Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft's video game console woes

When his fourth Xbox 360 video game console died in April, Chris Szarek wasn't surprised.

The Chicopee, Mass. gamer was accustomed to the hardware failures that became known throughout the Internet as RROD, or the "red rings of death" which flash when the console becomes inoperable.

A 40-year-old photographer, Szarek was a hardcore Microsoft fan who spent more than $1,000 on his games. But each time one of his Xbox 360 consoles failed, he had to spend time convincing Microsoft's tech support that they should send him a new console. Each time he got a refurbished console as a replacement (a machine that had been returned to a repair center in Texas, fixed as much as possible, and then shipped back out). When he complained on the Internet and to the media about the shoddy product and poor customer service, people branded him a cry baby and wrote him off as a statistical anomaly. But by the spring of 2008, Szarek was vindicated. There were at least a million or two other people like him.

Click the jump for the rest of the story.

[chaosatom]

Even after spending so much money on RROD. Microsoft still has time to snatch some exclusives and DLC.

But the said truth is that After 3 years the Warranty expires. Who is to say that it won't RROD then?

Three years may look like a lot, but if it happens, there is no reason to buy another xbox, because there will be a cheap ps3 waiting and an expensive xbox 720 compared to ps3.

360 owners will then migrate to ps3 in bulks and even Wii customers will start to realize that ps3 is a better console.

RROD is probably the main reason why it's not doing so good in Europe. Even after being so cheap.

Right now Sony is not thinking of dropping price because it's too early and the hardware is still too expensive. As more people buy hdtvs, Feb 09, then more people will see how good the ps3 is. And then ps3 would drop its price.

Xbox will still be 200, but it would be marketing the same fact during 2009. Whereas ps3 can create a ripple of effect with dropped price.

[Skip_Bayless]

Chaos speaks the truth and the people who don't believe that this is gonna happen just can't admit it.

[Man_of_the_year]

I do agree that the RROD is a problem that will affect the 360 reputation for many and many a years. In all honesty i am on my 4th 360 as well here - well actually 2 RROD on me the 3rd had an issue with the drive not coming out but the 4th one i got never had a problem for at least a year when i sold it to a friend who still has not had a problem with it...i in turn went and bought an Elite. No problems with it yet (knock on wood) and i have had it for a year. however each time i only had to wait about 2 weeks till i got my shipment back and i never paid a cent at any time. No problems with it yet (knock on wood) and i have had it for a year.

However i think your logic, especially when you start off your argument "ah, here is the story i been looking for :)" is a little skewed....seems you were searching high and low for this 1 story...i have read worse stories regarding the 360 than this one.

I agree that when ppl start buying more HDTV's there will be more of a demand for HD movies and the PS3 is the best IMHO blu-ray player on the market - which is why i bought one.

[wray77]

If my 360 wrecks there's already a $199 360 waiting for my hard drive, so I can continue to enjoy my xbla games.

[INehalemEXI]

RRoD is not the only problem 360s had in the early days I had 2 that scratched discs. Ive told my story enough times yet it was upsetting the second time when the 3 year extended RRoD warranty did not cover faulty optical drives.

If my 3rd ever breaks down im likely to not buy another MS console until the 720 comes out and I will wait awhile to see if theres any issues.

[Megatron08]

this story is just another story about the 360 by ps3 fanboy trying to make it look as bad as possible. The story makes many assumptions with zero proof or zero facts to bad it up. The fact is there is no reason to think that MS knew anything about the rrod problem when the 360 was release. Did MS lose out cause of this problem sure they did. Well it cost them goin in to the next gen ? Maybe I think tho if they are the 1st to release there system again they will still come out on top. Sell will be slower at 1st with people waiting to see how their system holds up. Then again the ps2 lost a class action law suit cause it was defective when it was release and that never slowed it down or impact the ps3's release. I dont think sony fanboy will ever let anyone forget about rrod 20 years from now they will still be talking about it

To be honest I dont think any next gen machine will have an explosion in sales when it is release. This gen seems slow then others. 3 years into and sony is still wait on all its big hits then only recent got thier 1st system seller in mgs4. FF13 is still at least a year away (it be out in us x mas 09 or summer 10) Too Human, Mass Effect and GoW all wanted to get trilogies out this gen and are all only on their 1st game (tho GoW2 be on in nov of course) I think that there will still be a lot of AAA coming out for a year or 2 for this gen after the next one is release.

[outlawlife]

at least microsoft stepped up the plate and admitted the problem and offered solutions, doesn't matter if you liek it, it is a solution none the less

another company had an issue with systems last gen...it was a black box that was supposed to read blue discs, how quickly we forget these things happen, although sony was nice enough to repair my $300 system once when it was 6 months old for a small fee of $127 and being gone for a month, and it fried anyway within 5 months after that

the ps2 thrived despite the disc read errors, the bad power supplies, so why can't the 360?...because you don't own one? that is a little ridiculous

when my 360 finally died about 8 months after purchase it was replaced within about 12 days, pretty reasonable i think

whether you like it or not the replacement program that is in effect is better than most consumer electronics companies, if you don't believe my try dealing with another company over something such as a television or even worse a computer, you will be without for weeks and probably have to pay for something

the fanboyism on here is getting out of control, people need to grow up and look at reality, financially it would be a terrible idea to not recycle the 360s that did RROD and what MS does with the refurbished 360s is perfectly reasonable

if you think any other company out there doesn't practice the same thing then you are out of touch, every corporation is interested in cutting costs and they will use what they have at their disposal in anyway possible

microsoft, sony, nintendo, samsung,sharp,LG...all of them work the same and all of them are equally unfriendly whether you want to believe it or not

[PirateThom]

PS2 had a failure rate of about 10%, the 360's was as high as 33% at one point.

