NYT: Halo 3 Makes Up for 360 Breakdowns

A New York Times article cites a few Xbox 360 owners who’re
especially forgiving of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 hardware issues; analyst accuses Microsoft of skimping on product testing.
Over a month ago, Microsoft announced that it had earmarked around $1 billion to repair faulty Xbox 360 consoles that suffered from the “Red Ring of Death."THE NEW YORK TIMES cited a few Xbox 360 loyalists who have encountered faulty hardware, but are still quite happy to get replacement consoles so they can play the Xbox 360’s strong upcoming library of games—namely, Halo 3.Accountant Josh Bridges of Spring, Tex., for example, summarized his plight with unreliable Xbox 360s. “My wife told me she didn’t want me to buy anymore Microsoft consoles. But I told her I’m a huge fan of the games that come out for this platform.”One 15-year-old gamer said, “There’s nothing in the house that breaks down as much.” But he still is an Xbox 360 fan.Analysts have said that while Microsoft’s decision to spend $1 billion on console repairs was a costly move, but in the long-term it was necessary in order to save face for Microsoft's videogame hardware.Microsoft said it would fix the three-red-light error free of charge, upping the warranty to three years and reimbursing those who had already paid for repairs.The revision of the warranty seemed to appease legions of message board posters who have been sweating the prospect of their white concave boxes becoming expensive paperweights.However, The New York Times interviewed analyst Richard Doherty with the Envisioneering Group, who said Microsoft didn’t thoroughly test the Xbox 360 as it raced to release the system before rival PlayStation 3.Microsoft had admitted that the problems with its console were rooted in its design, not a manufacturing issue. The firm said that it has since engineered around the problem. Microsoft refuses to say what exactly causes the breakdowns.Doherty said the $1 billion repair announcement is “dissipating a tremendous amount of momentum Microsoft built up prior to July,” adding, “This is going to get worse before it gets better.”