Featured Image Credit: Microsoft
Topics: Xbox, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Microsoft
If you were ever unfortunate enough to see your Xbox 360 exhibit the dread Red Ring Of Death, I’m so, so sorry.
The hardware issue in Microsoft’s last-gen console affected a lot of people, though with the power of hindsight we now know why, and why it’ll hopefully never happen again.
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The story of the Xbox 360 is actually incredibly interesting, and there’s been a documentary and countless YouTube videos discussing its creation and Microsoft’s race to get it out before Sony’s PlayStation 3.
While it’s still debated which console won the console war at the time, the Xbox 360 certainly delivered with its library of games, with great titles such as Halo 3, Fable 2 and Dead Rising just to name a few.
However this library may have actually been its downfall, as it turns out the console’s hardware struggled with being turned on and off due to the difference in temperatures.
Todd Holmdahl, Xbox’s head of hardware from 1999 to 2014 has said in the past “All these people loved playing video games, so they would turn this thing on and then off, and when it would turn on and off, you get all sorts of stresses.”
This is where the Red Ring Of Death came from, which would essentially brick the console beyond repair on most occasions.
“I mean that's something that should have been expected and fixed before the 360 left the R&D stage…” one Xbox fan said.
Some users were lucky enough to keep their console working even after its Red Ring affliction.
One user said “My first Red Ringed about a year in. I installed a dumb fan on the neck and it was great for 10 years after.”
Fortunately modern consoles are much more advanced, and have a better cooling system to ensure these technical issues aren’t as common, though that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of your hardware and make sure it’s clean!