When you consider the sheer number of PS2s against the vastly smaller number of 360s, the 360 number is pathetic.

[outlawlife]

well at least you missed the entire point of what i said, i'll give you credit for that

[PirateThom]

No, I perfectly understood, I just want to make clear that comparing the 360 to the PS2 doesn't work, because the 360 is way above what is considered industry acceptable standards while the PS2 wasn't.

[AAACE5]

Why do you love the Ps3 so much and want the 360 to fail so badly?

Does your Ps3 pay your bills? Does it tuck you in at night? Do you have romantic evenings with it? Please tell me something. Cause I don't understand how someone can have that much emotion for a piece of electronics that will be obsolete in a couple years(10 years if you want to believe that)!

I was done with the Gamecube and Ps2, 2 years before the Ps3 and Wii came out. I was done with the Xbox 1, a little bit after that, but kept it until the 360 came out! Even though we are in this gen, I am looking to the Ps4 and next xbox already!

That 3 years you are talking about... by the time that hits people will have made their decision already. So what kind of magical awakening are you expecting? You think everyone is going to look up one day and say... "You know what... the 360's a piece of sh*t.... i'm getting a Ps3!" and then droves of people are going to be on the news destroying their system and bad mouthing MS. And then MS' stock will plummet and go bankrupt leaving MS' game ambitions totally dead and the market wide open for sony to dominate?

If that's what you believe, then you must be a child! I got two words for you..."GROW UP!" Sony needs MS and MS needs Sony! And you need both of them! I explained this in another post, but you and the other raving fanboys probably won't read this far and will just disagree and take my bubbles... Yeah... I know you are one of them!

[theKiller]

too bad for MS, they should have fixed this problem before releasing the 360

[MikeGdaGod]

this week I started a new job at a company that repairs gaming consoles. And it's a well known fact in the company that MS knew ahead of time that the console would have these problems but did nothing to fix it when they could've. They were too worried about getting their system out. We work on all systems but it staggering to see the number if 360s there. We have literally 1000s of them. And we still get new ones everyday. Elites, Halo editions, HDMI editions it doesn't matter. I knew it was bad but I had no idea it was anywhere near that.

[Sarick]

"If my 360 wrecks there's already a $199 360 waiting for my hard drive, so I can continue to enjoy my xbla games."

That's one reason I believe the sales numbers are so high. Some people don't care about buying a new console. When it comes to their hobby they'd buy a second or third and send the other back for repair. In this scenario we'd end up with some owners buying two or more units to avoid downtime when their console RRODs.

There isn't proof of this but if it's even slightly true the extra units sold would pad the markets install base significantly.

[silverchode]

:)

[cemelc]

nice

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

http://img367.imageshack.us...

[Dyingduck]

"When his fourth Xbox 360 video game console died in April, Chris Szarek wasn't surprised...Each time he got a refurbished console as a replacement...That warranty program cost Microsoft up to $1.15 billion...And for a couple of months now, Sony’s PlayStation 3 has been outselling the Xbox 360 in the U.S..."

Nails it.

[silverchode]

:(

[theKiller]

the RROD killed the 360, it destroyed its image completely!
i mean who on earth who is aware of video game consoles doesnt know about RROD?? the article is all over the internet about it!

i think 360 would have been great console and maybe the best console MS wold have ever done if it weren't for the RROD and its exclusives quality!!

360 have much more games than ps3 but how many of them is quality games? and how many good exclusives we've seen and will be on shelvs soon?? very few! in fact since mass effect we didnt see any great exclusive from 360 even mass effect wasnt how many believed it would be!

MS had their best chance in 2007, while it have much more games, some AAA games much bigger install base and the ps3 was in its worst shape it could have ever been(yet it sold more than 360), but the RROD and the too much first/third person shooter made the public believe its not better than the original xbox and even worst with its reliability!

in the end MS missed their chance because of their greed and desperation to be first in the market with a cheap console, and in the other hand ps3 was improving its image and game library and it was have fights in multiple fronts
1: playstaion network and all online things
2: price
3: format war
4: image

and i think ps3 did in all great!!

in the end i wouldnt be surprised if ps3 will sell over 100 million unit! with game library that ps3 have now and what will be coming soon and later and a price cut, ps3 will do it!!

off topic: about MS PR saying that they believe 360 will finish second. well i say thats a bold statement because ps3 is already catching to 360, now only around 5 million difference and with huge AAA games coming in the next few weeks it will decrease to 1~2 million by the end of the year, also considering 360 sales and momentum is only decreasing how can MS PR say that? who is he trying to fool?

[Pain]

Thats alot of reading first thing ><.

[IzKyD1331]

people are STILL getting RRODs on a regular basis?!
what the hell, its been over a year, you'd think MS would have fixed the hardware by now.....

[PirateThom]

Although a lot of people insist Microsoft have cleared the issue up, the defect rates are still abnormally high. The only difference is less people complaining because they replace it and it's not news anymore.

360 fails used to be a big deal because a lot of PS3 fans had nothing else.

Now no one cares, because the PS3 has all the good news now.

[juuken]

I honestly thought the epidemic was over. o-O
Glad I changed my mind to get a Wii instead. :/

[TheColbertinator]

Interesting choice Juuken.If you get a Wii,you can call yourself a Nintendo fangirl/troll and kick the asses of those who call you two chin because the Wii rapes both the PS3 and 360 in sales.

