The Crimson Ring of Loss of life is considered one of videogame business’s most notorious fiascoes. It is mainly the Xbox 360 model of the Blue Screen of Death—seeing both one means you have bought actual bother. The Xbox support site describes it prosaically: “Three flashing pink lights imply that the Xbox 360 console or its energy provide has a {hardware} drawback.” However that actually does not convey the size of the state of affairs, which was nothing wanting catastrophic.
Apparently now, although, the entire fiasco is much sufficient again within the rear view mirror that Microsoft can really flip it right into a historic touchstone—nearly a treasured reminiscence, actually—and switch a buck on it within the course of: Now you can purchase a Crimson Ring of Loss of life “premium print” from the Xbox Gear Shop for $25. The marginally shiny, fingerprint-resistant print is to “commemorate” the discharge of a six-part documentary of the Xbox console, one episode of which recounts the Crimson Ring of Loss of life period.
For many who missed all of the enjoyable—it was 15 years in the past, in spite of everything—VentureBeat printed an in-depth historical past of the RRoD in 2008. The brief model is that Microsoft knew the Xbox 360 had issues however did not delay the rollout as a result of it did not wish to get overwhelmed to the punch by Sony and Nintendo. The outcome: Large failure charges and greater than $1 billion in guarantee bills, difficult additional by how lots of the issues had been latent, which means they would not flip up till the machines had been in use for some time.
Regardless of the size of the issue, the entire thing blew over comparatively shortly. Robbie Bach, the previous president of Microsoft’s Leisure and Gadgets Division, mentioned within the VentureBeat historical past that “buyer response knowledge” did not present untoward ranges of concern over the issue.
“It speaks to the truth that they love their video games and Xbox Dwell,” Bach mentioned. “Does it frustrate them? Sure. Alternatively, they know we’re taking good care of them. Folks have a specific amount of respect for that.”
As my UK compatriots would possibly say, it is a cheeky transfer—very cheeky, certainly. The Crimson Ring of Loss of life was a full-scale goat rodeo, and whereas Microsoft has the sources to soak up that type of monetary hit, bouncing again from the PR nightmare is an entire completely different matter. However charging individuals $25 to hold a giant reminder of essentially the most ignominious second in Xbox historical past on their wall? That is next-level stuff—and a transfer that may most likely be highly regarded, too.
