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Ditto here. Not a single issue.

http://live.xbox.com/member/Mecha+Gamera - gamertag, if you care. Notice how 1337 I am.

No need to "brag", but I will simply state that I have been playing my 360 pretty reguarlly since I got it in the first week of January (see my gamer card: http://live.xbox.com/member/SnprBoB86) and have had not a single bad experience.

The system is located in a relatively hot room and is positioned vertically, but I have not experienced a single crash or scratched a single CD. I know three other people with Xbox 360s and only one of them reported that he experienced some crashes, but only when playing this one particular hockey game.

from the article: "PCs running the Premium edition will also be able to connect their machine to an Xbox 360 gaming console."

What for?

The original Xbox needed a Media Center Extender to do this. The Xbox 360 doesn't need the Extender. Currently, Windows XP Media Center edition is required. When the article says "Premium edition," it means Vista Home Premium, which has the Media Center functions built in.

from the article: "PCs running the Premium edition will also be able to connect their machine to an Xbox 360 gaming console."

What for?

The original Xbox needed a Media Center Extender to do this. The Xbox 360 doesn't need the Extender. Currently, Windows XP Media Center edition is required. When the article says "Premium edition," it means Vista Home Premium, which has the Media Center functions built in.

Does he want Microsoft to only licence their software to hardware vendors that only make PC's that are white boxes?

Where do you think this is headed?

Well, I am replying to you because this is one of the few parent messages that seem like they know what is going on. (meaning you have actually used the system, not someone who has an opinion based only on the name of the company that designed the Xbox 360)

YES, I am addicted to achievements and gamerscore. And YES, I go onto my computer to check out how many points an achievement has given me right after I get one. Sometimes if there is a 5 minute lag in adding the score, I get a little anxious. YES, achievements make me play the games a lot longer than I normally would. (Good for MS, or bad?)

When I first heard about the achievement system I thought it was idiotic. Who cares about my score? But once I got started, it is a very big deal. I've even tried to explain the achievements thing to my wife...not that she gives a shit, but I think this is very, very cool.

I usually buy 1-2 games per month. A lot of them ended up being 'throw-aways' something I would play for 30 minutes and decided that I hated it, so I wouldn't play it anymore. Also, when I played a game and 'finished' it, I would stop playing. Not anymore- I need my damn points!

In fact today, I was just looking at my Call of Duty 2 score, thinking that I *really* need to go back and play on Veteran difficulty to pick up some points. That is odd because I NEVER replay first person shooters in single player mode. But I will do it this time.

If anyone cares enough to see my score, take a look at my gamercard.

Yes, I agree it sounds stupid. Until you have your own gamercard...now I think it is awesome.

And on a more practical note, it allows you to gauge someone's skill when you are playing on-line, and it's great for comparing people in your friends list also.

I believe that, best-case scenario, the Revolution's controller is going to give developers the "Permission to Think Freely," to borrow the term.

If conventional wisdom is correct, creativity in large game development studios is hampered by publishers' requirements: bring about a return on their investments by recreating past successes. (This means sequels and titles that stick closely to existing genres.) The smallest developers often follow a similar path: they want to start turning a profit so that they can actually eat lunch once in a while. So, they (the ones who are supposed to be doing all the innovating!) tend to stick to tried-and-true themes as well. Just look at all the Match 3 games out there.

Perhaps the Revolution's controller, simply by being completely nutty, is going to give larger development studios the impetus to ask what crazy things they can do with it? Publishers will not only allow this approach, but demand it. Their press releases will be filled with all the newfangled things a particular title will do with the controller.

Maybe.

I do lament the fact that, out of the Big Three, the platform that seems to court indies the most is the one that has received such a lukewarm reception. If Nintendo opened things up similarly, I'd love to be able to develop games for use with the Revolution controller.

But maybe that's just the lazy me talking. When I think about it, there's probably plenty of innovation we can pull out of the keyboard and the mouse.

I believe that, best-case scenario, the Revolution's controller is going to give developers the "Permission to Think Freely," to borrow the term.

