I’ve been afflicted with what is commonly known as the "red ring of death." For you non-gamers out there, I don’t need any kind of salve, but thanks for asking. No, what happened is something that’s happened to far too many owners of the Xbox 360: my $400 next-gen gaming hub has mysteriously become a very expensive paperweight.
Why? Hell if I know. I’ve heard rumblings of phrases like "chip set" and "fragile solders" and "overheating." (And I don’t care what anyone says, I’m not wrapping my Xbox in a warm blanket as if it were a blown knee.)
Yes, Microsoft is sending me a box — a coffin — so I can return the dead unit to them for repair/replacement. But that whole process will take upwards of a month…a month where games like Halo 3, Bioshock, and Stranglehold are sitting on my shelf, woefully unplayed. (Not to mention upcoming titles like Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed, and Conan that will just wait in their plastic wrappers.) And it’s very possible that my machine, or one like it, won’t make it back to me before Christmas.
Anyone else been hit by the ring? What did you do to pass the time? Did you break down and buy a PlayStation 3 just to get the videogame monkey off your back?
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Oh, please tell me that it’s an easy process. I just discovered about a month ago that my box has done the same thing. I haven’t been sure who to call, and I have been deprived of all this gaming goodness.
Oh, please tell me that it’s an easy process. I just discovered about a month ago that my box has done the same thing. I haven’t been sure who to call, and I have been deprived of all this gaming goodness.
It’s not that terrible a process. From the day it happened till I got it back, it took less than 4 weeks, and I needed to go to UPS to sign for it. Even so, that’s 4 weeks without so much. Plus, with Guitar Hero III out in just 12 short days, it can’t happen soon enough.
To pass the time, I just fired up my original Xbox and played some Halo 1 & 2, and then got my Dreamcast going for Virtua Tennis 2 to give me my sports game fix.
It is a VERY easy process; it only took about 3 weeks to get my 360 back after discovering the “Red Ring of Death”. They sent me a brand new one instead of repairing my old one. They also gave me one month of free XBox Live Gold membership, which isn’t much of a big deal since I already have the Gold membership, but at least they tried to do something nice.
Don’t worry…I just got mine back and it is waaaaay better than the one I originally bought. The new one is so quiet that you will be amazed. Trust me, having it die on you is the best thing that could have happened.
It’s happened to me twice, and I gotta say, the second time I was quite angry over the whole thing. But it didn’t take very long to get it, about 3 weeks each time. Marc,you’re just lucky this didn’t happen to you over the upcoming holidays, it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of forever to get it back. To pass the time, I actually went outside a few times, it was nice.
That just happened to our xbox 360! I just wanted to make sure that we got ours back in time for Beautiful Katamari (and we did). But we were really lonely without BioShock…
I used Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii to pass the time. And I replayed Call of Duty 2. But it was tough, ’cause it crapped out in the middle of Bioshock.
On the up side, they told me a month, it took no more than 3 weeks.
-K
This just happened to me again. I had one of the launch day 360s that crapped out, and now my replacement has done the same. Someone needs to sue MS over this. Yes, they’re ‘taking responsibility’ by forking over 1.8 billion in repair bills, but that’s not actually fixing the issue: it’s delaying it. They released a faulty product into the consumer space, and did not recall it when it was found that it did not work properly. They also consistently lied about the number of systems failing in the field, saying only 2-4% had the issue. I’d like to say I’m happy that the process to get a repair IS easy, but I’m not happy I’ve had to go through it more than once. Check Kotaku for worse stories if you’re interested.
Have they made improvements to games since Super Mario Bros?
I had mine back in 2 1/2 weeks total, from the time they sent the box ’til I got it back. Unless they’ve gotten slower, I’d be pretty confident on having it back before Christmas. I think I played PS2 and PC games to pass the time but it just wasn’t the same
The only thing to do is buy every available game on your cell phone and master them one by one.
I bought my copy of Halo 3 at midnight and got the red ring of death after two freaking games! Now I have to wait weeks to play Halo 3!
Who needs to “break down” to have to get a PS3? I love mine. But don’t hate on me, fanboys, I got me a 360, too.
Ack, that was really poor sentence structure and I can’t take it back. Sorry ’bout that.
Why not go buy a new 360 at target, use it for 29 days, and return it on the 30th day for a refund. Tell them it died and you are done with video games. by that time yours will be back from MS. done and done.
