Game stops selling old pre-owned 360s

By Robert Purchese Published 5 September, 2011

Internal memo blames "high failure rate".

Game and Gamestation no longer sell pre-owned Xbox 360 Core, Arcade or 20GB non-HDMI models, Eurogamer can reveal.

But trade-ins will still be accepted.

A spokesperson for Game told Eurogamer that people don't want the older machines any more. This, he said, represented a focus on the newer machinery.

But sources within Gamestation told Eurogamer the "high failure rate" of the old consoles was to blame.

An internal Gamestation bulletin read:

"As of Saturday 3rd September we will not be selling Pre-owned Xbox 360 Cores, Arcades and 20GB non HDMIs. This is due to the high failure rate of the console and the difficulty and cost of repairing them.

"We will continue to trade these consoles in but they will need to be sent back to the DC as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business."

The Xbox 360 Core was the original entry level Xbox 360. It contained a wired controller and cables that only allowed SDTV resolutions. The Core model was replaced by the Arcade model in October 2007. The Arcade had HDMI output.

The 20GB non-HDMI Xbox 360s were the first batch of Premium machines. These later gained 60GB hard-drives, HDMI output and an improved CPU heatsink.

Microsoft decided, in early 2007, to extend the warranty program for Xbox 360 for three years following the infamous Red Ring of Death saga. Microsoft said there were an "unacceptable" level of repairs that had to be made, and put aside more than $1 billion to deal with the issue.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (83) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wizlon #1 9 months ago

    Too bloody right, it's unethical to sell anyone one of those old models, they are an accident waiting to happen.

  • evilrobot #2 9 months ago

    Post deleted at 22:12:53 08-05-2012

  • cw- #3 9 months ago

    How exactly are they an accident waiting to happen?

    I guess if it's left in the middle of the floor, someone might trip over it...

  • Gearskin #4 9 months ago

    Well, you get what you pay for, right? If you pick up a pre-owned console on the cheap and it goes BOOM... you knew the drill.

  • the_dudefather #5 9 months ago

    If they no longer sell them, why do they still accept trade-ins?

    I bet they are stockpiling them to make a heat based doomsday weapon

  • billy-beauts #6 9 months ago

    lol @xbots

  • madeinbeats #7 9 months ago

    Hahaha, you have to laugh! Bloodyyyy hell .. ..

    **Lol, down votes? Why you so touchy about it like I'm talking about your girlfriend or something?? oh ... shit ... yeah .. sorry!!

    ** WOW, it's like a poll which asks the question "are you a tit with no sense of humour? click the thumbs down button if YES"

    ** hahaha, and people still keep clicking down... This is comedy gold...
    Edited by madeinbeats at 05/09/11 @ 17:56

  • LeChuckie #8 9 months ago

    I didn't even realise they made non HDMI models.

  • psychokitten #9 9 months ago

    Give it a rest, billy-beauts, that's enough trolling out of you

  • -cerberus- #10 9 months ago

    Who the hell buys those anyways?

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #11 9 months ago

    Must admit that I love my 360 gaming, however my original 360 was a total disaster, three red rings then total death!

    I thought the extension on the warranty at the time was great and the pick up and delivery service very good, however in hindsight the whole thing was an almighty clusterf*ck as I had to buy another consol once the warranty expired.

    A consol should last a lot longer than 3 years Micro$oft!!!

  • billy-beauts #12 9 months ago

    OK sorry. But I really am laughing out loud at Microsoft fanatics. I'll stop now.

  • arcam #13 9 months ago

    Talk of that SD-only 360 makes you realise just how long this generation has been going.

  • ForAllOFThis #14 9 months ago

    I use to work at Game and there was an extremely high failure rate. So much so that we pretty much recommended the customers not to buy them. I've had my premium for two and a half years now with few problems though. I must have got lucky.

  • PixelPirate #15 9 months ago

    personally I am amazed the public were allowed to sell back a console to be resold to other people that had a confirmed failure rate that was so high. Most other manufactures would issue a recall, replace all units and move on, taking the hit.
    I am surprised Game/Gamestation didnt stop this when the RROD issue was at its peak, but i guess a profit is a profit, even if it is at unsuspecting customers expense.

  • lockload #16 9 months ago

    Pretty much every 360 since what 4 years ago has HDMI doesnt it?

    EDIT yep 4 year to the day since HDMi version was released
    Edited by lockload at 05/09/11 @ 11:55

  • Dannyboy1100 #17 9 months ago

    You're an idiot if you buy a pre-owned 360.

  • Concrete #18 9 months ago

    @MaFlippinHeadHurts

    Blimey, you didn't own a PS2 or PS1 then, the average time till failure on them was alot less than three years!

