products better, which is why i am getting a ps3 as soon as i get it fixed and sold.
    • zionifl, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6I'm digging down for "being too lazy to get it warrantied".
      Fix it, sell it, trade it - just do something with it.
    • billbillbilly, on 01/20/2008, -2/+7buried for hating halo, and confusing accept with except
    • sevenalive, on 01/20/2008, -3/+13I call BS on your comment, your just a sony fanboy spreading lies. I find it hard to believe your too lazy to fix a 400 dollar gaming machine and rather just waste your money.
      • sleeknerve, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1well, im a pc gamer, and i play COD with my friends all the time. I really dont need to get anything else
  • anderzole, on 01/20/2008, -10/+5fascinating read
  • thepolkapunk, on 01/20/2008, -7/+16"I have the fullest confined in the integrity of my confidential source."
    Does he mean he has the fullest CONFIDENCE in the integrity of his source? Perhaps a little proofreading is in order...
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -4/+6OK I went back and did some proofreading. Sorry.
      • daborg, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Dude, just use a damn spell checker before you submit something to the Internet. How hard can it be?
  • slightlygifted, on 01/20/2008, -9/+6well from the end i can tell he got fired and isnt happy about it. and i learned nothing new about why they break. heat. way to fix: decrease heat. just another new site looking for hits.
    • jschluchter, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0I totally agree with the hits comment. I have no facts or figures, but I know 10-12 people with 360's with no problems. People are just hating it's success.
  • Wang, on 01/20/2008, -8/+15Interesting, but no digg...simply because a lot of this is speculation and not the confirmed truth. There are a lot of MS peeps who work on xbox, but that does not mean they all know the in's and out's of the xbox problems and the behind the scenes info. Interesting read, but just not worthy of the attention grabbing title it was given on digg ;)
    • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+0...as if they're ever going to release "confirmed truth" on this matter?
      • Wang, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Of course not, so we shouldn't sensationalize employees who *think* they know the full truth.
    • dreambucket, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1It may not be confirmed, but it sure as hell reminds me of my company's SOP at times. That behavior is certainly not limited to large companies.
    • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2The article is total fabrication. More FUD.
  • Nat3r, on 01/20/2008, -8/+1k
  • SideShowMel0329, on 01/20/2008, -5/+15Dugg, but I'm not 100% convinced this is genuine information. It sounded real though.
    • jmk4422, on 01/20/2008, -8/+7Great. Let's all digg bullcrap so long as it at least SOUNDS real. wtg
    • rohanch, on 01/20/2008, -3/+6It sounds all made up by someone who has just read various rumours/articles on the internet, not a MS employee.
  • ninjasquirrel, on 01/20/2008, -4/+26There wasn't a single thing in that entire article that should be news for anyone. I seriously doubt that this was a real "inside source", as any of the information he repeated is easily available with a quick search.
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -4/+5I don't understand the critics who are upset that the deep dark secret of the Xbox 360 is an overheating motherboard design that was rushed out the door in order to be ready in time for the November/ Christmas buying season. The problem is not with the CPU or GPU but some major problems with the design of the unit. I am sorry it's not space aliens and Elvis on the grassy knoll.
      • rohanch, on 01/20/2008, -4/+3Did you reply to the wrong comment? Anyway, the RRoD problem is quite clearly the motherboard/heatsink design as you say, but this "inside source" just skips over mentioning any detail of that and goes on about some vague stuff about a rushed design instead.
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Clearly you have an agenda pal. And, you're spreading inaccurate FUD.
  • onlyclave, on 01/20/2008, -24/+22I call ***** on this whole story. I live 2 miles away from Microsoft and I know a lot of people who work there, both as regular MSFT employees and as Volt contractors. NOBODY there spills confidential information like the "interviewee". They stand far too much to lose and are very easy to root out. And for the record, Microsoft's mission statement is "A computer on every desktop".

    Buried.
    • HappyScrappy, on 01/20/2008, -6/+21I have a friend who worked on the 360 HW design, and he never refuses to answer any of my questions. Of course, he doesn't work at MS anymore, maybe this source also no longer works there.

