ElReg - Xbox 360: a Thanksgiving Turkey?

[ogryn]

A better BSOD
By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Published Thursday 24th November 2005 09:53 GMT

Microsoft's Xbox 360 is a technical triumph that has been lauded by the hard-to-please, with John C Dvorak saying, "I have not seen a hardware/software system this well thought out for a decade or more." Whereas the original was an underpowered PC, its successor boasts three PowerPC cores running at 3.2GHz, the competition is still in the labs, and it has a ton of games lined up.

But the launch is turning into a Thanksgiving Turkey for Microsoft, with widespread reports of instability, bugs and other glitches marring the $400 console.

The most common of these include failing to load a game, crashing while playing a game and freezes, according to regulars at the Xbox Scene and Team Xbox.

And what does a crashed Xbox 360 look like?

A bit like this, here.

Note the interesting multilingual error message, the proportionately spaced fonts and the cool Matrix effect, indicating that this is very much a next-generation BSOD.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters that glitches affected only a "very, very small fraction" of the units shipped, and that "the number of calls was not unexpected". ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/24/xbox360_bugs/

 

[coasterphil]

That doesn't suprise me, most of the original Xbox consoles stopped working by the end of their first year because the drivers weren't running properly.

 

[dxwwf3]

One of the many reasons I am holding out for the PS3.

 

[CaptainMichael]

One of the many reasons I am holding out for the PS3.

I'm just holding out for a price decrease! I'll take this time to enjoy the soon to be cheap original XBOX games!

 

[DelBrooks]

One of the many reasons I am holding out for the PS3.

Same here. We all know it will work straight out of the box.

Derek.

 

[FigmentJedi]

And thus the 360 goes along on it's path of crappiness and bugs and black screens of death. Long live Nintendo...

 

[WDWBro]

Hey, many first waves of new consoles are plagued by glitches, bugs, and crashes. Buy a warranty, wait for a year until all the bugs are fixed, but don't complain.

Anywho, many of the problems that I have heard are coming from the power. Make sure your 360 is in an open space, and especially make sure that the "power brick" has a lot of empty space around it, and is on an elevated platform to prevent overheating. Some people need to chillax and stop hating.

 

[Connor002]

Shut up.

If they want to voice their opinions about a console that [so far] appears to be plagued by problems that should have been worked out before the release, they are welcome to.

 

[wdwishes2005]

Not only that, Microsoft stiffed a bunch of stores out of up to a third of what they ordered. At my local EBgames wont get through their pre-orders until march:lol: . I am not sure why everyone is willing to pay that huge price for that instead of a computer, you cant upgrade a 360 like a computer and you get more options game wise, the only way I will ever get a 360 is after the price drops, just to play Halo 3. ( just as an FYI for people who will jump down my throat if I dont say this, I played it for a good 25 minutes and its nothing special. IMHO) great job microsoft, when the manager there is killed by the mob of angry parents who ordered it for Christmas, its your fault....

 

[wdwishes2005]

Shut up. Many first waves of new consoles are plagued by glitches, bugs, and crashes.

My first gen Gamecube didn't..... probably only the second shipment to hit stores. LONG LIVE NINTENDO!!!!!

 

[NowInc]

I lost all faith in SONY a long time ago..all the BS talking they did regarding the PS2 lost me as a customer forever.

At least Microsoft was honest with what their console can do..AND backed it up with actual game play footage and instore demo models..

I love my 360...and my version 1.0 xbox still works JUST fine 4 years into its overused life

 

[TheOneVader]

Not only that, Microsoft stiffed a bunch of stores out of up to a third of what they ordered. At my local EBgames wont get through their pre-orders until march:lol: . I am not sure why everyone is willing to pay that huge price for that instead of a computer, you cant upgrade a 360 like a computer and you get more options game wise, the only way I will ever get a 360 is after the price drops, just to play Halo 3. ( just as an FYI for people who will jump down my throat if I dont say this, I played it for a good 25 minutes and its nothing special. IMHO) great job microsoft, when the manager there is killed by the mob of angry parents who ordered it for Christmas, its your fault....

Exactly. Whenever I hear people argue about consoles, I yell "PC for the win!", and carry on about my business.

 

[NowInc]

I've been a PC gamer my whole life...bak in the old 8088 days even..

I agree that PC games are superior in a lot of ways, BUUUUUT..what REALLY matters is accessability. A console is a MUCH easier investment for a gamer over a PC is...and I don't see that changing any time soon. No installing drivers, no upgrading hardware..none of that..just pop in a disc and play. Thats why consoles always outsell PC versions of the same titles.

The lines between consoles and PC quality are getting REALLY blurry now..so it should be an interesting development to follow for the next few years.

 

[TheOneVader]

I do agree that consoels are mroe acessible, but I say the PC is a lot better investment. Not cheaper, but better. The computer can do so much more than a console, including game, music, internet, work applications, research, etc. Just my 2 cents.

Yea, the line is pretty blurry, but this always happens when the next gen consoels come out. That's one positive for the computer. When the consoles come out, they're cutting edge, just like computer games. The only problem is consoles can't really be upgraded throughout their life. So, right before another generation of consoles comes out, the technology pales in comparison to computers.

 

[Salty-]

I don't know how to approach topics like these.