That's what I do because I have all three consoles and both PSP/DS so trolls that go up against me get EPIC FAIL points,ass raped by uber Nintendo sales numbers,and I get them in a frenzy for fun.

[juuken]

Aaaah, but I'm a PS3/Wii fangirl. :D

[TheColbertinator]

Twice as powerful as before

[testerg35]

juuken... not a Wii! ok ok I have a Wii too, but man it REALLY sucks! There's maybe 2 or 3 games on it and that's it. Its made little kids and old people who like the whole motion sensing casual gaming stuff. Hate the 360, but dont get the Wii! :)

[cemelc]

Ok i got the wii, the 360(well its on its third fu.k.ng RROD, thats why i hate M$. M$ doesnt repair the 360 in my country, so i have to pay the transport for that fail pie.e of sh.t of a cosole they sell, ill never in my life pick another M$ console i hope they fail and fail hard), and the PS3.

People dont give a chance to the wii, cos is family oriented tag.

Let me tell you i got 10 wii games that are not family oriented, and at last 2009 is looking good for the hardcore(conduit, mad world,RE2 remake, pikmin, like three rpgs, mosnter hunter 3).

Ill play metroid 3 any day of the week before halo 3 single player.

Have anyone of you play a shooter in that console? is really great it feels more inmersive, if only the wii had HD support ppl wouldnt be crying this much.

Have you played "no more heroes" that game is sick, feel great, its funny, bloody, and the controls man that thing made a world of difference, i hope some day dmc4 gets ported to the console, and youll cry how good that game could be.

Have you player manhunt???, in that game you gesture the murder itself, it was so brutal that the game had to be toned down.

How about okami the game was practically made for the system.

Its sad that so many games that come on the wii are loosing its time to shine cos hardcore are scared of the family oriented tag

Edit: my bad on the comment all fixed

[Skynetone]

there not happy until they get the ring of death

[air1]

damn juuken do you even turn your ps3 on? why you always on 360 news? i hardly see you were you belong.

any way, the rrod is fixed it's just b/s news like this that make it seem like it hasnt been fixed. im getting so board of this place it's like they never post real news just sony fanatics news to bash the 360 over something that is old and fixed.

[juuken]

"damn juuken do you even turn your ps3 on? why you always on 360 news? i hardly see you were you belong."

Damn, why are most of you 360 fanboys always on PS3 news? Do you not do the same damn thing? Besides, I was going to turn on my PS3 anyway and play some games. :D

You hardly see me where I belong? I'm always on PS3 articles as well dear.

Get over yourself.

"any way, the rrod is fixed it's just b/s news like this that make it seem like it hasnt been fixed. im getting so board of this place it's like they never post real news just sony fanatics news to bash the 360 over something that is old and fixed."

Spoken like a true blind ass consumer.

So you're saying that this guy who lost 1,000 dollars in videogames/gaming console is making up some B.S?

I'm sorry but the RROD is real. Just because you've never had it, doesn't mean other people didn't. Microsoft should have recalled the 360 in the beginning and fix the problem properly instead of giving out warranties that don't do jack sh*t because they have a habit of shipping consoles out that has a chance of breaking again!

OMGOOOOOOOOODZ!

[Common Sense]

the PS3's browser between games.

[cemelc]

I had the RROD, 3 weeks ago still waiting for my xbox to return to my country, check my tag theres a xbox live account so im not lying.( i learned to destest this console, from my xbox live 12 month card i have lost 3 month on repairs how in the world is that even possible?, or fair).

[TheColbertinator]

I figured RROD still happens from time to time.I even got an RROD with the intercooler attached back in January so I can see how anything can happen.Its obvious that RROD will always happen since Microsoft only sends back refurbished consoles and that does'nt quite fix the problem.Shame such a good console has some setbacks.

[BlackRaven85]

Fixed mine, but mine was due to the Power Transformer that blew up, the Power company never fixed it so I moved out. It was they're fault for cutting down trees, hitting the transformer, and thus, my Elite got RROD from GFX card more than likely. I believed it was due to the way the first batch were handled by some shipping departments.

[TheColbertinator]

An elite getting RROD freaked me out when I first heard about it.I thought they were invincible but...

The one RROD crisis that I heard about was things as simple as tapping it or moving it! Tapping it for God's sake!Everytime I play Mass Effect(Bioware rules!)over an hour I get paranoid about RROD even if my 360 has an intercooler

[KingME]

Something good must have happened in the xbox 360 world today. Perhaps a price drop or maybe a new exclusive.

Because this is when the RROD exploitation division usually spring into action to counter the good news with the OLD A$$ RROD stories.

So frickin pathetic. I can't believe we are still approving this crap. Hmm, let go take a look at who approved it shall we.

Edit: Okay, good no surprises in the approval department.

[cmrbe]

whenever there are good MS stories people's x360 do suddenly PROD.

[whatis]

Articles like this are here to remind people why it is so cheap.

* The problem should not be swept under the rug.

* Everyone should know that there is a problem.

* People should not stop talking about the RROD until it is fixed.

[YoshiMeetsU]

I think even if it is resolved we will continue to hear about it.
Definately brings out the Sony trolls in mass. Do not worry about it if your 360 is working and you are enjoying it. You are playing on the system with the best library of games and the most complete online service of any console.
I've had the rrod but it never crossed my mind to get a ps3 and the fact that many 360 owners continue to go back to the 360 is testimony to how good the system is in games and functionality.

