Rumor: Anonymous Microsoft source reveals truth about the Red Ring of Death
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jan 19th 2008 at 6:45PM }
All of these questions and more are apparently answered in a recent article by Jake Metcalf from 8Bit Joystick (no relation), who interviewed a nameless "inside source" at Microsoft who was involved in the testing and manufacturing of the console. According to the John Doe, the system was rushed to beat Sony to the market, had purposefully cheap heat sinks (which causes most of the RROD problems), and, most disturbingly, there's a chance that Microsoft may run out of systems with which to replace those that suffer hardware failures.
Jake has proven that he's well connected in the past, calling the Bungie-Microsoft split a week before it was announced thanks to another anonymous Microsoft tipster -- but some of the claims made in this particular article are inflammatory enough to merit higher-than-usual levels of skepticism.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Envoy @ Jan 19th 2008 6:49PM
Those mother ...
prateeko @ Jan 19th 2008 7:51PM
Wait, this is a surprise? The broken heatsinks cause the motherboard to warp (thats why people get checkered patterns because the GPU connections are coming off).
But why is this news? Sites such as llama.com have proven this a while back and plenty of people have purchased broken xboxes and fixed them by putting in better cooling/heat sinks (which is why smaller CPU/GPUs and better heatsinks in new xboxes are in there now)...
Microsoft, however, cannot admit this because then they'll be wide open for a lawsuit (bastards!)
Obie @ Jan 19th 2008 10:26PM
Jake Metcalf = Captain Obvious
Zeus.:God @ Jan 19th 2008 11:19PM
Umm, the board warping isn't an issue. Most pin based PC CPU coolers warp the board just as much as the heatsinks in the Xbox 360. Thats not possibly the issue. The only thing that could happen with the heat sinks is and unequal tightening of the screws.
Patrick @ Jan 20th 2008 8:00AM
"those mother"
shut yo mouth
TripleTag @ Jan 20th 2008 1:29PM
...cluckin' class action lawsuits!
hvnlysoldr @ Jan 20th 2008 1:06PM
Only talkin' about MicroShaft.
morganfell @ Jan 20th 2008 3:49PM
"...but some of the claims made in this particular article are inflammatory enough to merit higher-than-usual levels of skepticism."
Of course this site is skeptical. Microstiq doesn't want to lend creedence to any bad 360 news no matter how many people have suffered console failures. There is a point where this site needs to renamed to tool.com
NATO_Duke @ Jan 21st 2008 9:52AM
Morgan - spare us the anti-Joystiq crap. It does nothing to make you look cool.
XanthouS @ Jan 19th 2008 6:51PM
Rushed to market?
Cheaply designed?
I don't need an inside source to see this...
darkpen @ Jan 19th 2008 10:16PM
lol, seriously, what the hell? These are things that we've known for ages, since the moment that Microsoft even announced the 360's release plans. Hell, there was even divulging about how this was their way of becoming the "PS2 of the next generation," and if anything, they succeeded... in the US. Everything else just fell into place, telling a story to gamers who cared enough to find out, about how Microsoft would rob us of our money for the enjoyment of Perfect Dark Zero, and the future-promise of Halo 3
The ramifications of the 360's release forever tainted the enjoyment of gaming and quality at the expense of everyone that does anything around gaming, and just now we're hearing this sort of "official" confirmation? Microsoft fucked everyone over, and no one will care because they're too busy doing what they came to do: play games.
hotnutz @ Jan 20th 2008 9:04AM
>these are things that we've known for ages, since the >moment that Microsoft even announced the 360's release >plans.
Yes we may know them, but many, many, MANY tardboys on this site refuse to recognize and admit that Microsoft screwed the consumer. They blindly support the 360 even though it is probably the most poorly designed piece of hardware ever to hit consumer shelves. I agree that the 360 has some great games on it but you can also get those same great games on the PC.
What's the point of having a console if you never know when it will bread down?
To be honest, the fact that Microsoft has propagated the American image of poor quality (like Chrysler, Ford, GM) should have outraged most Americans and they should have voted for with their wallets. Then again, the American people thought George Bush was doing such a great job that they decided to elect him a second time.
Yes I realize that this comment is inflammatory and will probably get faded away into oblivion but what part of it is false? When you compare Toyota against Ford, which one would choose as more reliable? Same test but the choice is a 360 vs a PS3/Wii - which would you choose based on it's reliability? (the tardboys will bring up the games component but we all know that the argument has long been countered by the slew of good games on both the Wii and PS3).
