BBC spotlights the 360

[Kauldron]

Campbell and co. to investigate Xbox 360 problems
Microsoft is set to come under pressure in tonight's edition of consumer affairs show Watchdog as the investigative team looks into potential faults with the Xbox 360.
GamesIndustry.biz has learned that the programme will focus on the 'ring of death' problem, as it's been nicknamed by gamers, where three red lights appear around the console's power button and the machine stops working.
The problem appears to occur much more frequently in the first batch of Xbox 360 units produced.
In the US, Microsoft agreed to offer complimentary repairs to owners of faulty consoles manufactured before January 1, 2006 - even if their warranties had expired. The company also said it would refund customers who had already paid for repairs.
However, it would seem the deal only applies to US Xbox 360 owners. Here in the UK, as Watchdog is set to report, gamers are being asked to pay between GBP 80 and GBP 90 to have their console fixed - regardless of when it was manufactured.
The show will feature interviews with consumers who have experienced problems with their Xbox 360s, but GamesIndustry.biz understands that Microsoft has declined to send a representative to appear on the programme.
Watchdog will be broadcast tonight on BBC1 at 7pm GMT.
UPDATE: Microsoft has now told the BBC that "most people with an Xbox 360 have an outstanding experience, and there is no systemic issue". They say each incident is unique and is looked at on a case by case basis, and have given one of the consumers featured on tonight's show a replacement unit and a new game.

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22725

Seems that the BBC has taken an interest in videogame hardware.

 

[TGO]

:lol: thats funny!
The title of the thread kinda sounds positive
but the real title of the article "Microsoft Under Fire by BBC's Watchdog" is negative
anyway I don't think they've got an interest in GAME's
their only interest is why are 360's still breakin down
and Why should the public have to pay to get it repaired
Sony was on it in 2000
thats when they started the "replaced in 24 hours" thing
but god at least Sony showed up
MS must be scared :lol:

 

[Zadok]

Yeah I have two friends that have Xbox 360's and currently they are both broken and in for repair. I bought the original Xbox and after mine broke twice I didn't bother getting it fixed again. I'm hoping I have better luck with my PS3 in March

 

[TGO]

[QUOTE="Zadok, post: 0]Yeah I have two friends that have Xbox 360's and currently they are both broken and in for repair. I bought the original Xbox and after mine broke twice I didn't bother getting it fixed again. I'm hoping I have better luck with my PS3 in March [/QUOTE]

yeah I know ppl that have decided to give up on the 360 because of that "Ring of Death"
Its understandable when its the first batch but when it still happens after a year it takes the piss

 

[HAYLOALDAILO]

[QUOTE="TGO, post: 0]:lol: thats funny!
The title of the thread kinda sounds positive
but the real title of the article "Microsoft Under Fire by BBC's Watchdog" is negative
anyway I don't think they've got an interest in GAME's
their only interest is why are 360's still breakin down
and Why should the public have to pay to get it repaired
Sony was on it in 2000
thats when they started the "replaced in 24 hours" thing
but god at least Sony showed up
MS must be scared :lol:[/QUOTE]

ORLY? Owners of early PS2 models purchased from launch until spring 2002 commonly reported faulty optical drives in their consoles. The earliest drives suffered from a constantly misaligning laser lens but later defects were the result of a shift in voltage to the laser itself. The first problem was relatively easy to remedy, but it required opening the machine's casing and tweaking a cog that controlled the lens' distance from the discs it was supposed to read, thus voiding the warranty. This usually did not matter, as in most cases the warranty already had expired by the time such problems began to appear. The second fix involved the use of an oscillator. As time went on, more and more drives began breaking down and a class action lawsuit was filed against Sony. They had the option of either paying the requested fines in damages, or offering free repair and replacements at their discretion. Sony chose the latter and, until February 2005, they honored their agreement. In the UK owners suffering from this flaw must pay Sony £50 (as of spring 2005) to get their machines repaired.

 

[TGO]

^ Actually they was on WatchDog because of faulty fuses in the PS2
they actually open up the PS2 and showed what the problem was
I remember watching it
as for pre-launch PS2's
I had/still got one and it turns 7 years old in Nov

 

[Xaor]

I knew this was happening ages ago.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tT9yl6rzBrw

Guy on youtube got a phonecall from BBCWatchdog (Bloke is a prat)

 

[LevelheadedGamer]

Wow. Do businesses take some sort of sick pleasure from ripping off the Brits. Its not just MSFT that does it, loads of companies charge more than they should because...its Britain. Glad im moving to Oz where, as a general rule, things are less expensive (not including PS3 lol).

