If you're a qualified electrical engineer and want to do work that may cast you as a hero in the eyes of many, many gamers, this is your chance. Please fix the Xbox 360 motherboard once and for all!
[Thanks @GameAddict!]
If you're a qualified electrical engineer and want to do work that may cast you as a hero in the eyes of many, many gamers, this is your chance. Please fix the Xbox 360 motherboard once and for all!
[Thanks @GameAddict!]
Reader Comments (83)
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 3:57PM (Unverified) said
How sad.....
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 3:58PM Zertoss said
I would design the motherboard to emit a healthy dose of z-rays, making your console transparent with the possible side effect of sterilizing everyone in the room.
Perfectly harmless really.
Perfectly harmless really.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 5:53PM rokubungi said
hmmm.. Z rays. make me think 'OW my sperm'
and then 'hmm it didn't hurt that time'
just make it with a drive like the wii's and give it a 2 lb copper and heatpipe slab that covers 75% of the motherboard and use lead solder on the graphics chip. maybe that's why they used to use lead in solder in the first place SO IT WOULDN'T FRACTURE!!! I mean there's about 15 pounds of lead in every car battery so the 3 grams it would take to fix any possible bga problems won't kill us THAT much sooner.
then again, there's probably some kind of tax break for RHOS and that's why they won't use lead solder.
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and then 'hmm it didn't hurt that time'
just make it with a drive like the wii's and give it a 2 lb copper and heatpipe slab that covers 75% of the motherboard and use lead solder on the graphics chip. maybe that's why they used to use lead in solder in the first place SO IT WOULDN'T FRACTURE!!! I mean there's about 15 pounds of lead in every car battery so the 3 grams it would take to fix any possible bga problems won't kill us THAT much sooner.
then again, there's probably some kind of tax break for RHOS and that's why they won't use lead solder.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:04PM butaneko said
Their next system had better be fricking bulletproof.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:24PM HighFiveJesus said
the original xbox was pretty bullet proof and thats why you could rob a bank with it's size alone. But Microsoft is really a software company and that is what they do best.
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Posted: Mar 8th 2010 11:13PM ToTheMoon said
>>Their next system had better be fricking bulletproof.
Or what? You will buy a 2nd console as a reward for them designing the most error prone piece of hardware in the last decade?
Most of the 360 owners on this site are pretty devoted to their console and will support Microsoft no matter how bad their design turns out. If my console of choice broke down on me more than once in a 12 month period, I would seriously look at the competition and support a product that works when I want it to. Granted they have come a long way since the initial days but the fact that it is still happening is mind boggling to me.
No, it's as HFJ said, MS is a software company and although Windows and Office can be annoying at times, they really are useful pieces of software that work 99% of the time. MS seems to do a not too good of a job on their first go around, but the 2nd and following version tend to be polished and pretty good. If you look back on most of their products, you can see this trend.
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Or what? You will buy a 2nd console as a reward for them designing the most error prone piece of hardware in the last decade?
Most of the 360 owners on this site are pretty devoted to their console and will support Microsoft no matter how bad their design turns out. If my console of choice broke down on me more than once in a 12 month period, I would seriously look at the competition and support a product that works when I want it to. Granted they have come a long way since the initial days but the fact that it is still happening is mind boggling to me.
No, it's as HFJ said, MS is a software company and although Windows and Office can be annoying at times, they really are useful pieces of software that work 99% of the time. MS seems to do a not too good of a job on their first go around, but the 2nd and following version tend to be polished and pretty good. If you look back on most of their products, you can see this trend.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:16PM Katana Master said
Quite the opposite.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:17PM Ballistic H said
Basically, all the engineers they currently have employed and paid sky-high can't come up with a better design...
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:17PM Misframed said
It will not be current-gen until the last generation of consoles stop being sold (I'm looking at you PS2).
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:23PM HighFiveJesus said
I've had next to no problems with any electronics and failure, but it doesn't mean it is not out there. Honestly though, when a product you spend a lot of coin on decides to break, you send it in. When it breaks AGAIN and AGAIN, well... why do you do that to yourself? Just get something different that WORKS.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 4:50PM TheRagingBull said
Hot Diggity! XBox 360 2!
