South Korean president gifted with mother of pearl Xbox 360

by Ross Miller { May 19th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has commissioned 100 Xbox 360s adorned in the traditional Korean mother of pearl, with at least one of them going to South Korean president Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae on May 6, according to Far East Gizmos. Given the conole's tepid reception in the region (although it did just receive a price drop), we wonder if the president will be able to find any local Xbox Live friends.

Regardless, that's still one of the classier case mods we've seen, and certainly more aesthetically pleasing that the Croco-360. Let's just hope the system doesn't become one massive, red-ringed paperweight.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: case, korea, lee-myung-bak, mod, south-korea

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

komamura @ May 19th 2008 7:38PM

Insert RROD comment here

komamura @ May 19th 2008 7:38PM

Oh Wait, you did it for me

mike @ May 19th 2008 7:48PM

wow are we still going on about the RROD? That was fixed back in august 07 with the added heatsink, and further fixed in september with the falcon, and will be even further fixed, if its even still possible to get under normal working conditions, when the next model comeaks in august.

While were at it, lets keep talking about faulty ps2 dvd drives.

komamura @ May 19th 2008 7:56PM

@ mike: Its definetly better than it use to be, But RROD is a stigma that will follow the 360 for the rest of the generation

konajinx @ May 19th 2008 7:58PM

Indeed, and while we're at it, let's talk about the Pinto's faulty gas tank, the overall failure of the Yugo...and hell, why not the Edsel just to make sure we cover all the old news bases?

Kujel @ May 19th 2008 8:06PM

komamura if the stigma continues it will because of Sony fanboys like you.

John McPoop @ May 19th 2008 9:29PM

"Let's just hope the system doesn't become one massive, red-ringed paperweight."

WOW

@Kujel

The stigma continues because its true ... If Microsoft would have come forward with some official numbers it may have been put to rest ... Also, it doesn't help that they never acknowledged other hardware failure issues associated with overheating other than the RROD issue ... There are a few other issues besides RROD which is all the warranty actually covers

el serpiente @ May 19th 2008 9:48PM

Yes, the sony fanboys are responsible for the RROD.

*Lifts glass case on desk, presses red button underneath*
*Kujels xbox asplode*

rip @ May 19th 2008 9:58PM

Fair enough, it might be time to move on from RROD. Just like it was time to move on from igniting power supplies.

So, for the sake of civility and accuracy, feel free to talk about disc read errors on the 360.

Back to the post, maybe he'll give that 360 to his buddies at Samsung and they'll make a 360 that doesn't break.

FrankTheCrank @ May 20th 2008 7:01AM

The shame and embarrassment Microsoft bears for their CONTINUING RROD problems are well deserved.

It's overpriced and unreliable. You guys deserve your 360 coffins. Suckers.

Benny @ May 19th 2008 7:38PM

That is very nice looking.

Kujel @ May 19th 2008 7:45PM

South Koreans are a little weird, they don't like consoles in general. Any nation that favors PCs over consoles worries me.

Mr.ESC @ May 19th 2008 7:56PM

Just because they accepted PC superiority?

I kid, consoles are great too but nothing you can't do on PCs especially because all console games are programmed in PCs.

Kujel @ May 19th 2008 8:04PM

PCs are fine for work but consoles are best for gaming.

Naota @ May 19th 2008 8:17PM

I prefer my FPSs on PC thank you very much.

Doom3killer @ May 19th 2008 8:17PM

its different in asian countries. there are beliefs that to make a product worth buying you must pack as many things as possible into the product (hence japanese phones, ps3 (why did we need blu-ray?), etc). PC's can be more customised compared to conosles.

Doom3killer @ May 19th 2008 8:19PM

also, games like half-life and team fortress and WoW are better on pc then on a console. halo 3, cod4, and gta IV are better on colsoles. that's why i have a nice pc rig, 360, and wii

Einhanderkiller @ May 19th 2008 10:49PM

Call of Duty 4 is better on consoles?

...What?

Maverick Saturn @ May 20th 2008 6:51AM

OH GOD, WoW on 360? Are you mad? £50 a year, plus £9 each month?

This is why PC rules in some cases :P

Besides, certain features are easier on PC then consoles.

Hyams @ May 19th 2008 7:51PM

I prefer the croc look, to be honest.

E.J. @ May 19th 2008 11:49PM

But unfortunately, the Croc-360 may have had its warranty broken.

