The Xbox 360 isn’t exactly the most perfectly designed piece of hardware. In fact, many seem to believe it is one of the biggest gaffes in any generation of gaming, due to the seemingly overwhelming failure rate it has had during its lifetime thus far. While a lot of progress has been made, Microsoft has taken a huge PR hit with their system faults becoming not just a recognized issue, but a meme and almost joke about the hardware that is part of its culture. Although this is an issue that has been explored over and over again, this month Venturebeat’s Dean Takahashi wrote an in-depth look at the 360′s history and just how the failures began along with sources on the inside of the whole issue. While many of the sources for the article chose to remain anonymous, Robert Delaware seems to have felt the need to out himself (which was explained in the article as an act of nobility of sorts) as an employee speaking about the whole issue.

In the wake of this article, one which Microsoft condemned as simply digging up the past and littered with speculation and rumour, it seems that Mr. Delaware has been fired [link via GameIndustry.biz] from his position as a contractor with Microsoft Game Studios. With Microsoft only really conceding defeat to the issues that have plagued their system since launch in 2007, this seems to be an unexpected, but not surprising move. Considering the nature of the comments made by Delaware, and the expected backlash stated in the original article due to a breach of contract (for a non-disclosure agreement), Microsoft’s alleged reaction on all this is reasonable.

One thing to note, of course, is that the author of this article also links back to his book about the same subject. The fact that this issue has been raised again after Microsoft has felt the wounds starting to heal seems a bit odd, and the information about this employee are completely unverified and possibly baseless in this case. While the idea of informing the general public and putting more pressure on Microsoft to address the issues seems to be the focal point of this discussion, the way in which the author presents that seems to be a bit of sensationalism, so make sure to take everything with a grain of salt.

It has been almost three years since the launch of the Xbox 360, and it is a storied history when it comes to console failures. While initially the console offered only a 90-day warranty and a very obstructive return system, when the problems became evident Microsoft started to realize that they couldn’t remain quiet forever. Though they did for a long time, and only within the last year and a half made sure that the warranties extended sometimes past 3 years in some regions, and the process of replacing them became more efficient. There has also been major improvements made to the hardware, with the Elite said to be the most effective machine made so far, and a new revision in the works to combine the GPU/CPU in the next year. Where Microsoft made the mistake of coming in too late in the last generation, their challenge of coming in earlier than the competition this generation seems to have worked, at least somewhat.

Speaking from mostly anecdotal evidence, those who I know who have the system and have had repeated problems have yet to pay for any of the fixes, and continue to come back to the system each time, excited for their replacement to arrive. While this is something I have yet to experience, only having purchased my Elite system earlier this year, it is a concern that has made my Xbox 360 sit in a lonely corner, next to the air vents and in an open area to make sure the airflow and heat are controlled. Whether real or imagined, the Red Rings of Death have become a subculture of the Xbox 360.