Xbox 360 Crashes, Defects Reported

Xbox 360 Crashes, Defects Reported

So, the Xbox 360 launch was a success, right? Turns out the jury is still out - and early reports the morning after are not pretty. From unconfirmed rumors of near-riots as employees apparently hoarded Xbox 360 systems in front of waiting customers, to numbers of pre-orders that went unfulfilled, some are saying Microsoft mishandled the launch.
But those who actually got the system in hand are breathing easy and living it up, right?

Some of them are. But others are posting a plethoral of problems with their brand-new 360s, from game crashes to hard drives that simply don't work.

One reasonable gamer lays it out like this: "Between my friends and I, we bought 6 machines at the Zero Hour event. Of the 6, my machine has a dead hard drive, another machine is working but is rather flaky (seen some strange behavior - the drive may also be scratching discs, as my friend's copy of Condemned is now unplayably scratched, but we don't know if the drive caused it - the machine has also had problems booting games and being turned off...), one seems to be good, and I haven't heard yet about the status of the other three."

Is there enough evidence to shout "recall"? While there are plenty of stories in the games press and blogging scene this morning, many of them seem centered on one fellow's experience - a poster called "Jsgongwon" on the Xbox-Scene forums who included pictures of his crash, which apparently happened repeatedly during Project Gotham Racing 3. "So far haven't been able to play one track without crashing... also got this crashing on Xbox Live screen and on startup too..." he writes.

Another fellow on the same message board reports that his 360 "just turned off" during Perfect Dark Zero.

And some stories seem - well, not to be unduly harsh, but they seem a bit shady. One poster, for example, claimed she had exchanged her 360 because of a defect and the same thing happened. Other posters wondered how on earth she found another 360 in the same area to trade her old one for. I'm not calling her a liar, understand, but merely pointing out it's easy to make stuff up on the internet.

But that there are some systems experiencing real problems is not in doubt. Even here in our offices we have had some incidents with retail units. One of them overheated and crashed during Project Gotham Racing 3, though not as spectacularly as Jsgongwon's experience. Dan "Shoe" Hsu also reported that a very strange echo effect happened during Xbox Live play of Perfect Dark Zero - sometimes a word said over chat would endlessly repeat in a strange echo effect over and over in the headphones. Some kind of bizarre feedback loop?

Just how widespread is the scope of 360 problems, though? It's a little too early to call whether these problems are systemic or isolated bugs. Consumers have to spend a little more time with the machines and we do, too, testing out various games and Xbox Live experiences. We also need to divide the hardware problems from the software bugs. Microsoft has been alerted to these issues and are currently investigating. We should have a statement from them shortly.

In the meantime, if you do have a 360, treat it as you would a gaming PC, which is essentially what it is. Don't leave it on all night long to idle, don't wrap it in a blanket, don't stick it anywhere it won't get enough ventilation. Just in case.

Stay tuned as we follow up on this developing story.


http://egm.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3145847


Lol maybe it's like windows 95 need to restart a lot.


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I just found out there's another layer to the 360 shortages. Apparently microsoft has an agreement with all their retail outlets that states: Every 4-5 days a certain amount of systems should be made available for sale. It seems that microsoft has the units in stores but after the store reaches its quota they can't place any more on the shelves for another couple of days.

You wanted to know how someone got their system replaced well there's your answer. Boy it seems that the big wigs at microsoft are much more crafty and devious than originally suspected.

This is why I could never side with these people. You'd never hear of Nintendo pulling this kind of crap. They(microsoft) have no idea how many lives they've negatively affected or furthermore they could care less. That's sick microsoft just downright sick.


http://egm.1up.com/do/userFeedbackDe...129148&ct=NEWS


Microsoft taking $126 hit per Xbox 360

BusinessWeek commissions study, which says the software giant is paying a premium on next-gen hardware.

When Microsoft got into the console game in 2001, much was made of the fact that it lost an estimated $125 per console on each Xbox. Four years later, that per-console-hit has tallied to $4 billion of red ink for the Redmond, Washington-based software colossus, whose current-fiscal-year forecast calls for $44.5 billion in revenue.