 

[woodo]

watchdog vid link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56-gQq62Hyc&eurl=

 

[Chemo]

Why is death ring still frequent with the 360 hardware? i think is a combination of cheap assets and engineering faults. So far mine is operating properly minus a hicup once when playing Madden 07 but that is attributed to crappy coding.

 

[dappa]

if anyone is going to believe me im on my 7th console now. the latests one i got is starting to give problems as well. has anyone ever had the fans of the console switch off during gameplay only to come back on later? i know this is not normal.

 

[dappa]

i will be posting my whole story up later on as rite now im in uni so i cant. when i get home i will do. i dont know what to do. going through 2-3 is still alright but come on 7 is pushing it. am i doing something wrong?

 

[WhatRuOn]

Friend of mine filed a complaint to the BBB of Washington State, after his broke.

 

[butterz04]

I wonder will Microsoft still be tossing around that "3-5%" number after this. While it's expected that new hardware will have problems and such when it's released, it's also expected that over time these companies will fix these problems and produce a product that actually works most of the time. Still, I thank IGN for doing some hard research into the problem. They seem to be the only ones doing so (besides BBC now).

I think picture of Peer from IGN says it all:

The story is in my sig.

 

[skulpt]

I wonder if MS counts someone who is on their 4th console as 4 360s sold? If there is say a 5% defect rate, that would make 520,000 360s out of the 10.4 million. So they would still be under 10 million sold. LOL!

Brian

 

[mistagamer]

that has truly got to suck for some 360 owners. I've had a launch unit and have had not one problem. None of the many people i know has had a problem with theirs either. Doesn't mean that there isn't a problem because i certainly read all the horror stories posted over the net.

 

[dappa]

trust me i am a prime example. the amount of consoles ive been through is absurd. i cant believe i payed over £700 for something and that it does not work properly. like i said before all that matters to me is that i want a console that works properly. one question that bugs me (and i never ever get an answer to) is that while playing some games is it normal for the fans to switch of making the console go quite? ive noticed this alot on gears of war, lost planet and now pro evo. ever since my new console went back to microsoft way back in 2006 jan i have never ever had a brand new console all refurbished. the funny thing is microsoft dont care. i actually sent them a letter last time i sent my console in. to my surprise i didnt get any response or anything of that kind just a console. now this one is giving me the same headaches i used to get from the others. whats wrong?

 

[skulpt]

I'm thinking that people who are on their 4th and 5th 360s must live in an area where it gets a little hotter or humid or something. Or they put their 360 in a unit that's a little tight.

No way am I letting MS off the hook though. There is no way they should release a console and not test in less than perfect conditions. If MS wants to be taken seriously with the 360 as being an entertainment hub, then they better have the hardware that can handle things even if it's not in an ideal environment. I can only imagine how many more bricked 360s there would be if they had put their power supply inside the console itself like the PS3. If this 5% failure rate is true after only 1 year, then there are some serious problems under the hood.

Brian

 

[dappa]

well i keep my 360 wel ventilated, the reason why i say this is because the room its in has not got a heater, as we ar renovating our house. so overheating is not an issue. in recent time ive had disc unplayable errors more than anything. god when wil this end.

 

[DontKnowMe]

Damn! The system been out for a year and they still haven't worked out all of the bugs.:suspect:

 

[HAYLOALDAILO]

Your XBOX360 can give you a red light of death if your component cables are not conected properly samething with the power unit. My first XBOX360 did have porblems, got a 2nd from MS was working fine for a couple months until it started getting the ring of death all the time. Since I had a warranty from gamecrazy went to them and they gave me a new one. Went back home connected the xbox360 turn it on, guess what? ring of death lol, kept checking all my cables, HDD to see if everything was connected properly. I unplug my PSU from the outlet and use a different outlet instead. After doing that my xbox360 has been working fine, the problem was the outlet. So the xbox360 I return had no problems. Also if too much dust or particles get on your component cables can fail to detect your HDTV causing you to get the ring of death. There are faulty consoles but sometimes is the consumer that fails to see maybe its them causing this ring of death. Your average joe will panic and call MS and they will end up getting a new one, but nothing was wrong with it only that your xbox360 was not properly ventilated or the cables were not properly connected. To the guy that says that he had 7 xbox360, I would have sued them already if what your saying is true. Oh yeah, never pull your av or component cables while your console is on you will get a ring of death.

