It was the single biggest issue that could have destroyed Microsoft's hope of being a strong competitor in the gaming industry. In its early days, the Xbox 360 suffered from a number of technical problems that would render the console useless, many of the issues were identified by a series of red flashing lights on the face of the console, with the three red flashing lights" Red Ring of Death" (RROD) being the most infamous. The situation was so bad back in 2005 that the courts almost ordered a recall of the system. But I've noticed something happening, not many are complaining about Xbox 360's shoddy hardware anymore; in fact the internet is so silent about the issue you could hear a pin drop, and with research after research and poll after poll coming out in favor of Microsoft's console, one must wonder, did the RROD plague that almost destroyed the Xbox 360 die in 2009?
It certainly looks that way. Millions of Xbox 360 have died the RROD death since 2005 forcing Microsoft to extend its warranty to three years, with the company losing billions of dollars in the painstaking process. To its merit, the Redmond giant has made great strides forward in eliminating the issues altogether and Xbox 360 boss Aaron Greenberg now believes the hardware nightmare is now at the back of the company. But might Aaron Greenberg be right? Indeed research has proved he is.
Square Trade, the largest independent warranty provider in the world, recently released survey data which compared the malfunction rates for all three consoles and what they found was very interesting. In the survey, the Wii was found to be nine times more reliable than the Xbox 360 and four times more reliable than PS3, but with that being cleared, there's a big new reality that resulted from the survey. Square Trade's survey data shows that the introduction of the "Jasper" chipset introduced in late 2008, "has likely solved" the RROD problem.
Detailed below are some highlights of the study:
- Looking at the first two years of ownership, 2.7% of Wii owners reported a system failure to Square Trade, compared with 10% of PS3 owners and 23.7% of Xbox 360 owners.
- Excluding Red Ring of Death failures which are covered by Microsoft's 3-year warranty, 11.7% of Xbox 360 owners reported a failure.
- While the Red Ring of Death problem continued to be the major issue for Xbox 360s purchased through 2008, early indications point to the problem abating in 2009.
- The most common types of problems seen with the PS3 and Xbox 360 were disc errors and output issues. The Wii had more power and remote control issues than the other two systems.
The great news for Xbox 360 owners (I'm a proud owner myself) and Microsoft don't stop there, because according to Gamespot UK, Square Trade has since then found the first year failure rate of Xbox 360 dropped to below 4 pecent. "Looking at 500 units purchased in 2009, Square Trade found that less than one percent had suffered the Red Ring of Death," this according to Gamespot UK.
Now I can rest assured while playing some of the best exclusives on my Xbox 360 in 2010, including Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake and Halo: Reach, I won't have to worry about RROD in the back of my head; neither will you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year gamers. Let's game on: PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii, let's game on.
In 6 days www.gamesthirst.com goes live! Join us for your chance to win a Ps3/Uncharted 2 Combo!
12/25/09 Ernice Gilbert
Yeah, Now we get to worry about the E74 now. :)
ReplyDeleteHere we go again, Ernice writes a positive Xbox 360 article, and the PS3 fangirls jump in and start criticizing....
ReplyDelete5 year olds need to grow up.. I think this is a very good article...
good news for some people who bought their consoles in 2009
ReplyDeleteby the way I get the E74 alot( by alot I mean alot ) but when I reconnect my wires the xbox works again ( it's like magic )
I live in kuwait and that means its PAL region and my xbox is PAL but all games available are NTSC and I only buy region free games or
1.5 X the original price pal games
Fail. Relying on an unreliable source for doing surveys makes this more fail that it already is.
ReplyDeleteive never had the rrod and ive had my consoule from launch.....then i upgraded to the elite at launch and never once had a problem but just seeing how many broken gross looking xbox's come in at gamestop daily its more poor ownership that kills the machine...i mean common i have to wash my hands after any system comes in but thats just my opinon i know the company has a lot to do with original problems but now its poor ownership with any system even my ps3 is perfect and never had a problem like all the death stories i hear
ReplyDelete2009, the year in which the warranty of 10-15 million pre-Jasper 360's has expired.
ReplyDeleteNow that people are buying their replacement/backup consoles in silence doesn't mean the problem is gone, for most of us it's only beginning, me included. If my current 360 RRoD's MS will not replace it free anymore, because time's up & we're sh!t out of luck.
