OK, enough of the BS. Microsoft are NOT offering a General 3 Year warranty on the 360, depsite what some of the idiots here think.

Read the official press release:

"Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will now be covered by a three year warranty from date of purchase. All other existing Xbox 360 warranty policies remain in place."

http://investing.reuters...-2007+PRN&type=qcna

The 3 Year warranty ONLY covers Red Ring Of Death scenarios. It does not cover disc scratching, dead Xboxes, graphical glitches, or any other failures. ONLY Red Ring Of Death.

All other failures are the usual 90 day warranty in the US, and 1Yr in Europe.

And you say this as if its a bad thing? They are addressing the problem at hand.

1 year for everything. 3 years for general hardware failures.

It seems the general hardware failure is the one issue that comes up more than any others, so they are addressing that issue.

Are they REALLY addressing the issues? Many reports of multiple failed units that have been repaired, means that the patches they are doing to the consoles are simply not effective. Glueing a CPU and cranking up the fan speed is not addressing the issue.

65nm CPU MAY address the issue, that is yet to be determined. Either way, the 1.15 billion dollar budget will swell quickly, if they plan on replacing 90nm units with 65nm units.

I'm glad to hear from someone inside MS that knows what is really going on. Troll on, troll on.

I still can't believe you guys....yes a 3 year warranty is nice, and its a great gesture by MS...but still the fact remains...this was ONLY done because of how HORRID the hardware in the console is....if they did not do this they would be SLAMMED with lawsuit after lawsuit...they are not standing by their product...they are doing damage control...

and Hollywood are you blind or just that dumb to keep calling the PS3 warranty 90 days?...because it is still a 1 year warranty...

The 60GB PS3 is getting its $100 price cut TOMORROW....and the 80GB sku will replace it at the $600 price level in August and will come with a bundled copy of Motorstorm...not a bad deal if you ask me...this puts the 60GB model in line just about with the 360 Elite and for $100 more you can get the extra 20GB of HD space and a $60 game...not too shabby...

$600 is a lot of money for a video game console. Microsoft and Sony are too expensive to win this generation.

Especially when you spend $500 on a 360 and it frys and have to send it in to get fixed. Well, it is only 30% of them that are frying, so 70% are working, maybe you will get lucky.

Currently working..

How many will be fried a year from now? 50/50 perhaps?

And then again maybe none.

Historic data says this won't be the case. You have to be a total idiot to think that because 2.5 million have already failed, the fatality rate will be zero for the next 12 months..

This is perhaps the dumbest thing you have ever claimed.

If sales of the 360 continue as they are, and Microsoft continue to fail to address the root cause of the failures (which we know is true, as repaired units regularly still go wrong), in 18months 2.5 million have failed, then you can surely add another 1.5 million to that mortatily rate.

2.5 million have failed huh. Says the EB games employee lmao. Your claims are laughable at best. Like I have said before. You nor I know how many have failed. You are just posting numbers that 2 stores out of millions pulled out of their ass. It's like interviewing 2 people and passing their opinion as the opinion of everybody else.

Funny how you never seem to mention Sony's quality problems in the past. God forbid you bring that up. How many millions of PS2's have failed, how many laptop batteries failed, and so on. You make me sick with all the hate you have. You should really consider getting some professional help. You truely are blind to reality. The bottom line is the problem is being fixed at least they are attempting to do something about it. $ony had to be sued in court to get them to do something, deny if you will it is reality.

Like I said before my 360 is actually in repair as I type this but I am confident in them as a company to fix the problem. I have a long list of pre-ordered games for the 360 and none on the PS3 that tells me something about the PS3. Its all about the games. And for the most part I could care less about blu-ray it is not needed in a console, SDVD is fine for games.

Why do you fail to admit that Sony has also had its share of issues?

Micro$oft...defects...who would have thought it. Does it really matter though? The Wii continues to dominate the XBox 360.

How long until Micro$oft throws in the towel just like the last generation and admits defeat?

I bet we will start hearing about the XBox 720 by the end of the year if Nintendo keeps selling Wii's like they are.

MS didn't throw in the towel last generation genius. The 360 is dominating the POS3 and the Wii is dominating both of them. The 360s sales are still excellent. Wii sales are just better than excellent. With their low price range they have hit the average consumer early in the game. The POS3 is a looong ways away from being anywhere near average consumer range.

Yep, the Wii is _DOMINATING_ the XBox 360, as in

!!!!!!!!!!!WTFPWNBBQFANBOICRYINGPWNFEST!!!!!!!!!

Just like the PS2 did, and is still doing BTW, to both the XBox and XBox 360. Not sure who is still buying PS2's though.

http://www.vgchartz.com/aweekly.php (scroll down to the bottom for systems sales info)

"MS didn't throw in the towel last generation genius."

That's why the original Xbox was discontinued after 2.5 years??? The PS2 is still going strong 7 years later..

Go figure. I expect the same to happen this time around, expect Microsoft to scrap the 360 is about 12 months, and start work on something to replace it. The PS3 will be around for another 6 years..

They discontinued it because they came out with the 360. Plus that was just their entry into the market.

"Go figure. I expect the same to happen this time around, expect Microsoft to scrap the 360 is about 12 months, and start work on something to replace it."

Are you retarded? The 360 is selling 2x the PS3. Guess that means they are going to discontinue the PS3 in 6 months?

You miss the crucial point. The PS2 is still be produced IN PARALLEL with the PS3, it's still selling well, it's design is being improved, great software is still being released (God Of War II for example).

Microsoft dumped the original Xbox as soon as the 360 came along, they will dump the 360 as soon as they have something to properly compete with the PS3.

I give the 360 another 12 months, before Microsoft dump on their owners again.

Sony have history to show that PS1 and PS2 continue to be supported and improved, with software released well into ther subsiquent generations lifecycle. Microsoft don't.

I swear I think you get dumber every day. Do you not hear yourself? Why in the hell would they dump a console that is selling quite well in 12 months? I'm going to ask you again. Are you retarded?

The reason they dumped the Xbox is because it was never as popular as the PS2, because they released later and it had less games *cough* PS3. The 360 on the other hand is just the opposite. With the 360 out and doing so well there was no reason anymore to hang on to the console that was just simply their entry into the market.

I've seen some pretty outrageous comments from time to time, but you really take the cake with your comments here.

Xbox was Microsoft's first console. They were going to have to compete with PS2, Wii and PS3. They didn't need to compete with themselves too by having 2 consoles in the market. So their plan was to release the 360 and discontinue the originaly Xbox.

Sony on the other hand took a different approach. They decided to continue with the PS2 AND the PS3. One could question how smart a move this was since continuing PS2 support means new games and less of a reason for PS2 owners to upgrade to PS3.

And you are really fooling yourself if you think the 360 isn't competing with the PS3. Microsoft not only has a huge online subscription base, but also is bringing in a lot of extra revenue with their TV's, Movies and other downloadable content. They will not be abandoning 360 anytime soon. It will be at least another 2-3 years minimum before we see the next gen of consoles.

You $ony fanboys should thank God that they are still making the PS2 or they would be in casket by now. You have to admit but you never will that when your old product is outselling your new one there is a problem. But like I said you won't admit that. Your posts get dumber and dumber.

and the PSone was Sony's first console...but they didnt dump that to give us the PS2 right away now did they? Nope...

The good thing is Microsoft offers a 3 year warranty whereas the PS3's is only 90 days.

Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") warrants to the original purchaser that the PS3TM hardware shall be free from material defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase (the "Warranty Period").

PS3 is 1Yr.

