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Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Xbox 360: Glitch In The System?
"Freezing, scratching, overheating, oh my! Is there really a mass problem with the launch systems? We explore.
Jonathan Giles had been waiting since 6 am on November 21 for his Xbox 360 ticket. He preorderd the 360 way back in June and wasn't sure about the purchase until he saw a trailer for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. He was hooked, and said he hadn't been this excited about a console in years, maybe ever.
The GameCrazy in Giles' hometown of Ogden, Utah wasn't able to meet its preorder demands due to the massive shortage of systems around the country coupled with the high demand for the first next-generation console. Instead, GameCrazy handed out tickets for the handful of systems on hand at launch day on a first-come, first-serve basis. Giles, 35, a gamer since Pong, was one of the faithful and, as a result, was No. 9 in line. At midnight, November 22, Giles got his 360.
With a few extra controllers and copies of Call of Duty 2, Madden NFL 06, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Quake 4, Giles went home with his brother, excited to challenge his sibling to a friendly game of Madden. He already had his HDTV ready to go and a space cleared for his new console. They started playing Madden and shortly into the game, Giles' Xbox 360 froze.
"Maybe it's just a glitch," Giles told his brother. He turned the system off then on and started a new game. Again, it froze. Nervous now, Giles said, "Maybe it's this copy of Madden." So he tried another game, then another. After all five of his games froze within the first hour of owning the Xbox 360, Giles became angry. He paid more than $1,500 for the games, system and accessories that littered his living room, and nothing worked.
"I was so irate. I almost nearly cried," Giles said." [more]
Jonathan Giles had been waiting since 6 am on November 21 for his Xbox 360 ticket. He preorderd the 360 way back in June and wasn't sure about the purchase until he saw a trailer for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. He was hooked, and said he hadn't been this excited about a console in years, maybe ever.
The GameCrazy in Giles' hometown of Ogden, Utah wasn't able to meet its preorder demands due to the massive shortage of systems around the country coupled with the high demand for the first next-generation console. Instead, GameCrazy handed out tickets for the handful of systems on hand at launch day on a first-come, first-serve basis. Giles, 35, a gamer since Pong, was one of the faithful and, as a result, was No. 9 in line. At midnight, November 22, Giles got his 360.
With a few extra controllers and copies of Call of Duty 2, Madden NFL 06, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Quake 4, Giles went home with his brother, excited to challenge his sibling to a friendly game of Madden. He already had his HDTV ready to go and a space cleared for his new console. They started playing Madden and shortly into the game, Giles' Xbox 360 froze.
"Maybe it's just a glitch," Giles told his brother. He turned the system off then on and started a new game. Again, it froze. Nervous now, Giles said, "Maybe it's this copy of Madden." So he tried another game, then another. After all five of his games froze within the first hour of owning the Xbox 360, Giles became angry. He paid more than $1,500 for the games, system and accessories that littered his living room, and nothing worked.
"I was so irate. I almost nearly cried," Giles said." [more]
¶
D.Vader // 12/07/2005 05:26:00 PM //
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People are forgetting that the PS2 had similar problems when it came out, too. There was just as many complaints about non-working CD/DVD lasers in that machine as the infamous overheating 360.
The thing about the 360 reports is that there are NEVER any real numbers. They quote random fan website forums and mysteriously arrive at this % of people that varies between 3 and 20% of owners.
Average people are seeing reports and thinking this is some kind of epedemic, when in reality it's business as usual for any system that's come out in a while.
I think the problem is with the shortages, the people are being extra vocal about the issue.
It's just like anything you read online, though. You're 10X likely to read something negative online than positive because the people happily playing their Xboxes aren't bothering to post anything...while those people who have had issues are posting up a storm and in some cases (as other sources are finally reporting) creating overblown figures to go along with it.
From what I've seen on forums, laying the power supply on it's side and putting it on something other than carpet seems to fix the vast majority of issues. Most issues seem to be people shoving the thing in an enclosed area (with vents 1/2 blocked) and on carpet.
The scratchy disk issue is a little more valid...but why in the hell are so many people shifting their machines around while playing? The instruction manual addresses this...and common sense should likely play a role, too.