I don’t think it is that easy. I hope so, but…
http://tatoo-tutorial.marcelo7300.com.ar/
Marcelo
Have any of you subscribed to an extended warranty from the store you bought the console? If you did like me – in my case, it stretches to two years since the purchase date – it helps if you don’t want to put up with Microsoft’s slow process to ship more units. Just go right back in the store and snag another system once it craps out on you.
Microsoft does need to do something drastic to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Even though I love the system, I wish MS didn’t rush the launch so they would have more time to fix this issue.
I had that the ring of death problem and waited a month, only to receive another defective unit. I swear they’re just shipping broken Xboxes all across the continent rather than actually fixing the problem, despite their claims of ‘completely inspected’ and ‘rigorously tested’ refurbished units. Best of luck on your replacement when it comes…(maybe you’ll get to wait another month like I have to!!!)
Nerd Alert!!!!
I suggest getting a Wii, and some stones…
I live in Massachusetts so I thought it would take FOREVER to get my 360 back. The whole thing took 2 and a half weeks. Like most people here, I passed some of the time playing my Wii. But I mainly did other things like read books and take long walks outside. Once the 360 was returned, it was back to playing games in my basement with the lights turned off.
Man you all sure do know how to over exxagerate stuff. I have had the red rings three times, yup count it 3 times. Not onces hasn’t it taken more then 12 days. I bought it in April 2006 first mess up was Oct 06 they sent me a another one and extended my warranty, next mess up was April 07 sent me a new/rebuilt one and a month free to xbox live next mess up was mid Sept 07 got a new/rebuilt one and another free month to xbox live now warranty is extended for three years from purchase date. The fix is free for me till 2009 so let it mess up as many times as it wants. I know people who have bought other electronics only to have them mess up right after the warranty and the company does nothing for them. Plus look up Playstation Two DRE “disc read error” sony never fixed that for people. You had to open up your unit and fix it yourself. Remember the blowing in your NES cartridges to get them to work. Banging the Atari to get it to work. All electronics have problems people.
I’d heard about the dreaded red ring of death, so a couple of months ago when the light on my 360 started glowing an the ominous scarlet shade, I was about ready to freak out. But before doing that, I unplugged it and plugged it back in, and the red ring was gone. It was glowing with it’s normal, beautiful green color. I haven’t had any more problems since then. Has this happened to anyone else? Does it ever just turn red for no apparent reason and then just start working again?
Yes, that can happen! I got the red rings the other day due to a power surge. Turning it off and back on solved the problem. The severity of the problem depends on the combination of the 3 rings that light up.
There is a simple solution–buy a Wii. I’ve had mine for nearly a year and it’s the best gaming system I’ve ever had.
The 360 is far from being the be all and end all of gaming. Despite being a dedicated gamer, I personally refuse to own one, even if Eternal Sonata has me just a tad tempted (though I’m not about to drop all that money to play only one game). Why not go back to the PS2…they’re still releasing great games for it and in my own opinion, current generation gaming is far from dead. Or there’s the Wii which is a great system and PC gaming.
Solution: Get a Wii. Not only is it very fun and affordable, it’s also reliable! I haven’t had a Nintendo product break on me in the eighteen years I’ve bought their stuff.
I actually got the ring of death last month. I was playing BioShock, when I hear what sounds like a pen hitting a fan, then the screen freezes, then it won’t turn back on. I send it in, they send a new one exactly 3 weeks later, the same day I picked up my copy of Halo 3. Until then, I just passed the time with my roommate’s Wii and Guitar Hero II for the PS2. Oh, and normal stuff too, homework, working out, cleaning the bathroom, stuff I would otherwise space out on.
To gdo: Ah, there’s always someone willing to pipe in, saying everyone’s stretching the truth. Just because it hasn’t happened to you as severely doesn’t mean everyone else is making up their issues. Still, I do remember Sony’s PS2 issues, which had me up the wall in frustration. I know a lot of people who replaced their PS2s because of that disc read error crap. I’ll at least MS credit for being proactive, but it’s only delaying the issue, not solving it.
To Jeannie: My cousin’s Xboxes had the RRoD, but after re-inserting the hard drive, it worked just fine.
To Auriana: Of course the 360 isn’t the end all era for gaming. I still play some PC games myself and the ocassional PS2 title. For next gen systems, I prefer the 360, in spite of its issues. The Wii needs less gimmicky games before I buy one and I’m not dealing with Sony’s BS with the PS3. Unlike MS/Nintendo, they have zero respect for their consumers and most of the 3rd party games I want will be on the 360 anyway.