There was a time when many users felt panicked and sweated just by pressing to turn on their console. Surely many already open it, but the simple fact of wanting to turn on the Xbox360 Microsoft was a high-risk mission. Completing this task could mean the appearance of “Red Ring of Death“, something we will explain to you what it is and why it happened.
The Xbox 360 was launched at the end of November 2005 in the United States, but it will not arrive in Europe until March 27, 2006. It is a rather special console, since a total of five official models have seen the light of day.
It wasn’t a bad console, with some 84 million units sold. The console’s big problem was its construction, which appears to have been faulty. Months after being acquired by the user, it was highly likely that what was called the “Red Ring of Death” would appear.
Origin and causes of the Red Ring of Death on Xbox 360
First of all, you should know that the name is due to the set of lights around the power button. The console had a total of four sections forming a ring around the power button. If all went well it would turn green, but it was possible that three of the four sections would be red.
Although it didn’t really form a complete red circle, it didn’t really matter. This phenomenon was called the “red ring of death”. When it appeared, you already knew your console was dead.
The problem with this defect had to do with the design of the console itself, as it was not properly cooled. Over time and due to overheating, the material deteriorated and the deadly red circle appeared. Three main causes generated the red ring:
- Design and manufacturing defects: The console had a disastrous design that did not allow for inefficient heat dissipation. This caused the GPU (especially) and CPU to overheat, eventually damaging them.
- Bad welds: Due to severe thermal issues, the welds cracked due to the expansion and contraction of the heating and cooling process. In general, the biggest issues were with GPU and CPU soldering.
- Power outages: This was not the most common, but some models had power supply construction issues. This defect could also generate the dreaded red ring.
Years later, Microsoft’s hardware director revealed the real reasons behind the dreaded Red Ring of Death:
These people all loved playing video games, so they would turn the console on and off, and when it turns on and off, all kinds of stress happens.
Microsoft Hardware Director Todd Holmdahl
The problem with the consoles was not with the user, but with Microsoft itself, so the company had to fix the problem of all damaged consoles. Something that was on the verge of bankrupting the Xbox division within Microsoft.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer managed to save the Xbox from extinction, although it wasn’t easy. Former Xbox exec Peter Moore years later explained that:
When we looked at the cost of repairs and factored in lost sales, we found a shortfall of $1.15 billion.
Come on, the Xbox division was on the verge of disappearing and left Microsoft with a considerable hole in its books. Later, modified versions were released to correct this problem.