360 is 3Yr for Red Ring Of Death, 90 days for anything else.

WRONG! The 360 is 1 yr and 3 yr for RR.

1 year in Europe...

3 year warranty, a market-leading and winning strategy.

I'm looking forward to seeing the positive impact this kind of product support generates.

I wonder if the others will have the sense to follow - or will they take comfort from their idiot support (we can see examples of here) who'd have people believe a decent & long guarantee is not something desirable at all.

Surely a well designed, well build, reliable hardware DOES NOT NEED A 3YR WARRANTY to keep consumers believing in it.

The reality is, the FDC was on the verge of investigating Microsoft regarding the 360 failure rate, Microsoft knew this, and the warranty press release and sucking up to shareholders was the result..

LMAO.

Yeah, of course, for you a 3 year warranty is bad.

Bad Microsoft, how dare you stand by your products for 3 whole years.

No doubt you just smile weakly & say 'Please Sir, may I have some more' as your Sony controllers bend you over.....

Try waking up from your 'Stockholm syndrome' to actual reality for a change.

Next time you buy a car ask for a 90 day warranty since they aren't needed.

Nice way to turn it round..

The facts are however, Microsoft are not offering a 3 Yr warranry on RROD failures for YOUR benefit, they are doing it, because the FDC was on the verge of an investigation into the problem, and there was no other way out.

Don't pretend it was done out the of goodness of their hearts. If the FDC had not launched the investigation, they would still be denying there was any problems, and creaming $80 profit on each repair..

PS. The 3yr waranty is ONLY for RROD failures, it does not cover any other system failure, or disc scratching issues. Read the Xbox FAQ...

"Any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will now be covered by a three year warranty from date of purchase. All other existing Xbox 360 warranty policies remain in place."

When does large companies EVER do ANYTHING for the "consumers" benefit?

Why The Xbox 360 Failed

David Richards and Wire Services - Sunday, 8 July 2007

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 reason for the Xbox 360 "Red Ring Of Death" probems.

Two years ago In a desperate quest for supremacy in the gaming console market and in an effort to beat Sony and then later Nintendo with their Wii console, Microsoft committed themselves to getting the Xbox 360 to market some 12 months ahead of the new Sony PS3. They also stripped costs out of the unit in an effort to undercut Sony.

Now they are paying the cost of their failed marketing exercise...

http://www.smarthousenew...evices/Console/L3R2T2S6

If the 360 is failing to Sony, then someone forgot to tell Microsoft.

http://www.joystiq.com/2...heir-six-month-birthday/

PS: Take the Wii out of that list since as any Sony fanboy knows, the Wii is not a real gaming system (sarcasm)

Meaningless... The tide has turned, people are seeing the 360 for what it is, a pile of junk...

Who are these people?

Sales numbers say differently.

Who?

Sure they are. The Wii is dominating the XBox 360.

So it's a good product and fun unlike the PS3.

ROFL...Typical $ony fanboy. Yes the Wii is dominating the 360. It seems though that you are avoiding the point. Understandable considering how bad the POS3 is doing.

Incase you didn't know I like the Wii too. So if that is some kind of attack then you might want to try again.

is the PS3 outselling the PS2 at this point in its life cycle?

YES...

I think the PS2 ended up doing well...the PS3 is not doing bad at all...

The PS2 didn't have a whole lot of competition back then either. Also it had all the good games like the 360 has now. So I guess that means the 360 is outselling the PS2 2x and the Wii is outselling it at least 5x.

What is also funny, is if you bring up anything upabout rootkits, class action lawsuits for playstation 2 they have nothing to say.

Yet, keep stating the 30% as fact for the failure rate but with no proof.

M$ is too afraid to release actual numbers man...we are using the only sources we have which are employees of various gaming stores....if you think the failure rate is much lower than 30% you have another thing coming...

I have nothing to say about the PS2 because I still have a working LAUNCH PS2...nothing to complain about here...

and Rootkits are bad....I'm not a Sony fan to be honest...they are a BIG reason I have not bought a CD in years...

I just happen to own a PS3 and am 110% happy with my purchase...

Well I still have a working launch 360!!!

"if you think the failure rate is much lower than 30% you have another thing coming..."

If you think that you actually know what the failure rate is you got another thing coming. We are talking about 2 stores here. You nor anybody else but MS knows what the failure rate is. Everything else is just numbers that somebody pulled out of their ***.

I find it hillarious you are still trying to pretend the failure rate is not that high.

Even a total idiot can see there is enough proof that the failure rate is about 25%.

Talk about living in denial.

The bottom line is MS is fixing them for free so its not a big deal to me. They at least admit and fix the issue. Again $ony didn't do this with their past systems you tend to ignore that.

That's because there was no widespread issues with the 120 million PS2's shipped.

Sure a few hundred thousand my have had disk read errors, but it's a drop in the ocean.

Not really compariable to 30% of 10 million consoles...

Looks like the PS2 is also being improved, even after 7 years..

http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/802/802262p1.html

I can't see the 360 being around in another 2 years, let alone another 5.5 years time...
Surely this means Microsoft have only sold 8 million 360's if 2.5 million have failed...

ROFL!!! I noticed you called me a hypocrite earlier. "I find it hillarious you are still trying to pretend the failure rate is not that high." "That's because there was no widespread issues with the 120 million PS2's shipped." HA! Who is the hypocrite now! Also in denial.

Hey dumb ***...Show me in that post where I claim the failure rate is not that high. All I said is he did not know what the failure rate is. Nobody knows. Every number someone posted is just a number they pulled out of their a** based on returns to 2 stores! Are we having trouble reading Stevie?

It was a class action lawsuit, it would have had to be a significant # to reach that and ITS still happening even with the slim lines.

If the slimlines get too hot they start skipping.

Pleas by all means, show us evidence of 40 million faulty PS2 (30% of PS2 production). I would love to see this....

Reality is of course, that the real number of faulty PS2's is very small, and looks slightly larger than expected, due to the immense number of units out there..

Please by all means show us evidence of a 30% failure rate on the 360. If you think numbers from 2 stores is evidence you are more retarded than I thought.

Hocus,

There seems to be a lot of first time posters in here all saying the exact same thing and replying to each other. We seemed to have gained more PS3 fanboys, yet they all post within minutes of each other and all showed up today.

Now that's a coincidence if I ever saw one. The strange thing is, none of these high end gurus has an explanation for the pathetic PS3 attach rate compared to HD-DVD players and 360 consoles. HD-DVD leads 11 to 1 in that category and that's a fact.

They all seem to get more and more frustrated with my brilliant genius by replying with a lot of caps and question marks. It's almost like someone was getting away with multiple accounts and is no enraged at the fact that I spotted it and exposed him/her as a desperate lonely retard.

Surely the guilty party wouldn't respond to this post because I'm sure a lot of people are confused as to who I am referring to and that would point him out. The fact that I will never directly reply to such a gramatically challenged ape that only spews monosyllabic unfactual data makes him even more desperate.

By the way everybody, if you read the fine print, the PS3 warranty is only 90 days.

Wouldn't you agree Hocus?

re-read your fine print...because 90 days is not stated ANYWHERE in the warranty...unless you are talking about PERIPHERALS...but you wouldn't be THAT STUPID....or would you?

busted i think....

Yeah, I see what you mean Hollywood_.

LMAO.

if you think i have another user name on here you must be as stupid as Hollywood...although im not sure that is possible...

It's not nice to call people names Dave...

Hocus,

I was right about the 90 day PS3 warranty, I called Sony myself.