Mr.ESC @ May 19th 2008 7:57PM

That's one nice Xbox.

Troy @ May 19th 2008 8:04PM

Wow, you made it all the way to the second sentence before bashing the XBox in this article. Your level of restraint is amazing.

GANNONSMASH @ May 19th 2008 8:51PM

It's not bashing, it's a fact. Asia more or less hates the Xbox. :(

Gronk @ May 19th 2008 8:05PM

How to increase Korean sales:

Starcraft 360

Happy_man @ May 19th 2008 8:09PM

So why is Bill Gate's trying to kill the president of Korea by setting his house on fire....

Seriously though, this is just a test so I can change my avatar. O_o

DaveC @ May 19th 2008 8:11PM

Imagine if he has to send it into Xbox Customer support and they end up "cleaning" it for him, á la the Halo 3 console fiasco.

Jhongerkong @ May 19th 2008 8:26PM

Looks like Shane Kim's twin brother...

..!

komamura @ May 19th 2008 9:03PM

@kujal: yep, loaded post like this one, multiple owners who have had one or more 360 die, myself included. Will all keep this stigma going. The fact that I can put the 4 letter rrod together and have anyone instantly know what it means will keep the stigma going. Face it, its nor going anywhere regardless what anyone says for or agaisnt it.

John McPoop @ May 19th 2008 9:35PM

Yeah I agree komamura ...

I have had 6 total RRODs (4 natural 2 disc read forced RROD w/towel) ...

Anytime I say that I get called a liar, Sony fanboy and every other name in the book ... Truth be told its not the only problem with the 360 but it is the most notable and it is true no matter what the fanboys want to believe ...

Unless Microsoft releases date we will NEVER know the past or present failure rates of the 360 ... Unofficially it is around 33% and that was just for RROD issues ... I think they never released official data because it was actually higher especially taking into consideration other overheating errors ...

If Microsoft ever came out and published official numbers I am pretty sure the issue would die because then the critics would not have ammunition ...

The only reason I still have one is because it kept getting fixed for free ...

The last RROD I got back had an improper DVD region coding and had to b sent back in ... I don't even include that in my official count of console failures ...

Whatever ...

Its a good console but I have grown to loathe it

Delgado @ May 19th 2008 9:59PM

"Unofficially it is around 33% and that was just for RROD issues"

No.
It was stated to be 16% of launch consoles. Pull more numbers out of your ass.

komamura @ May 19th 2008 10:09PM

@Delgado: I believe the key word there was "Unofficially"

John McPoop @ May 19th 2008 11:09PM

@Delgado

Microsoft has NEVER released official RROD totals ... The 16% your referring to was actually an independant study done by a company in the UK (?) who sells warrantys and repairs consoles but who is not officially affiliated with Microsoft ...

Even if what you said were true it is still not accurate for total console failures because Microsoft only recognizes the RROD as a warranted repair (FAILURE) when its obvious overheating can cause multiple problems not named RROD ... So you see the problem is the data would not be accurate unless your only looking for total percentage of RRODs

Dont shoot the messenger next time!

I understand you have an emotional attachment to your console and you want to defend it by calling anyone who views things differently names ... We all do it sometimes so I won't hold your momentary lapse of judgement against you ...

Superstar90 @ May 20th 2008 8:35AM

The majority of people who say that they have had RRODs/Multiple RRODs are Sony/Nintendo fanboys.

Tyler Jones @ May 19th 2008 9:04PM

South Korea only cares about Starcraft, lol.

Maverick Saturn @ May 20th 2008 6:53AM

They are just preparing for the inevitable alien invasion, thats all, is that so wrong?

clumproll @ May 19th 2008 10:49PM

Let me just state for the record that the smiling man in the picture with the pretty xbox is NOT the president of S. Korea. That happy man is Kim Young-jun, head of the manufacturing company that did the decorating. The president of S. Korea is Lee Myung-bak, and there fore not pictured..

Derek @ May 19th 2008 11:07PM

What a brown noser Bill Gates is..

Yrmomsbox @ May 19th 2008 11:08PM

The failure rate is not 33%. It is not even that high unofficially. Go do some research on the article in question, it is one of the worst pieces of yellow journalism I have seen. It is the equivalent of "I know this guy and he says" crap. Only one person in that entire article is named the other are anonymous all 3 sources lol.