Xbox 360 Fanboy

While earlier today we reported on MS offering replacement discs for recent games they published, we're now giving you the heads up for their new warranty policy on the console itself. First off, they're supplying free shipping both ways should your console call it quits. Now, if you send in a console after the warranty has expired, you'll have to still pay for repairs, but will get another year's warranty with it. On top of that, the console you get sent back, within five business days, will be the one you sent, for the most part. Finally, the customer service representatives will be providing a much better experience for consumers should they contact MS with an issue.

Sounds like Microsoft is taking action and showing they want to be known for the way they treat those who aren't getting the best results from their 360. You happy to hear this, or is it about damn time?

For some of us, we've experienced a bricked Xbox 360 and had to call the semi-helpful customer support people. During launch Microsoft kindly shipped out a box, paid for shipping both ways, and were cheerful if you had a defective 360. All was right in the universe. But now you have to supply the box and pay for the shipping ... dirty devils. The creator of the Big Box Project has a similar story, he too had a broken 360 and wasn't happy about having to pay for the box and shipping. So, he decided to turn the tables on Microsoft. Customer service promised that they'd use the exact same box sent to them to ship back a fixed Xbox 360. Now he is raising money to send his 360 (and possibly others) in a ginormous container so Microsoft has to pay big bucks to get it back to him. You know, shipping freight size containers costs lots of cash.

And we ask, what's your opinion on this little project? Is his plan going to work, should Microsoft use the same crate sent to them, or is this one big money making hoax? Vent, discuss, and speak your mind.

[Thanks, dpcough]

Atari's reputation for solid customer support (relative to say, 2KSports) is being put to the test in their community forums where fans are complaining about car trouble in Test Drive Unlimited, particularly:

• No sure-fire way to run into friends/clans members in free roam, plus
• The car trade feature has been disabled as a temp fix to a data loss problem, which effectively disabled an achievment.

According to reader Aragom, Atari has acknowledged these issues and ultimately promised a patch in November, but the extended silence didn't relieve the road rage? These guys were the gold standard for customer service at the TLU release, when we praised their prompt response to complaints and feedback-friendly approach. Is this as good as it gets for the pissed and the patchless, or are people being just a little too testy with Atari?

[Thanks Aragom]

Dead Rising is DOA on my 360. I loaded the menu ok, but when I tried to start the game, it smacked me with a disc read error, despite being a pristine new copy. The usual "clear the cache' tricks didn't help. But, as suspected, when I removed the hard drive, things worked fine. It turns out plenty of other deadly pissed off customers have a reason to stumble back to the mall with receipt in hand:

http://forums.xbox.com/6234648/ShowPost.aspx
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...000689731/p/14
http://boards.ign.com/dead_rising/b8413/125103317/p1/
http://www.capcom.com/BBS/showthread.php?threadid=11141
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=28765

Some of these poor folks have already paid $130 to repair their 360 over what is almost certainly an issue with the game itself. When I called Microsoft Support, they told me that there are "multiple known issues" with Dead Rising and that MS is working with Capcom on a fix. Various rumors blame the fact that DR is supposedly the first game to utilize all three cores, but who knows? A couple days ago we were celebrating Capcom's success, and now I'm forced to conclude that Dead Rising is broken for a significant number of gamers.

Needless to say, my enthusiasm for this title is temporarly zombified. Hey Capcom, where's our patch?

The results from last week's vote are in. In case you were indisposed, the topic of said vote was whether or not you've had any problems with your 360. Everyone has read the widespread reports that the 360 is a bug riddled, heat generating fire hazard, and we thought 360 Fanboy should weigh in on the topic, too -- especially considering the recent reports of Dead Rising zombifying our favorite console. The overall result? The majority of our readers -- 62% -- have a working 360 with no problems whatsoever. Add the votes with minor problems and the total goes up to 74%.

The rest of the numbers is where things get tricky. Looking purely at the numbers, our sample of defective 360s is much higher than the single digit defect rates published by Microsoft -- 723 readers have had to replace a 360 at least once, totaling about 20% of our overall poll. Keep in mind that this is absolutely not a representative poll. It's a non-scientific poll that's relatively easy to skew. Still, even if these numbers are bogus, they have the power to create a negative perception. Whether or not Microsoft decides to recall any 360s -- as some of our readers have suggested -- one wonders if they should at least make some sort of statement to assuage the fears of their users.

The comments generated varied from sob stories to utter disbelief that so many 360s fail. Unfortunately, people with hardware problems are much more likely to comment on them than people without, which in turn raises the overall perception. One constant in the thread was that once problems start, it's a sign that your 360 may be on the downslope. Also, should you find yourself on the phone with Microsoft, make your opinion known, it may (or may not) get you a break on repairing your box -- this guy even managed to get three free wireless controls.

And finally, I'd just like to add that I have now clocked many hours in Dead Rising without a hitch. Our hearts go out to those of you with dead 360s, and we hope for a speedy repair.

Unfortunate reader Tim has an update on his Chromehounds problem (read part one of his sad tale here):

I recently told you guys about chromehounds killing my box. After reading the comments and your reaction, I blew it off as a coincedence. It recently started working again for no reason. As I had already paid for the repair and was awaiting a box to send MS my shiny broken 360, I decided to try and put chromehounds in again. I got through about 30 seconds of the opening cinematic and BLAM! the screen turned into a strange grid and there was a blaring beep. I turned off my xbox, and when I started it again, Lo and behold: the accursed "ring of death" was back.

Double coincidence?

This one wants Microsoft to extend the warranty. They're also asking people to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau if your box crapped out in 3 months and a day.