However, Microsoft seemed all too happy to fork out billions to become the number-two console maker in the world. The approximate 22 million Xboxes it has sold surpasses Nintendo's to-date sales of over 16 million GameCubes--but still lags far behind the 90-million-plus Sony PlayStation 2s in homes worldwide.

Now, it appears that history is repeating itself. According to a study commissioned by BusinessWeek, Microsoft is again losing around $125 per hard-drive-equipped unit of its brand-spanking-new console, the Xbox 360. To perform the study, tech researcher iSuppli took apart an Xbox 360 and examined the cost of all its components. It concluded that the hardware of each unit cost $470 disassembled. That means Microsoft loses $71 before each HDD-equipped 360 console goes to the factory, right around the $76-per-unit loss analysts predicted for the core Xbox 360, which has no hard drive, back in June. (Those same analysts also predicted shortages of the console, which then was believed to come in only one model.)

However, when iSuppli said the HDD-equipped 360 console cost $470, that's exactly when they meant--just the console itself. They didn't include the cost of the wireless controller, headset, Ethernet cable, universal media remote, combination high-definition component/standard A/V cable, and bricklike power supply that come in the box of the $399 Xbox 360 "Premium Pack." Factor those in, and Microsoft's per-unit-loss on each Premium pack comes to $126--just above the per-unit loss of the original Xbox--before one penny (or, more likely, yuan) is spent on labor.


http://www.gamespot.com/news/6140383.html

The system probably got broken for two reasons:

1. Microsoft sucks, but Mac sucks more, so I have to have a windows.
or
2. The systems got broken when the people were rushing through the store.

Yet ANOTHER reason to wait for either PS3 or REV.

~Ganon not gannon

Hooray for no-one liking the 360! I'm a Nintendo fanboy, so any flaws with Sony or Microsoft should be drawn and quartered, methinks.

Maybe, even after losing money on the console, there still using shoddy products? Or just doing it on purpose to keep people coming back for more XBox stuff...

I honestly hope that they can not fix this error. This is what Microsoft gets for releasing the system way too early.

it sounds like some of the problems are problems with game bugs, not the system

while a portion of the systems have a problems, it seems like the genral public is happy with the 360. its similiar to the iPod problems. many people were complaining about battery problems with there iPods, but many people i know are very happy with them.

so while some people are pissed with microsoft, many are still going to be happy. this might hurt microsoft a bit, but not seriously

just to let you know im not a fanboy for any company.

(This rant is rated R for cursing)

Spoiler (Highlight to read):

---

Those mother *****ers pulling this hype *****, I hate it. You'd never ever ever ever see Nintendo pull this crap with their things. Next thing you know Sony is going to do the same ***** with the PS3, it is just so ****!ng sick what people will do. And what will happen when happen to have a "shortage" of them? Somebody could get shot! Those two Xbox' that were stolen, the man could've shot the employee! I just can't stand this hype, a friend of mine stood outside all night for a 360 in the rain and the cold for one, he could have caught ammonia. Those b4stards pulling this crap. I just hate it.

---

That had to be said, you all know.

It's MICROSOFT, people. WHEN has Microsoft ever given its consumers guaranteed quality like Nintendo has? Never, I'd say. You get this new Windows edition, it crashes on you, it has holes, it needs SP2 to "enhance" your security. Don't you ever wonder how Bill Gate makes his filthy money? Through these holes to force customers to upgrade by paying extra hundreds of dollars.

Though I wouldn't say that the giant corrupted corporation is making any money with 360 right now. With all these terrible problems on the system itself, I wonder why people still go out, line up for hours, just to get a console that isn't reliable at all.

You shouldn't worry too much, Microsoft will probably replace all faulty units.

