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Problems Plague Xbox 360 Users

November 28, 2005

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The biggest problem most consumers have with Microsoft's new Xbox 360 videogame system is that they can't find one for sale. But some buyers are reporting technical problems with the complex new box, which Microsoft says contains more than 1,700 parts.

Gaming fanatics are complaining in online forums that their new machines are crashing unexpectedly. Others say error messages are popping up for no apparent reason. At least one user posted a screen shot reporting a system error. Others thought their systems may be overheating.

At Teamxbox.com, 16 percent of respondents to a poll said they are having problems. The forum had gathered more than 700 responses as of Monday morning, with just over 100 users saying they had found problems with their new Xbox 360 consoles.

Microsoft released the much-awaited online console on November 22. Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates calls it "the hottest product we've ever had." But Bloomberg News also quoted Gates as expressing worries about the console’s manufacturing process.

Gates' fears come mostly from all the subcontractors involved in supplying those 1,700 parts.

"I hope I don't get an e-mail saying 'Gosh, processor yields are too low, or this plastic factory burned down in Malaysia, so we'll have boxes but no controllers,'" he told Bloomberg. "With software at least, the people who determine your fate all come to work here at Microsoft."

Despite the chairman's worries, Microsoft spokespeople insist there are no major bugs in the new console and claim that problems have been reported with only a very small proportion of its machines.

Gaming fanatics lined up for hours Monday to be among the first to purchase the next-generation system, which was in short supply despite its starting price tag of $299.99. Microsoft hopes to sell 2.5 million to 3 million of the new systems in the first 90 days.

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