      Maybe this person worked/works at the company in Texas that MS contracts to fix them.

      The Pentagon Papers were leaked and you think info on the 360 hardware can't be?
      • crobathias, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1but the pentagon is in the GOVERNMENT, they suck at keeping things secret
    • Darksoul, on 01/20/2008, -8/+2Yeah because your friends are all people that worked on the 360 therefore that makes this person wrong right your a moron. Because you live two miles makes you an expert lmao.
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -11/+3My source was been in redmond for years and has pretty big balls.
    • myranttoyou, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1It probably is BS. Also, BTW, they changed their mission statement a while back. That one is quite old, and was clearly achieved over a decade ago.
    • alvinrod, on 01/21/2008, -1/+2I call ***** on this whole comment. I live 2 miles away from Kevin Rose and I know a lot of people who work on Digg. They told me you just like to make stuff up like this to sound important.

      See how easy it is to make up information that can't be proven easily? Why should we believe you when you've offered no more proof than the author of this article? At least the author pointed out another MS related story where he happened to have insider information that turned out to be correct before it was released to the public.

      It all rings fairly true to me.
  • RandomGorilla, on 01/20/2008, -3/+11So far I haven't had a problem with mine and I usually play it for many many hours a day. Damn you, Oblivion and Mass Effect!! Your open-ended sandbox goodness robs me of my will.
    • xxgigavirusxx, on 01/20/2008, -4/+2UH OH!

      Next time u turn it on ur gonna get the RRoD just for jinxing yourself!
    • INTERNETMASTER, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1oblivion is a PC game that's on PS3 too and mass effect sucks
      • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3SONY FANBOY.....yet another victim of the stockholm syndrome
    • frygar, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Mmmmmm, Shivering Isles.
  • CountryTime, on 01/20/2008, -12/+62 things:
    First, a higher failure rate is caused by some people keeping their 360s in their entertainment centers which have walls on 3 sides of them. Hot air accumulates around them and they die.
    Second, with the new microsoft extended warranty, people should stop buying so many retailer's warranties. I refuse to pay an extra 60 bucks for a warranty when microsoft will already replace my xbox for free for three years. What retailers don't tell you is that each time your 360 dies, you have to pay for another warranty. so that xbox360 that keeps dying will cost you 350 + 60 + 60...
    • knailbomb420, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1That is why I got the extended service contract from microsoft and not the retailer. Also the extended warranty only covers the RROD, I've had mine since launch day and never had the RROD, I have had many disc tray and DRE problems though. Which is why I am glad that I got the service contract from microsoft, otherwise it would've cost me to get them fixed.
    • kingmanic, on 01/20/2008, -1/+6That doesn't explain how the other consoles don't fail at the same rate. If it was poor user storage and operation you'd see 30% failure from everybody. IT's simply not acceptable to have a consumer device fail this much.
    • mdaize, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6iv kept my ps3 in my entertainment center which is nearly fully enclosed....
      i got it just after launch
      iv yet to have a single problem??

      entertainment centers are not the problem.
    • nelsonjj1, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1I had a Microsoft Warranty, and they could not find it for over two months. My Xbox 360 was out of commission for over 10 weeks and still came back to me broken. If Microsoft would have replaced it, I would have a working one right now, but as it turns out they won't do that for me. A retailer would have replaced it right away. Next time I will go for a Best Buy Warranty.
    • INTERNETMASTER, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2the higher failure rate is caused by microsoft being incompetent and not caring about the quality of their products.
      • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2SONY FANBOY.....yet another victim of the stockholm syndrome
  • LukeBeaumont, on 01/20/2008, -6/+15"Q: Of all five videogame systems on the market now (PS3, PSP, PS2, Wii and 360)only the Xbox 360 has had such major hardware failure problems. Microsoft being the only company based in the US making a videogame system. What part of Microsoft's way of doing things do you think caused this situation to happen."

    Wait... the PS2s didn't have laser problems?
    • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -7/+9It did. So did the Xbox. So did some Gamecubes. The problem, however, wasn't that major.