They also confirmed the sales numbers are well short of 3.5 million sold in the US. They said it's closer to 2 million and there are 3 million on shelves.

See how much you can find out when you call the company direct. I'm sure someone will post and old warranty and change the name from PS2 to PS3 in desperation.

LOL maybee its just me, But all the people that buy a ps3 in The BestBuy and Walmart I vend in. ONLY bought it for the use as a Cheap Blu Ray Player. Most and again this is in the NY area on Long Island. Most people buy the PS3 and don't have enough cash to buy extra accessors or games. They just walk out with the system. It is Rare here that I have gotten a Game, system, and extra controllers out in the same sale. But I will say they all jump on Best Buys Product service plans and Wal-Marts Product Care Plans. I don't even have to offer the services they all claim they had friends that the systems over heated on. But I do get the Nyko Intercooler sold almost all the time on the PS3

damn...thats close to my name...but its actually Anthony...

yeah, ok...

"LIMITED HARDWARE WARRANTY AND LIABILITY FOR THE PLAYSTATION®3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") warrants to the original purchaser that the PS3TM hardware shall be free from material defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase (the "Warranty Period"). If the product is determined to be materially defective during the Warranty Period, your sole remedy and SCEA's sole and exclusive liability shall be limited to the repair or replacement of this product with a new or refurbished product at SCEA's option. For purpose of this Limited Hardware Warranty and Liability, "refurbished" means a product that has been returned to its original specifications. Visit www.us.playstation.com or call 1-800-345-7669 for instructions on how to deliver the product, freight prepaid, to an authorized service facility."

So Dave is your profile name and Anthony is your real name?

Look, Hollywood__ has been proven to be the biggest Bulls***ter there is..

Next thing he will be claiming 30GB/31Mbit-sec HD-DVD sounds and looks better than 50GB/55Mbit-sec Blu-Ray!!!

Meaning you will haft to pay to ship it back to them. There goes $60.

In MANY cases it does look and sound better than Blo-Ray...

"30GB/31Mbit-sec HD-DVD sounds and looks better than 50GB/55Mbit-sec Blu-Ray!!!"

- Yeah, you're right there, more often than not it really does.

The funny thing is that as Paramount & Warner use the same codecs/encodes on their dual format releases that bit-rate is simply redundant and never going to be the big issue the Sony/PS3/BD shills would love to make it out to be.

Why not tell the truth and inform us about the single layer 25gb movie discs still being released Sony/PS3/BD shills, eh?

He gets a little touchy after a while and complains about people getting at him.....but feels it's fine calling people "retards" and so on.

He's a contradictory and complex little hypocritical guy is our Dave (or whoever it is).

your a flat out liar and you know it...if they have money for your overpriced service plan than they have money for games...gee is it possible that they are buying it as gifts and think $600+ tax is enough as a gift without getting an extra controller and games?...if they were buying it JUST for the movies don't you think they would have picked up some blu-rays....and no they don't have friends who have had their PS3 overheat...everybody knows Sony was smart enough to #1 get the system to run cool enough to house the power supply INSIDE the console (novel idea eh?) AND have it not overheat....if its overheating then they must be leaving it in a sealed case lol...its the 360 that overheats my friend...any "inter cooler" is a pure waste of money for the PS3...i've played games for hours and ran folding at home over night and never even HEARD the fans kick it up to indicate the system was heating up....

First Off. Ps3 Service plan - Walmart - 58 bucks. Doesn't sound overpriced to protect something for 2 years that costs 600. Second off as to picking up BD disks. No New york wal-mart Stores sell Blu Ray DVD's. Matter of fact only 96 Stores out of the 5000+ Wal-mart Stores Carry Blu Ray or Hd DVD disks. Matter of Fact Only in the week 38 of Wal-mart will all of their 96 Flagship Stores Be carrying HD and BD disk on a Pod in an action allity. Best Buys PSP plan I do not recall the Cost on. BUT being in a primarily spanish Based Low income area. NO people only buy the system. Then come back a few weeks later and complaing that their are no 19 dollar games Like on the ps2. As for the overheating problems I have seen with the Sony It is true. I do not know if they have it in an enclosed case since most New Yorkers have their electronics stored in a case. At least the higher end Customers. As for me being a lier I even asked my DM and was replaied with that it is happening in the gamestops and Circuit City stores Also. As a Vendor for Sony who only Sees the Best Buy and Wal-Mart chains in Long Island. I can only talk about the wal-marts and Best-Buys I service. I'm Sure you will also argue that their Demo's Don't have a Software glitch that makes the system freeze either. But Anyway Our DM said Do to lack of Power Conditioners )goto love LIPA and Con Ed)being used. Do to our unsteady electricity, as everyone wanting their electronics hidden since look is everything in NY. YOU might have no problem with it. That does not mean Others do not. Where are you living. How is your system held. Is it in an electronics closet? Hidden behind a 32 Inch tube TV like alot of my customers Do? Built into a wall under a Plasma TV? Maybee its in a wide open area sitting on a Component table. Just as people with 360. Some people have no problem and will argue till their blue in the face theirs nothing Wrong like the MS fanBoys. No matter what you say it will not change that fact. Same thing as you Sony FanBoys. Minute you hear something about the prized system you blew all the cash on. You get pissed off. But just becuase YOU have no problems. Does not mean Others do not. I go buy actual Seen product working in the retail world. Where are you getting your information from. A web Site? Are we working in the retail world in a high electronics area that can see what goes on? Or are you just another tech head Shooting their mouth off without working in the retail industry , seeing what customers complain about. I am, and no I am not defending MS, they have had plenty of dead systems also. I specially Stated What I have seen in the Stores I run my product in. Not Stores around the US.

Man this sucks, I'm on my 4th replacement 360. I wish I'd bought a PS3.

WOW, you do know a 1 does not equal a L right?

Now you are desperate and trying to pretend to be other people, just yeah I got nothing...

LOL! When logic fails fight with stupidity. Typical $ony fanboy.

What the hell you doing to your 360's Failing to Mod em and sending it back for a new one...

Hello Dave.

Actually Dave, I'm on my 2nd replacement and yes I do plan to buy a PS3. But don't think for a second its because the games are so good... Here are my incentives.

http://kotaku.com/gaming...hits-july-15-275391.php
http://www.bluraysavings.com/index.html

If it weren't for these 2 things I wouldn't even bother with this console. But alas I'm a sucker for a deal. $100 off and then roughly another $100 dollars for the movies puts the POS3 at roughly $400 dollars which I can live with. :-D

PS Keep in mind that these are both desperate moves by Sony, but It looks like they will pay off. Just as Microsoft is spending a fortune fixing the 360 so too is Sony spending a fortune trying to flush the PS3 down peoples throats.

I've successfully moded both consoles I've had. The problem is the notorious ring of death. Fortunately for me Microsoft has made it hassle free, except for the inconvenience to wait .

Sony will call it quits on the PS3 right after Christmas 2007. I heard this from a reliable source.

I'm sure someone will be responding any second to Sony's defense. I'm just wondering which of thier 24 (now 26) BetaNews usernames they will use?

Of course the frustrastion will only multiply exponentially as I will never directly respond to the guilty party from now until the second coming. You can see the anger building every second that goes by.

By the way, I just checked and according to my sources, BD just lost the lead to HD-DVD movie sales this afternoon. What a Shame.

you are out of your mind!...the PS3 is selling faster than the PS2 did! And has sold more than the 360 did at this point in its life cycle with NO competition...They would be CRAZY to call it quits now...their big name titles are just starting to come out....

AND the PS3 is single handily winning the High Def format war...blu-ray ftw....sorry HD-DVD....

