Microsoft has admitted that it has had to make "an unacceptable number of repairs" to Xbox 360s. This admission will apparently cost it an estimated $1.05 - $1.15 BILLION. How much it will cost in terms of shareholder and market confidence will only be judged in the coming months.
The company, however, is still refusing to blame a single point of failure – such as poor quality solder on motherboards, as we reported earlier this week.
It has also announced that it is to extend the warranty program for Xbox 360 to three years - and will fully reimburse anyone who has already experienced (and paid to repair) the dreaded red rings of death.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division, Peter Moore, issued an open letter to the Xbox community via Xbox.com explaining that Microsoft has, "identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console," he continued.
"As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles."
Microsoft will also, "retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience," he concluded.
Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, added that, "This problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologise."
The frustration was brought to the fore in the UK at least, in February this year when the company was slammed by BBC ‘consumer guardian’ TV show, Watchdog. At that time the company admitted to, “…a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected.” However, it maintained its stance that, “It’s important to note that there is no systemic issue with Xbox 360 - each incident is unique and these customer inquiries are being handled on a case-by-case basis."
It appears today that these ‘unique’ failures are worth a great deal of money indeed.
The company, however, is still refusing to blame a single point of failure – such as poor quality solder on motherboards, as we reported earlier this week.
It has also announced that it is to extend the warranty program for Xbox 360 to three years - and will fully reimburse anyone who has already experienced (and paid to repair) the dreaded red rings of death.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division, Peter Moore, issued an open letter to the Xbox community via Xbox.com explaining that Microsoft has, "identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console," he continued.
"As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles."
Microsoft will also, "retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience," he concluded.
Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, added that, "This problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologise."
The frustration was brought to the fore in the UK at least, in February this year when the company was slammed by BBC ‘consumer guardian’ TV show, Watchdog. At that time the company admitted to, “…a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected.” However, it maintained its stance that, “It’s important to note that there is no systemic issue with Xbox 360 - each incident is unique and these customer inquiries are being handled on a case-by-case basis."
It appears today that these ‘unique’ failures are worth a great deal of money indeed.
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Comments
deleted 6 Jul 2007 08:34
1/9
Its real shame i love my 360 and so does a lot of others, great games and great hardware capability, just fix the problem M$ and you could save your billions in repairs!!!!
PS
its been worked out on some other site that if each console repair cost $100 then that means they have earmark enough money to fix EVERY single xbox sold to date! thats shocking if that happens.
PS
its been worked out on some other site that if each console repair cost $100 then that means they have earmark enough money to fix EVERY single xbox sold to date! thats shocking if that happens.
hollywooda 6 Jul 2007 08:54
2/9
The 360 is the best console on sale now...period, but this problem has left people, even people who love there Xbox, with a nasty taste in there mouths, i got my 360 on launch day & have not ever had a single problem, nothing, but friends of mine have had 3 360's & are still waiting after 3 weeks to get there latest 360 back from being repaired. If only MS would of waited & properly check the 360 they could have really cleaned up this generation, but this will leave a horrible stain on a lot of peoples memorys....
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config 6 Jul 2007 10:05
3/9
Please defined "best"
Best Quality? I think this news rules that out
Best Technology? PS3 surely wins that one
Best Software? Of the next gen, undoubtedly, but some might argue PS2 or Xbox1 are better.
Best Design? Best Marketing? Best at not being Sony? Best Online Offering? Best for shiny racing car games? Best controller? Best at spinning a bad situation?
Best Quality? I think this news rules that out
Best Technology? PS3 surely wins that one
Best Software? Of the next gen, undoubtedly, but some might argue PS2 or Xbox1 are better.
Best Design? Best Marketing? Best at not being Sony? Best Online Offering? Best for shiny racing car games? Best controller? Best at spinning a bad situation?
hollywooda 6 Jul 2007 10:17
4/9
In my opinion, for the GAMES consoles of this generation its got the best games, online gaming service, best controller layout, best price tag, its the best for giving the customer the choice of what type of console they would like to own (core/premium/elite/HD-DVD ADD on)
its the best looking console. Apart from the problems people have experienced with the 360, I don't have a single issue with it, as I said that's what makes it such a shame.
its the best looking console. Apart from the problems people have experienced with the 360, I don't have a single issue with it, as I said that's what makes it such a shame.
deleted 6 Jul 2007 10:23
5/9
config wrote:
Please defined "best"
Best Quality? I think this news rules that out
Best Technology? PS3 surely wins that one
Best Software? Of the next gen, undoubtedly, but some might argue PS2 or Xbox1 are better.
Best Design? Best Marketing? Best at not being Sony? Best Online Offering? Best for shiny racing car games? Best controller? Best at spinning a bad situation?