  • lockload #19 9 months ago

    I agree with dannyboy you can buy a new 4gn slim for £115, a used no slim 360 are usually £85+

  • Buztafen #20 9 months ago

    arcam. All 360's are SD only out of the box because MS are too tight to put a HDMI cable or even a component cable in there.

  • kapowaz #21 9 months ago

    Personally I'd be just as concerned about buying a console that's been perma-banned from XBL as worrying about the possibility of failure...

  • mashk #22 9 months ago

    My 360 machine doesn't have HDMI : ( I wonder what Gamestation will be doing with all the 360s they have stockpiled then? Will they be having a firesale? Always fancied having a go at repairing a 360.

  • mashk #23 9 months ago

    @Buztafen.

    The 360 I bought came with a component cable.

  • miiiguel #24 9 months ago

    @Buztafen : I guess they might have change their policy, but my 360s all of them came with HDMI and component cable, so that's HD x 2. Then again, they are special edition boxes.

  • chessboxer #25 9 months ago

    @PixelPirate

    MS avoided all of that by offering the extended warranty for RROD. If they didn't do that, the class action lawsuits they were facing would have gone ahead and MS would have lost. That loss would have been far more costly than the $1 billion they set aside for repairs, as they may have been ordered to do a product recall as well as refunds and compensation.

    I am surprised that they didn't mention it at E3 2007 which started a week later on July 11th...

  • mrblonde #26 9 months ago

    I bought my 360 in October 2007 from Curry's 20gb premium, no hdmi, looked on back and it was manufactured in june06.
    Recently sold it to the local smack generator for £35 cash as bought a new slim. I knowingly sold it them faulty, it kept crashing and giving me an e74 one red light, it would however, start up ok. I know only they will get burnt, as the customer who buys it will get a min of 3 months guarantee. Pity most of the game buying public havent heard of the early 360 hardware disasters.

  • Koozer #27 9 months ago

    "We will continue to trade these consoles in but they will need to be sent back to the DC as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business."

    So they'll buy your old xbox for £10, then send it back to their suppliers as faulty goods from a more recent batch for a full refund?

  • Penguinzoot #28 9 months ago

    @MrBlonde: who's the "local smack generator"?

    So they'll buy your old xbox for £10, then send it back to their suppliers as faulty goods from a more recent batch for a full refund?

    Somehow I don't think that would work ... ;)
    Edited by Penguinzoot at 05/09/11 @ 12:17

  • Buztafen #29 9 months ago

    The most recent 360s just come with a composite cable same with the 250gb Forza 3 bundled Super Elite i bought 2 years ago. Not sure about other specials and what they have in the box.

    Seems like its pot luck as to whether you get a component or not from comments here.
    Edited by Buztafen at 05/09/11 @ 12:19

  • agparrot #30 9 months ago

    @arcam Talk of that SD-only 360 makes you realise just how long this generation has been going.

    The console could, and does, generate HD images, it just didn't have an HDMI port in it. As others have said, mine came with a component cable in the box, and that's been feeding my HD tv quite happily.

    I've had to return my 360 to base four times in total, and the last time they sent me a 'new' (old cream 20Gb-shaped) 360 rather than a refurbished one. However, for some reason it seems that Microsoft policy was to only replace like with like, so even though my current 360 was built in 2009, it doesn't have an HDMI port purely because the one I originally bought in 2007 did not have one.

  • cowell #31 9 months ago

    Fair play that they've finally cottoned on to this. If you had a faulty 360 console that would hold out long enough for their 2 minute test at trade in, you could off load it as trade in for something else.

    I'll confess I took my damaged PSP in and traded it. I'd managed to douse it in a whole bottle of water in my bag. Having opened it up and dried it out for about a week, it worked again no problem. However it did have a circle the size of a 10p in the middle of the LCD screen that was clearly visible with certain colours on screen. When I traded in, I "helpfully" switched it on to a screen that made it much less obvious and the sales guy was none the wiser.

  • Ace-Reject #32 9 months ago

    I bought my 360 in 2006 as i thought i'd never be able to afford a Playstation 3 and i had 3 red lights and gave up and got a Playstation 3, i got a xbox in 2009 for christmas and works a lot better even though i don't use it a lot.

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #33 9 months ago

    @Concrete

    My PS1 lasted years until I eventually gave it away and I’ve never owned a PS2, however I can’t imagine the failure rate being as high as the RROD

  • xuiton #34 9 months ago

    maybe when you make the 720, get it right the first time.

    I for one, will not be a sucker who buys a new console in its first 2 years.