Sony are in good shape, PS2 is still selling well, making profits from games, consoles and acessories, same for PSP, good sales in all regions (despite being outsold by DS). PS3 is losing money sure, but it's early in it's life, things get better, they always do, PS1, PS2 and PSP were always loss leaders initially.

If anything, Microsoft are the ones going to jack it in, the Xbox division has lost over $6 Billion since 2002, and the $1.15 billion fix bill for the shoddy quality of the 360 is not included in that number.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288313,00.html

Theres nothing in there that states MS has lost 6 billion. If you are going to quote losses please read the articles first.

Like I said earlier. They don't actually read the articles. They just post them there because they think it makes them look official.

No competition doesn't necessarily mean much. People very likely could have been waiting to see what PS3 and Wii had to offer before getting a 360.

" the Xbox division has lost over $6 Billion since 2002, and the $1.15 billion fix bill for the shoddy quality of the 360 is not included in that number."

Actually the whole 'XBox enterprise' (ie everything since it began in 2000) is reckoned to have a total cost of about $5 billion US.

Microsoft made that in the 1st quarter of this year (2007) alone (net) in profits.

(But of course the years in between were all enormously profitable and it was easily afforded as they went along.....nevermind the off-setting returns that were generated by sales)

Microsoft talk profits in the tens of $ billions annually, Sony talk in a few hundred million (if they haven't had a completely disastrous year).

A $1 billion cost (however unexpected or unscheduled) for Microsoft is just a pi*s in the ocean, quite frankly.
They just operate in an ocean so much more massive than their competitors.

In the end it's Sony who are the ones who really can't afford this drawn-out fight.

.....and no amount of cross company subsidy can alter the underlying fact that they just aren't in the same financial league.

Perhaps they don't teach reading and writing at hick schools..

"Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, estimates that Microsoft's entertainment and devices division has lost more than $6 billion since 2002."

Talk about living in denial.

The figure was XBox has cost $5 billion since it all started in 2000, so I guess this additonal $1 billion makes that $6 billion.

But that's a cost figure, not a net profit or loss figure.

In any event clearly whilst they'd love to have turned a profit on day 1 they are a little more adult and grown-up about this (unlike the idiot Sony peanut gallery).

They don't care about the costs of the XBox project, they're just short-term losses they'll happily take to either knock Sony out of the business or put them in a minority share position - which is exactly what is happening, Sony have gone from bigger than all the rest to merely being the largest minority.....and the Sony market share is right now shrinking not growing, unlike Microsoft's.

Microsoft made $5 billion (net of taxes) in the 1st quarter of 2007 alone.....which is the latest in many years of excellent profit growth (which contrasts markedly to Sony's profitability and history over the last 7yrs).

They can easily afford it but Sony can't.

Oh boy...Here comes more estimates passed as facts!

The PSX failure rate was 81% and the original thick PS2 was 73%. That's a fact.

In my house it was 100% on both, 2 PSX's and 2 PS2's. Sony never fessed up to the problem. Another fact.

Even though I never mentioned my 360, (which has been flawless so far) in this post, some moron will try to work it into thier reply. Of course my PS3 hasn't failed either but it's hard to break something that is never on unless I'm watching Talledega Nights or Casino Royale.

where are your sources???...because I still have a working LAUNCH PS2 somewhere around my house...

oh thats right you have no FACTS....or sources...you're just an idiot...lets see what you're wrong about next...you're already wrong on the PS3 issues...the blu-ray issues...what can we get next...your hole is getting mighty big hollywood...

oh and stop calling it the PSX...if you knew any better you would realize that the PSX was an entirely different system then the PS or the PSone

Links?

72% of 120 million Playstation 2 units sold?

Your taking bad drugs... This is more nonsense that your usual tripe you post..

Yeah, you need to lay of the drugs. Sorry your XBox is failing you, but you don't have to go and out and try to attack other companies and bad mouth everyone else for sticking with a company that has proven successful in the last two generations and has only started this one... Maybe you should actually look into a PS3, see what it has to offer now and in the future, instead of being a complete idiots and saying false and absurd things.

There was a class action lawsuit, SONY LOST, they still refused to admit that there is anything wrong yet there are THOUSANDS of sites dedicated to fixing Sony's shoddy lasers.

I loved my ps2 it was a great system and it was not as powerful as xbox but still a great system with all the right games.

Also to note the newer models not the slim line model but the one's previous to that had difficulty playing the blue backs, now there was only a few games that were blue backs, but still an annoying issue.

The fact remains people are STILL complaining about the disk read errors and this is 7 years later.

The only reason I bought a new ps2 after mine failed was I bought one off of ebay and after repeatedily calling Sony found someone who admitted that the Sony laser's were faulty and they replaced mine but made me pay for the shipping there. (I only paid 15 dollars for it as it was considered doa but I can't complain)

He doesn't even need to post the links as its a wide known fact that the ps2 had a significant failure rate and again a class action lawsuit was brought against them and they lost but still if you would call them and ask before the deadline depending who you spoke with would you get a fix.

Which you guessed it would be covering it up because if some employees were trying to charge you and others wouldn't and there's no info at all on their site about it either.

Again, just google, yahoo, live search playstation 2 disk read errors there was a class action lawsuit not sure how much more proof you really need and that sir is a FACT.

yeah I know of the problems with the PS2...I personally had none...again...I have a launch ps2 that works fine...it takes a lot longer to load up games than it used to but it still does just fine...this has NOTHING to do with the Xbox360 in any case...

unless what you are saying is...I don't mind that 360's are bricking left and right because PS2's did the same thing....which is a stupid argument to say the least...

No what we are saying is you make it sound like the most unheard of thing in the world when obviously it is not.

"SomeoneSmart"

Are you sure?

The point is that Microsoft is doing something about it BEFORE it went to a class action lawsuit.

Sony had to go through a class action lawsuit and still denies there was a problem, just go to their site and faq about disk read errors.

I'm looking forward to some comment some time about how good a 3 year warranty is and just when the rest might match Microsoft's (excellent) move.

The rest don't need 3yr warranties.. They have reliability built in for free.

yeah Overheating units is realiability. Have you ever worked for an actual Vendor or retail establishment. To see what people talk about instead of READING what people talk about. Again Come to NY and visit any Wal-Mart store or Best Buy and ask for the Claim and Shrink Bin Count on a ps3 Model, 360 Model or any other PC or Console system (aint had one returned Wii yet, Gee Nintendo build a reliable system Again .. so Shocking how they do it back to back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qbt3mDugGQ

Not sure about the "better games than PS3" bit thou, as all the cross platform titles I have seen, look better on PS3..

"all the cross platform titles I have seen, look better on PS3."

- LMAO.

Spoken like a truly blinkered shill.

Cue the 'howls of derisive laughter' from the non-'Sony drone' element.

Oblivion, looking considerably better on PS3, plus no loading ties.

Rainbow 6 Vegas, Looking better on PS3.

The only games that don't look better on PS3, are those with lazy developers (EA for example).

How much do Microsoft pay you? I am curious..

LMAO!!!! The only difference between the 2 is that the POS3 makes everything look lighter, which actually makes them look worse. Nice try Ben.

"How much do Microsoft pay you? I am curious"

- I've told you before (or which ever persona it was at the time) that I have no connection with any CE company or computer company or in fact any company at all now (I'm actually retired) and I never have had a connection to anyone involved in this either.

I just hate to see people being abused, and IMO that's what the scumbag shills, the hydras and the liars in the marketing dept of that certain (you know who) company are at.
Liars lying to extract (other) people's hard earned.

