Gates: Xbox will be "most reliable" game system

by Kyle Orland { Jan 10th 2008 at 5:26PM }

Those who've been visited by the Xbox 360's infamous Red Ring of Death will be heartened to hear Bill Gates feels your pain. In a video interview with the BBC, the Microsoft chairman responded to a viewer question about console reliability. After apologizing for the problems and patting himself on the back for Microsoft's free replacement and warranty program, Gates points to what he calls "incredible reliability on the new work that we've done. Our commitment is it will be the most reliable video game box out there."

It's a nice sentiment, but if we're measuring lifetime failure rates, the 360 has a long way to go to get that "most reliable" mantle. Regardless, we can all probably agree with Gates' sentiment that "we've got to make sure the hardware never stands in the way of [enjoying games]." Amen to that.

[Via GameDaily]

Watch - BBC Interview with Bill Gates

Tags: hardware, maytag, red ring of death, RedRingOfDeath, reliability, rrod

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

deaftly @ Jan 10th 2008 5:31PM

And.... cue the sony fanboys

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 6:01PM

I know the many people have evidently been effected by the RRoD, however I'm sure there's many like me, who have never experienced the problem. Hell, I have 5 360's around my house, including a launch console & elite, all perfect (wife has one, I have two the Elite & launch console, and my twins each have one).
I also bought 2 more this Christmas for 2 kids of mine who are in college. So, my experience has been 100% perfect.

Again, I'm sure there is a problem, the "internets" tell me so, but my experience has been flawless. Personally, I'm impressed that Microsoft has taken the correct steps to make right by the people who have been effected.

Eddie @ Jan 10th 2008 6:13PM

Dang dude, you have a lot of kids and a lot of cash. Are you hiring?

eldee @ Jan 10th 2008 7:37PM

gonna have to call BS on your story.. i mean, you have THREE 360's in your house, and none of them broken. If that's the truth then why the hell do you have three? One for your wife, one for you (which seems a little odd in it's own right), the third one for when you're on the toilet and want to get some halo on?

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 7:52PM

Eddie,

Actually, it matters not what you choose to believe or disbelieve. And I don't have "3" in my house, I have 5.

I purchased a launch console for myself, as the x360 was the first "next gen" console to hit the market. Subsequently, I purchased one for my wife (yes, we have two HDTV's in our bedroom) because she likes to watch programming I'm not particularly fond of, and her game tastes varies greatly from my own. I still have twins at home, they each have their own 360. When the Elite came out, I decided to see what all the fuss about "HDMI" was about. My HDTV's all have HDMI inputs, but I couldn't utilize them with my launch 360, so I purchased an elite. (Elite went to the bedroom, launch console went out to the great room.)

Guess what, I can see no difference between 1080p componant or 1080p HDMI. Personally I think HDMI is nothing other then a trojan horse for DRM, as video quality doesn't appear any better.

I digress....the other 2 360's I purchased this Christmas were for two of my children in college.

Anyways...call it whatever you like, it doesnt' change anything. I've yet to experience a console failure, fortunately.

Tiptup300 @ Jan 10th 2008 8:52PM

This is irritating, since hes talking about the falcon. And he mentions the old consoles and the problems with them. You seem like the people who only read the title and think you've heard the whole thing.

sheppy2.0 @ Jan 10th 2008 10:09PM

So Knight, you have five which work perfectly well for you. CONGRATULATIONS, A WINNER IS YOU. Meanwhile, amongst the Joystiq staff, they recently went 100% on their staffers who have had a RROD issue.

Some people get lucky and have no issues. Some people get unlucky and have far too many. Take for example, me.

Xbox 1: Launch Day. System completely powers down after I hit a wall in Full Auto. System refuses to power back up. Store warranty in effect and I get a replacement on the next shipment (MS was saying 6-8 weeks).

Xbox 2: Following March. Oblivion starts suttering more than usual before finally freezing. Restart system, first RROD incident. MS wants ~$100, I saved a bunch of money on my 360 experience by switching to store warranty. They give me a straight up replacement, I gets ta keep my hard drive.

