Xbox 360 Launches In Europe

The Xbox 360 has launched in Europe, to similarly high demand as in the U.S. The BBC has details on the long lines and consumer reaction, and Next Generation has some information from Microsoft on how the launch is going. From the BBC article: "The technology giant has been forced to defend itself against accusations it has failed to provide enough consoles ahead of Christmas. Some 300,000 Xbox 360s are likely to be available for Friday's European launch, though demand is expected to far exceed this."

Comments

CD scratching appears to be the most common defect

[henk54]

Posted Dec 1, 2005 "Several members from GameSHOUT are getting fedup with Xbox 360 defects. According to Microsoft, they will not refund or replace discs that are scratched from the Xbox 360 video game console. However, they will offer "Perfect Dark Zero" for free. One GameSHOUT member, going by the name "Insanity Rulez" stated that the Microsoft Xbox 360 failed to save his "Call of Duty 2" video game. All stats are gone, and he got an error when making any attempts to resume his game mission. He stated, "I took out my game and checked it over and the 360 had totally ruined my game! It looks like someone took a pencil with the eraser side down [covered with sand paper] and touched the disk while spinning it! There is a perfect circle around the center of the disk and it prevents it from working on certain missions." It's not just one Xbox 360 gamer, it's becoming a daily thing now as more GameSHOUT members report their defects. CD scratching appears to be the most common defect." http://www.gameshout.com/news/122005/article1785.h tm

Advertising Taglines

[jevvim]

If the Windows tagline is "Where Do You Want To Go Today?", then is the Xbox360's "Where Have You Tried Looking Today?"

How Few?

[Supurcell]

I wonder how few Xboxes will be needed to create a simulated shortage when the Japanese release day comes.

Re:CD scratching appears to be the most common def

[Keeper]

The dumbasses changed the orientation of the machine while it was running. The same thing will happen with any 12x dvd drive if you rotate it 90 degrees while the disc is spinnning.

So?

[oGMo]

Most 12x DVD drives aren't in a consumer console that are typically subject to appliance-like treatment, not to mention an appliance that's built to stand either way. I have, for instance, moved my PS2 between upright and flat multiple times during play, and have experienced no such problems. If it's that big a problem, the 360 should detect when it's jarred or moved and immediately spin down the drive.

Re:So?

[Keeper]

A 12x DVD drive spins the disc at 7000rpm. You can't defeat physics; the disc will fight any attempt to rotate while spinning at that speed (recall the high school physics experiement where you try to rotate a spinning bicycle tire). Hardware isn't psychic; by the time it will have detected movement the damage is done.

You're correct, the 360 is built to STAND in either orientation. The unit isn't designed to MOVE while playing a game. It isn't build to withstand some dumbass showing his friends how cool it is that the green light changes its location when he rotates the unit around.

The manual tells you not to it. Common sense tells you not to it. Physics tells you not to it. Don't do it, and you won't fuck up your game disc. Crying about how much of a dumbass you are isn't going to help.

The PS2 doesn't spin the disc very fast. If you change orientation fast enough while the disc is spinning you will scratch the disc in the drive. People have done it, and they have complained about it just like these dumbasses.

Re:So?

[oGMo]

You're correct, the 360 is built to STAND in either orientation. The unit isn't designed to MOVE while playing a game. It isn't build to withstand some dumbass showing his friends how cool it is that the green light changes its location when he rotates the unit around.

Hey, I'm not talking how it's currently designed. That's pretty much a given: you move it, it destroys your games.

I'm talking about how, if Microsoft had a hair of forethought, they would have done what every successful console manufacturer has done, and design a console to withstand "normal" abuse. I'm not talking about dropping it off a table, but the reality is, kids are going to have this thing on the floor, the power supply is going to be on the floor, it's going to get pushed around and manipulated while in play.

It doesn't matter what they write in the manual in big red letters. Hell, most of the time, what they write in there comes down to "YOU MUST NOT EVER USE THIS FOR ANY PURPOSE AND IF YOU DO AND IT BURNS DOWN YOUR HOUSE, IT'S NOT OUR FAULT". People don't pay attention to that. People expect their console to be an appliance, not a highly sensitive PC that must be treated with the utmost care lest it destroy your media or overheat. (This is another reason Nintendo stuck with cartridges, despite it ultimately being a poor choice.)

The manual tells you not to it. Common sense tells you not to it. Physics tells you not to it. Don't do it, and you won't fuck up your game disc. Crying about how much of a dumbass you are isn't going to help.

The manual tells you not to do a lot of things. Common sense tells me this should withstand a reasonable amount of abuse. Physics? Most people don't know how fast the disc spins on their blackbox console, they just know they put in the shiny CD and the game plays. After all, your portable cd player never had any trouble!

This comes down to simply not being appropriate for the intended audience. You can build a car and write all sorts of things in the manual, but if you constantly have to monitor the gauges and be sure not to turn too fast, it's going to break. Not because the driver was stupid, because the designer was stupid.

The PS2 doesn't spin the disc very fast. If you change orientation fast enough while the disc is spinning you will scratch the disc in the drive. People have done it, and they have complained about it just like these dumbasses.

I have done it, and I haven't had any problems. Sure, I didn't shake it as hard as I could, and I treat my PS2s with hard drives a bit more carefully, but I haven't ruined any games because of it. I have two first-gen PS2s, and they still run fine, despite normal day-to-day wear and tear. There are no massive complaint threads about ruined games. (Disc Read Errors, yes, but Sony fixed that, too.)