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Study shows Xbox 360 red ring problems on the decline photo

According to survey data from SquareTrade, widespread Xbox 360 problems -- yes, we're talking about the "Red Ring of Death" -- are on the decline. 

According to the data collected in an independent survey, the introduction of the "Jasper" chipset in the later part of 2008 could be the catalyst, possibly having "solved" the red ring problem. The study backs up Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg's claim that rampant hardware issues are a thing of the past. Of course, this isn't much comfort for early adopters and current owners who are still having problems, red ring or otherwise. 

The SquareTrade study also shows that the Nintendo's Wii is by far the most reliable console, nine times that of the Xbox 360 and four times than of the PlayStation 3. Nintendo, you go girlfriend!

More details on the study can be found at Industry Gamers.
 


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43 comments | showing # 1 to 43

booyahachieved7's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:44
booyahachieved7
I guess I am one of the lucky ones. Got my 360 almost four years ago and haven't had a single problem.

Same with the PS2. Some of my friends went through two or three of them. Mine is from launch and still works just fine.
Jon B's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:45
Jon B
The Wii is only that reliable because the tech in it is ancient by today's standards, and probably doesn't need much cooling at all.
The Xbox on the other hand, was downright inexcusable. Thankfully their shoddy manufacturing bit them on the arse in the end to get them into shape.
I've only seen one dead PS3. But then again because the slim is so significantly smaller than the phat PS3, I wonder if issues will arise there. Only time will tell.
casualweaponry's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:51
casualweaponry
I have a launch 360 that is doing just fine. It sounds like a jet engine, but I can't complain.

However, since I know many people who have gotten E74/RRoD/etc, I'll still take this news with a grain of salt.
Volomon's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:52
Volomon
I'm just surprised that 50% (54.6%, Gameinformer SEP 2009) is considered a decline.
ndschroede23's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:52
ndschroede23
@The Reborn

What are your thoughts on the XBOX 360, including hardware, software, and the corporation behind it?
Black Nexus's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:54
Black Nexus
Considering I still hear about fequently from everywhere from message boards to my freinds, on a damn near regular basis(plus that recent gameinformer piece about how they exceeded the billion dollars they set aside for the rrod with no sign of stopping, kinda contradicts what's being said here) all I will say is I'll believe it when I see it,or stop hearing about it.

Till then my 360 game buying habits remain in code red.
Car Full Of White Boys's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:55
Car Full Of White Boys
Cheapy D Will NEVER CRY he is a mans man But wombat on the other hand He is just a big baby
Kraid's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:56
Kraid
54.6% to 54.59% That's a huge improvement for PR people.
FinnE's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:57
FinnE
I've been saying this since the Falcon chipset came out. The Zephyr was the only chipset to have any problems with the RROD, and when Falcon came into widespread distribution and use the RROD pretty much disappeared. I'm glad there's finally some hard evidence to backup the claim because Sony fanboys seems to always go back to the RROD when they talk about console reliability. And yeah, the Xbox 360 did have a glaring issue in its initial release with reliability due to the chipset and it's a fair point but the fact of the matter is that Microsoft fixed it. It shouldn't be a talking point any longer.
Electrium's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 14:59
Electrium
@ Volomon - You're misinterpreting the data. That 50% is representative of every 360 sold since it's release. That doesn't mean out of every two people who buy 360s, one of them is going to get an RRoD. It means in the past 4 years, 50% of the 360s sold have failed. The amount of failures is probably skewed towards the first few models that were sold.

The problem hasn't been 100% fixed, but new Xbox 360s DO NOT have a 54.6% chance of failing. That chance has steadily dropped since launch, and next year, we'll see how many Jasper 360 owners get RRoDs. Probably not many.
bustaballs's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:04
bustaballs
Sorry MS. You're going to have to give me a really good reason to buy anymore game consoles from you. I'll wait a couple of years next time to see if it's worth it. I enjoy my 360 but I've dumped too much money into it for it to be worth it.
Volomon's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:04
Volomon
@Electrium I give you the fact that it's vague. However it doesn't say anywhere what they asked. It's presented in a format of current news and information not old news. So I can only assume this is all current.

I'd have to see concrete evidence that they are not prone to failure, before I myself buy one. Though I don't know if I can get over paying to play online.
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:13
pedrovay2003
None of this matters. The fact is that the 360's hardware was, is, and always will be garbage.
nowherekid03's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:14
nowherekid03
i have to send my xbox 360 out for repair since it sounds like an electric saw whenever its on. another 4 weeks without the console.
accidentprone88's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:16
accidentprone88
lawl @ FinneE

Maybe it'll stop being a talking point when more than half the people with 360's don't have to play their consoles in fear.

As for this data, I'm honestly not surprised. Nintendo consoles are routinely the only consoles I can think of that seem built for the long haul. Just looking at last generation, I had to send my PS2 back to Sony three or four times, my Xbox went completely belly up after a little over a year of owning it and my Gamecube still works as well as the day I bought it.

Say what you you will about Nintendo, their stuff is built to last.
Qraze's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:21
Qraze
who is this company and more importantly, who funds there research?
Chicken008's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:25
Chicken008
Mine just got the red ring today, on to my 3rd 360.
Doos's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:30
Doos
My study shows that mine is working (today).
ArrestedDeveloper's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:30
ArrestedDeveloper
My PS3 has broken just as many times as my 360 so I think all the consoles suck.
Crunshii's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:31
Crunshii
To all the people claiming that the problem is fixed and its only happening to the old models, I will ask my friend to send me his pic of his Falcon Elite that RROD like 1 month ago and bought it about 3 months ago. MS is getting faster on delivery, he got it in a week but still.

