14 DAY TRIAL // The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco is, to some, the new E3. That implies more game developers, artists, storytellers and publishers talking and sharing ideas about the future of gaming. An E3 grade conference implies demos for the masses, trailers on HD giant screens, booths where people can play tomorrow's games today. Most hardware developers bring out their best stuff so that the unwashed masses can watch and rejoice at the possibilities of gaming in the future. Failure is not an option.
But for Microsoft, the GDC served as an admission of sorts. The admission that Xbox 360s have real, clear, hard-to-get-rid-of hardware issues. Proof? One of the Microsoft Xbox 360 demo machines running games came down with the Red Ring of Death disease. In plain sight of the GDC public. It was affected by the same problem that affects between 3%, by conservative estimates, and 30% of the world's sold Xbox consoles. A problem that appears in both new and in refurbished machines. A problem that could cost Microsoft around 1 billion to get fixed. A problem that has generated a public apology from Microsoft and a warranty extension. Watch the video below for the pretty red light:
The main embarrassment is that although it is well documented and known about by the company, the problem is still unsolved. The game consoles present in Microsoft's booth were surely new machines, manufactured well after thousands and thousands of buyers had complained about their problem and after Microsoft had declared that it did all it could to solve it.
Apparently, all it can do is not good enough in the face of the Red Ring o'Death. Costs for the free three-year warranty that users with problems get are surely on the rise and the public image of the company is not getting any better. So, Microsoft, please check your hardware before making a fool of yourself again.