Stop fooling yourself Microsoft, the real problems are only getting started and a cheap Jasper Arcade doesn't solve them. Perhaps for you, not for me. My replacement console is already there, my 60 GB PS3 quitly buzzing in the background no matter how much I use it. And it's getting used a lot these days=)
The RRoD problem is far from over, and everybody knows it.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGuys it's Christmas; watch your tongues....
ReplyDeleteIndecent language won't be tolerated here, especially on Christmas day.
Mod.
my xbox just went on my yesterday christmas eve come on, u use a source that mayb 5,000 people actually report on so outta 5,000 people 23% of there 360s got RROD there that makes a little more sense doesnt it, the only reason i ever bought a 360 in the first place is to play burned games and save some of my money, alot of games arent worth my 69 bucks, so off to get it fixed and start playin burned games again
ReplyDeleteAh, PS3 community: the reason why I don't buy Sony's console!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the RROD problem is far from over. You have to be a fool to think it is.
ReplyDeleteMy friends Elite got the RRoD last month. I think he got it in late 2007 early 2008. He commented that he thought "it was supposed to happen on older models". He also doesnt have XBL so he cant talk about it there. Maybe thats why we can hear pins dropping. I like the 360 and im not trying to bash it. At the end of the day im a gamer and support both PS3 and 360.
ReplyDeleteUmm... I guess that's why Game Informer just did a survey and found that there is still a 50% failure rate?
ReplyDeleteNice try, but the problem is still as bad as it always was.
I really can not wait till 360 fans get an education. Pawns! This wonderful customer service of the 3 year waranty that u all dance about was to avoid a recall. U have a recall, u have no system. No system, no buisness. This was not for the loyal customers, it was to stay in the market ahead of Sony. Meanwhile m$ just collected ur dollars and crossed their fingers that most of the default systems would make it pass the three year waranty. 360 is an outdated, broken, piece of crap and I truly feel sorry for all of u that bought multiple systems due to this ignorance. Heck, u could of bought a release day ps3 and not only have saved money, but still have it and still looking forward for years of gaming. Have fun with natal!
ReplyDelete@Dude above me, I hadda send my launch PS3 in for repair twice, 1st time it was under warranty, 2nd time cost me over a hundred bux.
ReplyDeleteSo stop with the fanboy bull OK, have a merry Christmas.
I had a red ring problem in May, lucky I had a good warrenty and just exchanged the machine. My new 360 runs much cooler then my PS3 so that is a good sign (I hope). I still don't trust my 360 won't red ring on me though and so I've been buying any non-exclusives for PS3 instead and keeping my 360 for exclusives.
ReplyDeleteOk, i have had 7 360 consoles in 1 year. Yep you read that right. 7 in 1 year. I had my 360's on a glass shelf, with complete air circulation for the console.
ReplyDeleteFirst console the Disc drive broke in 18 days of buying it from new. I took that back, got a new console again, 14 days later, the RROD hit me. Took that back to shop, got exchanged again. Within 29 days of having that console i had RROD again. Took that back, Got exchanged yet again. 9 days later i got the E74 error. Took this back, got my money back from shop. Went to another shop that day, bought a new 360 again. Within 26 days RROD on me, took that back got exchanged for a new one, only to have the disc drive stop reading discs in 18 days of having it.
I call this article BS !!
I have had the PS3 for two years, and not once have i had a problem with it.
Xbox 360 sucks !!
LOL I call your entire post BS !!
ReplyDeleteWhere were you buying your 360s, craigs list? what do you expect ?!?!?!? LMAO!
I'm one of the lucky few to have never had a RRoD, yet everyone I know who owns a 360 has had one. There are four 360s in my household (moved in in March) and two had RRoDed this year.
ReplyDeleteConversely, no one I know who owns a PS3 (about the same number, same goes for the Wii) has had anything go wrong -- my PS3 is a Japanese launch 60GB, so is over four years old now.
All consoles break, all for different reasons, but it is undeniable that the 360 is the most broken ever, thanks to a design flaw inherent in the design. The RRoD cannot be solved unless the 360's internals are redesigned -- the various revisions have just reduced heat in the machine by a little each time, but if the machine gets hot enough, it can still RRoD.
Also, the more prevelent fault now is the E74, which some feel is just a re-branding of the RRoD. Seeing as both faults are covered by a three year warranty from Microsoft, Square Trade are unlikely to deal with many of them, so the numbers are weighted somewhat.
Now, I do believe (and hope) that the number of RRoDs has reduced somewhat, but this article is based on some regurgitated information without any real research, so has no real value.
ur using old news for flame bait.