Well, I'm only too happy to put the other side and puncture those lies.

The real question is how much does Sony pay you ......and with all that 'split personality' BS can any treatment ever be enough to help your clear & obvious disorder(s)?

The mark of a true shill, try and turn it around..

He could show you pictures with Sony's catching on fire and you would still deny it, you are blinded by fanboyism.

.....and the irony of his own repeatedly parroting back what has been said to him umteen times obviously escapes him too.

The brazen cheeck of these Sony shills/drones is hilarious.

Better? HA! Not unless you like all your games to look more washed out.

No then he would try to tell you how great it was that it does this because it could heat your home lol!

Did anyone else but me notice that one person is posting under three different names in here?

(update)

Sorry, didn't notice the fourth (and fifth) one. They usually respond to thier own posts in agreement, then respond to that post under another name to give the appearance of credibility.

The guilty one will most likely respond to this post with a stupid (and obvious) question making it seem like he's not the retarded a** monkey.

and who are they Hollywood?

plague201, SGD, Niro, Siryak, terminalx, Hocuspokus

It's pathetic.

Laughable as usual ......and yet so familiar.

There's one BD shill around here that - presumably due to their own limited intellect - continually just rhymes back other people's comments, descriptions & phrases.

It isn't hard to see the at work (again) here.

You're projecting again.
Fool.
Unlike like some (IMO actually disturbed) BD shills I have never come here as anyone other than the name I always use.

Playing the self-supporting loon is a sad little illness you have all to yourself.

ROFL! Ben calling someone pathetic. Man you guys really crack me up!!!

MS will now officially BAN all 360's they refurbished from their Live network, now THAT's a service ! lol

They fixed E66 (or something) like half a year ago, please try to keep up.

What amazes me even more is how everyone cries about journalism but continue to visit anyway. The overall feeling toward Sony right now IS negative, by most people. So should everyone write about poor take up of the PS3, etc, in a positive light just to make you all happy?

No, thats not what im saying....but JOURNALISM is not what is going on when we get into the MS/Sony HD-DVD/Blu-Ray debates that rage here...JOURNALISM should be UN-biased...unfortunately it seems as though BetaNews is on the MS payroll sometimes...where are the articles about PS3 selling faster than the PS2?? (I think the PS2 ended up selling pretty well btw) Even the article about blockbuster choosing blu-ray over HD-DVD was written with an anti sony tone...where are the articles BASHING MS for a 30% failure rate on 360's? I can sorta see how the 3 year warranty thing could be looked at as a company standing by its consumers...but still where are the articles talking negatively about such a horrible failure rate!? an estimated 2.5 million out of an estimated 11 million or so?! THATS TERRIBLE! especially when Sony and Nintendo seem to be achieving less than 1% return rates!...come on BetaNews...you're better than that

"an estimated 2.5 million out of an estimated 11 million or so?! THATS TERRIBLE!"

Well it might be nice if that rate was actually known as a fact rather than just parroted out as if it was known.

It isn't known.

Clearly (as they openly admitted) they found they had a problem, examined it and have now dealt with the problem and to give people confidence they are prepared to back all their product (provided it wasn't messed with or resold) with a 3 year warranty.

Frankly I think you'd be pushed to find many who would do that without being compelled to.

"especially when Sony and Nintendo seem to be achieving less than 1% return rates"

- Says who?

This is just another guess with no factual back-up.

"...Frankly I think you'd be pushed to find many who would do that without being compelled to".

Without being compelled to??? Do you honestly think that they (MS) didn’t feel compelled to up the warranty on this product to avoid a mandated recall or class action lawsuit?
You're living in lala land.

I agree with Metfanant 100% about this site spinning articles. Just like FoxNews spins to the right? It’s supposed to be a news site. It's in it's name! BetaNEWS. If this was xbox360Fanboy.com, I would expect it and turn the other way. If this was PS3Fanboy.com, I would expect nothing but bashing, and take it for what it's worth... But this is Beta(NEWS!). They should be unbiased... and clearly they are not.

Spin? The article states Microsoft owns up to the quality issues and they did, it states they are not sure yet what causes this as not everyone is experiencing it.

Microsoft did sit on this for too long but did it go to a class action lawsuit like the playstation 2 did? No, it did not so therefore they did something without being compelled to.

amazing how this site can find a way to spin a 30% failure rate into a positive thing for MS....insane...makes me want to pirate a copy of Windows or something....

"amazing how this site can find a way to spin a 30% failure rate into a positive thing for MS....insane"

- Yeah cos it was 'proven' to be 30%, right?!

Yeah right.

.....and still the Sony shills write off a 3 year warranty as if it's nothing - and what's the Sony guarantee period?

please....MS didnt do this to be nice...they did this so they dont get slammed with a class action lawsuit plain and simple...

the PS3 warranty is 1 year btw...

Well if you can find me the big business that acts out of altruism I'm all ears.

The fact is that they did do this and went further than the minimum required.

A 3year warranty is a nice 'raising of the bar' and it'll be interesting to see how the rest respond.

Yah $ony didn't extend their warranty on the massive PS1 and PS2 rumors to be nice either...Oh wait...They didn't extend the warranty and they made you pay to ship it back to them for repair.

Regardless they still did it before a class action lawsuit came up again unlike Sony who STILL contends there is nothing wrong when it is commmon knowledge there was.

"...Analysts applauded the move, saying it was necessary in order to stave off future negative press regarding the subject, and smart for the company's image overall."

This site is amazing! "Analysts"? What does that even mean? I can say that too... "Analysts are calling this move a desperate attempt to avoid an all out recall due to the more than 30% failure rate of this product".

If this had not been an MS story and say a $ony story, this site would have crucified them. It's almost comical now.

"It's almost comical now."

Naaa what's really hilarious is the way Microsoft bring in a 3 year warranty and the Sony shills want to claim they've done something wrong.

.....remind me, what's Sony's guarantee these days, huh?

Too funny.

1% defect rate. No need for 3 year.

"1% defect rate. No need for 3 year."

Yeah, great, very amusing & clever, not.
Right up until you find that you're the one with that mythical 1% tag
(was PS2 supposed to be just 1% too?! LMAO).

FFS some of you guys will believe anything......cos of course it's better not to have a 3yr guarantee in 'Sony-land' isn't it?

Dumb goons.

Too funny.

Unless you are that one percent having to pay for a new over priced PS3

They are blinded by love of the evil empire, $ony.

they brought in a 3 year warranty that ONLY covers the red rings btw, if something else is wrong with the console its still only a year....dont believe me? check out their site...http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemsetup/xbox360/resources/warranty.htm

and it was all done to save THEIR asses...because THEY made a console with CRAP quality

I think the PS3 is over priced....

But thats rich coming outta the MS corner.

why would you have to pay...the PS3 is covered by a 1 year warranty

and Sony made TWO consoles with crap quality and denied there ever was a problem, they purposely used cheap lasers in the first generation of Sony ps2.

Go ahead look up playstation two and disk read errors. Try to pawn that off like its nothing. Then also read how Sony still refuses there was a problem with it.

So MS they made ONE console that resulted in being of poor quality, Sony made 2.

Again idiot the main problem with xbox360 was the red rings the other issues were small and few and happened in the beginning when the console would still be under warranty under the original warranty.

This 30% failure rate has no substance as there is no actual proof even the sites you post states "we havent been able to confirm this rate"

I don't think the $ony warranty is even a year so you would be paying for repairs. You even have to pay for shipping to them.

Sony products are often under-spec'd & over-priced.

