(Update: Microsoft has taken the page down from the official Xbox Gear Store)
What better way to say “remember when we screwed up badly?” than selling posters depicting it? Microsoft’s new RROD (Red Ring of Death) Posters are here and for some reason, the company thinks this is a good idea.
Clearly, Microsoft is making an attempt to laugh at itself. It just isn’t going the same way for them as it did Space X, when Elon Musk made a video collage of the crashes that led up to a rocket that was finally successful. This wasn’t a failure in the pursuit to do something for the first time. This was an issue that affected a company that was already well-established in the industry that plagued nearly half (or more than half, depending on the study you read) of the consoles sold to consumers. An issue that took forever to resolve and even then, you pretty much had to wait for the next generation console to escape it all.
So many consumers were out of their hard-earned money when they came across a console that appeared to be, or was absolutely, bricked due to critical hardware failures brought on by solder points that fractured. We ourselves had a number of systems that experienced the RROD over the years, most of which could not be repaired. Those of which that could, took extensive experience with re-working solder (manual corrections, or even using the “oven trick”).
Now, the company is hoping you’d be happy with re-living the experience with a “Premium Print” poster being sold within the Xbox Gear Shop. A poster that I’m sure PlayStation fans are more interested in than anyone else.
However, if for some wierd masochist reason you take pleasure in reliving such pains, the poster is available for just that. It’s 18″ x 24″ and available as part of a collection of 7 different prints “printed on high-quality paper stock from Japan”. At least your pain will comes in high quality. Again, I’m sure Sony fans will be lining up to get one to buy their favorite Xbox-using friend for a quick laugh this holiday.
