Xbox 360 out of order? For loyalists, no worries

Owners of the Microsoft machine have watched it break down. But the game "Halo 3" could redeem the company.
The New York Times

The story "Xbox 360 out of order? For loyalists, no worries" published August 13, 2007 at 5:07 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[AndyPeters1]

Must be worth it!

I think it does say something about the 360: the system is so fun kids are willing to send their defective systems and wait 4 to 6 week for a new one to be shipped back. If the games stunk, children would give up!

However, I think that Microsoft is taking advantage of people. I guess they're used to releasing buggy operating systems and patching them later. They thought they could do the same. However, when the price drops on the Elite to under $400, I'll probably pick one up!

The warranty is long (3 years); what does that say about the product? You know, Hyundai has a 10 year warranty on their cars. You know, the nazi's had pieces of flare.

[The_Decider]

Is anyone surprised?

As if Microsoft could do anything right.

So they now are the flaw leader in another market.

Way to go!!!!

[ajbright]

Games not Hardware

I reckon for most of these people it's the games, not the hardware.

If you could get a 360 clone that was even 10% more reliable (yes I know that would be illegal) then I suspect large numbers of these "loyalists" would switch.

If you have a favourite game, you'll put up with almost anything if you can get it to work for a reasonable stretch of time. Yes it would be frustrating having to wait weeks or months to get back on - but if it's what you bought the console for, then you'll do it.

Going to a rival may not be an option in the days of a exclusive licensing. After all, that's the point of having exclusively licensed games - it covers you in times like this.

[swiggins]

Just stop it

I don't know ANY gamers or non-gamers for that matter, that
think that the 360 is out of order. They addressed the
problem,and that's it. Halo 3 has over 1 million pre-orders
alone, and Sony has yet to answer with ANY games put on the
shelves. The install base is growing every day, and the ps3
would have to sell 4x the amount they are to catch up in even 2
years.Forget about them catching the Wii. Remember, as the Ps3
sells, so does the 360. I have had mine since launch, and NO
problems. I just got an Elite as well for the HDMI output, and I
couldn't be happier. My ps3 on the other hand will continue to
collect dust until they actually RELEASE a game. I will be busy
playing, Bioshock and Two Worlds (360) as well as Metroid
Prime3 (Wii) for the remainder of the summer into fall. Now,
what you should have wrote about is the LACK of buzz over the
ps3, and why their have been SO many problems keeping the
bluetooth remote and sixaxis connected. Xbox 360 is doing just
fine.

[The_Decider]

1 month after release

Halo 3 will no longer give them a reason to excuse the problems.

1 popular game does not excuse the messes that MS made.

The problem with the game industry is that they long ago forgot about gameplay. All we see today is the same game with prettier graphics. Many gamers are so stupid that they think that doing the same things with better graphics somehow translates to a better game.

The lackluster sales for XBOX and PS3 are directly related to the sorry state of games today.A huge reason why the Wii is selling so well is because you can download all the great games that were created when gameplay mattered.

[ralfthedog]

I purchased my PS3 as a Blue-ray player.

It is fantastic. Far better than any HD-DVD players I have compared it to. I do occasionally play a game on it (They are very good) However I play most of my games on my WII and on the coin op games I purchased from a local arcade.

[tobart]

Is it really a problem?

I know this is one of the reasons I'll be getting a PS3 before a 360, but is it really a problem? The media has made it sound like there is a 25% or higher failure rate on these things, but about 10 to 20 of my coworkers own a 360 and I haven't heard of any of them succumbing to the red ring of death.

[The_Decider]

Wow that is a large enough sample

To come up with valid statistical results.

That was sarcasm by the way. I felt the need to explicitly tell it was sarcasm since you might not catch it if you think that a sample size of "10-20" is enough to use to make a statement.

[jtgunderson]

Yes it's a problem

I bought mine last December and I just sent it in for the SECOND time. Ring of death.

