MS Responds To 360 Glitches

Chris_Yates writes "Microsoft has responded to the complaints of angry gamers popping up on the internet. As expected, they claim it is a very small percentage of Xbox 360 owners that are experiencing a problem. The main question remains, though, what kind of support will those unfortunate few receive? Molly O'Donnell says, 'It's unfortunate and it's important that we get working consoles for those few people who are having problems. We want to get them playing and happy and buying games!' An ABC article states: 'They'll be playing again in three to five days...'"

Comments

Powersupply Cooling Problem

[Winterblink]

There was a fellow on the XBox360 forums who posted this link to a Gamespot forum post about a guy fixing his problems by getting his powersupply brick off the ground. Could this problem be due to poor cooling of that brick?

Most people probably heeded Microsoft's advice after people scoffed at the size of the thing - put it back behind your sofa or TV. But it could be that the lack of proper ventilation is causing this problem, which doesn't seem to be as "isolated" as Microsoft is saying. From what I've been reading on various forums around the net it's a higher percentage than one would expect.

Re:Powersupply Cooling Problem

[Jarlsberg]

From what I've been reading on various forums around the net it's a higher percentage than one would expect.

You can't possibly estimate a percentage based on reading forums on the net. Seriously. :)

Re:Powersupply Cooling Problem

[Paul Slocum]

Some of the forums like this one have posts from people who have spoken to MS tech support, and xbox support said the incidents are much higher than expected and replacements won't be available until at least January. They also confirmed that most problems are due to overheating.

Whatever the problem is

[Miros]

Whatever the problem is you can be sure that microsoft is going to make it right for those who have expierienced a defect. Dont forget, they lose money on every xbox. They want you to buy the games, and they want you to get your friends to buy xboxes. Allowing defective units to remain in the world is not something microsoft will do. They will either offer a software patch (if it's a software glitch), a replacement part via mailin (if it's the brick) or they will just replace the unit. At the very least i'm sure they're all under warrenty.


Microsoft's objective with this console is to snatch up as much market share as possible from its rivals (one of the reasons it will be priced lower in japan). The console market is like the car market. Getting market share is the most important aspect of the business, and it's also one of the hardest. Sony hasent made it easy for microsoft either, but with the second gen consoles (now that people know the xbox 1 wasnt a flop, like so many other "recent" consoles have been) Microsoft has a real opportunity to sieze an even larger share and you can bet your breakfast that they're doing their best to take advantage of it.

Varying power supplies

[Generic Guy]

There seems to be varying power supplies, and you can even tell the difference from slight alterations of shape and color. It is shaping up that the 'bad' Xbox units seem to (at least partially) be because of bad PSUs. I know I've had flakey PCs because of rickety PSUs.

There was a posting on xbox-scene from a group who managed to get two of the pre-ordered Xbox units. Getting back home, they hooked up all the cables and power and viola -- bad Xbox 360. So they opened the other box, leaving all the existing plugs and wires into the TV and all in place, put the new XBox unit on the existing wires and viola -- bad Xbox 360. (They admit they were freaked that they may have had *two* broken Xbox 360s out of the gate.) The 'other' PSU made the Xbox work fine, even when tested on both console units. They mention there are slight variations in the two PSU designed.

So, it really appears that one of Microsofts PSU suppliers screwed up. With multiple PSU suppliers, It would also help explain why some people complain their XBox 360 is "loud" or has a lot of "fan noise" and others claim it is pretty quiet. This may not explain away every Xbox360 problem, but it sure seems reasonable.

Re:Varying power supplies

[dbhankins]

That group got a viola with each XBox? Wow! I wonder if Microsoft will pay for the music lessons...

"Par for the course"?

[Doctor Crumb]

"It's what you would expect with a consumer electronics instrument of this complexity .... Par for the course."

Can you imagine Panasonic or Toshiba using that excuse regarding a stereo? No. These are consumer-grade electronics, which should Just Work. Bugginess is par for the course in computers because Microsoft has convinced people of that; they are apparently trying to do the same with consumer electronics. If someone's stereo kept rebooting/hanging in the first 2 days that they got it, and they heard about other people having the same problem, widespread or not, they would go get a different brand.

only 360?

[iLogiK]

"MS Responds To 360 Glitches"
only 360? IE must have at least a few hundred...and let's not forget windows 98...
360 is only the tip of the iceberg. :)

Re:Bullshit free summaries, please

[lubricated]

If my dvd player couldn't sit on top of my reciever and inside my smallish cabinet I would return it. If it made a ton of noise I would return it. Why does is an xbox supposed to get any leeway.

You know my nes, snes, ps1, and ps2 had no trouble with any of the configurations that people mention make the 360 crash. Technology has come a long way, don't tell me that modern equipment should be expected to be worse. That's bullshit, and if it means I don't get a next gen console for a good long time then so be it.

I'm hoping people are more like me and won't put up with substandard shit then like you and take mediocrity as it comes. $400 is too much to spend for bullshit.