If conventional wisdom is correct, creativity in large game development studios is hampered by publishers' requirements: bring about a return on their investments by recreating past successes. (This means sequels and titles that stick closely to existing genres.) The smallest developers often follow a similar path: they want to start turning a profit so that they can actually eat lunch once in a while. So, they (the ones who are supposed to be doing all the innovating!) tend to stick to tried-and-true themes as well. Just look at all the Match 3 games out there.

Perhaps the Revolution's controller, simply by being completely nutty, is going to give larger development studios the impetus to ask what crazy things they can do with it? Publishers will not only allow this approach, but demand it. Their press releases will be filled with all the newfangled things a particular title will do with the controller.

Maybe.

I do lament the fact that, out of the Big Three, the platform that seems to court indies the most is the one that has received such a lukewarm reception. If Nintendo opened things up similarly, I'd love to be able to develop games for use with the Revolution controller.

But maybe that's just the lazy me talking. When I think about it, there's probably plenty of innovation we can pull out of the keyboard and the mouse.

I doubt that Rare developing games for Nintendo handhelds has much of an impact as to whether they'd contribute to the Revolution's library of games; Microsoft don't compete in the portable gaming device space. After all, they (Microsoft) advertise the iPod connectivity features of the Xbox 360, and they compete with Apple on the desktop market.

(And yes, this is where my argument falls apart as MS write software for the Mac, but only really that which helps keep their lockin in place, such as Ofice.)

"Geometry Wars is basically Robotron crossed with the famous Macintosh game Crystal Quest, with vector graphics" ... and funny you bring up Smash TV as it is also on Xbox 360 arcade and also experiencing a nice revival.

Soon you'll be able to verify if that comparison is apt, since Robotron 2084 is currently available on 360's Live Arcade and Crystal Quest is coming soon.

"Geometry Wars is basically Robotron crossed with the famous Macintosh game Crystal Quest, with vector graphics" ... and funny you bring up Smash TV as it is also on Xbox 360 arcade and also experiencing a nice revival.

Soon you'll be able to verify if that comparison is apt, since Robotron 2084 is currently available on 360's Live Arcade and Crystal Quest is coming soon.

Last week, I bought Kameo, a full price XBox 360 game, and Marble Blast Ultra, an XBox Live arcade downloadable game for a fifth the cost.

One of these games has myself and my flatmates addicted, the other I'm working slowly through mostly out of curiousity. I'm sure I don't have to tell you which one is which.

This is not to say that smaller, easier to play games are the way forward, or giant stunning masterpieces are a bad idea, it's just an example. However, I do strongly believe the only thing pushing up development costs is the developers themselves.

Let me go back to Kameo: the game is stunning. Fight scenes involving the main character and a few thousand trolls are incredible. The environments are richly detailed, and all have their own distinct character. However, I mostly find it over complex. There's nothing quite as frustrating as losing the camera behind a beautifully rendered tree while a couple of trolls beat you into the ground!

Developers need to focus on what's important. Make the game pretty, but not so much that it's over complex. Focus on making levels interesting, over attractive. Ensure the difficulty curve is effective, and you're most of the way there - you want to make sure the player is always challeneged, but never frustrated.

This page on Xbox 360 development seems to give some tips. Can't find anything more concrete than that, however.

And if only there was some way to enforce [2] those ratings ...

(I'd link something for PS2, but I couldn't find anything appropriate.)

And if only there was some way to enforce [2] those ratings ...

(I'd link something for PS2, but I couldn't find anything appropriate.)

is there any technical reason the original xbox live can't support an arcade? seems like an artificial marketing trick - to take a new software feature and artificially make it exclusive to expensive new hardware platform - but NOT a next gen feature (eg hd graphics, 3d controller), just a software trick to drive upgrades.

Nope. No technical reason at all. It'd be awesome if they built an arcade for Xbox 1. Oh, wait. That happened. The 360's arcade is a killer app because it's on each and every Xbox 360 sold. The Xbox 1 Live Arcade required a DVD, and that DVD was almost impossible to find. You could order one online for the price of shipping, but it took 6-8 weeks to deliver, at which point you've totally forgotten about the arcade again. The prices were occassionally higher than they should've been. For example, Zuma and Bejewelled were both $15 on the original Arcade, but are $10 each on the 360 Arcade. Finally, there was no Geometry Wars.