Xbox 3: Same day. Rings right out the box. Back to the store I go for a replacement we test at the store. DRMs become an issue at this point since, due to the way my network is configured in old apartment, I have to unplug my router to sign into Live so my $100 worth of games mainly acted like demos. MS unwilling to help me fix this issue.

Xbox 4: During a heated stint on Saints Row, apparently my 360 wanted to get heated. I hear a slight pop as my system turns completely off. Very slight amount of black smoke comes from the back of the machine. MS would confirm it as a faulty power brick. They'll repair my unit for ~$100. I politely tell them to perform an impossible sexual act upon themselves and head back to the wonderful store warranty, which by now has completely validated the $79.99 price.

Xbox 5: As I was visiting rapture, three days prior to Halo 3's release, the old syndrome of locking began to occur. By the third reset, the rings returned. The store would tell me they discontinued direct trades on 360 due to the incredibly high failure rate but they'll pair for the repair costs from MS. MS takes it into their tender care for 6 weeks but frankly, I could care less by this point. System gets returned to me and despite the hopes that maybe, just maybe this one would work, I sell my 360 to a friend for $200. He has another year and a half under warranty. I retained my game collection as well as all four controllers and currently have 7 unopened 360 games due to preorders coming and going.

I will definately "jump back in" sometime in the future, preferably once they become at least a bit more reliable, but for now Microsoft had their chance. 5 of them to be exact. So for now, I'm just rolling without a 360. Oh well, wish I could say I was missing something but in all honesty, when my Sega CDX works as perfectly as the day I bought it but 0 of 5 360s worked out for me, I can't say I'm too eager to rejoin that crapshoot. Especially now that several chain stores are refusing to offer extended warranties on 360s.

Knight Marquise @ Jan 11th 2008 10:49AM

Sheppy,

Sorry to hear about such a poor experience, but technically, I've purchased 7 x360's that have not failed, only 5 reside at my home.

It's too bad your "crap shoot" has been a "sure bet" for me. :/

LiK @ Jan 10th 2008 5:31PM

one word, denial.

morganfell @ Jan 10th 2008 8:01PM

Where is the snide remarks that would be in a PS3 article?

krazy @ Jan 10th 2008 5:32PM

LOLZBGBAKA 360 reliable yeah! and now give us our money back!

DP @ Jan 11th 2008 7:06PM

Two words: WILL BE! So STFU! Jezuz!

BIGGEN @ Jan 10th 2008 5:33PM

ugh

XanthouS @ Jan 10th 2008 5:34PM

Oh Billy, you're a funny man. Does he bother to say how he plans on cutting down a ~33% fail rate to the ~0.5% range, or does he admit this is all just corporate PR fluff?

Also, Billy's mugshot with his stoner haircut would have made a more appropriate image for the thread.

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 6:12PM

Xanthous...

I'd be curious to see the source for your 33% failure rate. Source, Please?

Off Topic, what the hell is wrong with this reply system on joystiq?

XanthouS @ Jan 10th 2008 6:21PM

@Knight:

For the love of God, it's in the Joystiq news post above...

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 6:30PM

XanthouS,

My apologies...I didn't see anywhere in the post that they released a 33% failure rate, nor did I hear that in the video interview, although I quit listening after the topic changed from xbox 360 to the PC world and stifling competition in the UK.

I did see a quote about "unacceptable numbers", but never actually seen any numbers listed to substantiate the 33% failure rate you listed.

Anyways, just looking for a source...if 33% is indeed true, then I'm one lucky bastard.

itouchmyself @ Jan 10th 2008 6:32PM

@KnightMaquise, Where have you been the past 6 months. 33% failure rate of the 360 has been all confirmed on every major gaming site. Google is your friend.

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 6:44PM

itouchmyself...

Sorry...all I've ever seen is anecodtal evidence, which is not reliable, nor scientifically accurate.

For example, "I have an xbox 360, and I know 2 friends with xbox 360's, mine failed, but theirs has not" That, anecdotally, equates to a 33% failure rate.