They were once, quite some time ago, good value and well worth it but then they got totally up themselves and decided their stuff was worth a 'premium' price.

Whilst I've found copies of Microsoft OS software expensive to buy alone it has always been good value when bundled as OEM so I hardly think the comparison is as simple as you are implying here.

http://www.tech.co.uk/ho...te?articleid=1927150344

"The Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii games consoles are 30 times more reliable than Microsoft's Xbox 360. According to games retailers, the failure rate for Nintendo and Sony's next-generation consoles are less than 1 per cent.

That's in stark contrast to the Xbox 360 which allegedly has a massive failure rate up around 30 per cent."

It's obvious the 360 is under-spec'd, No Wifi (costs $$$), no charge kit (costs $$$$), no HD-DVD (costs $$$$$$$$$$$$$$).

It's components are even under-spec'd, as the massive failure rate is no doubt partly caused by cheap components fitted inside..

You do know what allegedly means right?

al·lege /??l?d?/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-lej] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object), -leged, -leg·ing.
1. to assert without proof.
2. to declare with positiveness; affirm; assert: to allege a fact.
3. to declare before a court or elsewhere, as if under oath.
4. to plead in support of; offer as a reason or excuse.
5. Archaic. to cite or quote in confirmation.

what you are unfamiliar with the word, here:

an·a·lyst (?n'?-l?st) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. One that analyzes.
2. A practitioner of psychoanalysis.
3. A systems analyst.

It would be someone who has overseen the issues and is paid for analyzing the data of a product.

Also can be someone who diagnoses a problem such as a system analyst.

The problem with your 30% is its allegedly only and we covered the definition of that word already so you can feel free to look it up.

"It's obvious the 360 is under-spec'd"

You can get wifi for it if you feel the need.
It isn't expensive & for a lot of people it's not something they care about either way......if they want it they can get it and if they don't they're not forced into it, same as with the HD DVD unit.

Unlike the PS3.

....and it's rather funny that for an "under-spec'd" unit it performs in almost every respect exactly the same as your beloved PS3.

I hate to break it to you but anyone lifting the covers of their PS3 will also find outsourced Chinese parts there too.

It's early days (and they haven't sold that many yet but it'll be interesting to hear what the failure rate is there
(not that you can actually prove anything about the big claims you're making about anybodies' kit either way).

Don't want Wifi wired is better, Charge kit is cheap and controllers are 10x better than the POS controllers $ony puts out, and not everyone even has an HDTV. MS gives you a choice instead of forcing it all on you and making you pay $600.

Shipping that lead brick is not going to be cheap either.

I'm sure there ways ways this could be criticised... but let's be honest, it's a pretty decent thing for a company to do to say "hold on, we know there's some problems so we're going to handle everything - shipping, repair costs, the lot". I wish more companies would recognize problems people are having with their products and offer to fix them for nowt. Even the earliest 360 buyers will have a warranty covering them up to 2008 if they happen to experience this problem.

A 3 year warranty (in other words one which works all the way back to the very first XBox 360s to go on sale) is just the thing to put confidence back into the 360.

The real issue is that now the spotlight will switch to the rest.....what sort of guarantee will they stand by their products and customers with, huh?

just because they repair their problems without charging you doesn't make this a pro microsoft issue.
they are doing this to "stave off future negative press regarding the subject" that means they actually aren't fixing the problem and plan to have more issues with it in the future. how decent of them to pay for the shipping and repairs when you are the one inconvienced by not having your system you paid for because it crapped out... which is now to be predicted that it will within the first 3years.
the 360 is an inferior product to what is currently being offered but has an install base because it was rushed and the first system to come out so has success based on that install base.
the competitors shouldn't have to increase their warrenty based on another companys console failure percentage, only their own, which is minimal.

"that means they actually aren't fixing the problem and plan to have more issues with it in the future."

Yup...I'm sure that's MS's ultimate goal right there!

I'm still amazed at the intelligence level of some posters on here...

"doesn't make this a pro microsoft issue."

- There you have it folks, the brain-dead drone at work.

This is a 'quality guarantee' issue, you moron.

It's not actually a Microsoft or Sony issue really.

FFS you ludicrous cretins really do get treated how you deserve, eh?

I bet Sony and the rest really drag their heels as far as matching this level of warranty cover goes cos the dead-heads all 'think' they're clever saying how they don't 'need' it with their favourite brand.
Fools.

The tragically funny, if somewhat depressing, thing here is the way you Sony drones are trying to wriggle around this as if a decent long guarantee isn't worth having.

Sorry and all if you honestly 'think' that but you're way out there on your own looking really stupid if you really do.

do you see any quote or inclination that they have resolved the issue that causes 'a general hardware failure'..? nope. its more of an expected expense for them now as they would probably need to use better hardware to ensure it doesn't happen and come out with a 4th edition of the same console closer to a ps3 price still with infeior hardware.

the quality isn't garunteed, its expected to fail, but oh so generous microsoft will cover the cost. companies don't match warrenties based on a high failure rate for a competitor, its based on the product and almost all electronics have a one-year warrenty including pcs, cellphones, tvs and yes all but one game console. mircosoft acknowledges that their console will fail more often than any other system and they dont want a bad rep about it so they try to put a positive pr release about it and sheep like you applaud.

Sony made their products to fail called the PS2 wonder why the sales are so high, people replacing dead systems. It is a fact Sony has even stated that they used planned obsolence into the system. NICE!

"the quality isn't garunteed, its expected to fail"

- More gems from the brain-dead.

Of course, in Sony-land long warranty coverage is bad.

You guys need help.

I am sure that they are going to leave it as is and fix it for free forever, are you listening to yourself? Get a clue!

pull a quote or a percentage of ps2 systems that failed under a 'general hardware failure' in the first 3 years... good luck

im not pro sony, don't turn a blind eye that according to specs the system is inferior and according to stats that mircosoft has admitted to the system has the highest failure rate by a large margin. long warrenty coverage is great but its not something positive mircosoft is doing to benefit the customer its something they are doing to avoid bad publicity in the future based on the product they produced.

"im not pro sony"

- Of course.

It's perfectly normal to complain & try and turn an issue about a long overdue & welcome move towards long length guarantee periods into a dreary simplistic fanboy whine about how horrible Microsoft are for doing this......and how they're only doing it to try and look good!?

This gets better & better.
F*cking hilarious in fact, cos every other business out there acts out of a deep feeling of magnanimity and selfless altruism, right!?

LMFAO.

Course their doing this in addition to the heat-sink fixes and the pending (only a couple of months away) 65nm hardware is

"not something positive mircosoft is doing to benefit the customer its something they are doing to avoid bad publicity in the future based on the product they produced."

- Yeah, there's nothing blinkered or 'pro-Sony' about you at all, eh?
You're very objective about a 3 year warranty, huh?

So tell me if Microsoft's 3 year warranty is so bad what does that make Sony's?
(what is Sony's guarantee period anyways?
30 days, 90 days or 1 year as standard in the USA.....or does it depend on the store you bought it from?)

just because something can be construde as anti-mircosoft doesn't make it pro-sony. i only own a wii of the 'next-gen' consoles. in comparison to mircosofts newly established warrenty sony's warrenty is 1/3rd satisfactory. but when only 7/10 consoles are satisfactory thats a problem with the manufacteur. regardless of your approval of the system how can you say that is fair to consumers that they have a 1/3 shot of their console failing to a known issue, but they have the option to send it away to have it repaired, with that fantastic lineup of games you think 360 owners would be more upset.