[GreySkies01]

I Wish I could find a broken one

I would almost pay someone for one that is broken that they wouldn't want back.

I am a computer/electronics tech, and would like to tear a xbox with the 3 red light issue apart and find out what keeps breaking.

[pizzathehut]

Problem fixed at home

I had the exciting 3 rings of death so I did what I did to my old
xbox - took it apart. I found the fan was clogged with dust. There
was no air flow. So with a quick cleaning the 360 was up a running.
Can't wait for Halo 3 & NHL 08 (go Canucks go!).

[Eric in Augusta]

Thanks

My box shutdown three times Saturday night. Of course I was online for over six hours. I'll try your suggestion. It sounds like a winner.
Thanks.

[inachu]

good information!

From other websites I have also read that removing and cleaning the heatsink and using artic silver keeps the cpu even cooler.

I am tempted to buy a 360 but I think if I do then I will buy heatsinks for all the components inside.

[Nightjar]

Same here in London

Well Im on my 4th Xbox 360 with the 4th having been fixed once already.
I got my 1st xbox 360 new years eve after launch due to shortages in stock.
Within 4 months it was replaced due to internet card failure, the 2nd unit had graphics card failure, the 3rd was cd rom failure, the 4th was also cd rom failure + the tray would not open in the upright possition, the cd rom was replaced & I got the same unit back.

On top of this I have also had a hard drive failure, lost all my save games, the unit was replaced but as a fellow gamer would agree this is the worst thing that could happed

Now i'm just one person, I love my Xbox 360 but I'm well pissed of at M$, I have spent the best part of 2 - 2 half months without my 360 + travelling to the courier companies to collect the units

I maybe loyal to my 360 but things need to change fast as this is without doubt the most unreliable piece of hardware I have ever owned bar none

Boooooooooooooooooooooo

[Nightjar]

Same here in London

Well Im on my 4th Xbox 360 with the 4th having been fixed once already.
I got my 1st xbox 360 new years eve after launch due to shortages in stock.

Within 4 months it was replaced due to internet card failure, the 2nd unit had graphics card failure, the 3rd was cd rom failure, the 4th was also cd rom failure + the tray would not open in the upright possition, the cd rom was replaced & I got the same unit back.

On top of this I have also had a hard drive failure, lost all my save games, the unit was replaced but as a fellow gamer would agree this is the worst thing that could happed

Now i'm just one person, I love my Xbox 360 but I'm well pissed of at M$, I have spent the best part of 2 - 2 half months without my 360 + travelling to the courier companies to collect the units

I maybe loyal to my 360 but things need to change fast as this is without doubt the most unreliable piece of hardware I have ever owned bar none

Boooooooooooooooooooooo

[Penguinisto]

Lemon Laws?

I wouldn't tolerate a new car suffering that much crap happening to it. Hell, I wouldn't tolerate a new stereo or washing machine breaking down that often.

What is it about the masses that tolerate such sloppy QA on a game console?

/P

[SVdrums]

How much use before breaking?

I'm just wondering...... has anyone done any research into how much use these broken consoles are seeing before meltdown? I have had mine since last Christmas and mine is still working fine.(knock on wood) But knowing the problem existed, I keep mine on a small box and vertical, giving more air a chance to get in. I also don't leave mine on overnight, when leaving the house, etc. I hope that mine doesn't encounter this issue, so I'm being as careful as I can with it. I just can't help but think that these machines are being played non-stop for hours on end. I may be wrong. Anyone?

[khuss66]

Get a Water Cooling Syster

Coolance (www.coolance.com) makes a great kit for water cooling the 360, and has provided me with uninterupted play for many months.

Did I void my warranty? Yes, do I care, not really. Do I think MS needs to add additional cooling capacity to its OE units? ABSO-FRIKEN-LOUTELY.

The fix is obvious, part of MS's own in house fix is to tack on a number of small aluminum heat sinks to the problem chips. Perhaps they should have done this from day 1.