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UK Retailers See Conspiracy In Xbox Supplies
Gamasutra.com has the news that UK retailers are beginning to be suspicious of the continued shortages of Xbox console supplies. From the article: "So prolonged, and apparently unexplained, have the problems become that conspiracy theories have begun to circulate regarding ulterior motives for the shortages. Many retailers are now openly speculating whether Microsoft has in fact ceased production of the console, in favour of the next generation machine, or is at least limiting its support to larger retail chains." Maybe you should have hung on to the GameCube, huh guys?
Can anyone say Ebay?
This thread states that Microsoft is using older motherboards in their new xboxes. People theorize that it's either because the old boards are cheaper or because they're using leftover parts or something like that.
IIRC the Xbox Console USM ships with the Thompson DVD drive standard, pictured here in middle. The Thompson drive costs much less than the Hitachi, Samsung, or Phillips drives that can also be used. But some of the Thompson drives have problems. These problems don't show up with games written on single layer (orig Halo, JSRF/Sega, D&D Heroes, etc.), only with games written in 2-layer DVD (LOTR Third Age, KOTOR II, GTA:SA, etc.). The problems require a multimeter and Torx drivers to fix and you can't do it yourself without voiding the warranty. The returns and rumors are hurting sales in some places, and Microsoft's corporate tools are unable to FUD their way out of it. But if your local supplier happened to get USMs with the higher quality drives, then he has no idea a problem exists. Then when Microsoft adjusts shipping amounts across the board, suppliers who never experienced the problem complain about a conspiracy.
I found myself in the unfortunate circumstance where my games (all single layer) worked until the warranty expired, at which time I rented a scratchless KOTOR II, watched it hang repeatedly, and finally learned the truth. My single layer games still played fine.
Just for fun, didja notice the gamasutra article links to itself? I clicked for hours watching the banner ad change, and it was almost as fulfilling as finishing Fable.
XBox accessories are in short supply in the US as well.
I looked everywhere for an xbox live headset. Every Circuit City and Best Buy (and Gamestop and EBGames) was sold out in the city of tucson.
Gamestop was selling those crappy 3rd party "Halo2" branded headsets, but everyone else was out of everything.
I ended up having to buy the thing on circuit city's website (bestbuy's website says they're backordered).
Um, you cant? Check this out