Sony never did own up to a problem there......but it was another case where people around the world came to recognise the disc read error fault.

Better the company that owns up and does something substantive about any faults, eh?

That is a known fact no need for a link.

"just because something can be construde as anti-mircosoft doesn't make it pro-sony."

"they would probably need to use better hardware to ensure it doesn't happen and come out with a 4th edition of the same console closer to a ps3 price still with infeior hardware."

- Naaa, nothing 'pro-Sony' about you at all, eh?

Anyone with an objective look at the 2 consoles as they are now (nevermind when the 65nm version appears soon) knows that the differences are minute.
One is slightly better in one area and the other in another.

Pull the other one.

there is nothing pro sony saying the hardware is inferior, its is. what are these two areas you're describing? graphics, processing power, interoprobility and backwards compatibily.. sony.
3/10 failure rates for hardware... mircosoft.
id still probably rather sony had any decent software but its not slight hardware differences in capabilties, realise it.

Good Luck Indeed

http://faqs.ign.com/articles/390/390535p1.html

http://www.ttclawyers.co...s/class_playstation.asp

http://www.consumeraffai...ctronics/sony_play.html

http://uk.playstation.co...n-trying-to-play-a-disc/?/

the above link is my favorite because EVERYWHERE ELSE and even a class action lawsuit was brought to them they still don't mention that the disk read errors could be because of faulty lasers.

http://www.gamesindustry...tent_page.php?aid=12882

I could keep going but just type in playstation 2 disk read errors.

There is no proof it is a 30% failure rate even the sites that quote it state they don't know for sure it comes from a eb games guy.

ROFL!!!

"but its not something positive mircosoft is doing to benefit the customer its something they are doing to avoid bad publicity in the future based on the product they produced."

When does any company ever do anything to benefit the "customer?"

They are working on fixing the problem unfortunately, they are not sure what it is, the new 65nm should eliminate the problem.

This gives them time to fix the problem, you honestly believe they are going to just not fix it and continue to pay money for repairs for 3 years?

This is a show of good faith, if after 3 years the problem still exists then you can complain.

"there is nothing pro sony saying the hardware is inferior, its is"

- Yeah, of course.

Cos you're now an expert on individual components now?

Or is it that you can prove those tales of 30% so you know for sure?

....and you also know for sure about that claimed & imagined 1% Sony failure rate, eh?

Suuuuuuurrrreeeee.

Don't see any numbers in any of those thinks..

Lets also remember that Playstation 2 has shipped 120 million consoles (10x more than 360 has currently shipped). Any idiot can see the number of reports of failures will be higher.

The disc read error only affected consoles upto 18months from launch (2000 > 2001), so the full picture, I doubt PS2 disc read error is over 0.5% of produced consoles.. (500,000 consoles)

Its still happening to some of the consoles!

Don't you read!

It was a class action lawsuit, it takes quite a bit to get to that so obviousily there was a serious problem.

MS never made it to a class action lawsuit, they admitted it before it came a problem, Sony STILL contends nothing was wrong.

they couldn't handle the cost of repairs in uk.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7903
"The work we had done to the console lead us to believe that basically it was a fault with the motherboard and not something that could be resolved easily. And it wasn't going to go away”
http://www.dailytech.com...Percent/article7892.htm

and don't say that is a biased website, its called reporting on an issue without praising mircosoft. you sheep think its fantastic that they extended their warrenty and you think they will continue to do so... not correct. when an individual console failure rate is soo high that ebgames in canada had to change its warrenty policy its not a reliable system. fact.

Stop with the logic terminalx!!! Your snapping him out of his fantasy land!!!

Again, it is only speculation; its not fact. The issue that has plagued MS was the red rings as the other issues were small and few so they are going to reimburse for previous repairs as well as current for 3 years. If after 3 years the issue still continues, then you can complain.

Although, Sony still contends they never did anything wrong with the playstation 2 even though thousands of them failed and continue to do so.

Where else have we heard a similar statement and another class action lawsuit, oh that's right the rootkit fiasco.

" its called reporting on an issue without praising mircosoft."

- No it's not, it's called you spinning what someone else said and ignoring what has happened.

"you sheep think its fantastic that they extended their warrenty and you think they will continue to do so."

- No.

You morons pretend that the only thing that has happened is the (excellent) move to a 3 year warranty (for all XBox 360s ever made, unless modded or registered & then later sold on.....as would pretty much be the case with any product anywhere).

That isn't all that has happened.

They have also introduced new hardware to fix the problem (the new heat-sinks) and they are also shortly to move to cooler running and more efficient 65nm CPUs & GPUs.

This 'problem' is over and it has ended with Microsoft doing all the right things.

Such a shame (even if it is utterly hilarious) that this so obvious chokes-up the blinkered idiot Sony shills & drones out there.

But keep it up, it's really very funny seeing how you'll try and twist & bleat on about how terrible a 3 year warranty is.

That's gotta strengthen Wii sales.

PS3 in the gurgler, XBox360 with upto 30% defective rate.

you know this is a good thing but yet bad for a lot of us Xbox 360 owners. like myself I'm sure I'm not the only one i have seen 3 flashing red lights on mine before but most the time i only get 2. 3 red lights is very hard for me to reproduce but i have seen it. on my xbox before. i just got off the phone with them and they told me if they can reproduce 3 red lights then I'm OK but if they kick it on and only see 2 them I'm ph***ed. my xbox started doing this after owning it 14 months that would be 2 months out of warranty. but because 3 red lights is hard for me to reproduce i know I'm going to get the M$ shaft.
and i have tried useing other peoples power cables and cords and get same results.

That's life st0mp, those intermittent problems are a b**** in all walks of life.

Still, if it's working it's working, right?

(and I doubt that a smart guy like yourself would find it too difficult to hasten the, er, 'issue' to a successful, um, 'conclusion'....hmmmmmm?)

Great move by Microsoft! This definitely puts my mind at ease for any future 360 purchase.

Only a ludicrous Sony shill could seriously try and stand up here and claim a 3yr warranty is "a final nail in the 360 coffin".

Talk about clutching at straws & someone whos' obsession is out of control.

You need help BL. Seriously.

When my PS2 stopped reading disks Sony said that they would fix for it for over $100 plus I had to pay for shipping now that is a bargin. This was and is a known problem yet they got you to buy an other one and added an other sale to the count. Sony still does this to this day with the PSP oh yeah SOny makes it so it never breaks.

Time to laugh at all the idiots like siryak who, upto yesterday, lied like Microsoft, and claimed there were no problems....

http://www.nytimes.com/2...&hp&oref=slogin

Now the truth it out, we can tell WHY the Xbox is so cheap, it's got crappy components, crappy design. The Xbox360 30% failure rate is perhaps the worst of any product in history..

For reference, the PS3 and Wii are less than 1%

http://www.ripten.com/?p=374

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7892

It's also worth noting, that the 3yr repair program, only covers RedRing Of Death failure (AKA "General Hardware Failure"), and not disc scratching, dead units and other faiures.

The final nail in the 360 coffin, is that repaired units are simply being bodged to work, there are no replacement parts fitted. The CPU is being expoxyed to the board, a revised heatsink is being fitted, and worst of all the fan speeds are being increased by another 30%

Oh dear. You thought your brand new Elite was loud, wait until is goes wrong, and gets this "fix"..

WARNING PS3 FANBOY WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING WARNING WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING

Looks like 2.5million failed consoles so far.. That is some serious cover up that Microsoft have managed there...

http://www.bloomberg.com...YZ2gPwZk&refer=home

"The expense is enough money to fix 2.5 million consoles,"

So that means it costs $40 to fix each console. Funny Microsoft have been charging $130.. Seems like the Xbox failure is good buisness for Microsoft. 3x markup...