If you are going to link a list, at least link the correct one:

Microsoft's Official Xbox 360 backwards compatibility list

Still irritates me that Serious Sam II is not on that list.

Same here with the Call of Duty thing. I would have never gone back to play through it again without the point thing going on.

What if some companies start to create games that really suck but are super easy to get gamer points on. Like...what if they made Snood 2 for the Xbox360 and sold it for $9.99? I'm guessing the game blows ass because it's only $9.99 for the Nintendo DS at Best Buy. Would people buy a crap game for ten bucks just to get a jump on their points by 1000?

my gamertag

I actually rented King Kong through GameFly just to play through it one evening and get the 1000 gamerscore. I'm actually going to pick up NBA 2k6 for the same reason - all 1000 points are easily achievable in only a game or two.

And I don't mind padding my gamerscore where available, because I still have plenty of noteworthy achievements to show that I do have my gaming prowess. My Grand Pearh Pooh-Bah achievement last night in Hexic is significant, and the Survive 1,000,000 in Geo Wars is a VERY HARD one to get - and I have it.

Whoever came up with the idea for achievements and gamerscore really needs to get a raise. This is huge - and not just for the increased competitiveness to gaming I'm sure it's going to bring, but I suspect it increases attach rate and helps out with game rentals, too. It's also wonderful being able to actually see which people run off at the mouth about their gaming skills and can't back it up, and those which can. You say you're good at DOA4? Let's see the grade achievements to prove it.

(Currently at 3185 and growing. Should hit 3200 tonite with another chapter of Condemned.)

Bad link. The correct one is in the story already but you can also click here

Judging from his gamer card, Zonk apparently played DOA4 for less than 5 hours, didn't unlock any characters and his in-game stats indicate he played a grand total of 4 matches online. To be fair, he might have played more DOA offline after these matches (perhaps playing 5 hours but not connecting to Live at all since then and thus not getting it on his online profile yet).

That said, I agree that the lag is rather disappointing. Also, the game can sometimes freeze up if people quit the session at the wrong times. Another little issue is that pressing the Xbox Guide button should automatically pause a match (offline matches only, of course).

Computer characters can definitely be unfair (try pulling off Raijin in Hayate's movelist sometime... and notice that the computer player can do it at will). I'm a DOA newbie so I'm still picking up on the moves and countering system but it seems that Team Ninja is rather focused on creating difficult games (Ninja Gaiden, this).

Where's HALO 3 Bill? Huh? There, buddy, where's the Master Chief upon whose shoulders your gaming empire reigns?

Do you think Bungie are a bunch of miracle workers? Halo 2 was just barely a year old at 360 launch (11/9/2004, compared to 11/22/2005). Consider that after Halo 2 I'm sure the guys took a nice long vacation, so scratch two months off of possible working time, and that the game would've needed to be completed by the beginning of November, so scratch of another month. So, Halo 3 designed and developed with high quality in 9 months (call it February to October)? I think not. Halo 2 took 3 years, and Halo 1 took much longer than that. Maybe Bungie should've held onto Halo 2 for one more year and shipped it on 360 (complete with a real ending!), but that would have causedother problems.

There's a reason Halo 2 isn't on PCs yet. Because Gates nigh-Lucasian empire of videogaming goodness would topple without console sales of Halo 2.

First, the usage of the word "yet" is incorrect. Halo 2 will not ever be on the PC (well, except perhaps under emulation in a couple years). Halo 1 only made its way back to PC and Mac because that's where it started. Halo 2 was designed exclusively for the Xbox from the ground up, with no plans to ever port it to PC.

Americans have been demanding XBox role-playing games since the inception of the big black box. We haven't been heard. Where are the epic Square-style RPGs that will tie me up for hours. What, I get a shitty port of Elder Scrolls and a buggy Star Wars game? Now, Knights was AWEsome, but had its little burps now and again.

