Rumor: Anonymous Microsoft source reveals truth about the Red Ring of Death

I could have told you that. You think that with the Xbox being the last of the last-gen consoles to be released and the Xbox 360 being the first in the Next-gen that it wasn't rushed? I'm amazed at how great the software is, but yeah.. It's a shame they didn't cough up the dough for a more reliable heatsink. If they had, I think that most of those people who are now waiting for the problem to be fixed would have bought them earlier, and we would still be looking at the #1 Next-gen console. I don't think the Wii would have passed it, honestly. At least not yet.

Insufficient testing is a no-brainer, but the 360 really is a horrible design. It's just bad design, rather than cutting corners.

I think the real problem is that somebody at Microsoft didn't take into consideration that the DVD drive creates heat as it operates, and having it sit right on top of the GPU heatsink was a severely stupid thing to do. Maybe in their testing labs, they only ran the machine with a CPU/GPU stress test, but didn't have the DVD drive spinning. I've seen bigger oversights during product testing.

Really, using an standard DVD drive was dumb to begin with. It's just too big to fit into a console, and that means less room for other parts.

I find it really cool that the Dreamcast used a heatpipe to carry heat to a side-mounted radiator, thus allowing for such a small form factor. There's a lot of empty space in a 360. Microsoft could have learned a lot from Sega's design.

First of all, I don't think this XBOX guy is allowed to divulge all those companies secret. He signed an NDA when he joined Microsoft and exposing so much info right now should cost him his job.

That being said, he brings some new ideas why the 360 is RROD. I like his comments where he says even if you send a Falcon to get fixed, it's possible you might get an older 360 when the fixed one comes in. After hearing that, I don't think I'm gonna get a 360 at all.

I don't plan to get a 360, but if I did own one, I would seriously look into modding it by adding a water cooling solution. In the PC gaming rig builder's scene, the problems with the 360 sound exactly like what happens to an under-cooled PC that has a high-performance graphics card.

This article doesn't single out anything. This guy basically says that anything could possibly brick your 360. Although I buy the bit about Humidity/Room Temp. I've never really had issues with my 360, perhaps it's because it is played in my basement 95% of the time where the average temp is 65 degrees and there are two dehumidifiers running 24/7. The single time it died on me occurred while I was visiting my father in North Carolina.

Are any of the newer 360's failing?

Honestly the way this is working out it seems like the 360 is the new PS2 in terms of hardware performance and game selection....The PS2 had a high failure rate with a shit load of games and it seems like MS has come on the same luck...hmmmm...Who knows? I wouldn't mind seeing an American console win the console war though...I know I'm bias because I'm American but who cares? Lmao

dear god the 360 had a hardware problem. We all know it, buts its over. Why do people constantly keep referring to it? It has been fixed. If you go out and buy a new 360 today your console will be jsut fine. Also, all original launch consoles are STILL under warranty from RROD, so need to worrya bout anything.

My 360 broke, I sent it in, got it back (a new replacement). I then went on ebay, sold it for $50 less then retail. I took that money, added $50 from my pocket and purchased a new manufactured console. Been running the new one 24/7 for 4+ months and no problems. So yes I had to spend $50 of my own money in the end, but that was my choice. New buyers today do not have to worrya bout this. So why bring it up as if the 360 is not reliable?

Theres so many pieces of hardware just like this. Inf act, the ps2 also was a craptacular build (dvd laser) on their early models, but purchasers today dont need to worry about that as sony fixed the problem long ago. Why bother mentioning it?

So wait, you're telling me that Microsoft rushed a product to market, used cheap parts and didn't think through it's RMA system? What part of this is news, exactly?