 

[thekingofkings]

February 13, 2007 -

While it seems like eons ago, the first Halo really set the stage for cooperative style gaming on Xbox. The offline first-person shooter, created by the Mac and PC developer Bungie, brought over the communal aspect of computer gaming, free-flowing multiplayer frag-fests to be specific, that started so long ago with games like id Software's original LAN-supported Doom. But who knew then that Bungie would execute such an excellent two-player offline cooperative game -- and in the process create one of the biggest franchises ever?

Needless to say, the big console hub-bub that started seven years ago is now flourishing on Xbox Live. In 2007, the state of Xbox Live is thriving with millions of Xbox subscribers. But much to the chagrin of hardcore Xbox fans, the state of offline co-op games isn't. And one has to wonder if the two aren't related.


Is split-screen gaming going extinct?

Are developers eschewing local play for online play? Is four-player split-screen a thing of the past? If you look at X360 launch titles Perfect Dark Zero and Call of Duty 2, the answer seems rosy. By taking a gander at current games Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Gears of War, LEGO Star Wars II: the Original Trilogy, or Rainbow Six: Vegas, there is darn good co-op support. You have to hand it to Gears. It's split-screen co-op offline and and co-op online. And then there is the upcoming free-wheeling shooter Crackdown, which supports "jump-in-jump-out" online co-op gaming in the best possible way.

So why does it feel like offline gaming is getting the shaft?

Perhaps the lack of offline co-op modes in Splinter Cell: Double Agent exemplifies the issue best. Or the missing eight-player option in Madden NFL 07. Maybe the missing offline co-op mode in Crackdown hurts too. Or maybe it's just the inconsistent implementation of offline game modes in general that makes one wonder what the hell is going on.


Fantastic co-op online, but not offline.

Here is the perfect example of the state of offline gaming. My friend and I were walking down the street Sunday and I was telling him how much fun Crackdown was. Then, absent-mindedly I said, "Come over later tonight and we can play co-op!" "Can I do that?" he said? I looked at him in astonishment, and realized no. We couldn't just hang out at my house and play. He would have to buy a copy, own a X360, and go back to his house to play.

Again, the growth of Xbox Live is great for Microsoft, Xbox gamers, and console online gaming in general. And in a way, gamers with Live accounts have more people to play with than ever before. I know when I turn on my Xbox, there is always someone with whom to chat or play. But why does it feel like developers are skipping out on the old-school stuff?

The honest truth is that Xbox Live online gaming is a priority for most Xbox 360 developers. Based on the first Xbox's games, mostly action, sports, and shooters, Xbox 360 is seen as a hardcore system with the distinguishing factor of great online support. It is perceived as the "online console." Publishers have told IGN time and time again that the previous model of Xbox games has forged at least some, if not all, of their perception of the Xbox 360's strengths and market alike.

This inconsistent support isn't coming from Microsoft. Microsoft supports all co-op gaming online and offline. And, according to Microsoft representatives, there is no written mandate that specifically necessitates online gaming over offline play. It's up to the developers themselves.


Will Halo 3 finally support both offline and online co-op?

On their front, developers are still racing to get over the learning curve of a new system. They're dealing with HD graphics, triple-core processors, and the new rather complicated world of the next-gen systems. They're busy trying to get everything right. Which means that perhaps with the success of GRAW 2, with its 16-player co-op (by the way, GRAW 2 supports offline co-op again), LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy, and the split-screen success of Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War, we'll get our offline games more readily in 2007. Maybe Army of Two and Kane and Lynch will take us to the next level. Maybe Halo 3 will give us both offline and online cooperative gameplay at last.

Either that, or split-screen gaming will go the way of the Dodo. But seriously, is that a real consideration? Publishers and developers should support both co-op and multiplayer gaming online and offline. It's that simple. I mean, what's better than sitting on your couch at home playing games with your friends?

