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xbox 360

Get Your 360 Fixed - Quickly - In Four Easy Steps

If you own a 360, odds are you've had to call Xbox support at least once. Maybe even more than once. And if you have, odds are also high you had a thoroughly unpleasant experience doing so. Next time you need to call them (or, for the lucky few, the first time), then, arm yourself with this quick and easy (and paraphrased) guide to getting shit done, courtesy of Consumerist reader Jason:
1. Call 1-800-4-MY-XBOX
2. Get a reference number for your problem as quickly as possible.
3. Hang up and call the escalated support number, 866-506-3826.
4. Talk to someone who knows what they're doing.
Easy, no?
How To: Quickly Contact Intelligent Life At XBOX Customer Service [Consumerist] [Pic]

8:20 PM on Mon May 5 2008
By Luke Plunkett
8,847 views, 139 comments

Latest by freespeech: I've called twice and never had a problem with the tech guy, as soon as he tried to go through the "repair troubleshooting" options I cut him off and said I already tried everything they suggest on the website. more »

gta iv rrod

Live GTA IV Player's Xbox 360 Goes RRoD

When you steal a game before release and broadcast its play over Justin TV for seven consecutive hours, sometimes, apparently, your console will RRoD. Is it karma? Sony sabotage? Or just shoddy Xbox 360 craftsmanship? We'll let the commenters sort that little life lesson out.

UPDATE: Oooh, apparently that Xbox looks mighty like this Xbox. Yeah, not looking so real now. But still very funny.

GTA IV: The Guy Gets 3 Red Rings of Death While Playing on Live Streaming Video [N4G]

11:40 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By Mark Wilson
30,923 views, 189 comments

contests

Owen's Xbox: We Have a Winner!

"Guess the Date Owen's Xbox Returns" is officially over. Corey Goupil correctly guessed April 7, winning a Rock Band hoodie and some other great schwag. But really, there's only one winner here: Me. I got my Xbox back yesterday, delivered to my office.

As you can see, I have properly memorialized Corey and the four others to pick April 7: (I'm guessing at correct names here, from their email addresses): Mitchell Tai, Joe VanHoudt, Fred Collin and Donald Walen. Corey was randomly drawn from those five. All of their "autographs" now adorn my Xbox case. More than 160 of you entered, and that was just too many to write on my case, but I thank you all. Keep reading after the jump.

More »

8:40 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By ogood
4,259 views, 60 comments

Latest by Kirth Gersen: Is that rum and coke?. Damn I'm thirsty... and a drunk it seems. :P more »

xbox 360

Pretty Sure This Violates the Warranty

From reader Michael Hurt comes this: a watercooled Xbox 360. As casemods go, this one looks like someone locked the A-Team in a barn, Murdoch and B.A. improvised with some aquarium tank hose and an aerator, and the gang saved the day. I love it when a plan comes together.

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]

4:00 PM on Sun Apr 6 2008
By ogood
99,785 views, 110 comments

Latest by PsycheDiver: Best 360 mod I've ever seen! more »

xbox 360

How To Get Around Microsoft's Shitty DRM

It's a safe assumption: many of you will have been jerked around by Microsoft's bum digital rights management setup for the 360. You've bought content, lost a console, and now can't play arcade games or use DLC unless you're online. Chin up, eh? Courtesy of Consumerist reader James, there's a way around it! James called up Microsoft support and hassled them about transferring the license from his old console to his new, replacement one. Voilà! The content was tagged to his new 360 instead of the old one, and James can play with the stuff he paid for whenever and wherever he likes. As should always have been the case. Only downside? There's two: it took 32 days for Microsoft to transfer the license, and there's no way of confirming whether this was due to some new Microsoft policy or the fact James is an expert at complaining.
Microsoft May Slowly Be Fixing Their Broken XBOX DRM [Consumerist] [Pic]

11:30 PM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By Luke Plunkett
7,060 views, 88 comments

Latest by Brackynews: Wow, I was genuinely under the impression that "e"'s 101 tip on Major Nelson was the answer. Just redownload and it gives you a new license. Not so, as I've just proven to myself. No change at more »

xbox 360

More Details On The 360's "16%" Failure Rate

360 warranty issuers SquareTrade are still at it. Fresh off claims that they'd "nailed" the 360's failure rate at 16%, and a subsequent "who are you?" from Microsoft, they're now showing off the details of their study into the console's failure rates, and claiming that the final figure is probably even higher. Apparently they got their 16% figure from a sample group of 1040 consoles sold between April and July 2007, of which 171 consoles died. Interestingly, they claim only 102 of those were due to red rings: the other 40% were done over by things like video card failures, HDD freezes and my personal favourite, disc read errors. SquareTrade also say that because their sample numbers don't include customers who returned their consoles to Microsoft, the actual failure rate is probably higher than 16%. Which it probably is! If we ever find out the actual numbers, and they're not in the 30-40% range, then I'll wolf down humble pie til my sides split.
New Info on 360 Death Rate Study [IGN]