Microsoft always rushes it's products to market, have some examples; Windows Vista, Xbox 360 Wireless headset, MSN Messenger 7, Windows ME... Even if you love these products, they were rushed in design, development and release.
Microsoft used cheap parts, well... That's understandable, as they loose money on each console sold, a cheap heatsink would do more or less the same job as a normal heatsink, but there's the word 'cheap', after finding themselves a few million dollars down from developing the Xbox 360, I don't blame them for suddenly thinking "oh shit" when it came to footing the bill to make the consoles. Plus, with the Xbox not doing so well LAST generation, you have to admit, even YOU would have made that call. It's just unfortunate that this action, in the end, seem to cause RROD problems... But even consoles with NEW heatsinks are RRODing, so maybe this is just a non-issue and the 360 needed Jet engine cooling fans. Also, it would seem that their cheap ways ended up costing them more because of these RROD problems.

Now, I'm not defending Microsoft here, the RROD problem is terrible and the after-effects of RROD are shitty (Xbox Live Arcade DRM conflicts, etc). But you have to realise, that any company would have done this. I mean, Sony has done more or less the same thing openly, they've made the PS3 out of cheaper pieces, removed hardware features (PS2 compatibility, card reader, 20GB off the original 60GB HDD). So just think about it before jumping on Microsoft here.

So wait, you're telling me that Microsoft rushed a product to market, used cheap parts and didn't think through it's RMA system? What part of this is news, exactly?

Microsoft always rushes it's products to market, have some examples; Windows Vista, Xbox 360 Wireless headset, MSN Messenger 7, Windows ME... Even if you love these products, they were rushed in design, development and release.
Microsoft used cheap parts, well... That's understandable, as they loose money on each console sold, a cheap heatsink would do more or less the same job as a normal heatsink, but there's the word 'cheap', after finding themselves a few million dollars down from developing the Xbox 360, I don't blame them for suddenly thinking "oh shit" when it came to footing the bill to make the consoles. Plus, with the Xbox not doing so well LAST generation, you have to admit, even YOU would have made that call. It's just unfortunate that this action, in the end, seem to cause RROD problems... But even consoles with NEW heatsinks are RRODing, so maybe this is just a non-issue and the 360 needed Jet engine cooling fans. Also, it would seem that their cheap ways ended up costing them more because of these RROD problems.

Now, I'm not defending Microsoft here, the RROD problem is terrible and the after-effects of RROD are shitty (Xbox Live Arcade DRM conflicts, etc). But you have to realise, that any company would have done this. I mean, Sony has done more or less the same thing openly, they've made the PS3 out of cheaper pieces, removed hardware features (PS2 compatibility, card reader, 20GB off the original 60GB HDD). So just think about it before jumping on Microsoft here.

I have a contact who works at Celestica in Prague (CZ), the whole plant's current purpose is to repair faulty Xbox 360's.

They are currently at 300% capacity (meaning, in any timeframe there are 3x more coming in, than they can get out the door).

He also mentioned that about 30% of the consoles are coming direct from the manufacturing plants in Asia, where there are large numbers of defects straight from the manufacturing lines. (but hey, at least they are catching them now...).

Overall, it seems like a process totally out of control. 10% failure rate for the redesigned Falcon is also pretty shocking (lets imagine for a moment, if this were Sony with 10% failure rate, let alone a 30-40% rate, the fanboys would be in overdrive)

And here I thought I was the only consumer with this problem. Thanks, Metcalf!

Q: Why does my 360 freeze when playing Vegas online, but at no other time.

Q: Why is my 360(launch) really noisy even when there is no disc in the drive.

Q: Why isn't mine dead so I can buy a bloody Elite.

I want to add that the 360 may have a high failure rate, but the PS3 isn't failure proof.

I got one when they reduced/shifted the 60gb. The first wouldn't turn on, returned and declared faulty. The second died within 1 week, crashing, freezing, then wouldn't turn on. Both kept Horizontal. Third has been fine, and kept Vertical. Maybe this is why my 360 is fine, both Vertical, and staying that way.

Correction PS3s that died kept Vertical, one that survives kept Horizontal.

I love how the interviewer and the source both have 360s that have had no problems...

Guess what I have 3 launch systems....and no problems also.

Lucky me I guess......

@Lifted 0ne 4l9 (NDF - Fire!)

