Probably the worst fear imaginable for any gaming enthusiast is shelling out cash for a new console, only to realize it's horribly broken in a severe way. Either that, or shortly after owning the console, a loud beep or horrible hardware sound mark the end of a console's usefulness. For many, that's been a reality in the last few console generations, whether it's been with the standard fare console or an extremely expensive "premium" console that costs even more.
For those that remember, there are plenty of console launches in recent history that haven't gone smoothly. Sure, console makers have made bizarre design choices that didn't fly well with fans, but that's not a result of hardware/software failure. Consoles like the Xbox 360 or the PS4 have launched with glaring defects that had to be quickly rectified by big profit losses and good faith on the console maker's behalf.
Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death
Perhaps the most notorious console defect in recent history is the Xbox 360's "red ring of death," signifying a fatal hardware failure. Whenever a vital hardware component in the Xbox 360 failed to initialize, three of the four controller indicator lights on the front of the console lit up red. Basically whenever this happened, it meant the console had been effectively bricked, and wouldn't be able to boot up or play games at all. This was a hugely prevalent problem back on the original Xbox 360 console, that would come as a result of several different potential failures that would occur with the console.
This was obviously a huge issue for Microsoft, which ended up losing over $1 billion in capital as a result. Robbie Bach, who at the time was the head of Microsoft's Xbox gaming division, had made the decision to extend the console's warranty by three years because of the "red ring of death." While official statistics were never provided and various third-party surveys differ, the issue was prevalent enough to have affected over 20 percent of 84 million Xbox 360 purchasers. That's a huge number when compared to failure rates among competitors like PlayStation or Nintendo, which was less than 10 percent for each.
Nintendo Switch's Hardware Faults and Joy-Con Drift
Setting aside the major improvement that the Nintendo Switch was over its Wii U predecessor, the Switch release wasn't without its own fair share of issues as well. The launch of the Nintendo Switch in particular had tons of issues, some of which come close to the severity of the 360's "red ring of death," but not as catastrophic. Consumers have reported numerous little issues that have plagued the system; the TV dock scratching the Switch's LCD screen, Joy-Cons disconnecting seemingly randomly, screen flashing and loud error sounds, even some reports of system warping from running in the dock too long.
However, the biggest issue and most prevalent issue with the Nintendo Switch thus far has been Joy-Con drift. While the issues listed previously happen inconsistently among Switch owners, Joy-Con drift is an incredibly common issue with the Switch's iconic controllers. In varying amounts of time, Switch users have reported "ghost" inputs on the Joy-Con's analog sticks resulting in accidental inputs. Some have come up with DIY fixes, but the issue has become so prevalent that Nintendo still has a repair site setup for users to make claims.
PS4 Pro Systems Preparing For Takeoff
This particular issue is a bit more recent, and doesn't exactly have an exact fix, but certainly still exists. For early adopters of the PS4 Pro, the system was certainly more capable than a standard PS4 or Slim model, but there was one glaring issue with noise. Several consumers reported that their PS4 Pro systems were making absurd amounts of fan noise, to the point where the system would sound like a commercial jet taking off. Some even force quit games or shut down the system entirely as a result of the fans working overtime, seemingly for no reason.
Granted this was a problem with original PS4 systems as well, but that's because the GPU likely had to run at full power to play games like The Last of Us Part 2 or God of War. However, with the PS4 Pro being explicitly designed to run these games at optimal graphics quality (and in some cases, in 4K), it made no sense that the premium high-tech console was running as loud as it was. Some attributed it to accumulation of dust in the console, others attributed it to an unnecessary power draw that made the fans run at much higher electrical frequency. Either way, some have reported that newer PS4 Pro systems no longer have this issue, so the issue may have been quietly fixed.