What do you say about his console? Is it just a faulty Falcon thats in decline?
gamadaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 15:36
gamadaya
@FinneE
The Falcon did solve RROD problem, but it introduced a new type of error that had the same result: a bricked 360. It was widespread enough that MS had to extend their RROD warranty to cover it.

And whenever there's an article like this, I feel obligated to say that I've been through 3 Wiis, 4 DS lites, 4 N64 controllers, and 5 Gamecube controllers. The vast majority of problems I have with video game equipment is with Nintendo's shit. Their controllers are garbage in terms of quality, and they always have a problem with their initial batch of new hardware. My Falcon 360 broke once, and they replaced it in a week, for free, and this was before the extended warranty for the new problem.
GoldenGamerXero's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 16:26
GoldenGamerXero
@gamadaya

For the past year my Wii has been moved through out the house, plugged in constantly and played for 8 hour intervals before taking breaks. How the fuck did you manage to not only burn out one wii but two! Don't even get me started on the cube because that little bastard WILL. NOT. DIE.
Janledroxa's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 16:32
Janledroxa
My second X-Box failed on me last month, *sigh* saving up for the third one.
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 16:50
Holyetheline
Mine red ringed once... sucked.
aerofan11's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 16:51
aerofan11
Better late than never I guess. My 360 RROD last week, waiting for UPS to pick it up. Not surprised it broke though, it was on 12 hours a day (and no, it wasn't just me playing it).
Steel Brotha's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 16:52
Steel Brotha
maybe there are less failures due to the fact that less 360s are selling
Spy of the week's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 17:04
Spy of the week
I had an issue with my '06 console this time last year-the video card was screwed (random, I know). So Microsoft sent me a new console and that was the last issue I had.
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 17:23
whormongr
@Chicken008 it is always funny to me when I hear things like this- esp because people always say how overpriced the ps3 is when in the end if you go through so many (my brother in law has gone through 4 and had to purchase 2 of them) vs. owning 1 ps3 it seems like the money quotient kinda changes.
all in all i hope we one day have a consensus on 360 stability since I would really like to get one so I have all 3 consoles but I still don't trust that I am throwing my $ down a hole yet
ViewFinder's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 17:38
ViewFinder
I shall agree with GoldenGamerXero.
That bloody cube will not die, whatever you do to it. Heck, mine has fallen from shelve like four times while running a game and it still works after what, seven years.

Also I've never seen a first party controller just die for no reason, though I've seen one to be crushed to pieces in hands of an angry gamer, only those 3rd party suck fests die in the middle of things.
Killrig's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 17:53
Killrig
I own 2 Xbox 360's, one being a recent Elite purchase (maybe 6 months ago). Both 360's got the RROD within 2 weeks of each other. I'm now without either and waiting through the support process for repairing each console.
Killrig's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 17:55
Killrig
Worth mentioning: I was listening to music that was ripped to the hard drive during each instance where the console crashed and then rebooted with the RROD. The Elite got the RROD right away, while the older pro was powered off and then back on to present the RROD.
GameraTheGreat's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 18:03
GameraTheGreat
whoopie....lets see them get rid of the disc-read error now...
Kalmah's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 18:47
Kalmah
@ArrestedDeveloper

Jesus, what do you do to that thing? I've had mine since launch and it's almost as good as new.
Gene Eric's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 20:13
Gene Eric
What a POS console
matrixdude171's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 20:26
matrixdude171
If you make a console, don't fail from the start..... It just goes to show what happens when a manufacturer goes cheap... and then some
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 21:27
Cowboy TTop
I've had my Falcon 360 for four years this month, never had any problems with it yet. Long may it serve me, like all my other consoles.

Failure rate is going down, and MS service has been commendable in dealing with it all for free. We all know Sony wouldn't be so kind, in the same situation, as the PS2s past days testify.
MoeQawama's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 22:18
MoeQawama
I mean, after 4 years of failing xboxes, the RROD better be on the decline with all the time they had to find out what the hell was wrong with it
akumaserge's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/01/2009 23:35
akumaserge
Isn't the new concern that E74?
Kaden101's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/02/2009 01:11
Kaden101
Quote "Cowboy TTop, I've had my Falcon 360 for four years this month, never had any problems with it yet. Long may it serve me, like all my other consoles."

I thought that the Falcon chipset didn't arrive until the 2nd half of 2007. Let me do the maths....2nd half of 2009 minus 2nd half of 2007 equals.....oh yeah, about half the time you stated.
hpv's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/02/2009 01:24
hpv
How would anyone know if their Wii was broken? Wouldn't you have to plug it in to find out?
Narynan's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/02/2009 03:02
Narynan
@HPV Hahaaa.... its funny cause its true.

Anyway, I've been through 3 of the RRoD machine. And I pray i dont have to get another. But thats why, even if I have to wait, I have decided that unless it's exclusive, I will be playing more games on my PC.
JustLikeBuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/02/2009 03:57
JustLikeBuck
Of course RROD is in decline! E74 replaced it!
martinine's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/02/2009 09:22
martinine
@ accidentprone88 I still have my first SNES controller, and it works like gold

I'm on my 4th 360. The first 3 had an error with the console update that came with NBA Street. I just took them back to the store until they gave me one that updated and worked. I haven't had too many problems since then, but I do keep a 12 volt fan blowing on it whenever I play it. It never gets too hot though....
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