  • Nephirion #35 9 months ago

    How much is the special red ring edition?

  • arcam #36 9 months ago

    I am surprised Game/Gamestation didnt stop this when the RROD issue was at its peak, but i guess a profit is a profit, even if it is at unsuspecting customers expense.

    Don't GAME/Gamestation offer a 12-month warranty on second-hand consoles - i.e. the same warranty MS give for a brand new console?

  • bad09 #37 9 months ago

    I don't know why people are marking Concrete down, PS1 and 2 are famous for thier poor hardware quailty. Oddly enough with the 360 I never needed another one (although MS did fix RROD for me once - for free) yet PS1 and 2 I had to buy a couple of each, I think the PS2 I have now is like my forth!

    / lovingly remembers turning his first PS1 on it's side to get it to read a disc

  • KennyLickLick #38 9 months ago

    I've had 2 dead 360s since launch but MS replaced them both for free. When my 40gb PS3 died Sony wanted £120 for a refurb replacement so i just flogged it on ebay as faulty and bought a new one. I know which company i feel gave better customer service.

  • anthonypappa #39 9 months ago

    early ps1 and ps2's were nowhere near as bad as early 360's.

  • Teamallstar #40 9 months ago

    PS3 fantards assemble!!!

    They should have stopped selling them a long time ago, however from a concumer perspective it makes no difference as GAME always offer a 1 year warranty on all hardware new and pre-owned.

  • Optimaximal #41 9 months ago

    I'd say this is more about the minimal/non-existant margin they can squeeze from a recognisably ancient hardware than any concerns about customer satisfaction.

    As someone above says, XBL records the device serials, so you could feasibly pick up a month old 4GB flash model that has been banned... I doubt GAME would offer a replacement/refund for that old chesnut!

  • jetsetwillie #42 9 months ago

    @anthonypappa

    the PS1 was terrible. nearly everyone i know that had on had to use it upside down as after a few years use the laser would stop reading disks.

  • cardigait #43 9 months ago

    No news. i gave my falcon back 4 months ago and they already said that the would stop selling it.

  • Jamiesan #44 9 months ago

    I've had 2 PS2's that stopped reading disks within a year.
    20gb 360(came with Component cable) had no probs. I realise that makes me a minority but it's my personal experience. I didn't put it upright, in confined space or on carpet, and hoover'd dust out of the "exhaust" once or twice a month like I would for any computer.

    Meanwhile I've had friends tell me of various xbox and ps3 disasters :/ How long until people extend the whole "Don't get a nintendo handheld until the Lite" extends to sony/ms "Slim" consoles?

  • eltonpr0n #45 9 months ago

    @koozer

    No grand conspiracy here. They will simply get rid of them under the WEEE directive.

  • Ranger101 #46 9 months ago

    Hello to all those children on here being glib about the 360 shipping with SD-cables... I bought a brand new ps3 slim 2 weeks ago. SD-cables only in the box. No component, no HDMI.

    So stop.

  • orangpelupa #47 9 months ago

    "It contained a wired controller and cables that only allowed SDTV resolutions"

    misleading sentence.

    even the NEW xbox 360 S is still "It contained a wired controller and cables that only allowed SDTV resolutions" :)

    because MS only pack in standart AV cable. But on those OLD xbox you can use Component or VGA (like PC) to achieve HD 1080p

  • onyxbox #48 9 months ago

    My launch model lasted 2 and a half years would you believe. All the ones after that (with HDMI) failed tho' except for the new S model, which has been going strong now for a year :) apart from the right analog stick drifting.

    so ironically, the most reliable 360 I've had to date was the old HDMIless one :)
    Edited by onyxbox at 05/09/11 @ 13:57

  • TeeHee #49 9 months ago

    To be fair anyone who still buys game and gamestation deserves everything they get.

  • bratmandu #50 9 months ago

    A quick google gave me all info i needed to tell which 360 units were Jaspers when I got mine 3 years ago, haven't had a button of bother since, (my previous 2 360s were launch models). I was also able to get one of the launch models up and running again thanks to the 14 quid x-clamp thing.

  • RustyBullet #51 9 months ago

    @billy-beauts . plonker. Sony and PC users have their problems as well you fuk witt.

  • addugg #52 9 months ago

    Funny, this is also the reason I don't shop at Game.

  • Bullet_Tunnel #53 9 months ago

    ive had 3 boxes rrod on me, after the initial one i just towelled them up,(as seen on you tube), then took them into the cex i worked in to trade for another s/h one, as they would pass the 20 min test time they do there,(and i was usually testing them) then hide them under the counter and send them away as broken. employee 3- cex 0.

