Microsoft finally addresses the hardware troubles (Xbox 360)

In an open letter to the Xbox community, Microsoft’s “Xbox boss” Peter Moore reveals that they’re extending the warranty of the Xbox 360 to three years. Although this only addresses problems with the infamous three red lights of death (signalling a general hardware failure) and not, say, the also worrisome DVD drive’s problems, it’s a clear sign that Microsoft is taking its reputation seriously. Of course this is something you would have hoped was done long ago, but they’re really trying, even going as far as refunding those who’ve already paid for having their console repaired. The costs for this policy change are estimated at over 1 BN USD.

I’m not going to congratulate them on this move as it was really something they had to do. Being on my third Xbox 360, warranties or not, I’m still very close to becoming a former fan of the platform.

At the same time the whole latest generation of consoles is put to its place as the Nintendo DS continues to outsell the whole lot of them and Sony announces yet another, lighter version of the PS2. With the kind of library the PS2 has, I think it’s going to be around for at least another five years.