[uxo22]

There definitely don't seem to be a shortage of PS3 fans keeping the RROD story alive. They also seem to enjoy hanging out in xbox 360 threads. Even more so than their own.

N4G needs to required PSN, Wii, And Gamertags as part of validating registrations and only allow people in threads that they have valid tags for.

[cmrbe]

to pog and co then.

Lets not forget that xbox fans were caught impersonating PS fans to make them look bad so lets not go there please.

[YoshiMeetsU]

so you agree with what he said then cmbre eh? haha okay.

[Tsalagi]

I second that. It'll keep the fanboys in their own sections and those of us who want to actually read gaming news and talk about gaming won't have to put up with the childish fighting over whose console is better.

[cmrbe]

I am just saying that if you are going to throw stones make sure you are not in a glass house. Uoxx commented in PS3 treads as well and its hypcritical to point your fingers at PS fans.

Also clamiming that PS3 fans are posing as x360 is quite stupid and baseless. Where is the proof?. It was found out last year that a site posing as a PS fan site is actually run by a x360 fan to make PS fans look bad. It was proven.

Go check the PS3 section now and you will find so many x360 fans on it.

[YoshiMeetsU]

I'm sorry cmbre all I read was "well 360 fans do it for the PS3 so we do it to the 360".

[cmrbe]

i thought i was conversing with an adult let alone someone that can read.

[uxo22]

You're right I do comment in the PS3 threads, as do I the wii threads, but you know what's, I own all three systems and proud to own each of them.

Here is one thing that you'll notice about my comments, I never bash any of the consoles. However I do, comment to people that make ignorant a$$ comments or make comments that are completely biased or fanboyish.

So, sorry I don't live in the glass house that you speak of.

Also perhaps I misunderstood you, but I never said PS3 fans are impersonating 360 fans.

[cmrbe]

Obviously i mistook what you said and yes you don't troll as they say but thats not what i meant anyway. Suggesting that fans should be kept at their own section was kind of weird considering that i saw you post in PS3 threads before and i assumed you don't have a PS3.

However. I would never speak up against x360 fans from posting on PS3 threads.

[YoshiMeetsU]

You result to insults now? and you are calling me a child?

[Adamalicious]

Now I need a "Report as Fascist" option. I can only read/comment on news about products I own?!? Holy crap!! Do you realize how insane that sounds?

[CrazyOrange]

found solution for that thing
thanx to my mine LOL

[Jock]

The solution to the RROD is just go and buy a PS3 ..simple..!!

[testerg35]

Actually it is a really easy fix.. stupid design by MS on their x-clamps.

Edit: wow.. I got a disagree for saying its a stupid design on the x-clamps. Hello... it is! It gets loose and causes to heatsinks to get loose.

[HuntTheWumpus]

I finally picked me and my son up a 360 today!(PRO) I also bought the in store warranty with Best Buy so if it has a problem I can bring it in and they will swap it out for me at no charge.

Just unboxing it now and getting it setup.

I bought Mass Effect, Crackdown, Halo 3 and Gears of War. The game selection was overwhelming but I remember people mentioning how good these were.

Can anyone else recommend 360 titles I should pick up? Thanks!

[chaosatom]

Bioshock.

Oh!

And Definetly Call of Duty 4. *how can i forget this*

It's Game of the Year.

I would have said Grand Theft auto, but it's a boring game, and not worth your money.

There are downloable games that you can spend your money that is worth having.

[deno]

These are also good games. Forza 2, pgr4, dead rising, virtue fighter 5, ninja gaiden 2,too human, kameo, viva pinata, fear, tomb raider anniversary, bioshock, devil maycry 4.

[HuntTheWumpus]

Thank you for the suggestions! I am having a blast right now with the new system and will have to check out your recommendations. +bub

[cmrbe]

say that PS fans are stupid for buying a PS3.

[ErcsYou]

I stopped reading at " a hardcore Microsoft fan who spent more than $1,000 on his games." because 15 + games is no where near Hardcore.

[Denges]

"Microsoft never disclosed its actual return rates. But according to data obtained by VentureBeat, the total number climbed above 1.2 million consoles in early 2007."

oops

[air1]

did you read the whole thing? or did you just read the rrod like a true sony fanatic?!

this guys news is old. " in spring of 08 his news was vindicated" dumb as$..

how did he loose 1,000 bucks? yea he had to send his console 4 times just to get a refurbished one but how did he loose his money? now if he chose to get rid of them then thats his fault.

im not being blind just reasonable im a gamer i love games my consle of choice had a problem and micro took the hit it didnt have to go to court like sony did with the ps2 and lost by the way. did you stop your support on sony when you got the dre more then 1nc. they fix the damn thing for free. if you are so patient to wait for the ps3 to drop the good games at like 1 good game a year how is it that you get yur panties in a knot for a week wait?

i did get rrod 1nc needed no receipt like you would with a sony product.

dont call me dear that sound so gay you fruit basket

yea micro fuked up with the rrod but atleast we knw where they stand in a position like that they will back us up what would sony have you do? bring your as@ to court and battle it out. and dont forget your receipt

[juuken]

"did you read the whole thing? or did you just read the rrod like a true sony fanatic?!"

YES I READ IT YA DUMBASS.

I read the entire article and commented on it. Don't suggest that I didn't read it ya stupid moron because if I didn't read it, I wouldn't have commented in the first place!

Did you read it? That's my question.