If only $40 is allocated to each console, then it's not a very substantial fix...

More pathetic (& rather desperate) spin & straw clutching.

You Sony drones are really funny today.

I NEVER said there was not a problem. I said the problem is not as big as you Sony Cheerleaders try to make it out to be. YES there is a higher than average failure rate. This 30% number is still coming from "eb games employee" etc.

Unlike Sony with the POS2 MS is actually stepping up and doing something about it. Which is more than you can say for $ony.

"and worst of all the fan speeds are being increased by another 30%"

They only thing they are doing is adding an extra heatsink to help keep the temperature down. Ofcourse only a fanboy would try to make them trying to fix the problem look like a bad thing.

Also I would much rather have a loud console with some decent games than a quiet console with no good games. Who cares of it is quiet if your never going to turn it on!

"The final nail in the 360 coffin"

Uh...what coffin? The xbox 360 is still selling very well, the only console inside a coffin right now is the PS3, sorry.

Also, unlike you and austin, I don't need to dig deep to find some random web pages to link to to sound official, this is widely known already (the FACT that the PS3 is doing MISERABLY) and you can easily look it up yourself.

How everyone forgets Playstation 1 & 2 had massive problems and to this day they still will not own up to it.

Even Nintendo had its issues in the beginning, remember the 8 bit cartridges and how people got them to work.

Nintendo has had more experience in this department then Microsoft and Sony.

Even Apple, Dell, IBM no company is without their faults the fact remains Microsoft has admit there is definitely a problem and the main issue people are experiencing is the three rings of death the other issues are something that has been few and has shown up in the beginning.

Do a search for ps2 and ps1 problems the list is long and detailed.

The disk scratching issue would be covered by the original warranty as its not all of a sudden a year later scratching anything, same with failures and dead units.

The red ring is the issue that pops up later in its lifecycle.

You are an idiot since even a small 1 penny resitor can cause a problem. You must be upset since there isn't some isssue with cpu's melting or something. It doesn't have to be an expensive part to cause a problem.

Not to mention that them paying for the shipping both ways is pricey. Cost me $60 to ship a 19in TV. That doesn't count the cost it cost them to ship it back to me.

Yeah, it's still selling better in the states than a PS3. Now compared to a Wii, even though it got a late start in the game, the wii is doing very well.

Acccording to some here the Wii doesn't count in sales figures.

"The final nail in the 360 coffin"

I love how you keep posting different anti-Microsoft comments with that same exact phrase. The word "final" means there can only be one, so stop recycling and regurgitating that phrase. Thank you.

Oh and didn't Sony lose a class action lawsuit for their crappy optical drives in the PS2? So stop acting like Microsoft is the first console manufacturer in history to have hardware issues. You can spew your anti-Microsoft garbage until you turn blue in the face. The fact is, Microsoft admitted there's a problem and is willing to remedy the situation WITHOUT HAVING BEEN FORCED TO DO SO BY A COURT OF LAW.

What I'd really like to know is the PS2 failure rates. :-D

Very high I replaced mine 3 times.

Never been a big fan of MS either, but this is the kind of support Apple customers only can dream about for they crappy ipods that break all the time...
Great job Microsoft!!

This is why you don't get a microsoft 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.11, or 2.12 product version.

Hmm...Guess you didn't follow all the POS2 revisions...

Wow. That's the kind of warranty support you only dream of from most tech companies. Never been an MS fan, but I'm giving serious kudos for this move. Bravo.

Seagate has had 5 year warranties for several decades.

This is incorrect.

Please check your facts before posting such nonsense.

The warranty for their products incrreased to 5 years less than 4 years ago.

That is all.

Latz, SB

While good, they still should have done this sooner.

That's great! I just hope it covers my replacement drive. It is making this loud noise that is driving me crazy. It only happens when I put a disk in, I'm afraid that one day it's going to break and the disk inside is going down with it. I called them and they said they noted it, especially when I held the phone next to it and the guy clearly heard it.

They did this from 90 days to a year, and I had shelled out $139 for a repair in November.

I STILL have not received a check, as promised. Don't expect it. It's like those mail-in rebates.

1. Is this US only?

2. What happens to all the poor people who sold their broken 360s on ebay and got **** all back for their hard earned cash?

(It's not actually me, but I know a few who have)

"2. What happens to all the poor people who sold their broken 360s on ebay and got **** all back for their hard earned cash?"

Those people needed to hold on to their 360's IMO, they knew that selling them on Ebay destroyed any chance of being reimbursed. As for the buyers--well, I personally hate ebay, but those feelings aside--ebay products usually don't carry a warrenty unless it is specifically transfered properly. Can't expect Microsoft to pay for consumer's mistakes, only for Microsoft's mistakes.

1) No. It's worldwide.

Good move to extend warranties and spend more money to "fix" current crapped-out units, but what they really need to do is change the manufacturing model, jump on the 65nm bandwagon and redesign the drives.

It would cost them quite a bit to make such changes, but I would save them more in the end.

US customers are getting a nice rise in standards there; what was once 30days, 90days then 1year has now gone to a 3yr warranty.

BTW I gather this 3yrs applies to all XBox 360s from day one of them going on sale
(so they're all covered.....but I doubt - same as with most things - that it would be a transferrable warranty if the unit was sold on).

That's what I call responding to consumer pressure and good customer service.

If only it hadn't taken the disaster of so many defective units to begin with.
But credit to them for making the changes and publicly owning up like that.

I'm wondering about the new hardware though, they're fitting much better heat-sinks and we know 65nm CPUs & GPUs are coming this fall/autumn.

I would imagine a nice clock-speed tweak would be very easily accomplished on those new mk2 XBox 360s that are on their way very soon?

"This problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologize..."

This is a great move by Microsoft. Kudos to them for owning up to the problem and correcting it.

Shouldn't have happened in the first place. It's a fault that would have showed up in testing.

No it wouldn't, because it is an issue with the heatsink thermal paste "drying up" in specific environments, from what I've heard. It's something that happens with time, and the 'aging' tests that they use cannot account for most of the heatsink malfunctions due to the nature of the issue. I just know this based on Dell's inability to predict the initial GX280 heatsink flaw with the 3.2GHz cpus, IBM had an issue on one of their notebooks, toshiba, acer--heatsinks don't "artificially" age correctly for some reason.

I really don't have any hard proof or specific enough examples to give you, but I do suspect that the issue did not show up during testing. If Microsoft knowingly released faulty consoles, why are they suddenly changing their minds? Trust me, they'd of saved money in the long run had they spent the time to fix this issue before shipping consoles out. This hurt them more than it hurt us--we lose our $400 or whatever, and they're losing ~ $1 billion...

Well technically we didn't lose our $400. I do agree that they would have fixed it before they sold 10 mill+, if they had known. Anyway they are doing the right thing in stepping up and fixing them. They are also adding a 3 year to the new ones which is awesome. The best thing about their policy is that they pay the shipping both ways. I had an LCD TV fail on me and it cost ME $60 to ship it back to them. Then it took them a month to get it back to me. I was not pleased to say the least.

The one billion can be shuffled to be a writeoff. Meaning by s***ing around funds, Microsoft can pay less in certain taxes.

As far as reliability goes, well, that is part of the game. Intel has been selling processor/heatsink combos for a very long time, and they still work. I have a dell dimention as an OS/2 voicemail server that is 11 years old this year. It's still working great.