Before you run your mouth why don't you read the posts above yours again? James post clearly states that he "had 2 RROD 360's." That is covered by warranty, also if you read my 2nd post I also state, "I know the warranty doesn't cover everything but it does cover rrod."

Reading Comprehension is a skill you need to work on!

Your XNA statement is also ridiculous, you act like making homebrew even more simple without it. I never said anything about being simple. Modding isn't simple, creating games isn't simple, getting homebrew to work on a modded system isn't as simple as burning a disc. Go ahead and put more "+" next to Lifted One's post PS3 and Wii fanboys!

James just open your mouth and insurt your foot again or come up with more stories about 360s being gifts and selling them broken instead of fixing them blah blah blah.

Oh that`s why i love PC gaming my 5 years old PC still running strong, OHHH WHAT A WONDERFULL WORLD......

The PS2's major fault was Disk Read Error. Now if you had any experience inside the console, you know the eye was a pain in the ass to get at. I've had that problem twice, I fixed it twice by opening the disk drive from the inside of the PS2 and cleaning it w/ rubbing alchohol and a cuetip. The Xbox 360 isn't as easy. You need to replace the 360 to altogether to completely stop the RROD from happening. Talk about a month wait from send out to send in to get it back.

Hit my 5th RROD a couple weeks ago. Received the same unit back and my disc drive keeps getting stuck and it's scratched a couple discs, which never happened before repair. Called in yet again, got connected to their call center in India, which resulted in the same experience 2 other times I had reached them: terrible customer service. Hung up on them. It's just frustrating overall. It's a great system when it works but having to put up with all this crap in order to play something that should function is just discouraging.

The sad thing is that this strategy has been rewarded. The situation would be drastically different if 360 timetable had been pushed back a year, or even half a year

The totality of Microsoft's strategy was to beat the competition to market and gain an irreversible lead, this was part of that

I still have my 1st launch ps2 system, and guess what? it was Fine, and decided to give it to my nephew because i brought a launch ps3. maybe i was one of the lucky ones =)*crosses fingers*

VERY GOOD interview!!

and M$'s risk of 30% fail rate worked for them...

Damned Microsoft. I'm sure my 360 is going to brick AGAIN at some point. But how is it these bums had me smiling like an idiot when they sent that shipping box to me, and I knew I'd get that thing back in less than a month so I could get beack to my games?

It's a damned games monopoly. How do I keep in touch with my best friend in Austin? Halo 3. How do I detach from reality and roll up people along a silly Japanese soundtrack? Katamari. How do I bang aliens? Obviously, Mass Effect.

Sigh. I'm more than happy to put up with this delay to get my box back, because while I'd love to play Ratchet & Clank or Uncharted, the gaming you'll get on the 360 is simply uncomparable.

Thank the lord for my filler space with Mario and Zack & Wiki on the Wii...

They shud make the red ring of death yellow so everybody will say "It's yellow, it's so cool!!!1one!!!"

But we already knew that M$ rushed to release the 360, it just took so long for a reputable source to say it D:

And I'm still not going to buy an Xbox 360, because I'm afraid of rejection lol

You know this would be a revalation if... THIS WAS RELEASED 10 FUCKING MONTHS AGO!!! I'm not saying no one cares(I still worry whether my 360 will die on me) but old news is fucking old news. We know all this crap about a month after the epidemic. Nice job Mr. slowpants metcalf(HAH!!!! WIT!!!!).

The MDF would really be better off withdrawing from comment threads like this one, instead of trying to say the PS2 was just as unreliable as the 360 or some other fictitious nonsense.

Someone at a forum I regularly go to, had his ps3 die. I thought it was pretty hilarious for some reason. Probably because I like kicking people while they're down.

Hate to spoil your day Xbox owners, but you spent $300-400+ on a P.O.S.!! When will you ever learn?!

"Morgan - spare us the anti-Joystiq crap. It does nothing to make you look cool."

And defending Joystiq for being tools does not become you either. That whole third graph was a load of shwag-protecting CYA. I could hear MS's public relations office cracking the whip from here.

I've played lots of all the consoles, and yes, it's a P.O'S. Sorry!