"this guys news is old. " in spring of 08 his news was vindicated" dumb as$.."

Yes...and what came after that ya stupid idiot?

"A 40-year-old photographer, Szarek was a hardcore Microsoft fan who spent more than $1,000 on his games. But each time one of his Xbox 360 consoles failed, he had to spend time convincing Microsoft’s tech support that they should send him a new console. Each time he got a refurbished console as a replacement (a machine that had been returned to a repair center in Texas, fixed as much as possible, and then shipped back out). When he complained on the Internet and to the media about the shoddy product and poor customer service, people branded him a cry baby and wrote him off as a statistical anomaly. But by the spring of 2008, Szarek was vindicated. There were at least a million or two other people like him."

Read that entire paragraph. Everyone laughed at the poor guy and made it look as if he made up the whole damn story!

Don't even think about calling me stupid ya dumbass bot because I can assure you that I'm more educated than your misguided self.

Stupid fanbrat.

"how did he loose 1,000 bucks? yea he had to send his console 4 times just to get a refurbished one but how did he loose his money? now if he chose to get rid of them then thats his fault."

HOW DID HE LOSE IT?

"A 40-year-old photographer, Szarek was a hardcore Microsoft fan who spent more than $1,000 on his games"

That's his fault?

The man bought something, thinking that he'd get the most money out of it but instead he was shafted. I bet that he's one of those many people who were shafted by this corporation as well.

Get your head out of your ass and stop defending Microsoft. I cannot stand idiots and clearly you are an IGNORAMUS kind sir.

"im not being blind just reasonable im a gamer i love games my consle of choice had a problem and micro took the hit it didnt have to go to court like sony did with the ps2 and lost by the way. they fix the damn thing for free. if you are so patient to wait for the ps3 to drop the good games at like 1 good game a year how is it that you get yur panties in a knot for a week wait?"

You're not blind? Then how is it that you're defending Microsoft on this? Don't you feel a bit sorry for the damn guy? Microsoft took *what* hit exactly? The only way for them to fix the RROD completely was to recall the damn thing and not have people waste their money like that.

That's why I will *never* touch a 360. Microsoft should have own up to their mistakes by recalling all the 360's and fixing every single damn thing that was wrong with it.

Yes, they didn't have to go to court like Sony but someone should have placed their asses in court.

"i did get rrod 1nc needed no receipt like you would with a sony product."

Because you're carrying around a ticking timebomb.

"dont call me dear that sound so gay you fruit basket"

You want to insult me? Then I can call you whatever I want. Oh...I'll call you a fanbrat instead.

That suits you better.

"yea micro fuked up with the rrod but atleast we knw where they stand in a position like that they will back us up what would sony have you do? bring your as@ to court and battle it out. and dont forget your receipt "

They f*cked up alright. And when you f*ck up, you fix the mistakes you make instead of making up excuses.

What will happen when the three year warranty runs out huh? What, will Microsoft add on another three years and keep dodging the f*cking problem?

Answer that.

You know why I'm in the 360 sections a lot?

Because I was really going to get a 360. But hearing about this RROD issue again irks me. I will not buy consoles that break down like that and then I have to go through the hell of replacing it four or five times.

Something breaking like this is *not* worth getting.

[Common Sense]

pick on Juuken more than every other PS3 fan/supporter/owner?

[cemelc]

I still got the RROD, still waiting for the console to return

[ThatCanadianGuy]

I bought a 360 this morning along with a brand new copy of Mass effect.It wont even read the disc.F*cking piece of sh!t console.

[Jock]

PS3 FTW dude .!!

never fails on you

[juuken]

Well...that's pretty messed up.

[testerg35]

I'm sorry, but I really doubt that, especially if both are new.

[Common Sense]

The PS3 is built like a tricked-out tank with a 56-inch 1080p Sony Bravia with Blu-ray and 7.1 surround sound, runs silently (when the music isn't on) and it blows away the competition.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Tester look at my page.See the gamercard? i bought a BRAND NEW 360.
299$
+
60$ for live
+
60$ for a BRAND NEW COPY of mass effect
And what do i have for all that? a useless 360.
I just got back from blockbuster,rented Mass effect.now if this doesnt work still.Then seriously,f*ck xbox360.

[cmrbe]

man. You should have waited. The PROD epidemic is real. I saw 3 with my own eyes. Of seven people that i know have x360. 4 already have it and i seen 3 with my own eyes. Its no joke. Its real and its still happening. I ain't going to buy a x360 until next year when the old stock is depleted.

[Stickguy259]

First off you don't seem like the kind of guy who would be above lying to make a point Canadianguy.

And in another topic you said you had played it and it had a bad framerate. Don't know if it was on a different console or not, but still.

[cereal_killa]

I'm still waiting for it to be fixed if this wasn't free i would never buy anything from M$ again. I just called the 1-800-4my-xbox number and they lost my work order so now i have to wait for another 5-8 days for my xbox to be fixed this is total BS for something that has been going on for 2yrs...

[uxo22]

What's your gamertag?

[deno]

If microsoft did not have the rrod issue with xbox360 they would have easly crushed sony this gen. To little to late, sony will most likely take second place and microsoft will take third.

[Lou-Cipher]

"how did he loose 1,000 bucks? yea he had to send his console 4 times just to get a refurbished one but how did he loose his money? now if he chose to get rid of them then thats his fault."

I belive you read the story, I just think you are not smart enough to realize that it said that he has $1000.00 into his xbox games, not for repairing his 360s.