10:30 PM on Tue Feb 26 2008
By Luke Plunkett
6,785 views, 201 comments

Latest by gamecrazychris: Goddam, my 360 broke today for the 4TH FREAKING TIME!Screw you Microsoft, I'm going to go buy Uncharted for my WORKING PS3. more »

gdc 08

Microsoft Lights Up GDC With Red Ring of Death

Microsoft kicked off GDC with red! Here, the BBC spotted this Xbox 360 demo kiosk that has been RRoD'd. No way to know if this console was made before things were "bad" or after things got "good." But think about it this way: All those other GDC Xbox 360s are working fine! So now all that there's left for you to do is go check your Xbox 360, make sure it still works and pray.

Red ring of death returns [BBC via N4G.com Thanks, Michael!]

1:00 AM on Tue Feb 19 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
20,169 views, 189 comments

xbox 360

16% Failure Rate Is News To Microsoft

Over the past few days, stories have been circling around the place that the failure rate for the 360 had been "nailed" at 16%. This figure was taken from SquareTrade, who claimed to have issued warranties for the cosole, and was based on a sample group of 1000 360s. Today, Microsoft have hit back at these claims, saying they've never heard of SquareTrade:
We have not seen the report, and are unfamiliar with the agency that filed it. Based on the enthusiast community's feedback yesterday, the methodology of this report is suspect.
Fair point, as when releasing the 16% figure, SquareTrade disclosed neither their methodology, nor the entirety of the report.
Microsoft Responds to Warranty Report [IGN]

8:30 PM on Fri Feb 15 2008
By Luke Plunkett
4,734 views, 185 comments

Latest by pABSO: @MykalBloom: MYKALBLOOM I adore you so, I have conveyed an almost identical sentiment (Halo 3 is average) to anyone who would listen. I know for myself it was the presence of titles such as BioShock and Mass (D)Effect that made me more »

xbox 360

Msoft: Don't Tell Bill Your 360 Problems

It was a little stunning to learn last week that at least one disgruntled Xbox 360 owner had decided to skip the regular channels when dealing with a burnt out 360 and instead went straight to Bill Gates. Even more stunning, Gates apparently knocked some heads and got the guy sorted out in record time (24 hours).

While Consumerist reader, and Xbox 360 owner, Jon was delighted with the outcome, it seems Microsoft was not so much. Today they've dropped us a friendly note to remind everyone that Bill really isn't your go-to guy for Red Rings of Death:

More »

3:00 PM on Fri Feb 1 2008
By Brian Crecente
39,494 views, 110 comments

microsoft

Emailing Bill Gates Results in New Xbox 360

What sucks worse than getting the Red Ring of Death? Getting the console fixed. Sure, there are some success stories regarding Xbox customer support. But there are some real headaches as well. Over at The Consumerist, tipster Jon took matters into his own hands. When his launch Xbox 360 crapped out, he emailed Bill Gates and customer service VP Kathleen Hogan. Within 24 hours, he got a reply from the escalation department saying that a new console was on its way. Jon tells The Consumerist:

More »

9:00 PM on Tue Jan 29 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
18,738 views, 82 comments

Latest by Blake Ruff: I just emailed him about my problem, so all I can do now is hope for the best. more »

rumor

The Truth Behind The Red Ring Of Death

Jake Metcalf over at 8Bit Joystick.com has recently posted an interview with an "individual who has worked on the Xbox 360 project for many years", who goes into explicit detail about the extremely high failure rate of Xbox 360 consoles since the console's launch in 2005. While normally we take such anonymous interviews with a grain of salt, you may remember Metcalf as the man who broke the story on Bungie leaving Microsoft a week before any official word was released. His source details everything from the various reasons for failure, and how much Microsoft knew about the system's instability before the product was shipped. If there's truth behind this, it's downright disturbing. More »

9:20 AM on Tue Jan 22 2008
By Mike Fahey
31,603 views, 234 comments

Latest by Gamerbot: I was also dumbfounded by the response or lack of response - I should say ;-0) A friend and I was successfully able to find a work-around, which I posted on my blog: [3redlightfix-xbox360repairguide.blogspot.com] Please have a look & leave your comments Thanks more »

pumpkin

RRoD Is Truly Frightening

This, yes this, is what we've been waiting for: The Red Ring of Death jack-o'-lantern. According to reader Zhao:

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

It's like the mouth of Hell.

12:00 AM on Thu Oct 25 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
4,081 views, 57 comments

Latest by darkroomdemons.com: "All I got for Halloween was my Ring of Death. My Ring of Death.... My Ring of Death." -sung to my "My two front teeth for xmas" I got mine on October 19th, 2007. Just in time to enjoy this menacing pumpkin. more »

fashion, fashion, fashion

The Red Ring of Death T-Shirt

Are you one of the countless many who have suffered the indignity of those three red lights on your 360? Are you still waiting for your 360s triumphant return from the Microsoft repair center? Well, now you can wear your misery proudly on your chest with this Red Ring of death T-shirt until your 360 comes marching home again, a little worse for the wear but hopefully functioning normally.