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 5:08PM incendious said
So their existing engineers couldn't fix the mess, ay?
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 5:51PM iceveiled said
"Their next system had better be fricking bulletproof."
Good luck with that. So many people have purchased multiple 360's, voted with their wallet, and basically said to microsoft "we'll buy your hardware multiple times even though it's manufactured like pure shit".
AKA you've all enabled Microsoft to go ahead and make their next gen console poorly manufactured.
Go ahead and downvote me but this is the truth. You, the consumer, have already doomed the next console. We'll see who's laughing in 2-3 years.
(PS.. it'll be Microsoft laughing all the way to the bank. Again. And me, I'll be laughing too)
Good luck with that. So many people have purchased multiple 360's, voted with their wallet, and basically said to microsoft "we'll buy your hardware multiple times even though it's manufactured like pure shit".
AKA you've all enabled Microsoft to go ahead and make their next gen console poorly manufactured.
Go ahead and downvote me but this is the truth. You, the consumer, have already doomed the next console. We'll see who's laughing in 2-3 years.
(PS.. it'll be Microsoft laughing all the way to the bank. Again. And me, I'll be laughing too)
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 7:13PM (Unverified) said
Wrong. I dont think we consumers will be willing to go through this again. Sure, some will, but a vast majority are not going to be willing to repeat this. MS had better understand it. They kind of got lucky this go around with so many willing to stick with the 360 despite its hardware issues.
If the next console has major problems out the gate as the 360 did, the console is toast. Im hoping they learned from this and I hope they know better than to believe theyll succeed with another huge problem.
Either way, I know many of you are happy staying with the current gen for a while. And I am too to a degree. But I personally cant wait to see whats next. I really look forward to the future generation of consoles, specifically MS. I want to see what they learned from this gen and see if they can wow us and be leaps ahead of Sony when it comes to thinking about the future. I think in some areas, Sony 1 uped them there with BluRay and their processor.
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If the next console has major problems out the gate as the 360 did, the console is toast. Im hoping they learned from this and I hope they know better than to believe theyll succeed with another huge problem.
Either way, I know many of you are happy staying with the current gen for a while. And I am too to a degree. But I personally cant wait to see whats next. I really look forward to the future generation of consoles, specifically MS. I want to see what they learned from this gen and see if they can wow us and be leaps ahead of Sony when it comes to thinking about the future. I think in some areas, Sony 1 uped them there with BluRay and their processor.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 11:17PM ToTheMoon said
Are you serious? If these people are willing to take it lying down the first time, why would it be any different the second time?
I mean really, what did these people learn aside from the fact that you should buy a 2nd console so that when/if the first one breaks and you have to ship it off, you can use the 2nd one. Wow.. what insight!
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I mean really, what did these people learn aside from the fact that you should buy a 2nd console so that when/if the first one breaks and you have to ship it off, you can use the 2nd one. Wow.. what insight!
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 11:24PM ToTheMoon said
As for MS being ahead of Sony in terms of future technology, I don't know.
* The fact that MS said that HDMI is a non-issue and then reversed that decision a year later was a major blunder on their part.
* The BluRay vs HDDVD thing was a crap shoot and Sony came out on top but it could have gone either way.
* Integrated wireless in the PS3 was something every "next gen" console should have out of the gates
* Internal power supply for the PS3 was a stroke of aesthetic genius. (I the look of tangled wires and heaps of power supplies)
Microsoft is going to have to abandon their whole proprietary technology stance for their consoles if they are going to get my money. I like the fact that I can pair any bluetooth headset with my PS3 and that I can also get any standard 2.5" drive and drop it in my PS3 for 1/2 the price of what 360 owners pay for theirs. Sony did a good job on forecasting what the future technologies were going to be and went with it. Kudos to them for that. Big boo for their horrible marketing campaigns for the first 2 years - they will live on as a business case studies of how NOT to market your product.
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* The fact that MS said that HDMI is a non-issue and then reversed that decision a year later was a major blunder on their part.
* The BluRay vs HDDVD thing was a crap shoot and Sony came out on top but it could have gone either way.