If you cant handle Jukken (A FEMALE) calling you dear than maybe you are the fruitcake. (unless you too are a female) are you?

[gano]

New don't hurt to bad people.
So they still fucing up huh? And people actually
tried to compare a laptop to a game console with over
(supposedly) 19 mill in customer. They treat them how they act
insignificant. Then again for its' price, you do get what you
pay for.

[cemelc]

I have lost 300$ on repairs, so i can get where he is comming from

[air1]

Did you read it? That's my question.

"this guys news is old. " in spring of 08 his news was vindicated" dumb as$.."

Yes...and what came after that ya stupid idiot?

"A 40-year-old photographer, Szarek was a hardcore Microsoft fan who spent more than $1,000 on his games. But each time one of his Xbox 360 consoles failed, he had to spend time convincing Microsoft’s tech support that they should send him a new console. Each time he got a refurbished console as a replacement (a machine that had been returned to a repair center in Texas, fixed as much as possible, and then shipped back out). When he complained on the Internet and to the media about the shoddy product and poor customer service, people branded him a cry baby and wrote him off as a statistical anomaly. But by the spring of 2008, Szarek was vindicated. There were at least a million or two other people like him."

Read that entire paragraph. Everyone laughed at the poor guy and made it look as if he made up the whole damn story!

Don't even think about calling me stupid ya dumbass bot because I can assure you that I'm
............................. ............................
yea i read it. but point out in that paragraph where it sais that he had a recent 360 rrod. you still didnt tell me how he lost his money he still owned the games and a console that got replaced for free.

look man you just being ignorant and stup!d. it costs you no damn money to get it fixed plain and simple. you must be stup!d what makes you think thats its not in their best intrest to fix it? if they just try to dodge it like you say then they wouldnt of had done nothing at all kinda like what sony tried to do.

like i said the rrod is old news just like this guys news is and idiots like you take it and run with it like if it happened to the guy a week ago.
............................. ........................
Because I was really going to get a 360. But hearing about this RROD issue again irks me. I will not buy consoles that break down like that and then I have to go through the hell of replacing it four or five times.

Something breaking like this is *not* worth getting

you knw damn well you never planned on getting a 360. i bet you had no problem with getting more than 1 ps2 though i bet you didnt hesitate to get a ps3 knowing that the launch ps2 was bugy how you sony fanatics forget a sony fuc up so fast

[UltimateIdiot911]

PS2 failure rate (at most 10%) was no where close to 360 failure rate. Many Sony products are solid and PlayStation brand is no exception.
Besides, Sony fixed up their PS2 issue within six month. It's been almost 3 years for 360 and RROD is still around.

[Lou-Cipher]

The PS2 had its fair share of problems, but everyone who owned one did not have 3 broken PS2s sitting in their closets collecting dust like the xbox 360.

Most of us previous PS2 owners that had a PS2 never had any problems and if we did have any problems it is not even comparable to the middle finger M$ continues to give its Xbox 360 owners.

If you think RROD is old news you are outta your mind.

[darkstar]

He spent a grand on games, I spent over 3! I recently sold them all after my 6th rrod.(It was dead on arrival) I have just moved on and decided to give my ps3 all the love from now on.

[uxo22]

That's funny darkstar, your gamercard shows that you were on xbox live 2 hours ago. Wow. Or are you just kidding around?

BTW: Nice gamerscore though :)

[cereal_killa]

@ UX022

I dont go on live but my GT is cereal killa

And why did someone disagree why would I lie about this I have no reason to bash M$ and praise Sony I don't even own a PS3 yet. I know people want to call me a liar but i have never been on here to support either system over the other, I think both systems have good games to play.

[uxo22]

Thanks

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

The Flop Lives On.

[hotrider12]

after reading the article, I feel sorry for 360 owners Microsoft knew about all the heat sink,cooling fan,cpu,gpu problems etc.. before launch and a engineer tried to warn them from testing center but higher management out of greed they wanted to ship those poor puppies out anyway limping to retailer store shelves whining... any way, no one heard the whining of the cpu, gpu, and video chips
the question still stands why??? even bother buying a broke assemble machine?? ford motor company cant afford to sell broken car parts. one nut or screw missing can cause hundreds of death.

[PimpHandStrong]

about time we had a RROD story

what is a week without one!

think we had 3 this week!

lol

You would have thought some XBOT fanboy would have found a good story of ppl getting 4 PS3's sent back for repair

[Lou-Cipher]

There is alot of people complaining about PS3 fans always bringing up RROD like it is a problem of the past (RROD is past, present, and future)
Xbox fans are still clinging to PS2 problems as if it is a problem us PS3 users have to deal with.(it is not)

Articles on RROD is a very important way to not screw over consumers that dont know any better.

My sister came home with an Xbox 360 for her three little girls because she was not able to get a wii in the timeframe that she wanted. When she told me that she just purchased a 360 without doing research on it, I advised her to read as many articles as she can related to RROD before she reveals it to the children. My sister came back and said she took the 360 back and bought a PS3 because piece of mind is more important then wasting you money on a console that still has a very good chance of failing.

I know that there is alot of people out there that dont mind paying for a cosole that has a good chance of failure, and they will cling to the fact that they only have to wait a couple of weeks to get it back from Microsoft, but to most people that is just unacceptable.

So as long as 360s keep getting RROD & Cannot Read Errors & Disc Scratching Problems then it is only fair that possible customers be aware of the problems associated with the Xbox 360.

[Liar]

What evidence do you have that the RROD still exists?

[PirateThom]

What evidence do you have that it doesn't still exist?

