Venture Beat's Dean Takahashi talks to numerous on- and off-the-record sources close to the manufacturing of the Xbox 360, providing insight into how ill-conceived certain aspects of the first-to-launch console were. For example, VB writes that in August of 2005, just prior to launch, some 68% of consoles coming off the assembly line just didn't work.

It's a fascinating read, from the console's early engineering gaffes and compromises, to Microsoft's reluctant admission of defective hardware. Some of it may be familiar territory, but it's a comprehensive look at the console's history, if nothing else.

Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft’s video game console woes [Venture Beat]

The online outlet cites Gartner research analyst Bryan Lewis who, at the Design Automation Conference, said that MS "wanted to avoid an ASIC vendor," opting to use a general purpose chip designed in-house. ASIC means application-specific integrated circuit, according to my sources that are Wikipedia. The EETimes writes that the decision saved money up front, but ultimately cost the company over $1 billion in warranty related costs.

According to the EETimes, the chip at the source of the problem has since been redesigned by ATI.

See? Boring. A more interesting theory is that Bill Gates lost a bet with Satan and that the Devil's hellish minions use the Xbox 360's ring of light as a passage into our world, burning them out in the process. We've opted not to contact Microsoft for comment on this matter.

The truth about last year's Xbox 360 recall [EETimes - thanks, Kirk!]

My first instinct was to call b.s., on this, but then I don't know what the hell I am talking about, either in the realm of casemods or electrical engineering. And, clearly, there are holes in the top of the console where he's routed the cooling tubes. So it looks like he gave his 360 a cochlear implant. (Seriously, you ever seen an old geezer with one of those? Looks like Lobot from Star Wars.)

The guy who made this also laid a better heatsink on the power supply. Check the link for pics of that, and more. Now I'm wondering if I can get his phone number.

Watercooled Xbox 360 {Thanks to Michael Hurt]

The manufacturing test equipment had major gaps in test coverage and wasn't reliable or repeatable. Manufacturing processes at all levels of suppliers were immature and not in control. Initial end to end yields were in the mid 30%. Low yields always indicate serious design and manufacturing defects. Management chose to continue to ship anyways, and keep the lines running while trying to solve problems and bring the yields up. Whenever something failed and there was a question about whether the test result was false, they would remove that test, retest and ship, or see if the unit would boot a game and run briefly and then ship. 360 is too complex of a machine to get away with that.

Reasons for the failures vary, but the anonymous interviewee narrows it down to one main source - the GPU.

The main design flaw was the excessive heat on the GPU warping the mother board around it. This would stress the solder joints on the GPU and any bad joints would then fail in early life.

Inside Source Reveal the Truth About Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" Failures [8Bit Joystick]

Every gamer's worst nightmare... the center fell out and had to be taped *cries due to lack of skill*

My Red-Ringed Xbox 360 Elite showed back up at my house when I was in Leipzig. The majestic black console was cloaked in bubble wrap, stuffed between two pads and placed in a box along with a letter of apology from Microsoft.

The letter apologized for the inconvenience of having to ship my console off to have it repaired and said they were going to give me a free month of Xbox Live Gold membership. Sure enough, there was a plastic card taped to the bag protecting the Elite good for one free month.

Of course I'd prefer that Microsoft get to the bottom of their RROD issues, but this certainly is a step in the right direction.

Rumor has it that a spike in Xbox 360 returns, both valid and not so much, have lead to an increase in the return time for repaired Xbox 360s.

I've heard that the turnaround time for Xbox 360 repairs has skyrocketed to as long as six weeks and if you do the math, that could mean that some loyal 360 fans may be console-less when the Halo 3 launches. Talk about bad juju.

But here's the problem for Microsoft. They have a lot of inventory of the older 90-nanometer machines. Many of these machines don't have the HDMI ports for sure. It has to sell these machines out before it starts selling the Falcon-based machines. That means that a lot of consumers are going to be buying machines that don't have the highest quality.

