Is this really true? Possible that 1 in 3 Xbox 360's fail and stop working.

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

A Kotaku blogger thinks that up to 40 percent may have had a failure, if that’s so then I can say that’s the highest failure rate I’ve ever seen for a console, in fact, one of the highest I’ve ever seen for a consumer electronic.

If people abandon Windows in droves because of Vista in addition to this, Microsoft may end up having to quit the console business and abandon Windows. That could end up being a huge opportunity for Apple and Linux, but I’d be concerned in that this could put a nasty stain on the capabilities of American based brands particulary on American developed consoles.

EDIT: Yikes!
http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/xbox-360-100-percent-failure-rate-241794.php
An employee calls the Xbox 360 the biggest disaster since Atari’s ET game.

Yes, every Xbox 360 I bought at launch is bricked with the 3 red flashing lights. Microsoft despite the widely reported policy of repairing hosed 360s for free that were manufactured in 2005 refuses to do so. That is pathetic. I have 4 hosed Xbox 360s sitting right here. I would gladly fix them if I could get an Xbox 360 motherboard from Foxconn. Believe me I would. Sorry, Microsoft wants to make even more money by forcing you to only be able to repair with them… Apparently only 4% of Xbox 360s have been faulty. My 100% rate must just be a statistical abberation beyond the mean. I doubt it. I’ve had statistics, and no other computer component I have ever owned has had that failure rate… This is a manufacturing failure of epic proportions. Perhaps one of the worst in history. This is right up their with the Atari ET game… I would prefer to just be able to buy a replacement board from Foxconn. Anyway, $140 a Xbox, half the cost of a core system to replace it. What a joke

2

Even their claimed rate of 4% is a joke. One dead console in 25? Where’s their quality control? Well, Microsoft has made their paying customers into software beta testers for decades, I guess the hardware side is just following suit.

3

I never buy any console since the PSone in the first year or two that it’s out. I got a PSone on the first week it was released and that console was notorious for having issues. I ended up buying a second one just so I could play the games without having to flip the sytem upside down or constantly re-load the disc.

I bought the PS2 a lot later, and I just got my 360 about 6 months ago. I am holding out for a Wii and PS3 as well, tho the PS3 looks more and more interesting every day.

4

It’s true that the quality of these are terrible. I bought an 360 at launch and now I am on my third one, which just arrived. Even though this completely sucks, I am just coming to learn that early adopters suffer. There is no way the compensation of a one month of xbox live free card is worth the time and effort of sending these consoles back, just to have them replaced by the same kind of defective units that have been refurbished. They just recycle the units over and over again. They still have the same disc drive and bad solder of the graphics card problems. It’s just a matter of time until they break.

The same goes, except for the PS1, for every console I have every owned. Nothing, however, beats the problems I had with the PS2. I had 6 different consoles in 4 years. At least M$ bit the bullet and admitted they have a problem. It may have cost them a billion dollars or so, but at least I can have them fix it for me with an extended warranty they provided. I did have to pay for shipping the first time, but hey. Sony refused to acknowledge the defects in the PS2 to this day. There was a faulty laser unit in every PS2 I owned. I swore to stop playing video games if I saw one more “Disc Read Error” message.

Is this Xbox situation lame? Yes. Does this happen with every piece of consumer electronics in its first run? Yes. Don’t get me started on Creative, Dell, Gateway and even Apple. I’ve horror stories for them too. Now if only they made more RPGs for my refurbished 360, because it’s working right now and I’d really like to take advantage . . .

5

Tis horribly true. Both my brothers 360 got red lighted. My brother’s friends got red lighted. Every one we have ever known has gotten red lighted. One in three is BS.

It’s 50/50

6

This email is blown out of proportion BECAUSE it is MS and danm near everyone has an XBOX 360.

Every company I’ve ever worked for has had internal emails exchanged between employees and either other employees or HR themselves describing their utter hatred for the company they work for and the service they provide. This was just caught at the wrong time by someone that has nothing better to do with thier time then wander around the network snooping thru emails.

Yawn.

7

Have you thought you might be the problem? :eyebrowlift2:

JK, but yeah, electronic equipment always fails. There’s just too much going on for nothing to go wrong.
Of course, that’s no excuse for denying there’s a problem or faulty soldering, but still . . . .

8

Last I read it was 16% failure. I was one who had his replaced due to the red rings of death. I know someone else who had it replaced 3 times.:frowning:

9

its never happened to me… with any system, ps1, ps2, xbox, xbox 360, game boy, DS, PSP, gameboy color, gamecube, Wii… nothing, not once has a gaming consel, or even a computer failed me.
i usally keep these systems in such good of shape, i can sell them 3 or 4 years later for full price. i think some people dont know how to take care of thier crap, has anyone even read the “caring for your system” pamplets that come with your system?

“omg guys! i played my 360 for 9 hours straight, left it in direct sunlight for 3 weeks, inserted a disk that was warped by humidity, and then spilled a little milk in it when i tripped over my TV’s cable, and now the system dont work!!! xbox sucks!”

