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Microsoft sued over Xbox 360 crashing

5 December 2005 10:53 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 25 comments

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

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Discuss this article!
nanu-nanu (Inactive) 5 December 2005 11:11
sounds like a wonderful oppurtunity for an enterprising person to create a water-cooling kit for the Xbox-360. [ + quote]
arcanix (AfterDawn Addict) 5 December 2005 12:21
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 2006 Maybe. [ + quote]
jdeboer (Newbie) 5 December 2005 13:38
This is exactly why I wait till all three systems are out and WORKING. [ + quote]
arcanix (AfterDawn Addict) 5 December 2005 14:05
Because microsoft is sued? [ + quote]
bobiroc (Member) 5 December 2005 14:22
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. [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 5 December 2005 15:51
They just rushed it to get ahead. I don't think they've done themselves any favours. -Mike [ + quote]
Weycraze (Member) 5 December 2005 15:57
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 [ + quote]
cueca (Newbie) 5 December 2005 16:13
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 2006 We were told to be ready by Spring 06. [ + quote]
cheezy_P (Newbie) 5 December 2005 17:37
early defective release dates... xbox 360, ipod Nano.... whats next? [ + quote]
CAR8624 (Member) 5 December 2005 18:56
[QUOTE] Microsoft later estimated that 3% or less of the consoles shipped were defective. [/QUOTE] It's suppose to be 0% MOFOS! [ + quote]
AIM2Shame (Junior Member) 5 December 2005 19:24
Americans have serious issues sueing everyone for everything no wonder everyone else in the world thinks of them as arrogant jerks. [ + quote]
oofRome (Senior Member) 5 December 2005 21:02
Agreed. This is an unnecessary lawsuit. [ + quote]
garym (Newbie) 5 December 2005 21:49
"jerks?". that's it. I'm suing you. [ + quote]
nanu-nanu (Inactive) 5 December 2005 23:22
funkdat....sue those two American style "Class Action", so that I can get in on it. lol. [ + quote]
arcanix (AfterDawn Addict) 6 December 2005 1:24
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 [ + quote]
WarForOil (Junior Member) 6 December 2005 2:01
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. [ + quote]
arcanix (AfterDawn Addict) 6 December 2005 3:19
WarForOil, may I ask you what os are you using now? [ + quote]
esrever (Member) 6 December 2005 4:30
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) [ + quote]
oofRome (Senior Member) 6 December 2005 7:34
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. [ + quote]
esrever (Member) 7 December 2005 1:03
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 [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 8 December 2005 7:26
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! [ + quote]
074kev (Newbie) 10 December 2005 13:48
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. [ + quote]
074kev (Newbie) 10 December 2005 13:50
As for the defective Xbox 360's maybe they came from the batch made in China. Haha! [ + quote]
074kev (Newbie) 14 December 2005 14:27
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. [ + quote]
Beast6666 (Inactive) 9 March 2006 13:22
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! [ + quote]