Microsoft extends Xbox 360 warranty to three years

Looks like it is still costing Microsoft more than expected to spend beating Sony and Nintendo to the shelves. Microsoft has announced it is extending the warranty for the Xbox 360 to three years, costing the company approximately $1 billion.

Besides appeasing Xbox 360 console owners who have been annoyed by repairs and the infamous red ring of death (RROD), the announcement comes in time to get a bit of extra pre-E3 coverage.

In a statement issued by Microsoft, the decision to extend the warranty came “as a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles, the company conducted extensive investigations into potential sources of general hardware failures.”

Many game bloggers and news sites have been complaining about the RROD since the console’s release, including ZDnet , GamerBlorge and TeamXbox (and that last link is from a year ago).

In case you have not personally experienced the RROD, you are very lucky. In a nutshell, the power ring on the console goes from a nice, rotating green color to pulsing red, indicating your system is down. It is the gaming equivalent of the Windows’ Blue Screen of Death, another wonderful Microsoft product and requires that the system be sent out for repair(s).

Last year (2006), Microsoft issued refunds for consoles that were manufactured before January 1, 2006, noting that the first batch of system were having the most problems.

Watch [ClipSyndicate] Read [ZDnet ] Also Read [TeamXbox]