Best Quality? I think this news rules that out
Best Technology? PS3 surely wins that one
Best Software? Of the next gen, undoubtedly, but some might argue PS2 or Xbox1 are better.
Best Design? Best Marketing? Best at not being Sony? Best Online Offering? Best for shiny racing car games? Best controller? Best at spinning a bad situation?
i think what he was saying was its the best choice of current next gen hardware in the sense that as an all rounder its the best pic of the bunch.
sure the PS3 may sound and look technically superior but its not really capable of performing any better than the 360, also the online features, controller layout, content, and collection of avalible titles beat the PS3 hands down.
the Wii is great console and a revolution of gaming, but it doesnt take a motion sensor to make it revolutionary, a revolution can be performed on 360 and PS3 if created correctly, possibly GTA4 with help this.
in conclusion the 360 currently is the best choice for next gen gamers, looking for next gen graphics, good titles and content and great online experince.
tyrion 6 Jul 2007 12:07
6/9
haritori wrote:
sure the PS3 may sound and look technically superior but its not really capable of performing any better than the 360
Just because we haven't seen any games yet that really push the PS3 hardware it's easy for people to make this comparison. However, looking at the specs of the Cell and RSX and taking into account how they are designed to work together in the PS3, you will start to see more distinction between the systems. On exclusives anyway, multi-platform games will always look samey due to the same engine underlying both versions.
With a graphics pipeline that starts with the Cell and extends to the RSX, you have a solution that should, in theory, vastly out perform the Xenos. The Cell has power to spare for graphics as well as physics, AI, sound and basic game logic, it's just a case of getting game routines to take advantage of it.
deleted 6 Jul 2007 12:11
7/9
tyrion wrote:
haritori wrote:
sure the PS3 may sound and look technically superior but its not really capable of performing any better than the 360
Just because we haven't seen any games yet that really push the PS3 hardware it's easy for people to make this comparison. However, looking at the specs of the Cell and RSX and taking into account how they are designed to work together in the PS3, you will start to see more distinction between the systems. On exclusives anyway, multi-platform games will always look samey due to the same engine underlying both versions.
With a graphics pipeline that starts with the Cell and extends to the RSX, you have a solution that should, in theory, vastly out perform the Xenos. The Cell has power to spare for graphics as well as physics, AI, sound and basic game logic, it's just a case of getting game routines to take advantage of it.
what i mean by that is will we actually see any major diffrence between the two like say difference between, orignal xbox and 360, or will be more of a case of ps2 comared to xbox1? although i was short to say what i did i do understand that the ps3 cell is very powerful and of greater use than the 360 chip, but we could get back itnto the graphical side of things with the 360 having a superior graphics chip to the ps3? but like you said we havent seen anything yet to compare>?
tyrion 6 Jul 2007 12:29
8/9
haritori wrote:
what i mean by that is will we actually see any major diffrence between the two like say difference between, orignal xbox and 360, or will be more of a case of ps2 comared to xbox1?
My feeling is that it'll be a PS2/Xbox1 type comparison at least on graphics. Having seen Gears, I can't see the PS3 being massive leaps ahead on graphics alone. I think where we'll see the difference is in the overall package, graphics, AI, physics, sound, etc.
haritori wrote:
but we could get back itnto the graphical side of things with the 360 having a superior graphics chip to the ps3?
That's the opposite of what I was trying to point out; sure, the RSX and Xenos are pretty similar in power, with Xenos actually being ahead. However, the PS3 is supposed to be programmed so that the Cell does some of the graphics tasks and lets the RSX do the rendering and shaders, lightening the load on the RSX and allowing it to do more. For example, in Warhawk the clouds are rendered in the Cell and integrated into the polygon-based scene by the RSX.
haritori wrote:
but like you said we havent seen anything yet to compare>?
Comparisons are going to be difficult because you rarely get similar enough games to compare that aren't multi-platform and I'd prefer to compare 1st or 2nd party games because they should push the hardware more than 3rd party games. It'll be interesting to see how Gran Turismo 5 stacks up against Forza 2 and PGR 4, for example.
deleted 6 Jul 2007 12:41
9/9
i wont pretend i know it all because i dotn i just play the games, but i would say a comparison between PGR4/Forza2 to GT5 would be unfair the amount of dev sonys putting into GT5 (late 2008 release) seems as though it would def outshine these other games because they can tune it just so i would say PG4 & Forza2 although had very long Dev times they also had to get this to shelf unlike GT5 policy to take as long as it takes? other comparisions have been doen on eurogamer site and i agree comparison between 3rd party games dont really show anything in fact the majority or xbox360 to ps3 ports have the ps3 showing slow down and loss of framerate, expect for the case of oblivion showing a great detail and draw distance, but yes i think a 1st/2nd party comparision would be good for soemthing, but at the end of the day we know its teh gameplay and my argument/opinion is pointless lol