What is the Red Ring of Death? If you don't know, then you are either a Wii fanboy blind to all things not related to Nintendo or you are one of the lucky few Xbox 360 owners who has never experienced the R-RoD phenomenon. When a Microsoft Xbox 360 console experiences a general hardware failure, the ring of green lights around the power button are replaced with three flashing red lights notifiying the user that the system is FUBAR. This red ring of lights signifying the death of the console has been aptly named the "Red Ring of Death."

Soon after the launch of the console in 2005, consumers complained to gaming sites about the high fatality rate and managers at gaming stores across the nation confirmed unusually high rates of return for defective consoles. Estimates put the defect rate at almost 30%. In damage control mode, Microsoft's PR people have stated that the failure rate of the 360 is less than the industry average of 3-5%.

In considering which number is accurate, ponder this for a moment? How many friends do you know that have had a SNES, Gamecube, Wii, NDS, PSP, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Turbo Grafx 16 or any other console die on them within a year of purchase? Now how many friends do know that have experienced the Red Ring of Death within a year of purchasing a 360?

With that it mind, judge what 8bitjoystick's Microsoft insider had to say on the topic:

Commenting on reports of the Xbox 360's high rate of failure:

"It's around 30%, and all will probably fail early. This quarter they are expecting 1 M failures, most of those Xenons. Some of those are repeat failures. Life expectancy is all over the map because the design has very little margin for most of the important parameters. That means it's not a fault tolerant design. So a good unit may last a couple of years, while a bad unit can fail in hours."

Note: "Xenons" refer to the first generation Xbox 360 consoles.

Pink Godzilla's Take: This just buttresses anecdotal evidence and retailer surveys which put the R-RoD phenomenon at well above the industry standard of only 3-5%. If the 30% figure is accurate, then the Xbox 360 would have to be the most flawed piece of hardware since the N-Gage. No other console manufacturer could sustain the financial impact of such a high failure rate without consequence.

Commenting on the profitability of Microsoft's Xbox division:

"Xbox's mission statement is to preserve the Windows monopoly and extend it into the living room, as a media extender for a Media Center PC, along with a host of other MS and other company's hardware devices that fit into a digital entertainment lifestyle. MS has the bucks to keep losing money on Xbox for a long time, maybe forever. They've already lost around 6 billion dollars. How are they ever going to make that back on Xbox? They can't."

Pink Godzilla's Take: Sega dropped out the hardware business when it was just $600 million in the hole. Microsoft, however, can apparently lose that in a quarter and survive with nary a scratch. While profitibality of the Xbox division would be a nice achievement for Microsoft, it doesn't appear to be the goal. Contrast Microsoft's position to that of Sony. Some industry analysts have predicted that if Sony's Playstation division struggles, the entire company could tumble. While such apocalyptic fears may be overstated, a profitable Playstation division is certainly important to the health of the company. And Sony could hardly afford to sustain the $6 billion loss that Microsoft takes in stride.

Essentially, Windows subsidizes the Xbox enabling Microsoft to take risks and use resources that other companies cannot afford, hence the advent of Xbox Live. While this is bad news for Sony, the short-term benefit to gamers is obvious.

Each console manufacturer provides the consumer with one killer feature that its competitor's lack: Microsoft has Live, Nintendo has the Wii-mote and Sony has Blu-Ray. Both Microsoft and Nintendo's home consoles have proven successful. Nintendo's innovation has expanded the gaming populace, while the Xbox 360 has connected gamers across the globe. What will Blu-Ray do? The jury is still out on Sony.

Commenting on factors that contributed to the 360's high rate of failure:

"In the end I think it was fear of failure, ambition to beat Sony, and the arrogance that they could figure anything out, that led to the decision to keep shipping. That management team had made some pretty bad decisions in the past and had never had to pay a proportional consequence. I'm sure they thought that somehow they would figure it out and everything would end up ok. Plus, they tend to make big decisions like that in terms of dollars. They would rationalize that if the first few million boxes had a high failure rate, a few 10's of millions of dollars would cover it. And contrasting that cost with a big lead on Sony, would pay it in a heartbeat. They weren't even thinking about Nintendo."

Pink Godzilla's Take: This quote reveals the ugly side of big business. The decision to launch a defective console was apparently based primarily on money. Microsoft executives determined that in the long run it would be more profitable to ship a defective console than to delay the release and provide the consumer with a quality product. Only time will tell if the decision pays off. Microsoft, however, certainly damaged its reputation as a hardware manufacturer just as the company prepares to throw its hat into the consumer electronics arena in a "big way." How many R-RoD victims do you think will line up to purchase a Microsoft HDTV?

Commenting on the reliability of the most recent hardware redesign:

"I've heard that the failure rates for the current design is sub 10%. Much much better, but still too high imoh. And those designs haven't seen much life yet, so no one knows if that failure rate will hold."

Pink Godzilla's Take: 10% is still way above what Microsoft claims to be the industry standard (3-5%), but certainly better than 30%. So if your looking to get a 360, search for the Pro bundles with the HDMI output as those should be much more reliable. Also, be sure to continue to do all the little things necessary to save your 360 from the R-RoD syndrome. For example, keep your console well ventilated in a cool, dust-free environment, etc.

Again, if you haven't read 8bitjoystick's complete interview, be sure to check it out here.