Red Ring of Death T-Shirt [Casually Hardcore]

1:00 PM on Sun Oct 7 2007
By fdemarco
8,627 views, 47 comments

Latest by n/a: @Ghirofelgo: So true, I'd love to see someone with a tat like that more »

defective

Halo 3 Disc Read Errors Rampant

A storm is brewing in both the Xbox and Bungie forums, where over a hundred posters have now verified that their copies of Halo 3 are causing disc read errors. lockups, and even the dreaded RRoD on their Xbox 360 consoles. From what I can glean from skimming through the 22 pages of replies to the original poster's problem, most of the people affected purchased the standard edition, though a few are reporting having the problem on both the standard and the LE version of the game. Some believe the discs are corrupting the data on the hard disc itself, as some have had their game discs replaced twice or more now with similar results, and removing the hard disc seems to keep the error from occurring with some posters. Some can load the game fine and play it for short bursts before the problem occurs, while others are finding the issue limited to certain game modes. Check out the forum threads for more info on the problems had, and hopefully some official response will be given about the issue soon.

Post here if u having the Disc Read Error [Xbox Forums]
"Cannot read Disk" [Bungie Forums - Thanks Corey]

3:30 PM on Thu Sep 27 2007
By Mike Fahey
29,135 views, 235 comments

Latest by ReeceD: My Play station 2 (old big one) stayed on for weeks at a time while I played FF11; My play time was well over 372 DAYS and some odd hours JUST that game and letting it run idle over night. more »

wolf in sheep's clothes

Hey, Elites Crap Out Too

Just a reminder not to leave your Xbox 360 on all day in a plastic case. Not good for the machine! Rumors of better Elite performance aside, this must be the first conked Xbox 360 Elite I've seen. Bummer, because I quite like that sexy paint job. The platform's good fun, too. Shame about the quality.
Dead Elite [thesportsfix, Thanks Laird!]

1:00 AM on Wed Aug 29 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
18,852 views, 114 comments

Latest by Justcrim: @rainofwalrus: I didnt say the damn thing didnt got hot! When My room was so hot from doing this, and it was the hottest my room has ever been. And it was VERY thorough. Started at about 4pm when I got more »

confirmed

Xbox 360 Falcon Chips Are Coming This Year

It's coming. Obviously. Later this year, Xbox 360s outfitted with 65-nm chips should be hitting store shelves according to The Xbox 360 Uncloaked author Dean Takahashi. Dubbed "Falcon," these chips are smaller than the current 90-nm processors and should use less energy. And that *should* lead to fewer Red Rings of Death. Well, theoretically! We won't know until these consoles are out in the wild, performing under real world conditions. However, Takahashi has confirmed that the chips are in the first batch of consoles currently being made, meaning that they could be there by fall. But Microsoft isn't going to disclose to customers which consoles have what. Takahashi points out: More »

7:00 PM on Thu Aug 23 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
20,391 views, 76 comments

Latest by Unplugged68: @EnigmaNemesis: Actually, right from the first article: The board does not include a 65-nanometer version of the ATI graphics chip for the Xbox 360. That version of the graphics chip is coming later. more »

sign of the times

Bashcraft's 360 Finally Dies (How's Yours?)

The exciting and inevitable conclusion to the my-Xbox-360-starting-freezing post! On Saturday night, after playing the BioShock demo to death, I decided to fire up some Gears of War. I played for ten minutes and then it moved on from this world, leaving Red Rings of Death as a memento. To recap: I got the "checkerboard effect," and the next time I switched on a disc-based game, the box konked out. So Xbox Live Arcade games and free demos could be the answer to Microsoft's hardware woes! Or something.

Now, that my Xbox 360 has cashed in, that means that at least three of all Kotaku editors have reached RROD status. Yay! Mine was a Japan Launch 360 (which I waited in line for and purchased with my own money). What about you reader people? Time for a poll: What I want to know is whether you've had hardware problems or not. We've got a decent sized readership, so I'm keen to know stories out in the field. More importantly, I really want to know if you've had not problems. Not all Xbox 360s are heaps of junk. Some of them actually work! So, if you've got worker, let us know in the comments section.

Meanwhile, I gotta send this thing off to get it repaired.

Eds Note: I just called consumer support, and they said it was going to be 2 or 3 weeks before they could fix it. The rep I spoke with said things were "backed up."

12:00 AM on Mon Aug 20 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
13,432 views, 529 comments

Latest by IndigoFerret: Update to my previous answer... My 360 crapped out on Christmas morning. Oh joy! more »