      No system escapes early launch woes, but the scale of comparison of the RRoD to the others is ridiculous. People completely oblivious to video gaming recognize your sending a 360 back for repair just due to the size of the package.
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2I had 3 PS2s. The last one was a 100% dead-machine, sitting in my closet now (hoping I can open fix it (hoping its a powersupply issue...))
    • sevenalive, on 01/20/2008, -13/+2and overheating issues, and how many versions until they got it right, umm 4? Anyone who buys a ps2 over a 360, wii or PoS3 is a douchebag. Why buy something that is outdated.
      • cthellis, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0Why make sense and speak rationall, when you can so easily instead sound like a nutter?
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -3/+7Yeah the PS2 had pretty bad laser read error problems and the PSP had dead pixels but they were no where near as bad as the RROD hitting millions of Xbox gamers..
    • Tahiri, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1DS also had just as many dead pixels, and wii's connect24 service kills wiis after a while
    • TheSeptimHeir, on 01/20/2008, -2/+0Funny story: reread the quote in the article again.
      Count how many systems are listed in the "FIVE videogame systems on the market now".
      But in other news, the PS2's failures were consistent with industry standards (i.e. other console failures) and were nowhere near the 360 failure rates. Similarly, the PSP and DS both have pixel failing issues (though I suspect the PSP is slightly worse in this regard).
    • dhughes, on 01/20/2008, -4/+2 I have a friend who said her PS3 gets so hot is warps the discs.
      • ProKid, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3False. I run my machine 24/7. If not gaming then folding. Not a single warped disc.
      • cthellis, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0What do you mean "false?" Do you own HER machine? It certainly could be, but it wouldn't be indicative of much.

        To throw "folding" fuel on the fire, all my PS3-laden friends have their machines crunching numbers when not in use, which basically means the machine is ALWAYS in use. No worries. ^_^
  • afwjam, on 01/20/2008, -6/+4Well, guess I am lucky mine has not broken. But still the thing is so damn fun, I don't think I would care if it did. and I hate microsoft.
    • Darksoul, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Trust me you would care.
    • INTERNETMASTER, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1microsoft wouldn't care if it broke either. sucker.
      • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2SONY FANBOY.....yet another victim of the stockholm syndrome
  • yensed, on 01/20/2008, -3/+91"In the middle of '03 I tried to convince our director of "innovation" that we needed to do motion control, simple and intuitive controllers, and focus on family oriented and just plain fun content." Probably not the smartest thing to say if you are trying to stay Anonymous.
    • sevenalive, on 01/20/2008, -4/+6His name is Larry Hyrb. Which goes by the alias major nelson, which thinks he works for Microsoft, but really he is just blogging about crap and taking the title.
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1He sounds like a total douche anyway. If he did really work at Microsoft, he was probably the guy who goes around after everyone has knocked off and collected the empty coffee cups.
    • Albo23, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Major Nelson is the head of the PR Department.
  • deadbaby, on 01/20/2008, -2/+13It may be speculation but it's probably true. We know the 360 was rushed out quicker than anyone expected and used a design that was a radical departure from the original Xbox. We know Microsoft is very competitive and will do just about anything to undercut a competitor. We also know Microsoft doesn't have much experience in consumer electronics. It all makes sense.
  • nhprm, on 01/20/2008, -8/+5OK. "five videogame systems" doesn't include DS (or gizmondo :) ) and there are infinite typos... I dont trust it
    • FoxOrian, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2I don't understand why he listed the PS2 over the DS. The PS2 has been on the market since 2000... No news there.
      • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Damn I skipped the DS accidently. The Gizmondo can just get shoved right up their asses.
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Damn I skipped the DS accidently. The Gizmondo can just get shoved right up their asses.
    • INTERNETMASTER, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1"I dont trust it"

      then you are doomed to be one of the suckers who buys a broken fundamentally flawed system over and over again.
      • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2SONY FANBOY.....yet another victim of the stockholm syndrome
  • DigitAl56K, on 01/20/2008, -0/+20"Funny thing. In the middle of '03 I tried to convince our director of "innovation" that we needed to do motion control, simple and intuitive controllers, and focus on family oriented and just plain fun content. Well before the Wii came out. He completely disregarded it. Oh well. I bet they wish they had that decision back as a do over."