Sure Microsoft has been flooded with a slew of Xbox 360s returned after blinking the dreaded Red Ring of Death, but we hear that not all of them were due to overheating.

When the console seizes up and dies, three of the "circle of light's" quadrants blink red, but when the video cable pops out four of the quadrants blink. Apparently, a large number of consoles returned to Microsoft with the dreaded Red Ring of Death were perfectly fine and just the victim of a bit of red ring hysteria.

There have been so many returns, in fact, that we've been told Microsoft plans on disabling the four ring error code on future builds of the console. No word on whether they will remove the three-ring coding as well.

Of course, Croal has a number of reasons for suggesting this course of action, including that potentially "thousands of Xbox 360s [are] in stores with this design flaw" and that many gamers looking to play this year's hottest 360-bound titles—Rock Band, Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Mass Effect, et al.—are going to spawn a new batch of gamers who "jumped in" only to find out that the water is boiling. That kind of PR black eye could be very damaging, one would think, potentially more costly in the long run.

N'Gai explains in much greater detail than we are allowed at his own blog, one which makes for excellent reading and debate. Please go on.

Confession is Good For the Soul: Why Microsoft Must Be More Forthcoming About the Xbox 360's Flaws—Or Initiate a Recall [Level Up]

One Asian manufacturer that SmartHouse spoke to on Friday said "Microsoft have known of this problem for a long time. They are trying to blame component manufacturers but it was a combination of bad design and them (Microsoft) wanting everything cheap. This is what caused the problem along with them wanting to beat Sony to market. A lot of manufacturers were pushed to deliver components without much testing of the components working together inside the console".

Microsoft has said little about the causes of the hardware woes. It relies on two contract manufacturers to make the Xbox 360—Flextronics International (FLEX) and Celestica (CLS)—both of which make the finished product at plants in southern China. But Bach indicated the issue had nothing to do with the recent spate of tainted or defective Chinese imports.

I'm relieved to know the 360 in the living room isn't in danger of poisoning me any time soon, except perhaps with dangerous levels of cuteness from Viva Piñata.

Why The Xbox 360 Failed [SmartHouse]

The warranty, which gives all Xbox 360 owners a 3-year safety blanket guarding against the dreaded red ring of death, will cost Microsoft more than $1 billion, but Moore said it was about time they stepped up to the plate.

"It needs to be above and beyond because we haven't done what we need to do to take care of our consumers," Moore told me, adding that three years is quite a long time for a consumer electronic.

Moore said the timing of today's announcement, a mere two weekdays before Microsoft's E3 press conference and more than a year after they first addressed the red light issue, was due in part to the company needing to analyze data and figure out the potential cost to the company.

"You gather data... you determine what we have done isn't good enough," he said. "The number of returns we were getting with the three flashing red rings. When we got that data we took this rather unprecedented step."

Moore declined to give any specific numbers for the rate of returns for the Xbox 360, which have been placed at anywhere from 5 to 30 percent, and also didn't want to talk specifics about what changes to the console have been made and are yet to be made to ensure the problem doesn't continue.

"It was a number of problems," he said. "It's not just one systemic problem we are seeing that was causing these three red rings of light... We are always making changes (to the Xbox 360), as we see things we identify the issue, then we make changes to improve the console. And we will continue to make changes with the goal of making (the Xbox 360) a more reliable product."

I pointed out that while the warranty gives Xbox 360 owners a safety net, it doesn't really ensure they won't be inconvenienced with multiple repairs or returns, no matter the cost, but he said gamers shouldn't "have any issues walking into a store and buying an Xbox 360" today.

While this has become an increasingly public black eye for Microsoft, Moore said that consumer satisfaction remains quite high for the Xbox 360.

"You worry about (the backlash from the red light issue). I worry about that, but when we look at our consumers we are almost 90 percent customer satisfaction on the console. As hard as it is to read those letters that say they've had one, two, three break, they also always say 'Can you get my Xbox 360 back to me as soon as possible.'"
Microsoft Expands 360 Warranties [Kotaku]

Don't believe him? He's got audio proof of a phone call with an MS service rep who verifies his history of 360 troubles.