Well, there were two Knights games, and Jade Empire. As for epic Square-style RPGs, that really would've entailed getting Square (because they're the only ones who do that well). It's well-known that Square was in Sony's back pocket for quite some time, and that they generally only really support one console at a time (Crystal Chronicles and portable games aside). But Square is coming to the 360 (albeit with an aging FFXI), and ex-Square developers are also working on 360 games. Also, Bioware's upcoming game Mass Effect looks like it'll be pretty sweet.

As for launch titles, I'll agree that they are mostly weak (though I'm really digging on PGR3 and Kameo right now). However, you completely overlooked the Live Arcade. Geometry Wars has been hailed as one of the best launch games on the platform (yes, it is a little sad that the best launch title for a $400 console is a $5 old-school-style shooter of infinite difficulty), and there are several old arcade favorites like Gauntlet and Joust, puzzle games, and card games if those are more your style.

Keep in mind, though, that these are launch titles. They're games that had at most of year of development time. They're barely stretching the capabilities of the platform because it hasn't been around long enough to truly be learned. They have bugs or missing features or jaggies where we were promised none. And yet, they don't speak at all to the quality or type of games we'll see on the 360 a year from now. The Xbox launch library was a fluke with Halo. Every other console has had a horrible launch line-up, with the possible exceptions of the Dreamcast (Soul Calibur) and SNES (Mario World).

Where's HALO 3 Bill? Huh? There, buddy, where's the Master Chief upon whose shoulders your gaming empire reigns?

Do you think Bungie are a bunch of miracle workers? Halo 2 was just barely a year old at 360 launch (11/9/2004, compared to 11/22/2005). Consider that after Halo 2 I'm sure the guys took a nice long vacation, so scratch two months off of possible working time, and that the game would've needed to be completed by the beginning of November, so scratch of another month. So, Halo 3 designed and developed with high quality in 9 months (call it February to October)? I think not. Halo 2 took 3 years, and Halo 1 took much longer than that. Maybe Bungie should've held onto Halo 2 for one more year and shipped it on 360 (complete with a real ending!), but that would have causedother problems.

There's a reason Halo 2 isn't on PCs yet. Because Gates nigh-Lucasian empire of videogaming goodness would topple without console sales of Halo 2.

First, the usage of the word "yet" is incorrect. Halo 2 will not ever be on the PC (well, except perhaps under emulation in a couple years). Halo 1 only made its way back to PC and Mac because that's where it started. Halo 2 was designed exclusively for the Xbox from the ground up, with no plans to ever port it to PC.

Americans have been demanding XBox role-playing games since the inception of the big black box. We haven't been heard. Where are the epic Square-style RPGs that will tie me up for hours. What, I get a shitty port of Elder Scrolls and a buggy Star Wars game? Now, Knights was AWEsome, but had its little burps now and again.

Well, there were two Knights games, and Jade Empire. As for epic Square-style RPGs, that really would've entailed getting Square (because they're the only ones who do that well). It's well-known that Square was in Sony's back pocket for quite some time, and that they generally only really support one console at a time (Crystal Chronicles and portable games aside). But Square is coming to the 360 (albeit with an aging FFXI), and ex-Square developers are also working on 360 games. Also, Bioware's upcoming game Mass Effect looks like it'll be pretty sweet.

As for launch titles, I'll agree that they are mostly weak (though I'm really digging on PGR3 and Kameo right now). However, you completely overlooked the Live Arcade. Geometry Wars has been hailed as one of the best launch games on the platform (yes, it is a little sad that the best launch title for a $400 console is a $5 old-school-style shooter of infinite difficulty), and there are several old arcade favorites like Gauntlet and Joust, puzzle games, and card games if those are more your style.

Keep in mind, though, that these are launch titles. They're games that had at most of year of development time. They're barely stretching the capabilities of the platform because it hasn't been around long enough to truly be learned. They have bugs or missing features or jaggies where we were promised none. And yet, they don't speak at all to the quality or type of games we'll see on the 360 a year from now. The Xbox launch library was a fluke with Halo. Every other console has had a horrible launch line-up, with the possible exceptions of the Dreamcast (Soul Calibur) and SNES (Mario World).