[CaitSith]

Buy a Playstation 3 instead. A console with a high failure rate shouldn't be at the market AT ALL. Sorry dudes, I care for your money and your financial issues, and if you think that buying Playstation 3 is a waste of money, then you're a complete idiot. If you want to use your money wisely, I'd suggest you buy a Playstation 3 and save yourself the trouble.

[darkstar]

Did my gamer card seriously say im online? The last time I played it was a week or two ago when my buddy brought over rock band. If it says I'm online then I've got a problem here, cuz somebody jacked my account! Oh and how was it possible to disagree with what I said in my previous post?

[uxo22]

you may want to look into it, because when I looked at it, it did say that you were last on 2 hours ago. However now it's says last seen 5 hours ago. is about right since my comment to you was 3 hours ago.

And the reason I disagreed with you last comment is, even if you did get your "6th" RROD, why would you sell your games when you are still under warranty to get your console replaced. The 360 hasn't been out three years just yet has it. (Maybe I'm wrong).

I would think that if you are going to sell your stuff, you would be better off waiting til you console got back (unless you just threw it away which I doubt.) and sold everything all at once.

Just a thought, it's no big deal that I disagreed with you, that's what the disagree button is for. I don't know why people take disagrees so personal.

But, whatever man if you sold your games, I wish I would have known, you have a couple titles on your gamercard that I would have bought off of you.

[00000000000000000001]

Then you have millions of people like me that are still on there original (12/05) console. It gets used almost every day so I feel I got my moneys worth, unlike my PS3 and Wii that just sits there.

[Fighter]

this is the only reason why I don't want to buy an Xbox 360. The games and the Live service are great but the hardware is utter crap. If someone gave me an Xbox 360 I would gladly take it and enjoy it but I would never waste my own money on something that is guaranteed to break now or later down the road. What if i buy one now and it RROD on me after 3 years then I'm truly fu*ked.

[uxo22]

As a counter argument, using your own words "that is guaranteed to break now or later down the road." One could say the same thing about the PS3. Although it is not likely to break base on its past track record, it is a piece of electronic equipment and it is susceptible to break. The thing is, if you bought one of each and after 1 year they all broke on you, only your 360 would be repairable under warranty. For two more years.

Just another way of looking at it. I know the new 2009 Nissan Murano I just bought is guaranteed to break on me "later down the road" no pun intended. But as long as it's under warranty I'll deal with a little inconvenience as long as it's not going to cost me anything.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[ABACAB72]

The same author (he does a lot of investigative reporting on the Xbox & the 360, so he knows what he's talking about) said that Once those 360s with those motherboards come out on the market (Jasper this fall, Valhalla next spring), the RRoD will be history. His words not mine.

[power of Green]

LOL

[Lou-Cipher]

Congratulations on being on your release day 360 (I really mean it)

The bottom line is that you are a very lucky 360 owner. The reason I say that is because buying a 360 is like playing russian roulette with a 3 chambered gun. (1 out of 3 chance of doing something you really and truly regret)

I truly envy your 360s lifecycle. I just wish my launch 360 had the same amount of life that yours had.(first360 had a disc read error 2nd 360 got RROD) If even one of my previous 360s was still in working condition I would not be so critical of the 360s hardware.

[Lou-Cipher]

"What evidence do you have that the RROD still exists? "

Do you really need evidence that RROD exist to this day, or is the millions of complaints that we have read about, seen on the internet,or through word of mouth,or have experienced for ourself many times over just fictional.

RROD stories should be even more abundant than they already are, to help prevent people that dont read gaming forums or research gaming websites before they buy stuff they dont want to take a chance on.

PS3 user get to gloat and take shot at you guys but,Xbox 360 fans are the ones who should be praying to see RROD articals pop up everywhere. The more heat Microsoft has coming there way regarding RROD the sooner the problems will get resolved.

Consumers of any company deserve better tratment than what most of you guys get.

[Harri4444]

i think that it is funny that when the xbox 720 or what ever comes out 90% of its games well be multi platform with the ps3. so the ps3 well still be better becuese the next xbox is beening rushed like the 360 so it well have RROD to.

HAIL SONY

[Firstkn1ghT]

Fortunately for me I bought the extended replacement plan at Best Buy. After all the ps2's I had to buy because of that crappy disc drive, I learned to always buy a replacement plan.

[SL1M DADDY]

Come on, I have bought about 50 games and rented the rest and have bought nearly every peripheral for the system including the HD-DVD player at full price and have gone through 5 of these friggin' 360's... Of course, the 360 rarely gets turned on anymore and I prefer to buy nearly all games for the PS3 due to its complete reliability but heck, at least my story is better than this guys. I was hardcore for MS but when they shafted me 5 times too many, I gave up.

I keep a 360 around for one thing nowadays... Exclusives. And no, I do not mean the pathetic excuse of exclusives but the good ones, like Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead in the next coming months.

[Mukiwa]

First time I've seen anyone draw parallels between this and the Schlieffen Plan. It is a remarkably good allegory though, Germany's rush at the start of WW1 gave them some initial success but ultimately doomed them as the time could have been better utilised in becoming adequately prepared for a lengthy war.

[yanikins111]

lol. I hate ms and their "designed-by-chimps-on-co ke" console, but this article is stupid. like anyone cares enough for it to be written up in such a lame ar*e way. Heres the short version.
"The consoles still die, the customer service still sucks"

[lagoonalight]

I don't really care one way or the other but I do know from insider info that the

failure rate of the original 360's is in the 70-85% range.