Unfortunately, anecdotal evidence does not support real world facts. All I was looking for was an actual source for the 33% failure rate, not anecdotal evidence. I did google it, and all I ever came up with was anecdotal evidence, no substantiated facts released from Microsoft or their business associates.

XanthouS's comment made it sound like he had a source, in which case, I'm interested in reading it.

masterchiefzor @ Jan 10th 2008 6:47PM

33%?????? try >90% out of everyone I know who owns one. I'm on number 8 personally. There better not be a single xbox 360 failure for anyone for the rest of eternity if they hope to be the "most reliable." Sorry bill, no one believes the lies.

XanthouS @ Jan 10th 2008 6:51PM

So, Knight, because M$ won't release figures about hardware rates, there's no real proof of the problem, huh?

That's a good little corporate lemming.

Marty @ Jan 10th 2008 7:14PM

"XanthouS, I'd be curious to see the source for your 33% failure rate. Source, Please?"

Just have him bend over and spread 'em. XD

Knight Marquise @ Jan 10th 2008 7:16PM

XanthouS,

I'm hardly a corporate lemming, I buy what I want, period. Hell, I bought a 65" Sony rear projection LCD TV a 2 1/2 years ago. The optical engine blew 2 years and 2 months after purchase, and I didn't have the extended warrenty. Obviously the $1500.00 replacement part is a joke, as the price of Big Screen TV's has been in a free fall. I'll still buy another Sony Big Screen TV, though, because I like them. However..this time I'll be going plasma rather then LCD. (Speaking of which I'm not sure if Sony makes a plasma, but when I go to purchase one, I'll be asking for a Sony Plasma first)

Nevertheless, it appears you actually don't have a source for your 33% failure rate, if one takes away the anecdotal evidence. I never claimed MS didn't have a problem, I've just stated I've not experienced a problem myself; fortunately, and was looking for a substatianted source for your claim. That, obviously, isn't going to be forthcoming.

Hey, fanboys can be fanboys, all I asked for was a source. You've shown me where you get your facts, and that actually answers more then you may imagine.

lawlersauce @ Jan 10th 2008 9:06PM

lol, knight microsoft themselves gave the figure that approximately 33% of 360s fail when they announced that they were lengthening the warranty to 3 years and took a multi million dollar loss due to these failures.

MN Guy @ Jan 10th 2008 10:17PM

I've had one RROD and one 360 I kinda sorta thought might be starting to act up that I returned for my purchased warranty. I know closely 8 people with 360's and none of them have had a RROD. Of those people, the only problem I've ever heard of is Mass Effect freezing up too often. For what it's worth.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 10th 2008 10:29PM

33% fail rate my ass.

MS wrote down $1B to fix what was 10,000,000 machines in the field.

How much do you think it costs to fix a machine? You think $200? That's almost the price of a core. Let's say that's it.

That means MS expects to fix 1B/200 or 5,000,000 machines for a 50% fail rate.

Personally I think it's closer to $100 a machine, for a 1B/100 or 10,000,000 machines or a 100% failure rate.

Maybe it's not 100%, but it sure isn't as low as 33%.

Zeus.:God @ Jan 10th 2008 10:56PM

You guys sitting here talking about the "33%" failure rate. That was a PROJECTED rate by EB Games/GameStop, who we all know are a bunch of retards.

The percentages were high, but well below 33%, and at that, easily avoidable. Like Knight, I myself, nor any of my friends have ever had a single Xbox 360 fail or get the 3 red lights. This doesn't prove much about anything, I'm just saying that if you take care of it,it won't have problems, considering that the main cause of this was over heating. Give the 360 enough breathing room, and you won't have an issue.

LS1/LS2, why the fuck are you so damned stupid? The failure rate was absolutely NOT anywhere NEAR 50%. Only a total retard could come up with bullshit like that, and expect others to believe it. That money that Microsoft has put into the repairs department, or whatever, covers shipping, supplies, the physical repair work, and more, so you're off by a lot. Not to mention I'm sure they would want to have some overhead, as they didn't actually spend it, they more or less invested it into their service center.