No - you wont have to pay for Live Gold. If you look at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/memberships/ it says that Silver can go on MMOG's.

Regardless of this - I highly doubt MS is gonna give MMOG players a free or reduced cost Live. They are two completly different systems - and MS is going to be making their money off of Live.

In any case, you have a warranty on it, and should Microsoft ever acknowledge that there is anything wrong with the game consoles, you can get a full repair/replacement

Not to be a Jerk, but Microsoft's warranty really sucks:

90-Day Express Warranty. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Limited Warranty, Microsoft warrants you to only (the original purchaser), that under normaal use and service the Xbox Product will substantially conform with the accompanying printed user instruction materials for a period of 90 days starting as of the date of your sales receipt (the "Warranty Period")

http://assets.xbox.com/en-ca/pdf/english-f.pdf

Wheras Sony has a good warranty

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) warrants to the original purchaser that each of the constituent products of this "PlayStation2" console shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of purchase (the "Warranty Period"). If one of more of the above-identified products is determined to be defective during the Warranty Period ...

And Nintendo's warranty Kicks ass:

Nintendo of America Inc. ("Nintendo") warrants to the original purchaser that the hardware product shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for twelve (12) months from the date of purchase. If a defect covered by this warranty occurs during this warranty period, Nintendo or a NINTENDO AUTHORIZED REPAIR CENTER will repair the defective hardware product or component, free of charge. The original purchaser is entitled to this warranty only if the date of purchase is registered at point of sale or the consumer can demonstrate, to Nintendo's satisfaction, that the product was purchased within the last 12 months.

Nintendo's rules for one reason, great customer support:

"My Gamecube broke, I bought it 11 months ago"
"Do you have a recipt"
"No, that was 11 months ago"
"Well, whatever ... we'll repair it anyways"
"cool, when will I get it back"
"The'll ship a refirbished system immediately; you'll be able to pick it up in a day or two"
"Awsome"

Having had to deal with warranty repairs/replacement from various companies (including Sony), I have never dealt with a company which was so customer support focused (either that or apathetic) than Nintendo.

A 3 month warranty on a $400 piece of eqipment = The Suckage

Um, yeah, I can see how paying $450 for a machine that plays Wik and heats my living room is a great buy.

It's only $400 (premium system, or a core + hard drive) + $6.25 (Wik is 400 points, but the minimum amount of points you can buy is 500 for $6.25). I'm also assuming you already have or want a 360 for other reasons (like Geometry Wars). If that's not the case, then of course it's not a good deal.

Besides, my comment was intended to point out how Microsoft's Live Arcade is opening up new venues to independent developers. That's cool, and I don't really see how you can spin it to be a bad thing (I'm sure you can, I just don't see how).

If you're lucky enough to have a 360, you can play both Outpost Kaloki (original, 360) and Wik: Fable of Souls (original, 360. Mutant Storm (original on Windows, Mac, and Linux, 360, original Xbox Live Arcade), the winner from 2002, is also available on 360 and was available on Live Arcade on the original Xbox as well. On the 360, these games go for $5-$10 (400-800 Points, where 80 points ~= $1), and Mutant Storm is $9.99 on Xbox. Compare that to $20 for the PC versions of Mutant Storm and Outpost Kaloki.

If you're lucky enough to have a 360, you can play both Outpost Kaloki (original, 360) and Wik: Fable of Souls (original, 360. Mutant Storm (original on Windows, Mac, and Linux, 360, original Xbox Live Arcade), the winner from 2002, is also available on 360 and was available on Live Arcade on the original Xbox as well. On the 360, these games go for $5-$10 (400-800 Points, where 80 points ~= $1), and Mutant Storm is $9.99 on Xbox. Compare that to $20 for the PC versions of Mutant Storm and Outpost Kaloki.