    Sounds like our "confidential source" may be facing some heat himself in the near future.
    • rohanch, on 01/20/2008, -1/+7That is, if the source is even real. I highly doubt it.
      • alvinrod, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Or if the manager he spoke to still works there, remembers him, or he even bothered to be truthful about it.

        If I were doing it anonymously like this, I would leave enough personal information in the article that it could be traced to someone. Someone who isn't me at any rate.
  • LMControl, on 01/20/2008, -6/+7If even half of this is true, a class action lawyer could have a field day with this. We can only pray and hope that one day M$ is brought down for their reckless corporate irresponsibility and willingness to take advantage of their customers.
    • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3I'm surprised a serious one hasn't been launched already. The warranty extension serves to bandage the wound, but they basically up and said "all XX million of our consoles were misdesigned," which applies to ALL problems for ALL reasons... And if you RRoD after three years is up, it's STILL going to be mainly associated with their design issues. (They have no real way to properly differentiate.) The only real way to stave off a class action suit would be to issue a recall for anyone who wishes to turn theirs in. (Though chances are fighting a class action lawsuit would be cheaper.)

      I figure we'll start seeing people get serious after the three years is up.
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -4/+0How about save the courts time effort and the required money to focus on litigation that really matters and not some whiny people who had to go without their XBox for a week. I'd be pissed if my XBox dies, but I won't bitch, I'll just send mine back for repair. Sounds like you guys need some serious pain in your life.
      • cthellis, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1If a product is flawed, it's really the responsibility of the manufacturer to issue a recall. (Or some sort of universal compensation for the affected units; it depends on what was flawed.) They don't HAVE to endanger life and limb... but that usually triggers the recall faster. (As they turn into bigger lawsuits.)

        A solid-enough class action lawsuit could be what starts the process.
  • SergeantToad, on 01/20/2008, -3/+11Sources... Or it didn't happen.
    • INTERNETMASTER, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1obviously the guy interviewed was (or is still) a microsoft employee. his name can't be revealed if he ever wants to work again, due to the ruthlessness of the microsoft crime family.
      • wheelzr, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2SONY FANBOY.....yet another victim of the stockholm syndrome
  • vancanucksfan, on 01/20/2008, -6/+5i was originally going to get an xbox360 because of the dvd firmware hack that would enable me to make backups or all my discs(wink wink), but i was afraid that i would get the RROD and i will be SOL because my warranty would be void.
  • ZenMojo, on 01/20/2008, -12/+35Funny. Three years after the PS2 was released people found out about disc read problems on less than 1% of them and it became a huge ***** scandal. The same number of Microsoft Xbox problems appeared the following year and nobody cared.
    This generation, the Xbox 360's died within months of release and it's become just one of those things and not such a big deal. The PS3's work perfectly fine and people bitch about these things all of the time for no reason.
    Fanboys.
    • kingmanic, on 01/20/2008, -3/+12Thus far, 15 people in my circle of friends have a 360. all 15 have had it replaced once, a few had it replaced twice. We're hardcore gamers but only 2 of them have had a ps2 fail on them and aside form that not noteworthy failures. 15 owners, 17 failures. Thats ridiculous.
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2I own two, one since launch and an elite. Not a single issue. Ive bought 3 more as gifts, nieces/nephews. Not a scratched disc. Not a crash. And certainly not a heat-failure.

        Sorry, I call BS on your FUD.
        • cthellis, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2The plural of "anecdote" is not "data," but the pattern increase is certainly noticeable. Of my five friends who I know/care enough about to know what's gone on with their consoles, four have had to send them back for replacement, and one of THEM had the drive go out within hours of its return. (The one guy who hasn't RRoD'ed yet hasn't used his 360 in months, though, so that might contribute. ;-) )

          More of my friends had PS2's (even a few imports among them), and only two had disc read errors crop up. And one of THEM (the same guy who's gone through two 360's) was simply a matter of running a DVD head cleaner; I'm not sure about the other.