Seriously, most of you guys are absolute retards.

B1gC72 @ Jan 11th 2008 12:05AM

never underestimate the power of denial.....

el serpiente @ Jan 11th 2008 1:17AM

Red Rings of Denial?

why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 11th 2008 1:59AM

Absolutely that money has to cover shipping, repair costs. But if MS can make a core and ship it to a store for sale with a slight profit margin, it can take back your system and swap it with a new core (less power supply and controller) for less.

They don't throw out the machines they get back, I can tell you that, since my latest replacement has one of the original-era loud-ass optical drives. MS is taking those units back and reusing some of the parts. For that matter, they don't even take back the power supply, you keep that.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Jan 11th 2008 10:24AM

Except they rarely swap. They refurbish. That means paying someone to open the box, remove the defective components, replace with working components, add a better heat sync, test the box, close it, test it again, and then ship it back to you.

Its not a matter of swapping boxes. You aren't getting the same 360 you sent back, but you are getting someone elses refurb.

driven2sin @ Jan 11th 2008 2:05PM

M$ commiting a billion dollar write off to extend warranties? that aint getting through your thick fake head

Zeus.:God @ Jan 11th 2008 4:59PM

The stores are the people who pay for the shipping, when they order the components, not Microsoft. On top of that, shipping in bulk gets progressively cheaper. When you're shipping many consoles to individual addresses, that gets expensive. Say you ship 12 consoles to a store. The shipping cost would be less expensive than shipping 12 consoles to 12 individual locations.

Zeus.:God @ Jan 11th 2008 4:59PM

BIGGEN @ Jan 10th 2008 5:35PM

ugh

joeyg @ Jan 10th 2008 5:35PM

i'm glad the NEW xbox's are reliable...but what about the ones me and millions of others paid $400 for? is that money just down the toilet? are we supposed to spend more $$$ to get a new, reliable system?

@deaftly....a crap system is a crap system. I have never had one piece of electronic equipment that broke in the first 7 months...or even 2 years for that matter.

deaftly @ Jan 10th 2008 5:40PM

I had a gamecube break on me within 6 months and my ps3 that i bought in november just crapped out last night for some reason. Oddly enough i have 2 360's and neither has given me a prob yet. One is from Feb06 and the other is from last month. Shit breaks, get over it. Can't argue with a 3 year warranty also.

XanthouS @ Jan 10th 2008 5:48PM

@Deaftly:

Nobody believes that you have a PS3. Also, the "3-year warranty" only covers RRoD, and it's still no excuse for terribly faulty hardware (especially because M$ only acted on this epidemic after the PS3 started picking up steam).

Ihya @ Jan 10th 2008 6:02PM

Deftly, not a chance.

Night Elve @ Jan 10th 2008 6:30PM

Yeah right and Fernando has a PS3.

Night Elve @ Jan 10th 2008 6:31PM

Yeah right and Fernando has a PS3.

Night Elve @ Jan 10th 2008 6:31PM

Yeah right and Fernando has a PS3.

Zoesch @ Jan 10th 2008 6:58PM

Yeah right and Ska Oreo/Vegeta has a PS3

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Jan 10th 2008 10:46PM

????

Why would you use my name?

hvnlysoldr @ Jan 10th 2008 11:59PM

I want to call profile 0 MissingNo.

Raikage (Wii FC 5508 0487 4434 0992) @ Jan 11th 2008 12:13AM

Yeah and I have enough money to buy a PS3...

Wait a sec.....

Zoesch @ Jan 11th 2008 12:29AM

@Vegeta: For a little variety, don't feel as if I was associating you with Fernando.

deaftly @ Jan 11th 2008 10:08AM

@The jackasses saying i dont have a ps3.

my psn/360 id is deaftly, add me if you want. Actually i wouldnt mind playing some games with you guys. I got the ps3 to work last night, something with the video fucked up. I had to hook up a shitty composite cable and reset all my video setting to get the hdmi to work again. wierd.