That 33% is an oft quoted magazine number bearing no fact to reality.

I have friends with 360's and every single one of them has had it.

Everyone I know with one has had it.

To honestly just believe it was 33%. Yeah, right.

[pshizle]

people should know their limits

i have a medalgear ps3 and a march2008 xbox360 which blows out much more cooler air than my ps3

ps3 is obviously more reliable though so

this is how you get RROD or scratch disc error

1.dont play 360 all day or turn it off when your not using it
2.dont move 360 while disc is in 360
3.when you feel your 360 is starting to blow hot air turn it off and give it a break

[PirateThom]

The thing is, the air is hotter from the PS3 because it's being expelled. You don't want cool air blowing out of any electronic devices, it means the fans aren't doing their job and the heat is gather on the components.

The reason it's more reliable (especially when you compare the insides) is because of the internal design. The PS3 features one single huge fan, lots of heat pipes, lots of heat synchs, the 360 has two very small fans, only recently added heat pipes and fewer heat synchs.

I think the main difference between the PS3 and 360s internal design is how much care was take over the PS3, even things like the 360's power huge power brick is an internal component in the PS3 and the thing still runs cooler.

So yeah, the PS3 expells hot air, but when you touch the PS3, there's very little heat to it, compared to even the Wii and 360.

[ForROME]

Best article I have read in a long time, facts speak loudest and in this article they speak well. I Sufferred from 3 of them and Im glad there is something to back it up as to why that happned.

[mfwahwah]

I'm not surprised with what I read. MS wanted to be first, and they paid the price. They did reap the rewards of second place as well though (so far; who knows who'll win).

I'm shocked at how many MS fanboys here say "blah blah RRoD is old news," though:

"All everyone keeps saying is 'get over it' or 'that was so two years ago.' Well, we're not getting over it and neither should you. If enough people see what really happened, hopefully we can make sure that it never happens again. Hey, the truth about the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't come out for over 30 years, but it was just as important when it did."

This is a quote from NOFX about the rigged 2000 election. Honestly now, if I didn't tell you that, would you be able to mistake it for a rant about RRoD? People just seem to say it's part of owning a 360. You buy your system, you play your games, you send in your system. Rinse and repeat.

Well, it's one of the main reasons I don't own a 360. I'm not laying down hundreds of dollars for temporary entertainment. I'm the type of gamer who marathons through games; hours upon hours upon hours of gaming when I feel like it. I won't settle for a few hours of play a day just to let my system rest and recover. Say what you will about me, but I have standards, and I won't settle for a hardware failin' 360.

If MS FIXES the issue (note: that does not mean extended warranty to me), then I will HIGHLY consider buying a 360, probably the arcade because of the price (I'll use my PS3 for HDD needin' things). Until MS proves it to me though, then my money won't be helping them turn a profit.

[Cesarcsrf]

i got myself 3 360 before i bought the PS3

[killalot100]

i had my 360 craped on me seven times for different reasons. now my friends see as a fanboy of sony because thats all i play on. to make it worse all of them had the 360 go out on them more then three times. i decided to give my refurbished system to a family member because i know that the 3 years deadline is near. i am not going to buy another 360 ever again until they completely fix it and yes i had a elite and that craped died too.

[JohnCarpenter]

even the newest replacement (falcon) boards "opus" seem to be anything than flawless. Some weeks ago the dvd drive in my 360 broke. It was a "first generation 360" assembled in the middle of 2006.
As a standard procedure microsoft replaced my mainboard too. With the repaired 360 i got RRoD after one hour.

[Iceberg032]

Microsoft wanted to have a year advantage over the other consoles because they knew they would be ahead in sales with a year start but with your rush they didn't make a quilty product that was built to last which makes them look bad!! And they are only ahead of the PS3 even though it is catching up and they Wii has been out selling it.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Oh look! just in time.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Droids are desperate, against the ropes.

[PirateThom]

It's Microsoft who have the falling sales, FYI.

[lewis]

I new there would bem alot of comments.

[defthepr0]

i was thinking of buying an xbox360 but i have one questions for xbox owners.Do you have to be connected to xboxlive to watch or play anything you have purchased on xboxlive?Like movies,demos things like that.this doesnt include online games of coarse.

[defthepr0]

Because if thats the case my 200 dollars is going to some ps3 greatest hits or 500gb hd or something worth it. for 200 hundred bucks i dont expect the 360 to last very long if i do get it.And who ever does think that theres will wow wake up.I suspect if i did it would break halve way through gears2 or farcry2.But i would still like to know about the xbox live thing.

[redsnake]

i kno of a friend that went to a hotel room and the 360 there rroded while he was there just 1 day. now are you telling me that in hawaii people sit around and play video games for 5 hours a day. im on my 3rd 360. also my ps3 currently is broken to im really unluky. the difference i dont kno anybody else with a broken ps3. a failure rate as high as 360s is unacceptable by all means. it should have been reccaled for sure

[Tyrannus Leo]

First one overheated and froze, second through sixth all disc read errors and disc scratching. Finally snapped, broke the sixth one since I was out of warranty and with the price drop coming it isn't worth jack for trade in value. Short of the story inside... is nothing more than a common everyday rubber band and a paper clip holding the DVD-ROM in place. I will never buy another console from Microsoft again after the way they treated me as a customer. I might get another 360 if I can get a fantastic deal on it, but I think PS3 where they replace your malfunctioning consoles with new ones and give you free online play are looking mighty superior this generation in the hardware department.