ReplyDeleteI bought an Elite for Christmas 2008. That one plus 2 replacements have all red ringed. All had the Jasper chip sets. The games are great, but the hardware is crap. Everyone tells me that at least Microsoft fixes them. I say they shouldn't have to if they made anything close to reliable hardware. I'll keep sending them in as long as the warranty takes care of it, but I will never put money down to replace the console.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1USV2HFVDg&feature=related
ReplyDeletelmao RROD is gone
I love my xbox360!
ReplyDelete360 has a one year lifespan - of course less than 1% of consoles bought THIS year should have no problem, if sold fit for purpose.
ReplyDeleteNow let's ask ourselves why this should be good news for MS? Their console is a fail that they managed their way out of to the consumers expense or time waiting to 'recondition', or REPAIR, as it used to be known when repairing something BROKEN.
It has been the consumer that has lost most in all of this - while MS lied about fixing the issue in 2007, it wouldn't even grace us with an answer when asked what the problem was? Sure wasn't dodgy overheating components, nosirree, they wouldn't acknowledge that.
I replaced my 2nd broken Xbox with a PS3 and now I bang on about it like a non-smoker, you know why? Non-smokers generally last longer than smokers - can you see what I'm getting at?
Xbox should come with written warnings and pictures of Rrod's/Empty/Wallets/Disappointed Childrens Faces, like in the style of my beloved cigarettes.
Yes I smoke, and though I will die early - I won't die poor, coz I have a PS3. MS can put that in their collective hookahs and smoke it.
Merry Chrimbo!
Gamers aren't stupid Microsoft. Even the Jasper models still fail.
ReplyDeletedie my ass... my brand new elite 360 just rrod 3 weeks ago. it's more like microsoft is covering up rrod by stuffing money into media's mouth so they can't talk.
ReplyDeletethe next 360 i get back from microsft,which will be my 6th, will be my last one. if it dies again i'm done with xbox and microsoft. fuck this bias bullshit media, i'm here to tell the truth as an xbox 360 owner rrod is still here and will not go away anytime soon. to fix the rrod ms would have to redesign their 360.
i'm tired of reading article like this one trying to cover up faults on 360 and trying to make themselves not to look like a 360 fanboys. but whoever wrote this article IS a 360 fanboy, this is coming from a 360 owner only
I'm the person that posted above about having 7 360's fail on me within 1 year. Well someone posted this in replay to my post..
ReplyDelete((( LOL I call your entire post BS !!
Where were you buying your 360s, craigs list? what do you expect ?!?!?!? LMAO!)))
I will answer this. It's not BS at all. I bought the first 5 from GAME, then the other two from GameStation. Both shops are 100% good for their consoles. The FACT is 360's are still RROD,ing and now have added an E74 Error. I have had 7 consoles that all had faults, and all faults happen in under a year of buying the first xbox 360.
Now as for people saying that MS cover the consoles for 3 years, well why go to the manufacturers when you have up to 6 years cover from the shop.
The Sale of Goods act allows consumers up to six years to raise any disputes with a stores returns policy. ( An inherent fault in goods ) means that the SHOP has to deal with the console NOT MS.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/07/03/sale_of_goods_act_letter_downl.html
You guys must love the xbox 360 if you keep getting it after it failing like a bad relationship... lol
ReplyDeleteMy Jasper Elite died with E74 within a year.
ReplyDeleteMine died today, the problem is still a serious problem
ReplyDeleteThis so called article was clearly written by an Xbox fanboy cheerleader.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why the editor believes RROD is dead is because the problem is so typical that xbox 360 owners act like its not a big deal anymore. Those that don't care about their faulty system know the routine which is simply getting a new xbox 360 and some how they are still blinded from the fact that their xbox 360's are unreliable p.o.s's. The rest were the smart ones by moving on and switching to the other console.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand why many people after having their console break on them for more than 2 times, still continue to purchase the product. This issue has been happening for years and all Microsoft could do was give replacement warranties. I'm beginning to think Microsoft had been making their products faulty intentionally so that they can increase their numbers of xbox360s. If you look at the ps3, they had a similar issue (but only a small %) called ylod but sony fixed the issue or reduced it significantly so that it wouldnt happen on the newly released slim
..I want to know how many people have gotten a new system in late 09 and had it die?
ReplyDeletehuh ive been extremley lucky.
ReplyDeletegot my 360 on launch same with my ps3.
my ps3 has been in for repairs 4 times, once the bluray drive carked it, twice for the YLOD and once there was a issue with the internet, kept getting logged out of the PSN.
my 360 though has been repaired..............