If you're lucky enough to have a 360, you can play both Outpost Kaloki (original, 360) and Wik: Fable of Souls (original, 360. Mutant Storm (original on Windows, Mac, and Linux, 360, original Xbox Live Arcade), the winner from 2002, is also available on 360 and was available on Live Arcade on the original Xbox as well. On the 360, these games go for $5-$10 (400-800 Points, where 80 points ~= $1), and Mutant Storm is $9.99 on Xbox. Compare that to $20 for the PC versions of Mutant Storm and Outpost Kaloki.

If you're lucky enough to have a 360, you can play both Outpost Kaloki (original, 360) and Wik: Fable of Souls (original, 360. Mutant Storm (original on Windows, Mac, and Linux, 360, original Xbox Live Arcade), the winner from 2002, is also available on 360 and was available on Live Arcade on the original Xbox as well. On the 360, these games go for $5-$10 (400-800 Points, where 80 points ~= $1), and Mutant Storm is $9.99 on Xbox. Compare that to $20 for the PC versions of Mutant Storm and Outpost Kaloki.

No, Silver is always free. The one month free trial is of Gold.

And 800 points is equivalent to $10, not $15. Slightly better than it was on the original Xbox Live (where it was impossible to change your gamertag). Still, it's hard to justify charging that much for the procedure.

Lastly, as far as is known, the PS3 will max out at 7 controllors due to technical limitations of Bluetooth.

Microsoft actually supports this method of running executables - the xbox emulator update for the 360 can be installed just by downloading a default.xex from their website and burning it to a DVD. Nothing special there.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardscompatibi lity.htm

In any case, there's a solution that doesn't require a new TV: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdc able/

Plugs right into your TV monitor. Haven't tried it myself. I went for an LCD TV from Dell, nifty, as it doubles as a TV (with a TV tuner), HDTV for gaming, and a computer LCD.

An Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription costs $50 per year (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/memberships/xbox36 0subscriptionplan.htm). My math is rusty but I believe that is a grand total of ~$5 per month.

You can pay for Xbox LIVE subscriptions in various ways, but the gold subscription is the most economical.

Disclaimer: Microsoft is my employer. This post is provided as-is with no warranties and confers no rights.

You can set up a completely separate passport account for your XBox if you want. Also, AFAIK, you had to do this with your original XBox as well. Also, it has other side benefits, like allowing you to post on online forums with your gametag, and being able to show off your gamercard to others. This really isn't any different than how it is in the WoW forums, where you post with your in-game handle and stats.

I live in Kanagawa, but spent today in Akihabara and in my local Yodobashi Camera (mega-geeky places to hang out in Japan). I saw similar things. People were as interested to play the PSPs on the next booth over. I had no trouble getting on the two machines they had set up, and got to have a go without delay. The other thing was that there wasn't much playable. I saw someone getting frustrated with Kameo (had some issues working the controls out - couldn't make his armadillo do a super-roll), and other than that it was mainly just video snippets. They were all very well produced and looked like in-game footage, but I have to agree with the parent thread; there's nothing terribly spectacular setting them apart graphically. And especially when you can't play very much it's not very enticing. I noticed the number one selling game that week was ICO for the PS2 (discounted down to about $15). It think they're happy with the cooler, cheaper stuff.

I was lucky enough to go to the XBox 360 Lounge. As an aside, it's a really nice place that serves good food at a cheap price. But the main point is just how dedicated Microsoft are to get the 360 in the public mindset. Personally, I don't think they've made as big a dent as they'd hoped.

Please just stop repeating this myth as it's demonstrably false. For those without Xbox Live, Microsoft provides the ability to download a 2.4 MB file, burn it to CD and have everything necessary for backwards compatibility. If what you claim (that the download is actually the ported binaries) were true, then the 200+ titles would have to take up an average of less than 13 KB each. As this is laughable, we can easily see that they are not downloading new binaries for each game.

The Xbox 360 will play nearly all of the good Xbox games.

Here's a list of the backward compatible games.

Just about every game I still want to play is on that list.

That's nothing.
They are going for $1500 in NZ if you want one before March next year.