Part of me feels like its a way to rile up others. Part of me feels like I need to go into some long diatribe of being an early adopter of electronics.

For someone that actually HAS a Xbox 360, I can report I have had zero, zip, nada, in terms of problems. Those in a gaming circle that I hang around with that also have 360's have experienced the same. Nothing.

With the exception of telling people to shut up (which was retracted), WDWBro was not to far off base. There are those that have experienced problems that were placing their power supply unit too close to the core 360 unit. The heated air of the 360 would be sucked into the power supply causing the power supply to overheat or viceversa.

That is not to say this is the only cause of problems. When I opened my Xbox 360 box, I was surprised with the packing materials. Or more precisely the lack thereof. And we all know the careful handling that goes on in the shipping/receiving channels.:animwink: There have been reports of broken internal components.

Lastly, is the quality control and the architecture of the unit itself. Console gaming is going into new territory with a multiple core CPU. To say there will be problems initially is no surprise.

I remember back to past launches where the PS1 had overheating problems, the PS2 had some DVD playback/noise/disc read problems, and the Xbox had disc read/power cord problems. But all these were problems were within the first few months of launch and were corrected in time. The PS2 especially was going into new territory with the inclusion of a DVD drive - a technology that was only barely getting its legs in 2000. But my launch PS2 and launch Xbox work famously to this day. Go figure.

I expect there to be problems with a new technology that Xbox 360 has with a 3 core CPU. I expect there to be problems with the PS3 Core CPU and 7 SPE's on the Cell. Add the never-before-released Blu-Ray drive and I can expect some problems with that. But you know what? I'm getting a PS3 at launch as well. After all the hoopla dies down, I'm sure the fail rates will be on par to first wave electronic devices.

Early adopters are used to this. It's a risk they take to have bragging rights so to speak. I challenge anyone to find ANY electronic device that every unit has worked perfectly. Early iPod's had battery problems, etc.

My advice to those that are scared of/frightened away by the potential of an electronic device possibly failing. Stay away from anything that plugs in.

 

[CaptainMichael]

I don't know how to approach topics like these.

Part of me feels like its a way to rile up others. Part of me feels like I need to go into some long diatribe of being an early adopter of electronics.

For someone that actually HAS a Xbox 360, I can report I have had zero, zip, nada, in terms of problems. Those in a gaming circle that I hang around with that also have 360's have experienced the same. Nothing.

With the exception of telling people to shut up (which was retracted), WDWBro was not to far off base. There are those that have experienced problems that were placing their power supply unit too close to the core 360 unit. The heated air of the 360 would be sucked into the power supply causing the power supply to overheat or viceversa.

That is not to say this is the only cause of problems. When I opened my Xbox 360 box, I was surprised with the packing materials. Or more precisely the lack thereof. And we all know the careful handling that goes on in the shipping/receiving channels.:animwink: There have been reports of broken internal components.

Lastly, is the quality control and the architecture of the unit itself. Console gaming is going into new territory with a multiple core CPU. To say there will be problems initially is no surprise.

I remember back to past launches where the PS1 had overheating problems, the PS2 had some DVD playback/noise/disc read problems, and the Xbox had disc read/power cord problems. But all these were problems were within the first few months of launch and were corrected in time. The PS2 especially was going into new territory with the inclusion of a DVD drive - a technology that was only barely getting its legs in 2000. But my launch PS2 and launch Xbox work famously to this day. Go figure.

I expect there to be problems with a new technology that Xbox 360 has with a 3 core CPU. I expect there to be problems with the PS3 Core CPU and 7 SPE's on the Cell. Add the never-before-released Blu-Ray drive and I can expect some problems with that. But you know what? I'm getting a PS3 at launch as well. After all the hoopla dies down, I'm sure the fail rates will be on par to first wave electronic devices.

Early adopters are used to this. It's a risk they take to have bragging rights so to speak. I challenge anyone to find ANY electronic device that every unit has worked perfectly. Early iPod's had battery problems, etc.

My advice to those that are scared of/frightened away by the potential of an electronic device possibly failing. Stay away from anything that plugs in.

Well said Salty. Now, when can I come over to play?

 

[Salty-]

Now, when can I come over to play?

The squeeze and I play Katamari Damacy nearly every night (or some puzzle game like Hexic or Bejeweled) so that may make things a little boring. I usually do my gaming when she goes to sleep.

But - every other weekend I usually host a Halo LAN party with pizza, beer, and hot wings. But that kinda stuff doesn't interest you in any way does it? :animwink:

 

[CaptainMichael]

The squeeze and I play Katamari Damacy nearly every night (or some puzzle game like Hexic or Bejeweled) so that may make things a little boring. I usually do my gaming when she goes to sleep.

But - every other weekend I usually host a Halo LAN party with pizza, beer, and hot wings. But that kinda stuff doesn't interest you in any way does it? :animwink:

Yeah, no interest whatsover.....too bad Utah is a looooooooooooong way from Louisiana!!!!

 

[crazycalf]

One of the many reasons I am holding out for the PS3.

I have no faith in sony. Everything I have ever bought from them has had a problem right after the warranty ended. They wanted to charge me over $100 to fix my DVD player. I just went out and bought a different brand.