Xbox 360 Fanboy

Does that pic look like boobies to anyone else?

I guess I am a sucker, as that fellow said, there are some fellows that are on their 9th and still use it.

My second 360 just failed yesterday. I had been lucky...my probably high quality refurbished second 360 (of which the memory card slot came missing, along with the little flap covering the usb ports on the front) had given me the red rings several times, yet a simple restart would buy me a little more time. Though, that bought time was semi-lethal, as this "ominously lame riddling whatever" will warn...

As I hoped and (almost) prayed the mean mean red screen would be cast astray; my "generously extended" warranty from Billy "boy" Gates was withering away. Now, the friendly Indian customer rep says I must pay. She says "no a worry"! With 3rd 360 comes extra year of warranty, which will shall save the day!"

So, after I threatened to switch to PS3 or some other well made console (like that gay weeeeee!!!!), she says I get special discount on my repair rate, 25% off the usual $99. I love it! Wow, whadda deal! I get my third 360, it works for that one year its covered, then what!? Time for numero 4.

The reason I am a sucker and those fellas on number 9 is simple. I have invested at least $800 on this faulty device in the form of games and accessories, not to mention my two HDTVs I bought when they were much more expensive than today's "HDTVs"(which are really now just standard definition, "HD" annoys me now;but they were HD when I got 'em, b/c few others had them!) Keep in mind I'ma poor old college student.

So what am I and the other suckers to do!? Not pay the 25% special discount for bluffing to abandon the 360!? Lose all that money I spent on the games and accessories!? I'm hooked, just like the others. Even though I consider the 360 to now be pretty much completely outdated, I still enjoy watching my collection of downloaded documentaries worth over $100 (I told you I'ma sucker!) And I was looking forward to Fallout 3 as one of the last games I'll buy for this system.

Unfortunately, the 360 is overall the best console in my opinion this generation. Its hardware sucks, but the software rules in terms of consoles. The fact developers prioritize this system over PS3 doesn't hurt either...The fact I have games of which I enjoy and maintain not one, but TWO Xbox Live accounts keeps me on the hook (I really am a sucker now,huh!?).

The 360 is flawed beauty. As all beauty is expensive (especially the kind that talks and spends all your hard earned cash on shoes, f*ckin shoes!), I guess I'll pay. I'm sure the failure rate was much higher than 68% to chime in on that!

@ Dron:

Dammit. Now it does.

Microsoft's strategy was to debut their console first, no matter what the cost. It made sense. They had to. Xbox was a failed attempt, though admirable and MS knew consumers were ready for another console and that Sony didn't cater to the consumers they were aiming for. IMHO, I don't know how a product with such a bad failure rate (causing such an inconvenience) can remain so respected (Best Console: Ghporia 2007/2008) in the gaming industry. Either way, I tip my hat to MS for actually extending the warranty 3 years for RRoD consoles, but they still didn't extend the warranty for failed GPU's and faulty DVD-ROMs which were also major issues that forced my friend to shell out $100 to ship/repair his 360.

it's really funny on how the 360 has become very popular with the horrible failure rate.
I've known people who had to return/exchange their system (up to 9 times) and they still use the 360.

If M$ spent the extra money to QA their system, it would have saved them $4 billion in repairs.

@dunnypop

Yes, that is true, they would've saved a lot of money, but they also gained a large portion of marketshare purely by being first, not by competing hand-and-hand with the competition; that would have been much more difficult and probably wouldn't have yielded the same (or better) result that we see today.

Devin,

It's not like MS had a freaking choice.
I wouldn't have bought one if there's no such warranty.

MattP - "A low yield like that is common and nothing to be ashamed about as it doesn't affect customers."
What?? Dude! You don't know what your talking about!
I work in R&D for portable devices and a 68% failure rate from manufacturing yield when a product is in full swing is unacceptable. In the Research and Development stage a 68% failure rate from the manufacture is acceptable- you got to work out the kinks. But when a product is sent to China after we design a final working product, and you get a result as M$ did, it only suggest one thing...the product is not ready for prime time. M$ knew that they had a stinker out of the gate and that the 360 wasn't a solid product, yet. This DOES affect the customer, because they received goods that weren't ready for prime time and could potentially fail. 70% of M$ money was being thrown out the window and the only reason they did this was to get a jump on market share which in turn would make-up for the 70% loss in production. M$ revised the warranty only after it was painfully obvious that the customer failure rate was very high so that they can avoid a class action suit which in turn would cost more then the billion spent on the revised warranty.
P.S.
I hate M$, but I love my 360.
So please M$ don't be this greedy in the future. There is only so much this jilted lover can take.

My point is that a relatively low yield does not necessarily reflect on the quality of the product actually being sold to the customer and that the summary of the article incorrectly implies that the defect rate of shipped units was equivalent to the detected defect rate off the line. 68% is substantially higher than even the highest estimates for the actual defect rate of shipped units.

You don't know everyone in the world which has a 360 so don't comment on the number.

Just as an example, I own two systems. I have a Premium I purchased about a year after launch and have since given to my girlfriend. I also have an Elite just now hitting about a year old.

Both systems have never had a system. Thinking of the people I know with the system and those that had a failed system, 68% is about spot on.

It might just be madden and not your system if it only freezes on this game. Reason I say that is because if you go to EA's website they clearly have admitted that the game freezes up during numerous times throughout the game and that they were releasing a patch soon. Hope its that and not your system.........good luck.