AfterDawn: News

Microsoft sued over Xbox 360 crashing

Microsoft, the world's largest software company, is being sued by an owner of an Xbox 360 console for an alleged design flaw that makes the console overheat and lock up. The Chicago man who brought the suit, Robert Byers, said the power supply and CPU overheat affecting heat sensitive chips and causing the console to freeze. Reports of crashing and lock-ups during normal usage or online play using Xbox Live, were scattered across the Internet in the days following the November 22nd U.S. launch.

The suit, which asks for class action status, blames Microsoft's determination to release a console for the Christmas market and ahead of two competitors, Sony Corp. and Nintendo. Both companies will release their next generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Revolution in 2006. Byers alleges that Microsoft wanted to be first to leave the starting line so much that they sold a "defectively designed" product.



Molly O'Donnell, Microsoft's spokeswoman, declined to comment to Reuters, saying the company has a policy not to comment on pending litigation. "We have received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected." she told Reuters a few days after the US launch of the console. She declined to give any details on the amount of console affected but said it was a "very, very small fraction." Microsoft later estimated that 3% or less of the consoles shipped were defective.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 5 Dec 2005 10:53

• Previous article

• RealNetworks will offer web-based Rhapsody

• Next article

• DVD format just too small for Xbox 360 games?

• 25 comments

• nanu-nanu

  sounds like a wonderful oppurtunity for an enterprising person to create a water-cooling kit for the Xbox-360.
  
  

  5.12.2005 11:11 #1

• arcanix

  Yeah, wrap your power supply in a blanket and sue microsoft.
  Quote:Both companies will release their next generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Revolution in 2006Maybe.

  5.12.2005 12:21 #2

• jdeboer

  This is exactly why I wait till all three systems are out and WORKING.

  5.12.2005 13:38 #3

• arcanix

  Because microsoft is sued?

  5.12.2005 14:05 #4

• bobiroc

  jdeboer - "This is exactly why I wait till all three systems are out and WORKING."
  
  Exactly! Kinda like a first model year car. There are always kinks and bugs to be worked out when tested in a real-world environment. I myself will wait at least until spring or summer.

  5.12.2005 14:22 #5

• Mik3h

  They just rushed it to get ahead. I don't think they've done themselves any favours.
  
  -Mike

  5.12.2005 15:51 #6

• Weycraze

  Good on them, damn MicroSuckers. A l'il lesson they have hard earned.
  

  
  ..a mind is a terrible thing to waste...
  http://www.compuware.com/products/driverstudio/softice.htm

  5.12.2005 15:57 #7

• cueca

  Seriously, all this maddness about the xbox360 is crazy, I work at a circuitxxxx in orlando and it was just complete maddness. Quote:Both companies will release their next generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Revolution in 2006We were told to be ready by Spring 06.

  5.12.2005 16:13 #8

• cheezy_P

  early defective release dates... xbox 360, ipod Nano.... whats next?

  5.12.2005 17:37 #9

• CAR8624

  [QUOTE] Microsoft later estimated that 3% or less of the consoles shipped were defective. [/QUOTE]
  
  It's suppose to be 0% MOFOS!

  5.12.2005 18:56 #10

• AIM2Shame

  Americans have serious issues sueing everyone for everything no wonder everyone else in the world thinks of them as arrogant jerks.

  5.12.2005 19:24 #11

• oofRome

  Agreed. This is an unnecessary lawsuit.

  5.12.2005 21:02 #12

• garym

  "jerks?". that's it. I'm suing you.

  5.12.2005 21:49 #13

• nanu-nanu

  funkdat....sue those two American style "Class Action", so that I can get in on it. lol.

  5.12.2005 23:22 #14

• arcanix

  Quote:It's suppose to be 0% MOFOS!That's not possible, there will always be defective units. Same happened with ps1, ps2 (will happend with ps3), original xbox... Not so much defective units with nintendo, but still few.
  

  Motorola Razr V3
  Sony Vaio vgn-b3vp
  Athlon 64 3200+ & 1gb ram (pc-3200 400mhz) & radeon 9700
  Canon Eos 350D kit
  Xbox 360 Premium

  6.12.2005 01:24 #15

• WarForOil

  Anyone buying microsoft products can hardly expect anything other than it crashing c.mon, how long have they been making operating systems that crash when u really need them to work. How many times have u updated your system with microsoft security updates etc only to find after the computer reboots its no longer working.Still without Bill Gates and crew the world would be a diferent place eh.Go on suckers rush out b4 christmas and buy your 90%ready bits of technology, wait till january tae take them back for neccessary repair.

  6.12.2005 02:01 #16

• arcanix

  WarForOil, may I ask you what os are you using now?

  6.12.2005 03:19 #17

• esrever

  This lawsuit is unecessary (sp?) indeed. Theyre the ones who paid for the crapbox. There is NO guarentee that any consol will not have any defects...stupid Robert Bryers...(even tho microsoft may deserve it)

  6.12.2005 04:30 #18

• oofRome

  WarForOil is OBVIOUSLY intelligent enough to write his own OS, Arcanix.
  
  I mean, he's got everything right. The war in Iraq is for oil, and Microsoft is a big and mean corporation.

  6.12.2005 07:34 #19

• esrever

  Amen, Rome.
  

  Pentium 4HT CPU overclocked to 3.5 Ghz - 2 GIGs RAM
  ATI Radeon X800 Graphics Card
  Plextor DVD+/-RW Drive
  vs17 LCD Monitor

  7.12.2005 01:03 #20

• Mik3h

  Hehe.
  
  -Mike
  

  The Seeding Saviours™ {SS}
  
  http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/267012 - How To Build Up A Big Ratio On BitTorrent Registered Trackers!
  http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/15105 - Before Asking How To Burn PS2/PS1/Xbox Games.. Check here!
  http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/228294 - Before Asking How to Copy Xbox games.. Check here!
  http://adbuddies.ccsau.com/chat/index.html - Join Us Live On IRC!

  8.12.2005 07:26 #21

• 074kev

  War for oil isn't a topic for this forum. It doesn't belong here, but since you started it, Saddam would've given us all the FREE oil we wanted if we never went to war. Even if we did go to war for oil, it's fine by me. I like driving my car and I'm not ready to give it up and live in a third world country just because of you.

  10.12.2005 13:48 #22

• 074kev

  As for the defective Xbox 360's maybe they came from the batch made in China. Haha!

  10.12.2005 13:50 #23

• 074kev

  I'm glad he's suing Microsoft over the Xbox 360. I bought 5 games prior to launch and waited in line at Walmart for 17 hours for midnight madness. Forked out almost $500 for premium and additional accessories. When I set it up at home I found out that Microsoft is censoring references to God on Live. Microsoft considers such references "inappropriate language". Called phone support and they say it offends gamers. You can however refer to "Satan, Lucifer, Devil, etc. on your gamercard. You can also have pornography when the Xbox 360 webcams come out.
  
  It's my personal choice to not financially support companies who attempt to censor or segregate me in any way. I'm stuck with my purchase and can't get my money back. Hopefully they'll change their policy soon. If not, I'll sell it on ebay and buy a PS3 when it comes out.

  14.12.2005 14:27 #24

• Beast6666

  Okay... a small fraction... 3% I believe it says... lets see.. 3% of 1,000,000 is 30,000 so out of every million consoles they sold 30,000 were defective... Nice job Microsoft!

  9.3.2006 13:22 #25