I don't care! It's STILL the best console ever, with absolutely NO second look!

What an overly defensive fanboy reply, SX. This is a news report, not a bash.

Well, at least it only costs about $7.50 to perform the X-clamp repair, which is believed by some to be the cause of the 3 red lights.

It was sarcasm.

Didn't Microsoft stop something in their service, too? Jeez.

i keep hearing about the lights but i have yet to see/ know anyone who has gotten it...

I know people who have.

Hell, how do you log on the itnernet without seeing people who have?

I know someone who is on their 11th(!?!) Xbox 360. It was on a recent blog--was it Joystic or Kotaku? I'll try to find the big "Xbox 360 failure" thread on neoGaf where it originally came from.

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Well, at least it only costs about $7.50 to perform the X-clamp repair, which is believed by some to be the cause of the 3 red lights.

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Apparently, it's $7.50 too much for MS to redesign the system themselves. Though I guess they don't see it as too much of a problem because

"ya know, things break."

After your Xbox 360 dies, you see

Rated "ARGH!"

Yeah, all Xboxen 360, from Core to Elite are like time bombs because of a fatal flaw in design. I guess it's all a matter of time when my brother's bites it too. Hopefully, it's not before Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonanta are released.

And here's the unlucky person who I mentioned before. Also I was mistaken. He's on his 12th Xbox 360, not 11th like I previously stated.

www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3160603

Originated here: www.neogaf.com/forum/show...60&page=83

My 360 has yet to break, but I've gotten a few "The disc is unreadable" messages while playing Dead Rising. The game always works again after I open/close the disc tray though.

Still, not a good sign. I've taken to only playing my 360 a few hours at a time to try to avoid a breakdown.

My roommate's on #3 right now. I'm still on my first (had it since November). I have it in open air, vertical and in the coldest room in the apartment. That said, I still sweat every time I turn the thing on, knowing how randomly these things seem to break for people.

How does Microsoft not eat a class-action lawsuit from all this? You'd think that millions of annoyed customers would make SOMETHING happen...

Oh, and nice Nia avatar there, Ashide.

Thanks.

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How does Microsoft not eat a class-action lawsuit from all this? You'd think that millions of annoyed customers would make SOMETHING happen...

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I think it is the case of indifference from the problem of people keep buying their consoles, the ignorance of not knowing how to organize a class-action lawsuit, to the self-defeatist attitude of "of we can't handle MS lawyers so what the use of trying?"

Another problem is that many of the profressional gaming news media will hardly address MS on this problem. They are probably afraid of losing exclusive media or being black listed from MS.

Because they don't acknowledge that the 360 is an unreliable piece of equipment. It's that simple.

Microsoft say that the rate of breakdowns is in the usual 2-3% for any piece of equipment. They have probably included Japan in that figure. Because only 7 people have bought one there. Give or take.

Does anyone know if the 360 Elite is any more reliable than the Core or Premium?

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Does anyone know if the 360 Elite is any more reliable than the Core or Premium?

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From what I hear, it's LESS reliable. One of the clerks at the Gamestop I shop at told me that entire shipments of Elites have come back to them defective. That includes the one the manager there bought, which died after 2 hours.

Maybe if people stopped putting their 360s in sweat shops they wouldn't have issues. And people also tend to blow the bad way out of proportion and ignore the good. That said, the whole Micromart deal may have to deal with MS wanting to put a monopoly on the repair market. That way only people send their 360s to them for an over priced repair.

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Maybe if people stopped putting their 360s in sweat shops they wouldn't have issues.

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Ah yes! It must be the consumer's fault never mind the fact that there are hardly any reports of PS3s or Wii breaking down in supposed "sweatshop conditions".

By the way, the person who is on his 12th X360 had his last Xboxen 360 in a cool and well ventilated area. I can assume their others who did take great care of their X360 only to have it break when the temperature of the area it was kept wasn't an issue.

Well, I have not had an issue with mine, and neither have any of my several friends, and we keep them in ventilated areas that aren't freezers.

I play my PS3 for 5-6 hours at a time.

My room isn't well ventilated. After running two LCD screens, a PC, and a PS3 all for five hours, I'm literally sweating.

My PS3 has no problems. I've had it for several months now (6ish?)

It's in an okay ventilated area, on top of my TV entertainment center stand thing, but the air in my room gets incredibly warm. It's also surrounded by a DVD player, speakers, a GC, and papers.

I'm afraid to buy a 360 Elite like I intended. I'm gonna hold off until the Elites have the 65nm chips, then wait until those prove to be god (if applicable.)

I find this all ironic. Microsoft is said to have the best equiptment (as of satisfactory working conditons) and their 360's break out on them.
What's the whole problem of them not working in the first place?
And yet, some Atari's and NES's are still in good working conditons.

whoa whoa whoa...

I love my Nintendo, but they sure as hell aren't flawless...

