Xbox 360 – First Two Weeks

That is certainly true, especially since many people who are lucky enough to own a 360 are experiencing many problems. As soon as the system was launched, there have been countless reports of people having small and large issues with the console. The first reported problem I seen was system crashing, because I experienced this myself. It first happened to me in Need For Speed while browsing online races. It happened a few times on launch day in both NFS and PGR3, but the problem was fixed when I made sure the PSU was better ventilated.

Another bizarre problem I heard of was that the system was actually burning discs. Again, this is a problem I experienced to a small degree. After a 4 hour session of Tony Hawk, I took the game out to put it back in the game case. I was surprised to see the back of the disc was subtly blotchy. I did not look at the back of the game before I first placed it in the system, so it’s unknown if the system did this for certain. I am willing to bet though, that there is a good chance the system actually did get so hot that it was burning the disc, because I did not ever see a disc like this before. I tried to capture the image with my camera, but it’s not visible in a photo. It’s very subtle as I mentioned, but should be brought up.

A large group of people are also complaining about scratched discs when turning the system from a vertical to horizontal position while the system is on. I mean no offense to anyone, but if you are foolish enough to rotate the console while it was on and expect the disc to come out fine and dandy, then you are a very gullible person. It seems like common sense to me to turn the system off before you rotate it. Maybe I’m just that smart.. who knows :P

Overheating is a large issue as well, so you will want to make sure that your system has plenty of breathing room. If it does, then the system will get quite hot but shouldn’t crash on you. One of my online friends stated that his console overheated and crashed on him a few times. Customer service told him it was because he played for 14 hours straight. Yes, this is laughable, because you should be taking a break after a few hours as 14 hours may be overkill. However, if you have a household where people take turns, then it’s easy to rack up a 14 hour streak. If you do suffer from overheating despite being in a well ventilated area, then you may want to point a house fan at the console. This is a ridiculous measure to have to take, but if you have a hot ambient temp, it may be your only option at this point in time.

Many people are blaming Microsoft for these issues, but I don’t. As with all new releases, there are ALWAYS problems. It’s difficult for a company to prepare for a 1.4 – 2.0 Million unit release and avoid issues. Since consoles are becoming more and more like actual desktop computers, then it’s no surprise that there are so many issues. Hopefully these issues will lessen as new units are released from the factory though.

I certainly have a conclusion to this article up my sleeve, but not a conclusion on the system. Since it is so early in the life of the Xbox 360, it’s really difficult to see how big of a part it will make in the gaming market. Microsoft certainly has some major issues to take care of if it wants to dominate this portion of the market, and they certainly want that… bad.

We have already concluded the first week of December, and nobody seems to know when the next shipment of consoles will be released. One thing is for sure, if they do not release a sufficient amount of consoles in time for Christmas, they can practically kiss their potential domination goodbye. They wanted to beat Sony and Nintendo to the punch at the next gen, but that could have been a mistake. Sure enough, they were out first, but what about all those people who can’t purchase one? If they do not release a few million units within the next few weeks, then Sony will be one of the happiest companies on the planet.

The Nintendo Revolution is hardly a threat at this point in time, but Sony is. Sony is taking notes from Microsofts mistakes right now, and are doing what they can to avoid the same mistakes. If MS misses the holiday season, and leaves it until January, they will be certainly missing out on sales. This is the time they have to make their move, because it will obviously be Sony who will dominate next years Christmas season, or else Microsoft will have to do something miraculous. Personally, I hope that they do release many more units quickly, because I do not want this console to go the way of the Dreamcast. Microsoft does have the smarts though, and certainly the money to back up their console, so I hope to only see great things come from them in the coming months.

It’s hard to recommend a purchase, because even if you want to buy one, you’d have to rely on paying way too much on eBay. If you are purchasing this system for yourself, then I would certainly recommend being patient and purchasing one when you are able to get one, but do not get desperate and hit up eBay and overpay.