The Xbox 360 is one of the most popular video game console in the market
today, competing with other video game consoles such as Sony PS3 (PlayStation 3) and Nintendo Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. Although popular, there are several issues regarding the console. There have been several reports of the Xbox 360 breaking down from one specific issue, the Red Ring Of Death. The Xbox 360 video game console is subject to a number of technical problems that can render it unusable. Many of the issues can be identified by a series of red lights flashing on the face of the console; the three flashing red lights (nicknamed the "Red Ring of Death") being the most infamous.
The Red Ring Of Death
When a Microsoft Xbox 360 console experiences a "general hardware" failure or "core digital" failure, three flashing red lights appear (known as the "Red Ring of Death") around the power button, in lieu of the four green lights indicating normal operation. According to electronics philippines enthusiasts that made several reports on Xbox's failures, this error code is usually caused by failure of one or more hardware components, although it can indicate that the console is not receiving enough power from the power supply, which can either be due to a faulty power supply or if the power supply cable is not fully inserted into the console.
Xbox's Response
In the early months after the console's launch, Microsoft stated that the Xbox 360's failure rate was within the consumer electronics industry's typical 3% to 5%. Nevertheless, Microsoft has not released its official statistics on the failure rate of the various versions of the console; the company's press relations policy is to focus on the prompt resolution of any technical problems.
On July 5, 2007, the Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division published an open letter recognizing the console's problems, as well as announcing a three-year warranty extension for every Xbox 360 console that experiences the "general hardware failure" indicated by three flashing red LEDs on the console.
In February 2008, during the Game Developers Conference 2008, Microsoft announced that the "Failure rate has officially dropped", but without mentioning any specifics. The same month, electronics warranty provider SquareTrade published an examination of 1040 Xbox 360s and said that they suffered from a failure rate of 16.4% (one in six). According to electronics philippines reports, of the 171 failures, 60% were due to a general hardware failure (and thus fell under the 3 year extended warranty). And of the remaining 40% which were not covered by the extended warranty, 18% were disc read errors, 13% were video card failures, 13% were hard drive freezes, 10% were power issues and 7% were disc tray malfunctions.
SquareTrade also stated that its estimates are likely much lower than reality due to the time span of the sample (six to ten months), the eventual failure of many consoles that did not fail within this time span and the fact that many owners did not deal with SquareTrade and had their consoles repaired directly through Microsoft via the much publicized extended RROD warranty. According to electronics philippines reviewers, on October 17, 2008 a class action lawsuit was filed in California against Microsoft over the RROD problem.
Colt Weeson