          Bear in mind, if you're talking about a particular region, the particular 360's may have come from the same distribution centers and a similar manufacturing date, so it can tend to cluster both the "good" and the "bad."
    • thailand1972, on 01/20/2008, -3/+8Microsoft finally has fanboys and Apple is currently hated on Digg. We've come full circle!!
    • thealliedhacker, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2What are you talking about? You honestly expect me to believe that you don't think that people have been making a big deal out of 360 failures?
      It's all anyone says about the system.
      HOWEVER, I can see how it is less of a problem than the PS2, as Microsoft has good customer service and have extended everyone's warranties, whereas Sony has crap customer support.
      • cthellis, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0Having dealt with ALL ends of Microsoft customer support, I can't really vouch for that statement. >_< Sony's is pretty pitiful as well, but is most obnoxious when I'm trying to order parts from them. I've actually had good support from the Playstation side.

        On their various console problems, the response has been about the same; ignoring/denying there was one until it became obvious, then agreeing to repair them for free for a certain amount of time. (Sony stopped free repairs of disk read errors in 2005.) It's mainly the scale of the problem that's so out of whack.
  • FoxOrian, on 01/20/2008, -7/+13"Q: Does some games more than others can cause hardware failure."

    Is this article serious?
    • 8bitJake, on 01/20/2008, -4/+4My sources response was yes. Some games can cause more strain on the hardware.
      • rabs, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6No, 8bitJake, he's making fun of your poor grammar. You aren't so intelligent, are you?
      • wageslaven, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2"My sources response was yes. Some games can cause more strain on the hardware."

        Your a liar. I call BS.
    • shadowblade989, on 01/20/2008, -0/+6No, no.
      ARE this article serious?

      /sarcasm
    • KnightofCydonia, on 01/20/2008, -0/+5i can has hardware failboats
  • BurntToast, on 01/20/2008, -6/+6I can't take an article seriously that has so many spelling errors. Interesting though.
    • TheShom, on 01/20/2008, -2/+0Wow, i guess that makes you Smarter Than A 5th Grader!
      • jedikv, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Well I doubt the author of this article is - probably thinks Europe is a country.
  • Murrabbit, on 01/20/2008, -5/+18"resulting in millions of COSTUMERS having to mail their Xbox back to Microsoft." [caps inserted for emphasis]