That's rather doubtful, since if you don't have Live, you can download and burn a 2.4 MB file to a CD and boot up with it to enable the backwards compatibility.
So, unless you think the recompiled binaries of all the 200+ games on the list can fit in 2.4 MB, it would appear to be a general purpose emulator with a whitelist that they stick games in as they pass QA, perhaps also indicating any special flags that need to be enabled on the emulator.

More information on backwards compatibility is available.

You'd be surprised. Read this: http://www.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/3FCB65F9-E9E5-45D B-B7F9-59A5EE265B8F/0/Xbox360Preparation.doc

Most game data is compressed in some form, and a lot of time is spent dealing with compression. It reduces load times and allows you to pack more data in ram -- the processor is fast enough that it is more efficient to deal with most data in a compressed form than it would be to constantly hit the disc for it in an uncompressed form. Hell, it is preferable to actually calculate data on the fly as needed instead of reading a precalculated table in ram!

O'Donnell urged anyone with Xbox problems to call 1-800-4myXbox or go to http://www.xbox.com./ If the problems can't be immediately resolved, Microsoft will pay to ship the console overnight to a repair center, overnight it back once it's fixed, or ship a replacement.

"They'll be playing again in three to five days," O'Donnell said.

OH DEAR GOD, EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT I'M DOING!!!!!111 WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!1111ONEONE

I'm posting this under the first post, to let people know the flagrant abuse Microsoft are giving their customers.

It's not like Microsoft let you change the settings, or anything..

I mean, geez, why didn't make an obvious heading of "Privacy and Friends", perhaps under a sensible "Family Settings/XBox Live Controls" main header, so that parents can control what other people can tell about their kids?

Damn Microsoft.

I'm pretty shocked to see the number of posts that are actually calling the guy who bought the 360 an idiot

You must be new here. Welcome to Slashdot.

The XBox 360 has a major problem, one that is VERY HARD to believe that it was overseen by the team of engineers, playtesters etc...

It wasn't overseen by Microsoft. It was acknowledged and accounted for and methods for accomodating the cooling needs of the system are provided in the literature that comes with the device. The manual (you know, little booklet, says how you're supposed to use a device. I'm sure you've read one or two in your life) explicitly states not to place the console in an enclosed space or upon a soft surface. The information is on page three.

http://assets.xbox.com/en-us/support/na-console-fu ll.pdf

This is an oversight by the consumer and nothing more.

the person bought the Xbox with the expectation that this was a tested and a viable product from an established company.

The latter half of the statement is not true. This was not a tested product

the person bought the Xbox with the expectation that this was a tested and a viable product from an established company.

The latter half of the statement is not true. This was not a tested product

Nowhere in the literature does it say to place the product in the living room. It isn't specifically marketed for the living room.

Oh? You sure?

I haven't yet seen an advertisement that displays it in a living room.

Really? Then let me help you out.

Remember this site? Check out the pull-quote on this page, and the even more prominent highlight on this page. I found them in less than 2 minutes of navigating focused on hardware and multimedia. Sometimes irony can bite you in the ass, my friend.

I wouldn't be surprised if people are putting them on their desktop next to their computer, to be honest. (That's where I have my Playstation 2)

So, you really think that's what all those folks with widescreens & front projectors in their family rooms will be doing, eh? You just stick with that then, don't let me tell you different.

This is more an instance of dumb consumers than "Microsoftness" as people are playing it up to be.

Hey, MS hasn't cornered the market on design blunders. I've got nothing against them specifically, but I think this does provide a good example of a fumbled product specification. Blame consumers if you like, but you've said nothing convincing me that this case is a consumer problem. It's a home entertainment center component, and it doesn't fit well in that environment. That's pretty flawed, from any angle.

The ability to just buy something, plug it in...VCR...

You keep using VCRs as the benchmark you believe people are holding to the XBox360. It's a little goofy to believe that folks dropping upwards of five bills on an HD/5.1 game console are VCR people. VCRs do neither HD or 5.1 out, and probably won't even share space with the Xbox360 in most HD home setups.

