Rant: The Red Ring of Death

There's not too much I can say on this topic: everyone that's truly into gaming know about this issue, especially XBox 360 owners. Three blinking red lights, known as the Red Ring of Death, signifies the end of Microsoft's second console's lifespan. This sight is like seeing a hospitalized love one flatline right before your eyes.

I got my XBox 360 before they were released - that's right, that Mountain Dew contest in 2005? I won a 360 and received it about four days before the general public. Playing Kameo and Need for Speed: Most Wanted was a blast, and due to my time with the console, I've really grown attached to it. Which is why I was confused when I first saw the video game equivalent of a tombstone one day.


A description of the error lights

It happened four months or so after getting the console, meaning the console was no longer under the company's original 90-day warranty. However this must have been a recurring problem even before the media went wild with it, because the customer service representative I spoke with lied during the registration of my console to allow me to still receive the warranty. I have had no issues with customer service since.

About a week passes and I get my second XBox. I'm playing it and just over a a year and a half passes when Peter Moore announced a three-year warranty and promptly leaves Microsoft. Douche move, sure, but it really helps out this Red Ring of Death issue. By this time, no one has still really figured out the cause, but stories ran rampant - overheating, cores breaking down, insides melting - and the stories to manually repair them were just as absurd, such as taking off the cover and leaving the circuitry in the freezer overnight.

Nearly three years in and I get my second Red Ring. This time, there's so many call-ins that I'm told it may be two months before I get my console back, but they're still very friendly to me about the issue. Thankfully it was only three or four weeks without my console, which once again is earlier than the expected arrival time. I've been on XBox number three now since. Until the day before Alan Wake's release. I'VE GOT ANOTHER MOTHER FUCKING RED RING OF DEATH BRICK OF A CONSOLE.


Achievement unlocked. ...THREE TIMES.

When it happened, I thought to myself that it wouldn't be a big deal. I had gone through this process twice. So upon calling Microsoft's tech support and customer service hotline, I'm greeted with a message stating if you have the Red Ring, not to bother calling. Instead, I need to consult the website. Fantastic; I understand the online way is easier and they only have so many agents to take care of issues, and that this cuts down on holding periods, but it doesn't make it any less of a pain to the customer to have to navigate the website.

So I move onward to the website, where I find the tech support instructions for the Red Ring. I'm walked through several steps that I've not only tried in the past with actual people on the phone, but have remembered and done myself before going through the site's instructions. Normally, these steps don't work anyways. Finally, after it's all said and done, I'm told I need to login with my Windows Live ID. This hotmail or msn email address I got JUST to get an XBox Live account is long gone, and I have no idea how to login in order to request a repair kit. So, in the end, I'm left to call XBox's support crew anyway.

I call them and they offer to perform the repair request. Thankful of the ever polite XBox crew, sour news suddenly struck my ears as I'm told that my three-year warranty is no longer valid, as it expired last year. My warranty apparently didn't roll over through the other consoles. What a pile of shit! I remained polite, however, as I understand this man is just doing his job.

So I feel as though I'm at a dilemma. Do I stick it out and shell out some money to repair or replace my XBox 360? I AM really stoked about Natal, which seems much cooler than the Playstation Move, but I risk getting another Red Ring, which is the most frustrating console issue I've personally experienced.


The other option

The other option is to scrap the idea of another 360 and shell out the money for a Playstation 3. While expensive and with not nearly as many titles that I'm interested as the 360, it does have some exclusives that I've REALLY wanted to try, mainly ModNation Racers, but also including LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Disgaea 3, and more. The free online is also an added bonus, which is better than having to pay for an internet service that I can not use until I get a new console. Very. Upset.

So what do you think? Do I stick with the XBox 360 and Natal? Or do I finally convince myself to get the Playstation 3 and it's Blu-Ray drive? Give opinions without the console wars, and let me know what you think!