* Integrated wireless in the PS3 was something every "next gen" console should have out of the gates
* Internal power supply for the PS3 was a stroke of aesthetic genius. (I the look of tangled wires and heaps of power supplies)
Microsoft is going to have to abandon their whole proprietary technology stance for their consoles if they are going to get my money. I like the fact that I can pair any bluetooth headset with my PS3 and that I can also get any standard 2.5" drive and drop it in my PS3 for 1/2 the price of what 360 owners pay for theirs. Sony did a good job on forecasting what the future technologies were going to be and went with it. Kudos to them for that. Big boo for their horrible marketing campaigns for the first 2 years - they will live on as a business case studies of how NOT to market your product.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 7:06PM (Unverified) said
I have no big problems with them doing this though it doesn seem a bit late in the cycle to do it. I guess its just a message really further proving they intend on staying w/ the 360 for a while longer.
I do hope they are at least designing and researching for their next console. RROD aside, MS managed to do well this Gen. I am happy with my 360 but I cant help but look ahead to what may be next and I hope that MS is looking ahead as well. Even if they plan to keep the 360 rolling for a couple more years. I hope they blow us away with their next console, whenever it does come out. One things for sure, if they have another RROD type issue early on, theyll be through. As much as people have stuck with it this go around, I think we'll all be pretty cautious next generation. If MS pull out some great specs, great hardware, and design a console that is truly ready for the future, without major hardware problems its going to be great for all of us.
I do hope they are at least designing and researching for their next console. RROD aside, MS managed to do well this Gen. I am happy with my 360 but I cant help but look ahead to what may be next and I hope that MS is looking ahead as well. Even if they plan to keep the 360 rolling for a couple more years. I hope they blow us away with their next console, whenever it does come out. One things for sure, if they have another RROD type issue early on, theyll be through. As much as people have stuck with it this go around, I think we'll all be pretty cautious next generation. If MS pull out some great specs, great hardware, and design a console that is truly ready for the future, without major hardware problems its going to be great for all of us.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 7:24PM SmokemeaKipper said
I would make it with a RSOD, Red Square of Death
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 7:48PM Binkious said
Just make it more reliable
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 8:12PM TonyGeezy said
Hope this time they test it properly... and hopefully the disc drive doesn't have the same problems either, scratching discs, failing to read them, and being noisy. Wish that's the product they put out in the first place! I've had a core, pro, and elite fail on me. So sick of this...
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 8:23PM EngadgetSoFunny said
I think your rather misframing the truth(pun intended) if your calling a ps2 current gen just because its being sold. Most gamers on this website would not call a ps2 current generation.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 8:29PM Shiaoran said
I know shit about motherboards, but I'm confident I'd do a better job than the current people.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 8:33PM Mystictrust said
I misread the title as "Design the next xbox 360 dashboard" and was like "WAT? XNA Dashboard FTW??"
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 9:05PM Reinhart said
I wonder if they'd design it so as to lock out DVD player firmware overwriting too, hmm.
Posted: Mar 8th 2010 9:23PM Strem said
Unless it has mouse and keyboard support I'm not interested
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 12:26AM yugo said
strem, go for pc instead than !
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 2:11AM Veetzs said
I do have to state something regarding a quote in the article,
"The responsibilities of this position are focused on specifying, designing (schematic capture, PCB layout, BOM, cost analysis), implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the Xbox 360 product line,"
Couldn't this also include natal under the 360's product line?
Also cost analysis could just mean find where the 360 is over priced (components) and improve apon that.
The PCB's could just be re arranging the onboard hardware to prevent mods I guess and improve reliability.
"The responsibilities of this position are focused on specifying, designing (schematic capture, PCB layout, BOM, cost analysis), implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the Xbox 360 product line,"
Couldn't this also include natal under the 360's product line?
Also cost analysis could just mean find where the 360 is over priced (components) and improve apon that.
The PCB's could just be re arranging the onboard hardware to prevent mods I guess and improve reliability.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 4:33AM pika2000 said
Maybe they can make it BROD, to complement BSOD. :D
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 10:11AM Elranzer said
The next generation doesn't start until Sony says it does.
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