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Flaws don't stop Xbox 360 retail craze
BY KRISTOFER BUGAS
' FREELANCE REPORTER
• With the Nov. 22 launch of the
Xbox 360, Microsoft’s sequel to the
popular Xbox video game system,.the
company promised to revolutionize
the video game market. So far, rela
tively few fans have been able to get
their own system, and some of those
with a coveted Xbox have found that
the system is still buggy.
Microsoft said it has received iso
lated reports of technical problems
with the new console.
“It’s a few reports of consoles here
and there not working properly,” said
Molly O’Donnell, spokeswoman for
Microsoft’s Xbox division. “It’s what
you would expect with a consumer
electronics instrument of this com
plexity. ... Par for the course.”
Some owners complained that their
systems were crashing during game
play, sometimes with error messages
popping up. On www.xbox
scene.com, one member reported that
he could not even finish the first lap of
“Project Gotham Racing 3.”
O’Donnell urged anyone with
Xbox problems to call 1-800
4myXbox or go to www.xbox.com. If
the problems can’t be immediately
resolved, Microsoft will pay to ship
the console overnight to a repair cen
ter, overnight it back once it’s fixed,
or ship a replacement.
“They’ll be playing again in three
to five days,” O’Donnell said.
Gaming fanatics lined up for hours
to be among the first to purchase the
next-generation system, which was
in short supply despite its starting
price tag of $299. Microsoft planned
to sell 2.5 million to 3 million of the
new systems in the first 90 days, but
demand has outstripped supply.
Attempts to locate an Xbox 360 in
local retail stores proved fruitless
since store branches were given limit
ed shipments.
“We sold out two hours before we
opened,” said Issac Carlson, an elec
tronics specialist at the Target sfpre in
Eugene. “We handed out coupons for
the 12 consoles we had to the people
who had lined up. When we opened
they came in and took them all.”
The new Xbox 360 prices at an ini
tial retail price of $299 for the core
package and $399 for the premium
package.
Carlson said the store received six
of each system package and said
Xbox 360s are sold out indefinitely.
In online auctions, one of the few
Tim Bobosky I Photo Editor
The Target store in Eugene sold out of their stock of Xbox 360s two hours before they opened
their doors. Retailers around the country are unable to meet demand for the system.
places consumers can still find a
console, prices have more than dou
bled. Premium Xbox 360 systems
are listed on eBay.com with prices
as high as $790.
The Xbox 360 is the first in a wave
of next generation video game sys
tems being released next year.
Microsoft and Sony, which is set to
release its next PlayStation console
next year, are pushing newer, slicker
graphics capabilities as the reason to
buy these new consoles, as well as
the enhanced realism in physics and
the way people and things behave in
game worlds.
Sony Computer Entertainment
CEO Ken Kutaragi said Sony’s goal is
for “consumers to think to them
selves, ‘I will work more hours to buy
one.’ We want people to feel that they
want it, irrespective of anything
else,” according to the official
PlayStation 3 announcement.
Microsoft and Sony both have
guaranteed high-definition resolution
in all of their games. PS3 will use
Sony’s new Blu-Ray disk format
which uses blue light waves rather
than the wider red ones allowing disk
manufacturers to pack more data on
the disks and thus HD content. Xbox
360 will launch with DVD drives in
stalled, and some feel this will leave
it at a disadvantage with games tak
ing up progressively more space and
HD movies on the horizon.
Members of the technology com
XBOX, page 14B
Sony announces
parental controls
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sony
Corp. has become the latest of
the video game console mak
ers to announce parental con
trols in it newest machine, ac
cording to the Entertainment
Software Association.
Now, all three major console
makers are promising parents
the means to help restrict their
children’s access to violent
video games.
Sony will place the controls
on its forthcoming machine,
PlayStation 3, according to the
ESA. Users of PlayStation 2
could limit access, but only to
movies, not games.
The company wasn't imme
diately prepared to comment.
Microsoft Corp. had already
placed parental controls in its
new Xbox 360, which debuted
last week. The machine lets
users restrict access to video
games and DVDs that carry
certain ratings, such as "T"
for "teen" or "M" for "ma
ture." It also offers parental
controls on the company’s
Xbox Live online gaming
service, limiting who their
children can interact with.
Earlier this month, Ninten
do Inc. announced similar
plans for its next-generation
machine, Revolution, due out
in 2006.
Sony, which leads the
worldwide market with more
than 102 million PlayStation
and PlayStation 2 consoles
sold, also introduced parental
control for games in its
PlayStation Portable, launched
earlier this year.
The video game industry
has been under tougher scruti
ny in recent years as lawmak
ers enacted legislation restrict
ing sales of violent video
games to minors. "With the
average age of game players
now 30, our industry naturally
creates content appropriate for
a wide range of audiences,"
said Doug Lowenstein, presi
dent of the Entertainment Soft
ware Association.
—The Associated Press
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