For Xboxfounder: Do you feel the original xbox was rush so that it could go up against the PS2? Do you feel that the short life span is a sign of failure?

The Xbox 1 had a four year span before the 360. That was better than most Sega systems.

What were some of the features cut from the 360 design? wireless network?

also why did MS back HD-DVD? Was it because Sony was backing Blu-Ray?

After reading the article, my Xbox got the RROD, but that's not what this post is about. Instead of sending off refurbished systems, why not send consumers a brand new xbox when they experience the RROD? Isn't sending them one that got the RROD, just delaying the inevitable?

Microsoft and Toshiba co-developed the HD-DVD format. There is some Microsoft technology on the HD-DVD format and there is Java on Blu-Ray.

I would hazard a guess that Microsoft put money towards development because Sony was pushing the Blu-Ray drive so hard. With it being a key aspect of the PS3's attempt at dominance in the entertainment center, Microsoft saw a chance to devalue that aspect of the PS3 by developing and pushing the HD-DVD spec. If it is true they put money into developing it (which I don't care to research; I don't doubt that they did put money into it), that would mean they're likely licensing some technologies to other companies producing HD-DVD drives, which gives them another bit of cashflow and another spot in the living room.

As far as not sending out new units to people whose units got the RROD: If they send out refurb'd units, they're actually doing the consumer more of a favor than sending out new units. Refurbs are typically rebuilt to a higher standard than that which new units are built to. Because of this, anything which would've been problematic has probably been fixed and rebuilt to spec.

"why not send consumers a brand new xbox when they experience the RROD? "

I am guessing two reasons. One is that it is cheaper for them to send you a "Repaired" unit and it also saves them from having to pay for the disposal of all the dead Xbox 360.

I personally have not experienced the RROD as of yet, but am working my way on finally doing it. Why? Well, heres my problem. My Launch Day 360 has finally gone a tad haywire. There is something wrong with the video & audio where it will display like a watercolor painting. The first time it happened i played through it until it eventually wouldnt display video or audio, but it would still turn, open and close the disc tray and all that. So, my 360 isnt covered by the warranty so i wanted to overheat my console in hopes that i get the 3 RROD so i could send it in for free. I tried this by taping a piece of paper over the back of the Xbox 360 and setting it on the carpet horizontally (laying down). I put in PDZ cause its a shitty game and i dont care for it and let it run for about 10 mins. I watched tv while this was going on and then flipped it back over to my component output to see that i had video and then i hooked up the audio and got audio.

After playing it for about 5-6 hours in the span of a day and a half, it started going all watercolor on me again. It went back and fourth for awhile and actually worked for another 2 hours after it initially started it, but it got on my nerves and i tried overheating again, same routine. This time i played it while i tried to overheat it and it shut itself off and displayed 2 red rings. Which means the internal temperature of the Xbox 360 is too hot to play.

Sry for the long story, but my question is this; What is causing this video/audio problem? I've tried 2 different tvs, 2 different cables and it still does the watercolor effect. Can you pinpoint exactly what is wrong with it, or could be numerous amounts of things?

Hi everyone. Answers to all questions so far below. In the future, please post questions on Jake's PI site so that I don't have to surf and search for you.

Busta Gnut: Inventive tag, btw...

Competing with the PS2 was never on our radar screen. Who knew it would have such long legs? We were always focused on beating PS3. We were looking over our left shoulder at Sony, while Nintendo passed us at Mach 3 on the right. That could be a whole nother post.

The early failures are certainly a sign of failure in many important ways. And an indication that the xbox team must do things differently from now on. But they continue to make the same kinds of short sighted decisions in sustaining that they made at launch, and for many of the same reasons. Short term financial performance. They are not playing to win. They are playing so as to not lose. That strategy almost always results in losing. A change in leadership is clearly needed. Instead, I hear that several of the people that made the decisions that led to the current problems have been promoted. To the GM level, no less. No other company could afford to do that. You need big monopoly profits to fund that kind of incompetence.

Taylor:
I can’t remember all the features that were on the table for 360 that were cut. For launch. Especially since I left 6 months prior. But you can see what they were by what is being offered now. That’s typical when a product launch date is at risk. Features get pushed out. Especially when marketing deems them non essential to launch. Those things are not very interesting.

MS backed HD DVD for a variety of reasons; the chief one was to fight Sony’s dominance in the entertainment content market. Another was to support a launch ODD partner, Toshiba. They made a ODD for 360. The last big one was that MS thought it wouldn’t be a big selling point. Besides, MS always architected the 360 to be able to accept an add on Blu Ray if they lost that fight. So they really played both sides of the fence, w/o having to alienate their partners on the HD alliance at launch and beyond, until they could see who would win this battle. Cynical bastards.

Mandarkzilla:
Sorry to hear about your 360 dying. I hope you get swift satisfaction from MS and get back into the action soon.

The reason MS uses used materials to fulfill repair and refurb needs is purely economic. It is rational for any electronic company to try to do what MS is trying to do. Especially when the failure rate is so high. If MS had to eat the cost for all those failed units, it would put pressure on the biz unit up and down the food chain. Who can write off 4 million units at 400 bucks each? Well MS can. But they won’t. Another bad decision.

What’s irrational about the way they are doing this is that they don’t have a good idea, a high confidence, that the actions they take in repair lead to a unit that is as good as new. Or as good as it needs to be. They don’t even clean them off. So you can baby your console, play it 100 hours, have it fail, and get one back that has been abused at a frat house and has a couple of thousand hours of use on it. Not a very fair deal. Regardless of the warranty. I could write for hours about this subject alone. But I hope you get what I’m saying.

Robert:
In most consumer electronics HW situations you would be correct. The chance that any piece of HW will fail a second (3rd, 4th) time s/b far less that the chance of a new unit failing. The 360 is a special case with regards to failures in the field. It has too many problems in design, supplied materials, and manufacturing processes. It simply doesn’t follow those old rules of thumb. Plus, their repair process is not capable, in the sense of concepts like Lean and Six Sigma. That means that repaired units sent back to the customers have no calculable confidence of working for any period of time. If they do work long term, it’s a Fluke.

Anonymous at January 29, 2008 9:14 PM
You are caught up in the problems presented when MS extended the warranty only for certain defects, specifically the RROD. They s/h extended the warranty for any reasons, since there were many problems in the box that could cause a failure. Here’s what I think you need to do. First, try the towel trick. That really heats up the box and could make the GPU fail, as it sounds like it’s partially going out anyways. Whatever you do, don’t do something stupid like putting it in your oven. The case is a blend of plastics that will start to warp at about 85C. And your oven isn’t controlled enough to make sure that doesn’t happen. If it does warp (actually relieve and express the stress that was installed when the plastic was molded), you just blew your warranty.

If the towel trick doesn’t work, put in a game that has a demo mode. Let that game run in demo mode until your console does the RROD, which it should shortly. Maybe days. If that doesn’t work, then good luck to you my brother. I have no other ideas right now. I wish I was still back there and could put pressure on that team to give you satisfaction.