Despite these hardware setbacks, Lowe is still a fan, probably partially due to the company's efforts to compensate him for his inconvenience. Gotta say, if I were in his shoes, I'd be livid, demanding Peter Moore tattoo an apology to me on that left bicep.

Read the full story over at 1UP. Michael McWhertor

A Tale of 11 Broken Xbox 360s [1UP]

Xbox 360 owners who have returned their consoles suffering from the "red ring of death" are reporting that this new addition has been showing up in refurbished 360s over the past week. TeamXbox has a number of theories about the change and we hope that this addresses the unusually high reports of faulty hardware issues gamers are experiencing.

We're waiting to hear back from Microsoft reps on confirmation of the new hardware changes. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360: Pictures of the New GPU Heatsink [TeamXbox, thanks EnigmaNemesis!]

'What is the real failure rate of the Xbox 360?', we asked Game, one of the largest console retailers in the UK. 'That's not information we're able to give out. It's commercially sensitive,' it said...Last month, its vice-president of entertainment, Peter Moore, refused to answer the question, telling the Mercury News: "I can't comment on failure rates." According to Moore, if someone has a faulty console they should worry about the customer service.

Uh, OK. So far, there have been many documented reasons why an individual's Xbox 360 would die. Shouldn't that concern Microsoft more than how many indivuals have been affected? Kim Phu

What is the Real Failure Rate of the Xbox 360? [Guardian Unlimited]

If you should be unlucky enough to have your 360 choke on a red ring of death, Microsoft will ease your faulty console suffering in a few new ways. One, shipping for all repairs is now free. Two, should your console need a paid repair after your warranty has expired, you'll receive a new one year warranty guarantee on that repaired console. Three, you'll probably get your original console shipped back to you. Four, soothing massages from J Allard.

Additional bonuses on the service front include faster returns—within five business days upon receipt of your dead Xbox—and an increase in and better training for customer service reps.

Killer. Now, please fix the hardware so this is all unnecessary, and I'll buy one. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 Warranty and Service Enhancements [Xbox.com]

Behind the times, I know. When the Xbox 360 launched in Japan, the focus wasn't on overheating consoles crapping out, but boxed consoles sitting on store shelves collecting dust. A recent flurry of three red-ring posts have appeared in The Land of the Rising Sun. It seems that consoles over a year-old are konking out in noticeable numbers. (Take the dead console in the pic for example.) And while America, gets a free fix it for fist batch machines, Japan gets the shaft. Funny, and at a month after warranty. Coincidence, we're sure. Brian Ashcraft

Japanese Xbox 360s Crap Out, Too

Right after I got off the phone with Xbox Japan's Support Center, I got the infamous red ring of death, which actually is kinda pretty. In a sick way. Brian Ashcraft

Eds Note: As some of our commenters pointed out, this 360 isn't dead. Freezing up, but not dead. Good to know.

A broken 360? Awww mom, that's the same thing I got for Christmas last year! Michael Fahey

Update - Yes, I realize now that four red lights means the AV cable is unplugged, but I realized it far too late. Imagine, if you will, one of the lights being out. I'll be under this here rock if you need me.

Time's Tech Buyer's Guide 2006 [Time - Thanks Ryan!]

A touching tribute to a dying 360 backed by Madame Butterfly's Un Bel Di Vedremo. A tear trickles down our collective cheek even as Puccini sits bolt upright in his grave, hits his desiccated skull against the coffin lid, then dies again when his head explodes in a cloud of cockroaches and dust. Florian Eckhardt

Notice anything a bit worrisome about this image from Target, advertising the 360? Like, that red ring of death, glowing like the unholy fiery eye of Sauron, revealing destruction to all who witness it?

Our tipster Nate hypothesizes this means that Target is happily selling dead 360s to people. We doubt it. More likely, they're just buffoons. Florian Eckhardt

Target's 360 Ad [Target]