NationStates Jolt Archive

Remember the good ol' days?

For instance, read this: http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/05/technology/xbox_suit.reut/index.htm

Microsoft zapped with Xbox 360 suit
Chicago man says software giant released faulty video game console just to gain edge on rivals.
December 5, 2005: 5:27 PM EST


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Chicago man who bought Microsoft Corp.'s new Xbox 360 has sued the world's largest software maker, saying the new video game console had a design flaw that caused it to overheat and freeze up.

The proposed class action claims that in Microsoft's bid to gain share in the $25 billion global video game market, the company was so intent on releasing the Xbox 360 before competing next-generation machines from Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. that it sold a "defectively designed" product.

Robert Byers, who brought the suit, said the power supply and central processing unit in the Xbox 360 overheated, affecting heat-sensitive chips and causing the console to lock up.

Microsoft spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell Monday said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Complaints about the problem surfaced quickly on gaming enthusiast Web sites after the Xbox 360 debuted on Nov. 22.

Console owners reported that some systems had crashed during regular use as well as during online game play using the Xbox Live service. Problems included screens going black and the appearance of a variety of error messages.

At the time, O'Donnell told Reuters, "We have received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected."

She declined to say how many reports Microsoft had received and said that calls reporting the issue to the company represented a "very, very small fraction" of units sold.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in federal court in Illinois, seeks unspecified damages and litigation-related expenses, as well as the replacement or recall of Xbox 360 game consoles.


See, in the good ol' days, if I bought a toy that didn't work properly, or as expected, I returned it for a refund. Nowadays, one retains a lawyer. :rolleyes: I have no sympathy for Microsoft, but it isn't as if XBox 360s are starting fires.

Because console systems are never known to freeze up randomly....

Because console systems are never known to freeze up randomly....
Mine never did...

....Then again, I treat/ed them like the $100+ products that they are.

Mine never did...

....Then again, I treat/ed them like the $100+ products that they are.

You never had to blow in the cartridges of your old NES or Genesis to get them to work?

You never had to blow in the cartridges of your old NES or Genesis to get them to work?

Hell I could spend 10 minutes or more blowing in the Nintendo and in the game and only getting the flashing screen or nothing but pink. If you bumped the system ever so slightly it would freeze which was... annoying to say the least.

People sue over everything now, getting a quick buck in court is the American way. :(

OMG someones console didnt work perfectly, microsoft conspiracy. Ill get the pitchforks and torches.

The 360 sold several million on launch day and only a tiny amount of people have complained, and whilst i dont want to say anything that appears to support any other faction than nintendo, microsoft are not so stupid as to have never tested to see if their console overheats during extended periods of use.

You would think with as much money as they are losing on the XBox series they would make the first batch work before sending it out. Same shit happened with the Xbox release.

What ? By testing every single one before boxing them ?

I used my olf PSone disks as dildos.

Go figure, it didn't work.

What ? By testing every single one before boxing them ?
Well mass production means you shouldn't have to do that..

Well mass production means you shouldn't have to do that..
You have far far too much faith in modern production methods, they are not perfect, whilst their margin of error is tiny, if they only produce one fault per million theyll still be enough complaints to get the media saying theirs a crisis.

Hell I could spend 10 minutes or more blowing in the Nintendo and in the game and only getting the flashing screen or nothing but pink. If you bumped the system ever so slightly it would freeze which was... annoying to say the least.

Sorry, your post reminded me of this:

getting the nes to work has a lot in common with sex really.

you have to stick the cartridge in and pull it out, bounce it up and down, keep playing with the power button, give both the cartidge and the system a good blow, and if all else fails get it liquored up.

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=453010

The way I understand it, this overheating problem was caused by Xbox owners not storing the power supply properly. Since power supplies tend to get very hot, putting it right next to these "heat sensitive chips" is probably a bad idea. And completely there fault. I suppose if the instructions said not to store it that way, they'd have a case. But, even if it was there, I doubt they would have read them anyway.

Man, am I feeling cynical today...

getting the nes to work has a lot in common with sex really.

you have to stick the cartridge in and pull it out, bounce it up and down, keep playing with the power button, give both the cartidge and the system a good blow, and if all else fails get it liquored up.

Anarchic Conceptions, I can see that this would be a better way of making people understand. Some have minds that go in that direction... :D