Bach says: We got a better design

I say: O rly?

Speaking to investors after having sold quite a bit of stock and dealt with a flurry of bad news, Bach was quick to point out that they've got things under wraps, really.

Speaking to investors, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment and Devices division, Robbie Bach, has indicated that the 360 has a new design that sidesteps the infamous 'Red Ring of Death' problem.

"It's a design challenge that we've had to work around and create a new design to solve that problem, and for the interaction of a variety of different components. And so that's a Microsoft design question, not some component manufacturer's problem or our manufacturing partner's problems. It's something we've had to work on. We know we have a much better design in the market now. We verified that."

I don't have anything to say to that, so I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.

Remember the last guy in the news who kept saying everything was fine when it wasn't?





Coincidence? You decide.

Six Reasons The Xbox 360 Is in Trouble

GamePro states the obvious.

The number one reason is:
1. It's unreliable. As Microsoft finally acknowledged this month, Xbox 360s fail more often than the company "is comfortable with." Some reports pin the "Red Ring of Death" failure rates as high as 33%. As a result, Microsoft increased the system's warranty from one to three years at a sizable and appreciated expense, but the company's unwillingness to fully disclose what's causing the problem undermines the solution. Gamers don't want to risk $300-400 at the chance to play games on 360, they want to make sure it can and will play games for years to come. Pile on the recent class-action lawsuits claiming that the machine scratches discs at random, and it becomes clear that the Xbox 360 isn't nearly as dependable as it could be.

If only 360 owners had more brains than money, something might actually get done instead of buying fucking pictures on Live and defending a defective product.

Bach Bails Out

Robbie Bach Bails Out!

"Regulatory filings indicate that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, has sold $6.2 million worth of company stock since May, a period during which mounting Xbox 360 technical problems have come to light..."

Wow, the bad news just keeps on mounting for Microsoft. I don't blame him, the shit's about to hit the fan and he put on some goggles. Then again, the goggles do nothing.

Class Action Lawsuit Launched Against 360

A lawsuit regarding another issue, disc scratching has been launched

One of the many issues regarding the 360; disc scratching is fairly prevalent, although not as seemingly widespread as the infamous red rings.

According to numerous reports I've read on Xbox-Scene, this is caused because some felt was not applied to the inside of the tray itself. The felt would have allowed a cushion for the disc as well as elevating it in order to prevent scratches. This is some felt that's a fraction of cent to mass produce and would have easily prevented all this.

*sigh* Come on MS, this is just sad. The Xbox I knew and loved is long gone, as are Ed Fries and Seamus Blackley, among others. It's a shame to see the Xbox name tarnished for no reason other than one of the richest companies in the world being cheapskates.

N'Gai Croal says Recall the 360!

N'Gai Croal says recall the 360!

The Newsweek Level Up man with the dreads has lambasted MS for the 360's faults.

"...Again, if Bach is correct and this is problem is truly design-related rather than manufacturing-related, and Microsoft still can't or won't be more forthcoming, then it should either institute a general product recall, or offer to completely replace any Xbox 360 whose model numbers come from those batches with this design flaw.

We say this for three reasons. First, it took Microsoft months to acknowledge the scope of the problem, long after afflicted Xbox 360 owners were already complaining loudly, attempting to identify the issue, and desperately inventing homegrown remedies. So to finally have Microsoft admit that, yes, there is a problem, is much like a wife who's found lipstick on her husband's collar; strange numbers in his mobile phone; and unspecified charges on his credit card. When he finally admits that, yes, he has been cheating, she's going to feel relieved that, thank god, she isn't crazy. But to simply have that acknowledged, accompanied by a bouquet of flowers, some chocolates and a promise never to stray again, is unlikely to restore said wife's trust. Microsoft needs to issue a full and frank accounting of what took place rather than the modified limited hangout wrapped in an extravagant display of remorse that we've seen thus far.

The system is defective. The time has long passed and before Halo 3 hits, MS must do something more than apply a giant band-aid to cover a gaping wound. It's infected, festering and about to mutate into something horrid.

It's a system that costs just $6 to manufacture, it was rushed out in 2005 and they just cut too many costs to try and make a profit. MS cheaps out, we pay and now they have to pay. You'd think we could go one console generation without having one turd of a system.

Why the 360 failed (I could've told you that)

The 360 failed because it's cheap, no shit Sherlock

"Asian Xbox 360 manufacturers are blaming poor console design, cheap components and a lack of testing coupled with a manic obsession by Microsoft to beat Sony as the reasons for the Xbox 360 "Red Ring Of Death" problems."