  • madeinbeats #54 9 months ago

    Anyone who defends MS on this mater is a joke. Why? why would you even attempt to defend them on such crude build quality. So your box hasn't failed on you, so what, everyone else must be lying then?

    **And someone voted it down - what a dumb c**t.

    ** oh, oh, -4 votes and counting with no explanations or reason.. dumb and cowardly, Xbox fany-boys really showing their metal now.. this just gets better and better :-)
    Edited by madeinbeats at 05/09/11 @ 16:33

  • andrewsqual #55 9 months ago

    This is old for Game. In Gamestop in Ireland we stopped taking those pieces of shit in over a year ago. How they could EVER be legally sold is a testament to idiot Xbots everywhere.

  • des #56 9 months ago

    Old 360 is a disaster beyond belief,if there was any justice in the world someone at MS would be criminally prosecuted...my penalty,ejecting him(her) into space with 30 min O2 supply

  • Ryze #57 9 months ago

    @evilrobot

    You are BRAVE putting that foghorn next to your telly.

  • silversun #58 9 months ago

    The xbox has been a great console for so many reasons since i got one but i am sure unlike other consoles i own, it will not work in 10 years time so hope it lasts a bit longer at least before it goes again.

  • metalangel #59 9 months ago

    @bad09: I remember going to the dodgiest shop imaginable in New Cross, London, to get a replacement laser unit for my busted PSX. What's worse, I needed a third one before long...

  • cowell #60 9 months ago

    Regardless of which trench you're camped in for the Great Fanboy War, phrases like "X-bot" are laughable and anyone that uses them needs to die in a fire.

  • Phredreeke #61 9 months ago

    All 360's are SD only out of the box because MS are too tight to put a HDMI cable or even a component cable in there.

    So are PS3s (I didn't get a HDMI cable with mine anyway) What's your point?

  • madeinbeats #62 9 months ago

    I'm on my 4th 360 (new slim)

    Had HDMIless, HDMI model and the Elite. All had faults, yet I never got RROD!

    ^^ People are voting his comment down because he's had 3 faulty 360's HAHAHAHA (head in hands) This is where society is at... Are you getting this? hhahahaaahahahaa... It's his fault he had 3 faulty 360's, and apparently he isn't allowed to mention it, hahahahahaha, are you getting this?!?!? Shit on me, this is so sad it's brilliantly funny... amazing... amazing...

  • liamthemaster #63 9 months ago

    Maybe they should test the xbox's properly before accepting them then.I had to return 3 second hand xbox's in Game one after the other as they were all faulty in some way because Game did test them when they accepted them.

  • king26 #64 9 months ago

    I gave up on Xbox the second time it broke, judging by their exclusives since 2009 it looks a good decision

  • richyroo #65 9 months ago

    I am on my 5th 360, although this one so far has lasted much longer than the others and seems to be going strong still.

  • MARKIV #66 9 months ago

    ""We will continue to trade these consoles in but they will need to be sent back to the DC as a regular faulty return where they will exit the business."

    So my old 20gb premium, sent for repair twice is classed as a regular faulty return! Nice! :) Surely they should check whether they've been repaired first with the X-clamp mod Microsoft made.

  • Syrette #67 9 months ago

    People are still saying "Xbot" in a serious manner?

    Sweet Jesus. I'm embarrassed for you.

  • mr2ange #68 9 months ago

    Not particularly suprised...

    It is however the most unreliable console to ever have been released since home consoles started, and by some bloody margin too.

    Next time get someone to actually engineer the thing properly. even with the frankly enormous power brick it still makes scrambled egg faster than an industrial microwave - not to mention being louder.

  • alcides #69 9 months ago

    is there any popcorn left?

  • handsonhips101 #70 9 months ago

    Baiting time....

    I still wonder how many 360's sold are replacement consoles.....

    As for playstation;

    My ps1 was a launch model, a tv had dropped on it, cracked it, I had it chipped (as you did when you were 13 and skint) which was meant to make the laser assembly wear quicker. 2011, its in the atic but it works just fine.

    Ps2; had that much hash smoked near its vents (as you do when your 17 and a bum) it should have croaked. Occasionally it won't read a purple disc (games on cd not dvd) but it still boots and plays games/dvds in the spare room.

    Ps3: 60gb launch model lasted 2.5 years, I kept it in a smoke free, clean, well aired lounge (as you do when you are 25 and a professional) I launched it across the patio at 5am when it ylod'd for the second time in two weeks.

    Ps3 slim. Fine. Had it since the patio incident.

    Modern electronics just don't last.