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/764/764274p1.html

 

[HAYLOALDAILO]

[QUOTE="ps3power, post: 0]I'm thinking that people who are on their 4th and 5th 360s must live in an area where it gets a little hotter or humid or something. Or they put their 360 in a unit that's a little tight.

No way am I letting MS off the hook though. There is no way they should release a console and not test in less than perfect conditions. If MS wants to be taken seriously with the 360 as being an entertainment hub, then they better have the hardware that can handle things even if it's not in an ideal environment. I can only imagine how many more bricked 360s there would be if they had put their power supply inside the console itself like the PS3. If this 5% failure rate is true after only 1 year, then there are some serious problems under the hood.

Brian[/QUOTE]

Dean Takahashi, of the Mercury News, had the chance to visit the product evaluation and reliability labs for the Xbox 360 at Microsoft’s Mountain View, CA, campus. In his visit to the former WebTV plant, Takahashi was toured around by Leslie Leland, a hardware engineer who has been with Microsoft since the acquisition of Web TV. She used to work at Apple before joining the WebTV team.

Takahashi got to see many Xbox 360 being completely destroyed as he recounts in his editorial. Here are some highlights:

On the tour, I got to see some working prototypes, as well as many with their guts torn out. Behind doors with coded keypads, Microsoft is literally baking some of these machines to see if they can live up to tough quality standards before they begin shipping this fall. Here and there, engineers say that they’re the first to begin playing next-generation games.
We walked around the lab to a guy who was roasting his Xbox 360. He was testing the processor by heating it up to 70 degrees Celsius.

A guy named Rich Lee showed me a gigantic chamber where he can simulate all sorts of environmental conditions. There is room for 120 Xbox 360s on the racks in this room, which can be heated or cooled as needed. I step in and feel the warm air blast me. The Xbox 360s stay in the pressure cooker for up to 72 hours at a time. There are about 1,100 components on the motherboard. A lot of stuff can go wrong.

She walked by a table with a bunch of wiring and some more decapitated Xbox 360s and said they test them to see if they can withstand surges that come from lightening strikes. There is something called an “ESD gun” on the table. I think to myself, if lightening strikes my house, I don’t think I will keep playing my game. She also said they have to test for dealing with voltage changes and brown-outs. http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/9004/Burning-Down-the-Xbox-360/

who knows what went wrong with the launch consoles.

 

[Legend Killer]

It's about time a major news corp make this apparent to the public MS had a year to fix most if not all of these bugs but they just act as if it's no big deal I'm on my 3rd 360 in four months and this one has already started to freeze and delete my friends list for some reason I had to re-download my gamertag to get it working again. I have my PS3 for 2 months and the only problem I had was it deleting my PS2 game save after the first update but after that I've yet to have that problem again MS better do something about this because I feel a law suit coming on.

 

[reality]

Microsoft should take care of every one that buys their system , because is not too much fun to pay for something that will break while you are having fun , it actually sucks and they have to f*cking understand that. So Microsoft no excuses just do what you have to do and for free . BBC should keep the spotlight on microsoft untill they will get a positive reaction from them.

 

[dobisskill]

so if i bought one now, would it still mess up? cos ive just bought one...

 

[Boogie Woogie]

@dobisskill : Congrats on the purchase my friend . You religious ? I suggest you say a little prayer every morning before you get out of bed that your 360 won't die on you .

Well this is Microsoft at their very best . They specialise in delivering kak products .

I'm really lucky i guess cause i'm still on my 1st 360 . I bought mine last December and its held up well apart from alot of freezing during games or in the 360 main menu . My 360 has to freeze atleast twice every 2 hours i play .

If i get the ring of death or my console gets bricked i'm gutting my 360 with a hunting knife and posting it on youtube .

 

[Azure]

My 360 doesnt freeze anymore.

It kinda coincides with the fact I don't bother turning it on anymore.

 

[Pez_555]

im lucky, mine has only frozen about 2 or 3 times, and i have had it since February 2006. infact my year's warranty runs out in a couple of days so i better start praying lol.

Another thing, you're always seeing posts about people's 360's that have got the ring of light or are dead, but you never read about the people who haven't had any problems, which is why i still believe the failure rate is in the region of 0-10%.

 

[coolguy]

wow if the show this in the uk to night it will be lights out for the 360 in the uk. people will buy the PS3 even more over there..................................
but MS did fix all the red light trouble its a little lat for this show lol