Roto13 @ Jan 20th 2008 9:16AM
Yeah, really.
OMG REVELATION!: The Wii is the least powerful current gen system in order to keep manufacturing costs down!
WHO TOLD?!
Myth @ Jan 20th 2008 1:40PM
Hotnutz,
Poorly designed? You've never played an NES before, have you? You had to do a whole lot of praying to a higher power and blowing into a cartridge just to even have a chance at playing a game on it.
arrrgh @ Jan 20th 2008 6:45PM
yeah, after it was a DECADE OLD
nes was great.
and the blowing thing was a non-issue if you would just go buy a game genie. Any game worked damn near 100% of the time.
poor nes n00b
Triforceowner @ Jan 19th 2008 6:55PM
"Of all five videogame systems on the market now (PS3, PSP, PS2, Wii and 360)only the Xbox 360 has had such major hardware failure problems."
That was a question asked of the anonymous employee, but it is incorrect, isn't it? PS2 has major hardware failures, or are those all gone with the slim?
Sircolby45 @ Jan 19th 2008 7:05PM
"or are those all gone with the slim?"
Umm...no
Jon @ Jan 19th 2008 7:13PM
Dunno about PS2 Slim since mine still works fine 3 years later and hundreds if not thousands of hours of video gaming.
eldee @ Jan 19th 2008 7:40PM
yeah, and there are lucky 360 owners who have never had a problem either. they are not in the majority, however, and neither are you.
the ps2 was (and is) an unreliable piece of shit (with some great games!). I can quantify this statement by my 3 years of refurbishing electronics... i've repaired so many PS2's I can probably replace laser assemblies with my eyes closed.
timnc @ Jan 19th 2008 8:12PM
I'm one of the lucky people that had a PS2 quit reading discs 4 weeks after it was released. Luckily I was still in waranty. Never had a problem with my 360.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Jan 19th 2008 9:03PM
The rate of PS2 failures is GREATLY exaggerated. There were two models (V12 and V13?) which exhibited a lot of CD failures. Otherwise, it's been pretty smooth sailing.
Some percentage of units do fail, but it's much lower than 30% and it's generally older units, not like 360 which dies young a lot.
ExMcCloud @ Jan 19th 2008 9:26PM
The original PS2 had hardware failures at a alarming rate also when it released with the whole Disc Read Error Fiasco. So the 360 is not alone in that aspect..but regardless of the fact the 360 was put together like a piece of crap and it shows...Now that Microsoft made some money though I expect the remake of the system to be outstanding.
B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 19th 2008 10:26PM
my PS2 had to be replaced twice.
the first time was my fault. my parents wouldnt buy me a memory card at first so i simply left the console on all the time and it eventually burned up and gave me a disc read error. thank god for the Circuit City replacement plan though. they gave me another one with no questions asked.
the second time was just an unprovoked disc read error but it had held up for almost a year and they had dropped the price since. i took it back to Circuit City and they gave me a new PS2 plus the $100 difference on a gift card. i got 2 games with that and the last PS2 is about 3-4 years old and still going strong.
either way, the mass amounts of great games the PS2 had made me put up with the faulty hardware. now i dont know if Sony planned that with the PS2 (wouldnt surprise me), but it now looks like Microsoft is using the same strategy with the 360 and it certainly seems to be working so far. but at the same time, i think the circumstances are a little different this race since the Gamecube and unproven Xbox didnt have much to offer me in the last console race but the Wii and PS3 both have enough to possibly sway disgruntled customers from the 360.
whatever the case, who the hell would be surprised by this story? real or not?
DCBlack @ Jan 19th 2008 11:24PM
I guess I was pretty lucky with the PS2 because I had a launch console that hasn't failed me to this day. I do recall a disc read error at one point, but I believe it was just a scratched disc. That was a long time ago.
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) (BWF) @ Jan 19th 2008 11:51PM
he forgot the number 1 selling DS.
Tesley @ Jan 20th 2008 12:59AM
Mine never gave me a problem and it's not the slim PS2...