  • DarkSeptember #71 9 months ago

    Whatever you do , don't reveal how many Xboxes you've had; you'll only be negged for it ! A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that between myself and three other friends we've gone through 17 360's. I was called every name under the sun and called a bullshitter and a liar . Some people can't face up to the fact the original 360 was a badly designed piece of kit . I am very happy with my 360 S , it was a day one purchase and hasn't let me down once.

  • BSMR #72 9 months ago

    17? You bullshitting liar! Oh.

  • DarkSeptember #73 9 months ago

    @BSMR

    At least there are some people who can see the lighter side of things :) You made me laugh !

  • BonzoBanana #74 9 months ago

    I think it took me 7 360s before I got a good one. One was returned to me faulty. Its worth pointing out that the two most unreliable 360 models are the original xenon and the hdmi equipped zephyr models. A later non hdmi model based on the falcon chipset was released as the opus model and was only produced for warranty returns I believe to replace older xenons and that was as reliable as the Falcon models. So Game's policy seems poorly conceived in that many equally unreliable 360s can still be sold that have hdmi. They really should have done it by which 360s need the high wattage power brick.

    I think some credit should be given to Game for including a full 1 year warranty with these consoles. There are plenty of places that sell them with less warranty and if buying privately have no warranty at all.

  • smelly #75 9 months ago

    I have a non-hdmi model.

    Circa my 8th (!?!?) replacement, microsoft sent me back one which DIDNT have hdmi, endless calls to their help desk didnt get me any help - their rather useless people told me that all xbox's were the same and that i couldnt possibly know i had an older model as a replacement... I spent over a week calling back, asking to speek to superiors, etc.. no luck - eventually gave up.. After that, replacements 9, 10 and 11 were all non-hdmi models.

    Replacement 12 has been going for 18 ish months now - it's a non-hdmi model. But I recon the reason it's not died yet is simply because i hardly ever play it. There's very little of interest which has come out for the machine for me (i dont like shooters) and it's been gathering dust. The only reason i havent sold it yet is that i want it to play skyrim on...

    That said - Next gen microsoft can go fck themselves... Im going back to sony... (plus nintendo - but that's a given)
    Edited by smelly at 06/09/11 @ 01:08

  • rottingyoda #76 9 months ago

    have my console for four years with one red ring incident. i suppose im one of the lucky ones. its not ideal and it shouldnt happen but if you cant go without a games console for 3 weeks then you should really get out more, lay off the porn and meet some people

  • blackbriar101 #77 9 months ago

    Xbox owners must have a lot of patience, PSX 6 years no problems, PS2 MGS 2 bundle Fat died after 6 years, PS3 Fat 40 gig sku, 3.5 years no problem. Maybe i'm in the fortunate bracket i don't know.
    Edited by blackbriar101 at 06/09/11 @ 01:37

  • svenjl #78 9 months ago

    Got my 20GB 360 Pro for Christmas 2008. It's run like a dream the whole time, never failed, never scratched a disc. I never leave it running if I'm not playing and generally never play more than 3-4 hours at a time. Some people I know treat their consoles like s**t, leave discs in the drive, leave the console running for ages, let dust gather on top of it etc. I would terminate anyone who did that to mine, so I NEVER let anyone else handle my baby.

  • lostlain #79 9 months ago

    I feel sort of bad as I had a 360 and got it replaced 3 times in a row after rrod. Finally it felt like it was going to go as it would no longer play any games which streamed a lot from disc - GTAIV was particularly bad. So I traded it in for a ps3. I feel sorry for whoever got my 360 ):
    I kept meaning to buy one back but been mostly a pc gamer for stuff that's multi-format.

  • drhickman1983 #80 9 months ago

    I don't see how any of this is all that suprising. Those older xboxes certainly were prone to the rrod, so it's not a bad decision on Game's part.

    Doesn't excuse the torrent of inane comments some people have posted though. Still, at least I've been reminded how useful "ignore poster" is.

  • 32768Colours #81 9 months ago

    Internal memo blames "high failure rate"

    Fair do's. My fourth XBox 360 in four years whole-heartedly approves.

  • MDL199 #82 9 months ago

    I still can't figure out how Microsoft avoided being sued for their original 360 models.

    The failure rate must have been higher than for any piece of electrical equipment ever released and by some distance. They should have been forced to pull the bloody thing's from the shop shelves and offer full refunds to those who had bought one.

    I suspect Microsoft would be in 3rd place now if it wasn't for gamers having to buy more than one 360 because of the RROD.

  • cyber_nicco #83 9 months ago

    My launch Elite (Zephyr model) is still performing flawlessly. I have to admit, however, to having to have the DVD-Drive replaced under warranty.

    Not a hint of any red rings...