- September 2, 2009 11:58 am
If you were unfortunate enough to experienced the Red Ring of Death on your beloved Xbox 360 and even more unfortunate enough to have it happen a 2nd or 3rd time, maybe it’s time you start sporting your hard earned achievement with a rather fitting t-shirt that proudly announces to the world your gaming prowess. That’s right, an actual t-shirt that shows an Xbox live achievement bubble complete with congratulatory wording for the RRoD. While it isn’t exactly a gamers most proud or favorite moment when their 360 starts throwing out cries for help in in the way of blinking red lights and frantic fan noises, now that the problem has been more or less remedied with the usage of smaller components inside the unit which reduce the heat output, we can all look back, laugh, and have a good time. Right? Of course, none other than Think Geek was responsible for this stroke of genius.
Source: Geeky-Gadgets
If you wanted a slap in the face to rocket you back into the sad sick little world that *used* to be the Xbox 360, a non-scientific poll (paper only) conducted by Game Informer revealed that the failure rate on Xbox 360′s (presumably pre-die shrink to the smaller more efficient processors) was 54%! I don’t care who you are or what company you run, a 54% failure rate is beyond god awful. Of course, such claims can’t be verified by Redmond themselves as such data is locked away in some secret vault guarded by fire breathing dragons and a mean sea turtle who won’t hold anything back. It’s no secret no matter how much Microsoft wants to deny that the 360 was rushed to market. Soon after release RRoD (Red Rings of Death) issues were popping up left and right. It was so bad if you remember, that Microsoft had to end up spending several billion dollars extending warranties for RRoD victims. So far, my Xbox 360 has had RRoD syndrome twice. Adding insult to injury, Microsoft also managed to snatch up the award for worst customer service and longest service times with replacement/refurbished 360′s taking over a month to return home.
Since undergoing the die shrink which brought smaller, more efficient, less heat radiating processors, the RRoD problems seems to have been greatly diminished. Still, having a product that had a failure rate claimed to be so high is certainly not a consumer confidence builder. By the way, just to compare, the PS3′s failure rate is/was around 11% with the Wii bringing up the rear at a much more dependable 7%. Of course, a percentage point or two could be attributed to the 360′s generally longer playing times. But that’s a huge stretch to say the least and certainly doesn’t account for mountain of trouble that not so long ago plagued the system.
So we all know I’ve been at deaths door twice. Have you see RRoD on your 360? If so is it a return appearance or is it your first?
Source: CrunchGear, Consumerist
Depending on how you view the RRoD, as well as if you’ve personally had the misfortune of meeting them, the RRoD coasters may or may not be your thing. For some of you who have met the RRoD, (some of you more than once…*raises hand*), you’re all too familiar with the vast amounts of waiting that it entitles to get your gaming beast serviced, missing out on countless hours of gaming enjoyment. On the other side of the coin, if you have somehow managed to escape the wrath that Microsoft hath wrought unscathed, the RRoD may be nothing more than a joke, a mere figment of someone else’s imagination. If you are that type who can look at the bigger picture and see the humor and “coolness” in everything, the RRoD Coasters are just for you. Fire up your hot glue gun and bust out the “how-to-bead” arts and crafts books and whip yourself up some RRoD Coasters the whole family can enjoy. Super!
Source: Technabob, Gamer Grrlz
While the whole RRoD (Red Ring of Death) scare has now been quelled, with new stories drastically lower than a mere year ago, some would think that the problem is gone and that Xbox 360 users are safe to venture into the world of non-stop gaming filled with Red Bull full nights and bed ridden days. If you were the owner of an the older “First Gen” 360 units, you may be all too familiar with the 90 nm chips that were inside those units. It was that size that led to high number of RRoD (Red Ring of Death) issues that were caused by over heating problems inside the unit. The newer “2nd Gen” units use a smaller, more heat friendly 65 nm chip which is much more resiliant to the stresses and turmoils of long hours of Xbox 360 gaming. Even though units sent in for repair were being given a second lease on life, exactly how long does that least last? Take note: Second lease on life lasts approximately 1 year…
It seems as if only yesterday, the “Red Rings of Death” were in the forefront of tech news. Xbox 360 users from far and wide were experiencing system maiming glitches in which the only solution was to wait a small eternity to get your fixed unit back. Microsoft so far has payed dearly for the ‘ol RRoD to the tune of $1 billion+ to make good on their warranty claims. With RRoD behind them, all was looking peachy for them. That was until E74 started appearing. What is “E74″ you ask. E74 is an issue in which the Xbox 360 has either a faulty AV connector, or a more frequently common loosened AHA/HANA scaling chip. It displays an error in the form of one red light on the bottom left of your Xbox (shown above). Either way, it isn’t good news for Microsoft who just can’t seem to get the whole build quality thing down right.
Now it is worth noting that E74 “Red Arc of Death” *Engadget* isn’t new per say, it’s just that the number of reports of RAoD since October have been steadily rising making for another epidemic of broken Xbox’s and long waits for avid gamers. A possible culprit is the NXE (New Xbox Experience) update that was pushed out back in Novemeber. However, the reports of E74 started rising before the NXE update so it may be a bigger problem after all. Poor Microsoft. I feel bad for Xbox users who may have been hit by RRoD and possibly get hit again by E74. So have you been lucky enough to have an Xbox that has withstood these nasty problems? Or have you been bitten once or twice? Let us know below!
Source: Engadget
- February 17, 2009 3:37 pm
What can I say, I have a poetic side from time to time and thought I would share it with you. It’s the least I could do. According to an interview between Edge and Aaron Greenburg, the basic underlying message is that the whole RROD fiasco with Microsoft and the Xbox 360 is finished. Not finished as in no more cases, but finished as in Microsoft has improved their repair techniques so that their are far fewer second timers. For some words to mentally chew on concerning the whole interview come on inside!
