Microsoft Is Selling An Xbox 360 Red Ring Of Death Ugly Sweater, But You Can't Have It

As someone who was deeply invested in gaming during the Xbox 360 era, I must say, Microsoft‘s Red Ring of Death (RROD) ugly sweater is a masterful piece of nostalgia. It brings back memories, both good and bad – the endless hours of joy spent on Halo 3, and the frustration that ensued when the infamous RROD would strike.

As the festive cheer fills the air, it’s time for us fans to dig out our quirkiest sweaters, a customary act to mark this joyous season. In the spirit of celebration, even Microsoft is jumping on board with an ugly sweater that commemorates one of Xbox’s less-than-glorious moments – the infamous ‘Red Ring of Death’, which was a recurring issue for the Xbox 360 during its early console years.

Besides a multifunction button showing both green and red signs, this sweater boasts an intriguing pattern of green and yellow stripes. According to The Verge, it’s exclusively accessible to Microsoft employees via their online store at the moment, and it’s already sold out.

Microsoft unveiled an Xbox 360 “Red Ring of Death” Sweater, a novelty piece, in their company store today. This item has garnered much interest among employees due to its unique concept, referencing the infamous Xbox 360 hardware issue.

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) December 11, 2024

Individuals who acquired an Xbox 360 initially might have encountered a hardware failure known as the “red ring of death,” which was quite prevalent, causing the console to become essentially useless. This issue was a significant challenge for Microsoft back then, and in the 2021 web series Power On, the company detailed how this problem occurred.

As per Leo Del Castillo, who is part of Xbox’s hardware engineering team, the infamous “red ring of death” was primarily due to internal connectors within the console’s components that failed because of frequent heating and cooling cycles. This issue, along with thermal and stress problems related to the soldering balls in the Xbox 360, ultimately led to numerous consoles becoming unusable.

At one point, Microsoft addressed the problem with Xbox 360s by repairing and returning them at no charge for consumers – a costly solution that turned into a “1.15 billion dollar issue” as stated by Peter Moore, who led Xbox at the time. Subsequent versions of the Xbox 360 were designed to prevent this problem, and consoles like the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S have not experienced hardware failures on a similar scale since then.

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2024-12-11 17:09