The NES is notorious for 'breaking'... All that blowing you have to do wasn't orignially part of the design. Those [96?] pin things break all the time.

I remember blowing on the cartridges all the time. But my Nintendo products have never failed.

It's 72 pin and you can just dip a Q-tip in some rubbing alcohol and rub it across them to clean it. If you don't have a specially made cleaning utensil from a cleaning kit, you could pull the cartridge in and out of the machine right after you've cleaned it to clean the connector itself. I know the cartridge says to not use rubbing alcohol, but that's what cleaning solutions were mostly composed of.

You're not supposed to blow in it since the wetness of your breath can corrode the pins over time. I still do it though out of habit.

The problem could also be that the pins of the connector could be bent inwards from being used so much, making some pins not fully connect, glitching the game. A delicate process can be taken to bend them back, but it's sort of risky. Anyway, you can easily find a completely new 72 pin connector on eBay for around $8.

I don't know anything about the X360 so lol

Some poor git who wrote in to Gamecentral this morning and holds the new record for Xbox 360 pwnage - 13. Including one that blew up as soon as he plugged it in.

Mind you on the flip side, someone said that they had their 360 since December 2005 and hadn't had a problem with it.

Oh, c'mon, that's something to be PROUD of, that a 260 will last 1.5 years?

I've had my PS2 since December 2000 and it still works like the day I bought it.

And my parents Intellivison has been working since the late 70's :

Everyone knows that ms need to pull their finger out over the xbox 360 reliability issues. But didn't sony have a lawsuit about crappy lasers in ps2s? and hasn't ths gone through 2 ps2s and had a laser replaced on one of them?

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Oh, c'mon, that's something to be PROUD of, that a 260 will last 1.5 years?

I've had my PS2 since December 2000 and it still works like the day I bought it.

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I have to agree, I've had my PS2 since 2002 and the only problem I've had is it doesn't play DVDs that well anymore, though only for video, games run fine. I got my 360 for Christmas and I've had a few disc errors on perfectly fine discs, hasn't happened since I put the system flat though. Two of my friends have had their 360s die on them, just over half a year after they baught them, I hope mine lasts, though I still have the receipt just in case, otherwise this is terrible news, MS better sort out the problems immediately.

I intended to buy a 360 Elite soon, but I'm gonna wait until it's known if the 65nm chips help.

If not, I may just buy a laptop. And wasn't Microsoft sued, too?

EDIT:

In response to the Fall Update error that "bricked" (rendered useless) his console, Mr. Kevin Ray of California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft in Washington federal court in early December of 2006 [31]. The lawsuit seeks $5 million dollars in damages and the free repair of any console bricked by the Fall Update. This will be the second such lawsuit filed against Microsoft, the first having been filed in December of 2005, shortly after the 360's launch. - Source

"Xbox 360 warranty extended to three years for the three red lights of doom error."

From xbox 360 site.

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Expanded Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage FAQ
Q: What are you rolling out that is new?
A: While we maintain our one-year console warranty (two years in some countries), Microsoft is extending the terms of its Xbox 360 warranty to three years for certain general hardware failures which are indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. This will apply to new and existing customers and we will retroactively pay back the out-of-warranty repair costs paid by customers for console problems indicated by the three flashing red lights.

Q: How does this warranty differ from your existing warranty?
A: Currently, any Xbox 360 is covered by a one year manufacturers warranty (two years in some parts of the world). If the console is out of warranty, there is a charge to have it repaired. It then comes with an additional one year repair warranty. With these changes, there is effectively a three year warranty with no charge for repair for general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights error code which displays on the console.

Q: Is this effective worldwide?
A: Yes, these policies are global. The new policies are now being instituted in our customer service centers around the world, which may take a few days to fully implement.

Q: When does the policy change go into effect?
A: These new policies are now being instituted in our customer service centers around the world, which may take a few days to fully implement. They will apply to new and existing customers. For the latest information, customers should visit Xbox.com.

Q: Is there any health or safety issue at play here?
A: This is in no way related to any sort of product safety issue.

Q: Do I get a refund?
A: Yes, we will reimburse any customer who was out of warranty and paid for repairs due issues indicated by the three flashing red lights error message. Customer should expect to receive a check in 10-12 weeks.

Q: How does this affect my extended warranty bought from my retailer?
A: Youre still covered under your existing warranty for issues outside the scope of this specific three-year warranty.

Q: Have you identified a root cause that can lead to failure?
A: There is not a single issue that we can point to as being a problem. We test the product extensively, including accelerated life testing, but the nature of the console itself is very complex, as its a consumer electronic product that contains more than 1,700 different components and 500 million transistors.

There are a variety of scenarios that can cause a general hardware failure. Only the indicator (the three flashing red lights) is always the same.

Q: Who do I contact with further questions?
A: Please contact your local Xbox Customer Service (1-800-4-MY-XBOX in the US and Canada).

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Good thing that it says that it will be a worldwide policy too 😮