However HD DVRs/TiVos, HD cable/sat boxes and DVD players do (well standard DVD is SD [480p] but some upconvert to 1080i/720p). On technologically and cost, HD DVRs compare very well with the XBox360. But they don't tend to overheat when placed near other AV devices. Funny, that.

Nowhere in the literature does it say to place the product in the living room. It isn't specifically marketed for the living room.

Oh? You sure?

I haven't yet seen an advertisement that displays it in a living room.

Really? Then let me help you out.

Remember this site? Check out the pull-quote on this page, and the even more prominent highlight on this page. I found them in less than 2 minutes of navigating focused on hardware and multimedia. Sometimes irony can bite you in the ass, my friend.

I wouldn't be surprised if people are putting them on their desktop next to their computer, to be honest. (That's where I have my Playstation 2)

So, you really think that's what all those folks with widescreens & front projectors in their family rooms will be doing, eh? You just stick with that then, don't let me tell you different.

This is more an instance of dumb consumers than "Microsoftness" as people are playing it up to be.

Hey, MS hasn't cornered the market on design blunders. I've got nothing against them specifically, but I think this does provide a good example of a fumbled product specification. Blame consumers if you like, but you've said nothing convincing me that this case is a consumer problem. It's a home entertainment center component, and it doesn't fit well in that environment. That's pretty flawed, from any angle.

The ability to just buy something, plug it in...VCR...

You keep using VCRs as the benchmark you believe people are holding to the XBox360. It's a little goofy to believe that folks dropping upwards of five bills on an HD/5.1 game console are VCR people. VCRs do neither HD or 5.1 out, and probably won't even share space with the Xbox360 in most HD home setups.

However HD DVRs/TiVos, HD cable/sat boxes and DVD players do (well standard DVD is SD [480p] but some upconvert to 1080i/720p). On technologically and cost, HD DVRs compare very well with the XBox360. But they don't tend to overheat when placed near other AV devices. Funny, that.

Generally, we agree on this point. However, if a manufacturer markets a product specifically for general living room use, but then seriously caveats that in a manual inside the factory-sealed packaging, arguably to limit liability for a design flaw, that is not the consumer's fault, in my opinion.

Nowhere in the literature does it say to place the product in the living room. It isn't specifically marketed for the living room. It isn't specifically marketed for any room. I haven't yet seen an advertisement that displays it in a living room. I wouldn't be surprised if people are putting them on their desktop next to their computer, to be honest. (That's where I have my Playstation 2)

The information about console placement is available online, in addition to being in the manual.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/getstarted/syste m/xbox360/connect-positionconsole.htm

Not doing product research before buying a product is the consumer's fault. Not reading the manual after buying the product is also the consumer's fault. This is more an instance of dumb consumers than "Microsoftness" as people are playing it up to be. If people would do adequate product research before buying, they wouldn't buy a console that won't fit in their entertainment unit or work in their living room or operate from their carpeted bedroom floor. Then, Microsoft would notice their sales not going so well and they'd adjust the system accordingly.

I'm not advocating the console by any means; for the reasons highlighted (can't be used in a living room or put in a conventional entertainment center, overheats easily (what happens this summer?)) and because it's $500+ it's a huge "DO NOT BUY" for me. What I am saying, though, is that people have had ample opportunity to discover the caveats to owning a 360 both before and after purchase and yet they appear to be ignoring those opportunities, which is the hallmark of a dumb consumer.

My standpoint would be totally different if everybody read the product literature first and there was a shitstorm about the positioning requirements from people who had not yet bought the console and who were complaining that it won't work from the floor or in their entertainment unit.

The ability to just buy something, plug it in, and have it work hassle-free is only ever realised when you're working with a Macintosh or a toaster. Most people can't even program their own VCR, yet the expect to be able to take highly sophisticated technology (at a cost 3 to 5 times that of a VCR), plug it in, and have it work instantly without educating themselves first. I think that is a totally unreasonable expectation, the expectation of a dumb consumer.

Erm. Care to explain what your definition of lukewarm reception is? It's in the all-time top 20 at gamerankings.com. It sold millions of copies. It is still the number 1 XBox Live game after being out for over a year.