“really? my Wii stopped working after i dropped it six times taking it over to my friends house. we decided to play soccer with it anyway by kicking it around the yard.”

i understand that crap goes wrong sometimes, but alot of times its human error, next time you go into a store that sells used consels, look at the quality of them, total crap. i saw one ps2 that GameCrazy was trying to sell, it looked like someone ate a ham sandwhich over it and spillled melted cheese in the fan thingy.

just like a weapon, as long as you clean it, keep is safe , keep it unexposed, dont install unauthorized crap in it, or over use it, the damn thing should work fine.

its a delicate video game consel, not a tank! :rolleyes:

10

Got to say i have to agree with NJROTC, although he went a little over top in his rant.
.
Keep your console in a cool, dry, reasonably well ventilated place, and it will never break. I’ve had console software failures from bad CD’s, and crappy games, but never a broken console.

11

Its acceptable to have software defects to within an small margin of the completed product.
Patching software over the internet has let a lot of buggy software come to market well before their mature dates.

But yeah… this doesn’t work so well for hardware.

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FYI, I keep all of my electronics in great shape. My “real” job is as a broadcast engineer. Every day I repair cameras and vtrs that are worth more than I make in three years. I am the only person in my market who is able to do those kind of repairs. Trust me, my gear is in great shape. These are definitely problems with the the cheap manufacture. The difference is professional gear and consumer electronics, especially consoles. Every console, except for the wii i hear, lose money for every one sold. So they resort to cutting costs in their units and the consumer suffers.

13

@NJROTC:

I am inclined to agree with you. I have been to many people’s houses and the condition in which they keep their stuff is pathetic most of the time. I treat all of my electronics as well as I possibly can. I’ve not have many issues aside from the PS1. The only electronics I mistreat are the ones I buy to take apart or otherwise screw around with.

14

The 3 redlights error is not caused by human error. It’s a hardware “fault.”

My little brother got his 360 and played it very little, as he’s not a hardcore gamer. My Older brother plays his like Crack. Both of them are obsessive about care with electronic equipment.

They both got red lights. They didn’t leave it in the sun for three weeks or throw water on it. There was no spilling or eating near it.

As clean as you keep a gun, its just mechanical parts. Console are computers. Even the slightest error can cause a fault. An error, such as, miscalculating the amount of heat the system actually produces.

The parts are put in so that they can achieve the most with the smallest cost. That’s why so many are having the 3-red-lights error.

Otherwise there would be a barrage of other problems appearing. The company specifically extended its warranty for this problem, which means they know for a fact they are at fault.

Sure there are thing that can be avoided. Like how I moving the system while the disc is in scratches the hell out of it. But this one can’t be avoided.

Either it happens or it don’t.

Instead of bragging count yourself lucky man.

15

I have a huge noisy fan hooked on the back of mine, which gets 12 hrs/day play time weekends. way up high, dust free. launch. locks up every now and then, but otherwise no red ring.

16

You have no idea how loud I laughed after reading this.

I completely agree; just take care of your console and it won’t break. All of my friends (along with myself) with 360s have never complained of the red light of death. And guess why? They take good care of their property.

17

I know of one person who has had the red ring of death. But then again, I only really know two people with a Xbox 360. I am with Squiggly_P, I never buy a console right when it comes out, because it is bound to have problems. I bought the Wii in 2007(Bad decision for a Hard-core gamer) though, but it hasn’t had problems except for one broken controller. I am highly considering a PS3, mainly because of GTA 4, and Skate along with many other games.

18

Thanks, NJROTC, for your refreshingly realistic input! I hate it when threads like this go over the top with urban legends and crap like that.

Got to say i have to agree with NJROTC, although he went a little over top in his rant.
I disagree with it being over the top. I have seen so many households in which game systems are treated like/and or used as drink holders and dinner plates. Some people are literally so stupid that they would call for a replacement and spread trashtalk about the system, not realizing that it wasn’t hooked up correctly (one of the things indicated by the ‘red ring of death’).

My cousins leave all of their game discs out on the floor, step on them knowingly, shove the disc drive back in instead of pressing the button, constantly rip out the wires by tripping over them, etc., and to my astonishment, most of their stuff still works without many errors. Game systems, especially Xbox and Nintendo products, can take a heck of a beating before breaking down (something I can’t say for Playstation), which really tells you something about the people who do break them.

I strive to take good care of my equipment, and none of it has ever broken down except for a five-year-old Xbox (I expect because it had been exposed to my aforementioned cousins a lot). I still have a Playstation and Nintendo 64 from their release times that work fine. Even a GameBoy Advance that was completely submerged in water and quite soaked still works flawlessly to this day. Before I realized there were vents on both sides, I ran my Xbox 360 upright on a carpet for a couple weeks, completely cutting half of its ventilation. If that didn’t overheat, I really doubt the credibility of all these horrible overheating issues.

Anyway, I think I’ve made my point.

19

Take good with the stuff and it lasts.

20

My cousins leave all of their game discs out on the floor, step on them knowingly, shove the disc drive back in instead of pressing the button, constantly rip out the wires by tripping over them, etc.,

Keep them away from my PS2 then.

We still have an old Sega Genesis hooked up to an 80’s TV that still works flawlessly.