Xbox + 1080p Update = Brick

December 8, 2006

After a recent dashboard update was pushed out from Xbox live and applied to my 360, I got the dreaded red flashing lights and my favorite games console is now nothing better than an expensive brick.

Reading through the forums on xbox.com, I’m not the only one who has had their console bricked by this update, either. A similar thread on Major Nelson’s blog was seeing some lively activity on the subject too, before comments were closed. If you’re in the same position, don’t you find that what’s adding to the frustration is the lack of any kind of response from Microsoft? This started being reported a week ago.…!

Putting this right is going to cause Microsoft a nightmare before Christmas, because the update appears to prevent the wireless adapter from starting, making an “over the air” fix unlikely. This leaves customers with having to ship their consoles off for repair, so we’re going to be Xbox-less over Christmas! If I was running the Xbox team, I’d be pushing my people to provide a fix that users can download to a USB thumb drive and run themselves.

Xbox has been building a great community at Xbox Live, and like most social networks, it grows by word-of-mouth; only a couple of weeks ago I was telling a friend how great my Xbox 360 is; how it’s not just a games console but a media centre too; how much fun Xbox Live is. After I told him about the update-from-hell, and mentioned that I’ll probably have to get a replacement, he said, “I think I’ll wait for the Wii instead…..”

And that’s the biggest risk for Microsoft – pissed-off people will talk more often and more loudly than happy people. If Microsoft don’t start talking to their customers soon, the lack of communication will kill Xbox Live more efficiently than the faulty update.

As for me, I’ll be gazing at a copy of “Gears of War” on Christmas morning, wondering when I’m going to get to play it.

[tags]marketplace, live, games, console, update, 1080p, dashboard, bricked, bricking, repair, replace, replacement[/tags]

Posted in Microsoft, games, xbox