Now that NXE has released and we're seeing a slew of RROD reports, the old argument about the problem has flared up once again. I see people across various forums asking why in the world people continue to support a console that is obviously as problem riddled as the Xbox 360.

Do you guys want to know why people continue to support the 360? It's because the RROD really isn't as bad for actual 360 owners as the people who don't own one make it out to be. If you add all of the issues together then it looks like a pandemic. But on an individual level the typical scenario is that someone's 360 dies once, they go through the two-week swap process, and then they're back to playing.

If video games aren't the center of your life then it isn't as devastating as the negative press makes it out to be. Sure, it's happened to a ton of people. There have been some highly publicized horror stories. I have friends, both online and offline, that went through multiple consoles. There are Gamespot users I've watched (ColoradoKindBud comes to mind) that gave up on the console at one point because theirs broke so many times.

But for the majority of consumers Microsoft handles the issue politely and efficiently, and people are compensated for their time with a month of Xbox Live Gold service. So all you're really out when you get RROD is two weeks of your time that was probably better spent in the real world anyway. And if you're blessed enough to own more than one console you probably don't even miss it. It really isn't that hard to understand.

I suspect that many individual attitudes may begin to change now that the RROD warranty for launch consoles is beginning to expire and people will be required to pay for repairs. But the vast majority of consoles are still covered by the 3 year warranty, so that won't happen all at once. People may just opt to buy an Arcade unit to take advantage of more stable hardware, HDMI and lower power consumption. That's what I'll probably do when the time comes.