Originally Posted by Scoria

(This rant is rated R for cursing)

Spoiler (Highlight to read):

---

Those mother *****ers pulling this hype *****, I hate it. You'd never ever ever ever see Nintendo pull this crap with their things. Next thing you know Sony is going to do the same ***** with the PS3, it is just so ****!ng sick what people will do. And what will happen when happen to have a "shortage" of them? Somebody could get shot! Those two Xbox' that were stolen, the man could've shot the employee! I just can't stand this hype, a friend of mine stood outside all night for a 360 in the rain and the cold for one, he could have caught ammonia. Those b4stards pulling this crap. I just hate it.

---

That had to be said, you all know.

Good god! Xbox 360 induces murder!

Sorry but that was one of the most stupid replies I've ever read at ZU.

it sounds like some of the problems are problems with game bugs, not the system

Oh, god, no! It's a computer!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to get that out. I prefer consoles over computers when it comes to games for that very reason- it's too much work to make the games compatible with my system.


As for the talk about Nintendo not doing this, and caring for people.... well, they may not have been as bad as this (maybe), but they are still pretty mean. Heck, why do you think they have the poorest 3rd-party support? They treated the 3rd parties like garbage back in the NES/SNES days, and they paid for it in spades.

On the consumer end, things haven't been that bad. I mean, it looks kinda dirty when you need a Memory Pak to play DK64 or MM, memory cards to save GCN games (but the PS does that, too), extra GBAs to play Four Swords Adventures and Crystal Chronicles, etc., but, well, all companies are in it to make money. Don't forget that when the DS first came out, there was trouble with dead pixels in the first shipments.

I think we should give it a little more time before jumping to any conclusions about the 360's quality. The only people who are likely to make a scene are the ones who have defective ones. We're not exactly seeing 20% of the consumers expressing frustration yet. The first Gamecube I got broke down in the first day. Kept freezing up, couldn't get past 20 seconds of the game. But, the second one worked fine, and I very rarely hear about faulty Gamecubes.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised there would be technical problems, especially this early on. Sony and Nintendo still have over 6 months to get their kinks figured out. Will that lead to higher reliability? We shall see.

As much as the bitter Nintendo fanboy in me wants to rejoice, I think the jury's still out on this one.

THE CONSOLE WAS JUST RELEASED.

Nearly EVERY first wave console I've bought has given me problems. (yes, even my gamecube. I had to buy another one because Re4 actually destroyed it.)

I'm pretty sure these bugs are isloated anyway. I hate to burst alot of fanboy bubbles, but this won't slow the 360 down. You people did the same thing when it came to the PSP defects.

It's how the companies make money ppl...

Nintendo on the other hand guarantees a working system. They playtest their hardware/software like crazy

I mean, regardless of what companies made it, this is usually why I usually never buy a console at it's launch. I bought a gamecube at it's launch and so far I've been through two controllers and two gamecubes.

I'm not saying companies do crap like this on purpose, (nintendo does make the most reliable hardware) but I usually wait in order for them to iron the bugs out. The ps1's lauch was possibly the most bug riddled launch ever, but the problesm vanished about ayear into the systems life. With the ps2 it wasn't nearly as common.

I remember the expansion pak caused alot of overheating problems for the N64. Some products just aren't good quality at first.

See, this is why you NEVER get something at launch. I ordered mine they day of launch knowing it wouldnt be here till next year, and that by then, they should or well be on the way of getting a new version of it.

PSP is doing worse then the Nintendo DS globally so that's not a good example for console comparison.

Here are some recent charts.

Japanese charts 14 till 20 November:

Hardware Charts
01 DS 65,341
02 PSP 58,898
03 PS2 21,102
04 GBM 9,140
05 GBASP 6,822
06 GC 5,661
07 GBA 249
08 Xbox 141

United Kingdom Charts:

6-13 oktober
NDS: 24,492
PSP: 18,723
GBA SP: 8,799


14-21 oktober
NDS: 23,035
GBA SP: 10,034
PSP: 8,000


22-29 oktober
NDS: 30,000
GBA SP: 15,500
PSP: 12,900

You guys have some really ****** luck with consoles. I've had a PS2 and a GameCube since their respective launches and both still work.