 Xbox 360 chief rings the changes after failures |
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| Xbox-Scene |
 Apr 3 2008, 03:44 AM
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Xbox 360 chief rings the changes after failures
Posted by XanTium | April 2 21:44 EST | News Category: Xbox360
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From guardian.co.uk:
[QUOTE]
Neil Thompson has just one word to describe what it felt like when he first experienced the Xbox 360's so-called red ring of death (RROD): "disappointing".
Microsoft has refused to discuss the gory details of what went wrong, and Thompson himself is fuzzy when it comes down to defining the problem. "There is a certain percentage - not a massive percentage - of consoles that were experiencing disk failures or CPU failures, or whatever word we want to use," he explains.
"My personal understanding of the precise technology isn't sufficient," he says. "But I do know that we've isolated certain elements that, for certain products that were produced, made them fail."
"The first thing to say is I'm sorry that you've had a bad product experience, and hopefully we're doing what we can to solve that. The bottom line is that you want a product that is reliable."
"It's obviously reinforced the fact that quality is paramount. It was something that we understood before, but it's become an intense focus. It's something you can't slip below - you have to maintain a quality bar."
A $1bn cockup would be a salutary lesson for any company, but the Xbox's problems haven't stopped there. At the peak of the vital Christmas season, the Live service (used by millions of Xbox owners to play online) ground to a halt. Just when thousands of punters were ready to swarm onto the net, darkness descended.
"Incredible success brings some operational issues that mean we haven't scaled in the way we should have. As we said at the time, we apologise for that. It isn't the way we want to do business."
"When you look at the scale of what we're running, I think we are actually quite good at it - we've got millions and millions and millions of people playing online across the world every day. It's not an insubstantial task to keep that going. Now that's not an excuse, that just context ... but we are breaking new ground with this - unfortunately, at Christmas, we failed the test."
The online efforts of Sony and Nintendo might remain fairly basic, but they are improving all the time. However, the suggestion that Xbox Live could become completely free is met with a shake of the head. "What we offer is the deepest, most involving service of anyone, and I think the fees we charge are appropriate," he says. "Would I want to pay for the service my competitors offer? No, because they're not offering anything near what we do."
But underneath the corporate, maybe there's an easier way to gauge Microsoft's response to all this tumult. Just last month Xbox prices were slashed, with the most common package dropping significantly by £50 to £199. Perhaps actions really do speak louder than words.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: guardian.co.uk
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| HotKnife420 |
Apr 3 2008, 06:02 AM
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QUOTE
"There is a certain percentage - not a massive percentage - of consoles that were experiencing disk failures or CPU failures, or whatever word we want to use,"
Lesse, disk failures would be the hdd problems, disc failures could be the consoles that seem to have shorter laser lifespans, and CPU failures I hadn't heard of (apparently he has no knowledge of the GPU failures). I like the fact that he says "whatever word you want to use" as though he didn't describe two completely different common problems among 360s. QUOTE
"Would I want to pay for the service my competitors offer? No, because they're not offering anything near what we do."
Video chat and multiplayer? I can do that with *my* PS3 (don't tell me it's the only one)... This post has been edited by HotKnife420: Apr 3 2008, 06:05 AM |
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| Merc178 |
 Apr 3 2008, 06:55 AM
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QUOTE(HotKnife420 @ Apr 3 2008, 12:38 AM) 
Lesse, disk failures would be the hdd problems, disc failures could be the consoles that seem to have shorter laser lifespans, and CPU failures I hadn't heard of (apparently he has no knowledge of the GPU failures). I like the fact that he says "whatever word you want to use" as though he didn't describe two completely different common problems among 360s.
Video chat and multiplayer? I can do that with *my* PS3 (don't tell me it's the only one)...
Uhhhh...  Have you used Xbox Live before? and then comparing it to PSN or the WII's retardation online thing? I will gladly pay my 50 dollars a year for GOOD service if not EXCELLENT than having a free OK service. Now if you don't have the money and there for think it should be free or you are that greedy (like M$)... theres lots of people out there who don't mind paying the fee and who also have a PS3 (30% of my friends list which are 100 to be exact) Played the PS3 Little people who own both systems would recomend the PSN over Xbox Live Hardware wise i still think the PS3 offers alot for the money, including lots of feature the 360 lacks (blu ray, wifi, memory card slots, rechargeble battery  and bigger hardrive, I'm probably forgeting something) Anyway is sad for me that the PS3 library of games does not attract me compared to what the PS2 had or the 360 has to offer. Xbox Live > PSN (Fact!).... (Opinion) |
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| 21cwSpanky |
Apr 3 2008, 07:33 AM
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QUOTE(Merc178 @ Apr 3 2008, 07:31 AM)
Xbox Live > PSN (Fact!).... (Opinion)
Not that I'm arguing that xbox live isn't a decent service. But to sit there and try to act like they're going above and beyond what ANYONE has ever done before and then have the nerve to charge you for it is a bit asinine. There are thousands of services out there which mimic what microsoft is doing on the xbox that do it completely for free, and also have many more features to do so. Programming one for the console isn't exactly rocket science. With that aside, can someone give me a reason why xbox live is great with a straight face? |
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| g8crapachino |
Apr 3 2008, 08:26 AM
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QUOTE(21cwSpanky @ Apr 3 2008, 07:09 AM)
Not that I'm arguing that xbox live isn't a decent service. But to sit there and try to act like they're going above and beyond what ANYONE has ever done before and then have the nerve to charge you for it is a bit asinine. There are thousands of services out there which mimic what microsoft is doing on the xbox that do it completely for free, and also have many more features to do so. Programming one for the console isn't exactly rocket science.
