too late for that. they are in too deep. too late for MS to turn back now. RC that would be a good idea, bundle cores (whatever is left of them) with Halo 3. and maybe throw in a $50 price cut. MS will make that money back anyway, with the game plus the Xbox live accounts.
I don't know if it is too late, but it does seem like Microsoft is tired of losing money on the Xbox business. IIRC, they basically gave the division an ultimatum of sorts where they must start making a profit in the next fiscal year (their current FY ends in June IIRC). They didn't really say what would happen if they didn't meet that, but I'm guessing that MS may reconsider their options given how they've been unable to make a solid profit. I wonder if they (and Sony/Nintendo) would reconsider an agreement where MS could provide the OS, development tools, and support (as well as maybe a network infrastructure like Live?). Basically what the wanted to do before they made the Xbox, but obviously now Sony and/or Nintendo would be more willing to work with Microsoft than they were before. One step closer to a one console future...too bad none of this would ever happen.
Just buy one from Costco and return it whenever you want. The new return policy only covers TV's and computers, but not game consoles. You never have to worry about it dying ever again
Microsoft makes 10 billion dollars a year and have 30 billion in the bank. Netscape used have a 90% market share as well. I think msft will weather it out.
3 rings of death. send it in to MS and get a new one, they SHOULD pay for the shipping and the repair cost. anyways, that happened to me too but the good thing was the one i got back was perfect. (Plus MS accidentally gave me another 20GB hard drive)
I don't think Microsoft's success in other areas really affects their decisions that much when it comes to their gaming division. They may be getting billions in profits every quarter overall, but I don't think they (or their shareholders to be specific) like losing billions every year on the Xbox business with seemingly no real progress; if profits weren't a concern, things would be a little different with how they're handling the 360 (and other things too I guess).
I agree. Xbox is part of Microsoft's Home and Entertainment division. Basically over the past 5 years, Microsoft has invested 21 Billion in this division and has -5 Billion loss to show for it. Just because a company has the means to fund an division doesn't mean they should continue even if it is doing terrible. Bottom line for Microsoft is its shareholders, and on Wall Street every penny Microsoft can save for its shareholders-the more attractive the company looks as a whole for institutions to buy more stock in it.
If you are out of warranty, you could check one of these out... http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...action=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search
I'm sure that's what they tell their shareholders. I guess they've had more success in that area than the console wars (although they could end up "winning big" in both areas in the near-future I suppose), but I don't know if it was worth losing billions of dollars for either given their lack of success in either area so far (IMO anyway). They probably could have improved their mind share while remaining profitable, which may actually be the plan from now on given their goals. AFAIK, it is. The Zune is losing them a lot of money too IIRC. I believe losses for the Xbox business are difficult to estimate since everything else in the division is usually highly profitable (again, outside of the recently released Zune), which is probably why they put it there.
I have a new question. I visited Frys this weekend and saw a lot of 'cooling accesories' for the xbox 360 for under $20. Would this be a quick fix or a temporary patch to the 3 rings of death?
one way to prolong your 360's life is NOT to have it sitting up vertically. The most common reason for hardware failure is cooling. There are air flow vents on the bottom which become blocked if you have your console sitting vertically.
it can be setup vertically. Also do not put your 360 in like a cabinet. Make sure all sides (except for horizontal bottom) are exposed to open air.