0 TIMES!
thats right, 0!
and its been dropped too.
one day i was playing gears on it and had the ethernet cable plugged in, a friend tripped on it and my xbox went flying off the table and smack onto my subwoofer leaving a black gash in the side.
and still works like brand spanking new.
the ps3s are just as reliable as the 360s if not more, only difference being M$ can admit when they have stuffed up, $ony cant.
Post above - u are the exception mate, not the rule. Somewhere in the US their is a mass 360 grave to rival the scenes in I Robot.
ReplyDelete360 released in 2005 - if the lifespan of this generation is 8 years, as touted, how many aged between ten and fifteen have had serious issues with 360? They will be consumers themselves soon, just like their parents who may or may not have replaced their childrens 360's when they broke. This generation will know what it means to have to wait until Xmas or their b'day before they could have another console.
Rrod will have long term consequences that may only show when the new generation of consoles is released.
Anyone buying more than 2 Xboxes must have more money than sense, or be really stupid fanboys. Like the author of this blog, perhaps?
How many twenty's did Bill Gates and co stuff in your mouth fella? Will it be enough for a new 360 when the 2009 models break down in late 2010? Just in time for Xmas!
pleanty people saying it, but wheres the proof?
ReplyDeleteas i said the RROD has been blown out of proportion, me, my cuz, and 2 of my friends have launch 360s working like a charm.
with i could say the same about my ps3.
at least M$ have the decency to come out, admit it and apolagize for it and extend the warranty.
has sony admited about the YLOD?
have they extended the warranty?
if your console breaks do they give you anything?
have they admited to releasing faulty FW updates?
every firmeware update they release breaks something, most recently uncharted than my wireless controller would not work.
neither of my 6 DS3 controllers would work wirelessly.
certianly does not excuse M$ for being shoddy and cheap, but atleast they have the cahones to admit to it, apolagize and do something about it.
will be a stone cold day in hell before sony does either of those let alone all 3.
It's hard to believe a survey that only represents .000014 of all the xboxs sold. Hopefully it is true
ReplyDeleteFACT is that the 360 is the WORSE console made in the HISTORY of consoles on the market as of today. Due to having the HIGHEST failure rates from a INHERENT FAULT IN THE CONSOLE.
ReplyDeleteNOW a warranty DOES NOT matter as your CONSUMER RIGHTS give you 6 YEARS COVER on goods in the UK. 5 YEARS in Scotland.
XBOX 360 = FAIL.
PS3 = GREAT BUILD, WITH BETTER TECH, FOR SAME MONEY AS OTHERS CONSOLES.
Fanboi's really need to SEE FACTS not all the BS.!!
OK, the RROD is far from vanquished however Microsoft have made decent inroads to minimizing the problem. The Xbox 360 is still the faultiest console of this generation, by some margin, however it's not as bad as it was 2 or 3 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHowever no console is perfect, i've had to send my PS3 in for repair because the laser that reads the discs broke. I've never had a problem with my Wii........however that doesn't get used much which may have something to do with it. :P
The Xbox 360's failure rate has decreased however it's still far from acceptable.
I got the E74 last night, fucking junk. This is the fourth time it died first with the 3 rings and now this. I think its time to move on to something else like a Ps3 or wii
ReplyDeleteThe problems with the "X-BOX 360"It's poorly designed and has crappy hardware!Plain and simple...It's maybe built in Asia but the company is based in USA,so it stands to reason that anything made in the US is crap!Again! blame somone else for the problem and refuse responsibility!if ya want something done half-ass..ask an American to do it!Funny thou nobody complains about Sony's Playstation 3>?????Why ???you asked ,cause it's better product, plain and simple!No over heating,errors just plain fun!As a former X-BOX owner 3 times already i'm sick and tired of the dreaded RROD!Again you Americans are getting the crap kicked out of you cause of poor quality and craftmanship!No wonder most or all the jobs are going over seas cause at least they try to fix the problem,not piss on your leg and have the balls to tell ya ,it's raining FFS!
ReplyDeleteThis was not for the loyal customers, it was to stay in the market ahead of Sony. Meanwhile m$ just collected your dollars and crossed their fingers that most of the default systems would make it pass the three year warranty.
ReplyDeleteWow....this is one of the best post i ever saw....Also, its one of my favorite game...Thanks for nice information about enjoyable games news....Keep posting...
ReplyDeletePSN
nevertheless i like 360'xenical 120mg
ReplyDeleteorlistat xenical
orlistat 120mg
xenical generics cool stuff