GameZine reports that Microsoft have extended their warranty to cover the E74 error as well as the Red Ring of Death. A growing number of complaints about the error have led to Microsoft addressing the issue, mentioning that the error is linked to the RRoD issue.

Microsoft are also refunding those who have already had to pay out: “Microsoft will refund to customers the amount paid for an out of warranty repair due to a general hardware failure associated with the e74 error message. Those customers should automatically receive the refund within 4-12 weeks, and no additional action by customers should be necessary.”
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In other “non BlizzCon related” news, Microsoft has filed a $2 million lawsuit against shipping company DHL over lost Xbox 360 units — 21,600 lost units to be exact. As the story goes, a DHL train carrying butt loads of Xbox 360 consoles derailed in Duke, Texas, causing “impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage.”

Microsoft says that DHL is refusing the pony up for damages despite their belief that the company “negligently breached” their duty. Attempts made to contact DHL have been unsuccessful thus far, though I am praying for some ungodly small fine print that reads something like this: Read more…

I know that when my 360 hits me it’s only because I provoked it.

These stories are getting a bit stale, aren’t they?  Not stale enough, apparently, or maybe it’s just not important for Microsoft to fix their shit.  You see, my latest Xbox 360 is dead.  I purchased a new Arcade version in January after my then current 360 was assassinated.  I’ve been using it since then until it started freezing, at which time I moved it to the other television and used it solely for movie-watching.  Less than eight months later, it does nothing but blink red and laugh at me. Read more…

I’m sorry, but I still find this picture funny

After years of speculation and millions of little red rings, could the cause of the biggest and most widely known hardware problem this generation finally have been revealed? According to Bryan Lewis, research vice president and chief analyst at Gartner, it’s the 360’s graphics chip.
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Shortly after the launch of Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii, reports began to surface that a small, yet noticeable number of people were getting disc-read errors and were unable to play one of the most anticipated titles of the year. Last month in Japan, Nintendo said that this was caused by a dirty lens inside the console, but could there be more to it?
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The mysterious Red Ring of Death has perplexed many Xbox 360 owners. What evil magic causes the system to overheat and crap out so often? Bunnie’s Blog has a very interesting theory about why the technology behind Microsoft’s console leads so often to failure. Read more…