Mike918 @ Jan 20th 2008 1:22AM
6 Years and counting with my fat PS2 :P i only have a problem with the disc tray but nothing lethal.
Patrick @ Jan 20th 2008 8:33AM
i think the 360 failure rate is a little blown out of proportion, i think it only seems that is everyone because you only complain when you get a broken one, and you dont praise it when it works fine
Cal @ Jan 20th 2008 3:00PM
I
Cal @ Jan 20th 2008 3:00PM
I
Cal @ Jan 20th 2008 3:00PM
I
elmersglue @ Jan 19th 2008 6:58PM
what the hell does that even mean, run out of systems... It almost seems completely irrelevant because if you're still under warranty, then it doesn't matter how microsoft fixes it for you, they'd have to pull one out of their asses if they had to... in the end, this article is useless.
XanthouS @ Jan 19th 2008 7:06PM
It means between selling new units and having to replace bricked 360s still under warranty, there's a fear M$ might not be able to keep production high enough to satisfy both needs.
Then what does the company do? Lose money and oinstall base by failing to meet comsumer demand or increase the wait time for customers to get a working 360.
We all know which course of action M$ would take...
ShortFuse @ Jan 19th 2008 7:35PM
Number of Xbox360 that break in a week > Number of Xbox360 made in a week reserved for replacement
That's what he means. Microsoft makes some Xbox360s just for replacing broken ones. Maybe 5% of total are reserved and 95% shipped to retailers.
elmersglue @ Jan 19th 2008 7:58PM
I know what the guy meant, but my point was that it shouldn't mean anything to consumers. I would assume it's there problem to deal with shortages of refurbished units, and not the consumers. Give new ones out for all we care, as long as replacements are shipped. Now if what xanthous is saying ends up happening (taking longer for sending out replacements) then that sucks.
Slaziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Jan 19th 2008 8:30PM
Haha, you thought you were getting newly manufactured 360's? They are refurbished 360's with tacked on heatsinks. So unless they run out of heatsinks, they can't run out of 360's.
maylon @ Jan 19th 2008 6:59PM
Dead horse, find something else, Joystiq.
el serpiente @ Jan 19th 2008 6:59PM
WELL, I HAFF HAD MINE SINCE LAUNCH AND I WRAP IT IN BLANKETS WHEN I PLAY AND IT NEVER bROKE AND IF YOU DUMMIES CAN'T TAKE CARE UF YUR STUFF, THEN...oops, it red ringed.
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Jan 19th 2008 7:11PM
Hahaha, that was hilarious! Oh wait...no, not that, the other thing.
Ubercharged @ Jan 19th 2008 7:27PM
My launch box actually just broke two days ago
ThornedVenom @ Jan 19th 2008 7:37PM
Your lunch box?
marcandrer @ Jan 19th 2008 8:49PM
yeah his lunch box.. he couldnt eat that day.. shame on you microsoft !
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) (BWF) @ Jan 19th 2008 11:54PM
Thats right tell em lunch box...nooch.
NATO_Duke @ Jan 21st 2008 10:05AM
+1 for Nick. Nice.
Triforceowner @ Jan 19th 2008 6:59PM
If you continue to read my posts in here, I'm picking out interesting parts of the article.
"Is keeping the 360 horizontal more safe than keeping it vertical?
I don't think so. Vertical exposes more surface area and volume to heat exchange with cooler room air. And I think opens more vent holes. Just don't let it fall over."
Contrary to popular belief.
Saq @ Jan 19th 2008 10:15PM
but puts stress on the dvd drive which dies too!
Lekko @ Jan 20th 2008 4:26AM
I work in rental, we see lots of games come back with rings etched into the discs. We started asking the last people who rented them, every single one of them had their system vertical.
If it wiggles a little while you play when it is vertical, it will etch a ring into the disc. You get better cooling, sure... But your game may not survive.
MegaSnort @ Jan 21st 2008 7:49PM
I keep my 360 Horizontal but elevated with books so the bottom air holes aren't covered. One drunken night someone knocked over my xbox and after that GoW stopped working T_T
SoulBlade @ Jan 19th 2008 7:00PM
It would make sense if this is true, especially the part regarding the GPU overheating. It's probably why few games have a native 720p frame buffer and rely on the scalers to do the work for them so they can slap the HD sticker on the back.
Slaziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Jan 19th 2008 9:10PM
No, it's because otherwise you'd get performance issues. The PS3 doesn't have anything like the RROD and COD4 was still 600p on it.
And on that note, who cares what the resolution is as long as it looks good? Sure they could've done 720p to meet your god damn standard and have to downgrade textures or lightning in the process, while gaining very little image quality with the extra pixels. In the end they just tried to get the best image quality possible for the hardware.