With that aside, can someone give me a reason why xbox live is great with a straight face?
Thousands??...now who's being asinine? You claim thousands doing exactly what Xbox live is doing and more, so name 5. With Xbox live you create one account and you get Movies and game downloads, and a online matching service that almost guarantees that there will always be someone online to play against. Have you ever tried to play a PS2 or PS3 game online?...half the time there is nobody else there to play against. Plus I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought it completely stupid that you have to create a different account for almost every PS2 game you wanted to play online. Xbox Live is $50 a year. It's an entertainment expense, not a required part of life. If your financial situation is so pathetic that $50 is a problem for you then cancel your subscription and get off. In a world where a cup of coffee is $5, Gas is $5 a gallon, and a single night at the movies is over $20, complaining that Xbox live is too expensive only makes you look like a whiny idiot. It you don't like it and really can't afford it, don't buy it. |
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| jamiem1987 |
Apr 3 2008, 08:45 AM
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QUOTE(g8crapachino @ Apr 3 2008, 08:02 AM)
Thousands??...now who's being asinine? You claim thousands doing exactly what Xbox live is doing and more, so name 5.
With Xbox live you create one account and you get Movies and game downloads, and a online matching service that almost guarantees that there will always be someone online to play against. Have you ever tried to play a PS2 or PS3 game online?...half the time there is nobody else there to play against. Plus I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought it completely stupid that you have to create a different account for almost every PS2 game you wanted to play online.
Xbox Live is $50 a year. It's an entertainment expense, not a required part of life. If your financial situation is so pathetic that $50 is a problem for you then cancel your subscription and get off. In a world where a cup of coffee is $5, Gas is $5 a gallon, and a single night at the movies is over $20, complaining that Xbox live is too expensive only makes you look like a whiny idiot. It you don't like it and really can't afford it, don't buy it.
totally agree, ive played the ps3 online many times (well attempted to) and it just doesnt live up to the expectation, waiting to get a game, finally getting in one and realising no1 has a headset, its just no fun, xbox is and always has been the best online, i use it everynight and not once have i been dissapointed, its always a good laugh |
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| PincheAnimal |
Apr 3 2008, 09:34 AM
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QUOTE(g8crapachino @ Apr 3 2008, 01:02 AM)
Thousands??...now who's being asinine? You claim thousands doing exactly what Xbox live is doing and more, so name 5.
I want him to name just 1. Seriously, what can you even compare to Xbox Live? The only thing that comes close is PSN, and that's basically a very crippled and limited version of Live. PSN will never compare to Live, because the current version of Live and the 360 hardware and OS were designed together and for each other from the very beginning. What Sony is doing, is basically trying to shoehorn all the best features from Live and the Xbox guide into a system that just wasn't designed for a serivce as robust as the one Microsoft offers. Sony just didn't know what it was doing this time around. That's why the PS3 is in many ways a ripoff of both the 360 and the Wii. The only original thing Sony did with it's machine was the BR Drive, everything else from their GPU , their multi SKUs, PSN, SixAxis, Home Button etc... are just reactionary and following what the competition is already doing. And please nobody compare the Wii's online capabilities with either Live or even PSN. That thing is primitive, complicated and for the most part useless. 10 years ago the DreamCast was years ahead of what the Wii is doing Online today. |
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| vanxman |
Apr 3 2008, 09:46 AM
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QUOTE(g8crapachino @ Apr 3 2008, 09:31 AM)
Claiming that the PS3 has a superior service only proves that you haven't really used Xbox live. I doubt you'd be hanging around an Xbox website if you were so secure about that free service Sony offered. Free cr@p is still cr@p no matter how you try to disguise it.
Maybe "superior" isn't the word to use... One can't argue with the fact that MS does have issues dealing with Credit Card usage, for example recurring unauthorized billing, inability to completely remove credit card info, etc. PSN has the (one) benefit does it does not require your credit card number, and as such won't bill you incorrectly, requiring calls to MS Support. Me thinks that's the point he was trying to make... :-D This post has been edited by vanxman: Apr 3 2008, 09:48 AM |
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*doesn't care about Live - not a subscriber, but sure hopes doesn't have to go for a 4th console due to rrod.*