    Haha oh wow!
  • RyFo18, on 01/20/2008, -12/+11You guys are fools to think this isn't real..the interview provides alot of information about the inner workings of Microsoft's Xbox dev. team. You shouldn't be surprised about a software company failing to implement one of the most advanced gaming systems (hardware wise). They simply don't have the resources...They know nothing about reliability testing (obviously) and they pushed something that they simply saw work 1/2 the time to market...I feel the article is authentic....So what if he told his boss a few years ago that they should be "innovative" with a Wii type system...Most bosses can't even remember when they have meetings that they scheduled the day before without helpful reminders from Outlook...
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5Sounds like you have a rotten case of boss-envy drone #6.
      The article provided a lot of information about nothing we didn't already know.
      Now... if it had something *new* in it... it might be credible.
    • Varz, on 01/20/2008, -4/+2The original Xbox was reliable, they just rushed the 360.
  • Barnolde, on 01/20/2008, -4/+19The 360 being a rushed console that's cheaply made isn't news, it's common sense. Though some of his points are interesting and this is the same guy who broke Bungie leaving MS a week before it happened. MS lost so much on the Xbox, the 360 was made to obtain revenue from multiple sources; ads on the dashboard, overpriced proprietary accessories with a USB lockout that prevented non-MS things from working, microtransactions, deceptive pricing in MS points (400 points = $5 instead of 4 like Wii) ads in achievements, etc. Though you have to admit having the most unreliable console in history is a pretty good piracy deterrent.
  • hasslehaas, on 01/20/2008, -9/+4I used to be so forgiving for spelling and grammatical errors... What happened to me? Does this mean I'm old now?
  • PhantomPhoenix, on 01/20/2008, -3/+3Haha...
    Proof that the PlayStation 3 is just better and that Sony cares about their product quality to the utmost.
    • RyFo18, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Well said...
    • TheShom, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1Actually that doesn't say anything. Besides MS just did a crappy job at making strong hardware, not creating something that they wanted to (chuckles) "be the end of computers" as one Sony exec put it.
    • bobmckenzie, on 01/21/2008, -1/+3You, sir are retarded
    • cthellis, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2Um... wot?
    • neATL, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2This is funny--> "Sony cares about their product quality to the utmost" Being a fanboy regarding the Ps3 that's cool all, but then you go over the top. I have had car stereos to chew up Cd's, CD changers that stop working after a week. Cares about there product???! HA! I have a TV that's 4 years old that SONY will not repair because they no longer have the parts.... but they gave me a 5 year warranty.
    • bj00rn, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2That's funny, I've had more Sony products fail on me than Microsoft products, among others 2 Playstations and 1 Playstation 2 (Total failures on the level of RROD)
  • nittanylion06, on 01/20/2008, -4/+2I still have an launch console, and so far, I've only encountered the "disc unreadable" error. Had to replace the drive myself, so I've resorted to crossing my fingers to stay away from the RRoD. Now if M$ hadn't forced me to void my warranty to replace their crappy drive, maybe I wouldn't have gone with 3rd party firmware in the process.
    • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Not sure Microsoft 'forced' you to do that... what do you think?
      • nittanylion06, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1My point was that Microsoft *forced* me to void my warranty simply by removing the cover. There was no other way to replace the drive without voiding the warranty. And as much as they don't want people modding 360s, it's dealing with that crap that encourages it. I only wanted to replace the drive, but if I've already voided my warranty, why not upgrade the firmware and get rid of multimedia format headaches.
        • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3"There was no other way to replace the drive without voiding the warranty." - you could return if for repair under warranty.
        • nittanylion06, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2The drive is not covered under warranty. As stated above, this is a launch console ... + 2 yrs old. The warranty extension strictly applies to the RRoD. So I maintain, the only way to replace this drive was to remove the cover, and thus voiding the warranty.
          • doctordbx, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3You could still have returned it to Microsoft to be repaired... you weren't forced to void the warranty by opening it up yourself.
          • daborg, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Just tell them it has a RRoD and return it.
        • TheLD, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1No, they replace the drives under the three years warranty as well. The description of repairs for mine was DVD Drive and MoBo replaced.
  • Darksoul, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2I agree with and believe everything he said. I have to say this has to be common knowledge now it was rushed they lost to bad with the first xbox they figured by the time the ps3 and the wii where released the problems with the xbox 360 wouldn't only become apparent then. Of course the Sony and Nintendo are working on their next consoles now but they wont release it like MS will to early and full of problems.

    It us obvious that Sony and Nintendo understand more about reliability then MS. I agree some of you that think this person isn't real I doubt that he knows way to much about what is going on to not be what he says he was or is. I think MS is going to have more trouble with their next console after the mess that was with the first console with no games on it and with the 360's hardware troubles. I always enjoy how naive people are about MS they have always been this way.

    I am sorry but I don't intend on buying their next console not unless they wait and actually put alot of time and effort into this crap not happing again. And I love how some people say its the buyers fault for it breaking with heat or what ever the simple fact is that's ***** my and my friend bought our 360's only 8 months ago just last week he got his rrod and his xbox 360 isn't in an entertainment center is sits on his desk away from all other electronics.
    • frygar, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2I don't know, I usually find myself giving MS a lot of credit for their hardware. Their pc controllers, mice, keyboards, hell, even the original xbox, they were all rock-solid and damn good products. That's why (IMHO) it was such a shock when the 360 came out and started breaking left and right. And lest ye forget - the PS2 broke if you looked at it funny back when it came out.
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