I’m pretty sure everyone else is going to mention this today, but if you’re an Xbox 360 owner this is good news. Microsoft is extending the warranty for all Xbox 360 owners to three years, which means if you ever get the three red lights of death they will fix your console for free. Also if you paid to repair your Xbox 360 after the one year warranty ran out Microsoft will retroactively refund you for the cost. This news is not limited to Xbox 360 owners in North America, Microsoft has plans to upgrade the warranty globally. While this won’t help owners that chose to replace their broken Xbox 360s, it’s better than nothing.
The failure rate for future consoles may not be as high since Microsoft “identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console.” While Microsoft mentioned they made improvements they did not explain what they were or how to distinguish an “improved” console versus one that could fall into the hands of technical support.
Update: Chris Kohler from Game|Life has an interview with Peter Moore about the issue.