Wow, a system rushed out of the gate in 2005 with a tard pack, cheap components, $6 manufacturing cost, a jet engine inside it and cheap plastic on the outside isn't the best piece of hardware out there? I'm not surprised. The Xbox was a surprisingly stable piece of hardware last-gen, but then again, they had a lot to prove. The people in charge of the first Xbox were a lot smarter and more idealistic. They didn't want it to be like the PS2, something that kept breaking down and was unreliable.

So when MS wanted to try and win this generation, they copied the PS2 to a T. I guess they missed the memo where it said they shouldn't have copied the shitty hardware. Oh well, let MS do what they always do, ignore, deny and patch, patch, patch!

Todd Halmdahl Dodgy Interview

Here's another piece of shit at Microsoft demonstrating poor business ethics, spitting in customers faces.


Bullshit interview with Todd Halmdahl

Now, a 'professional' response to this genuine 'great' guy:
"...Q: I’m sure you’ve seen some of these complaints that we’ve written about from the guy who went through seven machines. There are a lot of people posting on the blog saying they still have problems. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that the quality of the Xbox 360 isn’t there. How can you paint the bigger picture for me there?
A: We’re very proud of the box. We think the vast majority of people are having just a great experience. You look at the number of games they are buying, the number of accessories they are buying, the Live attach. They love the box. They continue to buy the box. That said, we take any customer issue very seriously. We continue to look into these things very deeply. You have seen we have made some changes to our customer service policy.

Q: Do you still say that is a normal return rate for the console?
A: We continue to say the vast majority of the people are really happy with it."

He dodges questions with elegance and finesse, no wonder they picked him, after all, he does have all the answers.

"...Q: I’ve heard varying accounts of what is considered a normal return rate. Some people say that 2 percent is normal. Sometimes 3 percent to 5 percent is considered normal. Back to that question, can you address whether you are within those rates or within a normal rate.
A: We don’t disclose the actual number.

Q: Do you still say that is a normal return rate for the console?
A: We continue to say the vast majority of the people are really happy with it.

Q: I’ve heard varying accounts of what is considered a normal return rate. Some people say that 2 percent is normal. Sometimes 3 percent to 5 percent is considered normal. Back to that question, can you address whether you are within those rates or within a normal rate.
A: We don’t disclose the actual number.

Q: Normal compared to the Xbox?
A: We don’t comment on that.

Thanks Todd, thanks for addressing my concerns as a (former?!) paying customer! Please, spew more shit at me.

"Q: What explains this anecodotal evidence that it’s out of whack, compared to the Wii or the PlayStation 3 or other consoles.
A: I would go back and say the vast majority of people love their experience. We continue to go back and address all of these issues on a case by case basis. There is a vocal minority out there. We go off and try to address their issues as quickly and as pain free as possible.

Q: There were some folks, who are not totally guessing, who said that when you had three million consoles in the market, you have a bone pile of bad ones. That seems to suggest a pretty high defect rate as far as the yield goes. Can you address that?
A: We don’t talk about our production.

Q: Can you say anything about the yield? Do you have a good yield? Can you say anything about the yield?
A: The important thing here is that each product that comes out of the factory is rigorously tested. To ensure highest quality for our customer."

Like Petey essentially said, it's not about about making a quality product. It wasn't about that, not to mention it's too late for that, now it's just damage control. When a 360 fucks up, lots of them are replaced for free, the three dead ones I was involved with were. However, some are charged up to $170 for repairs, for another shitty, unreliable unit, I sure as hell wouldn't pay that.

You know the problem is real bad when MS is running short on boxes (aka coffins) for the dead systems.
It took MS 8 days to get me my most recent coffin, compared to the complete 12~ days the entire process took last time. I'm not even XBL Gold anymore (another MS screwup), but I feel for the people who are paying to play online (another 360-only 'feature')and are without a console this long, just throwing money away. It's pretty re-goddamn-diculous.

Y'know, Things Break

Thanks for the comforting statement, jackass...

"I can't comment on failure rates, because it's just not something - it's a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that we've treated him. Y'know, things break, and if we've treated him well and fixed his problem, that's something that we're focused on right now. I'm not going to comment on individual failure rates because I'm shipping in 36 countries and it's a complex business." - Peter Moore

Wow. What an explanation, way to reassure your customer base. You've treated him well if you mean lubing up with spit before going in with a fuckin' cactus. This is unethical, stupid, condescending and just plain ignorant. You know there's a problem, the gaming community knows there's a problem and if you don't act now, the amount of people who know will increase just as fast as the faith in the Xbox brand decreases.

Peter Moore is a piece of shit.


Thumbs up to you, Petey!