Microsoft: Xbox Racing Wheel Overheating
By Ed Oswald | Published August 24, 2007, 11:08 AM
Microsoft said Thursday that it would be recalling the Xbox 360 steering wheel over concerns that it was overheating and smoking, according to a statement.
About 50 incidents have been reported so far related to the $130 accessory, of which Microsoft has sold approximately 230,000 units worldwide. The steering wheel's AC/DC adapter was the issue, and was overheating when it was plugged in.
No fires have been reported, and Microsoft is working with regulatory agencies including the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on the problem, it said.
"Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should stop using the AC/DC power supply until they have obtained their retrofit. They may continue to operate the wheel using battery power," the company advised.
The recall is the second related to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console; the company is spending $1 billion to fix problems with reliability. It was not immediately clear how much Microsoft planned to spend to fix this issue.
Gamers are being asked to go to the Xbox support site or call Microsoft to register themselves to receive the fix that they would be able to install themselves.
Hi MinuteMaid,
I was just wondering what you are going to say when HD-DVD movie sales surpass BD at Amazon in a few days? You can easily see the difference after Paramount told BD to pound sand up thier asses.
Since you post off topic all the time, I figured it was my turn.
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|Dream on.
The Paramount move was a desperate last ditch move by HD DVD camp to counter upcoming massive Blu-Ray news.
Paramount will be back making Blu-Ray releases in 18months (or less). All they have done, is screw over consumers in the meantime, create confusion in the market, and further delay mass-market HD media adoption. Nice one Paramount. I hope that $150,000,000 was nice, as it's likely to be the downfall of your company.
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|In 18 months there won't be a reason for them to go back to Blu-ray.
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|Not that this discussion should continue in this thread, but...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/58930.html
Ultimately, Paramount and DreamWorks are "clearly voting for the fact that the consumer won't see enough difference to pay a premium for a Blu-ray player"
Ultimately, the studios don't even care which format wins, as long as one does take the lead soon. "It's become clear to them (Paramount and DreamWorks) that this will end up in the HD DVD camp," Enderle concluded. "So they might as well make it happen sooner rather than later."
Dream on? Looks like someone needs to wake up.
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|If it's not 11 million faulty Xboxes, it's faulty steering wheels, or faulty Wifi adapters.
Does Microsoft make ANY hardware that's not total junk?
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|Does not look like it. Intel engineered the first XBox and that was pretty good other than the cord problem.
The 360 was done by M$ and look what has happened, it is totally unreliable and defective, just like their software.
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|That or root kits beng installed on computers, PS2's having read errors and laptop batteries exploding. Oh yeah it's only Microsoft that has problems. At least they are recalling the wheels unlike Sony covering their problems up.
They make very good mice and keyboards by the way.
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|Yes with a cpu made by IBM kind of liek the PS3. Funny how they can make good games for the 360 but not the PS3.
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|"Funny how they can make good games for the 360 but not the PS3."
That's because the Cell processor is a b!tch to program for (a CPU that has approximately 20% yield for 7 cores operational, which is what the PS3 requires, not 8).
I foresee a similar fate as that of the Sega Saturn... impressive hardware, but who cares if nobody wants to go through the trouble of programming for it. At least give developers a halfway decent toolkit.
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|It's interesting to note how I've never had a single problem with mine, nor have any of my friends or coworkers.
Sorry, but the 360 was produced by Microsoft, developed in cooperation with IBM, ATI, and SiS.
You're exaggerating, as usual.
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|You mean like Microsoft execs covered up the 11 million faulty 360's, until they managed to sell all their shares in the 360 division?
LOL, what a buch of suckers 360 owners are, they can't even see what they have been done over..
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|Have you just come out of a time capsule.
Yields were 20% 18 months ago. They are likely to be up to over 80% by now. The 65nm Cell's are due very soon, to bring the yeild up even further.
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|...and there's nothing disproving that they are 20% now, except your best guess.
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|Exactly! That's why they extended the warranty to 3 years. It looks like they covered it up to me.
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|Thats what happens when you include cheap power supplies, Bet it was not made in USA but sourced from china for peanuts.
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|LOL. Such crappy hardware. Not only is the 360 overheating, the steering wheel accessory is catching on fire too. LOL. That's what you get for putting your trust in a Microsoft product.
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|This just in...
Suicide bombers around the globe started using Sony batteries as they are much more dangerous, and there's millions of them.
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|"No fires have been reported"
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|What does Sony have to do with the article?
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|No more than Microsoft has to do with Sony every time one of the zealots try to bring them into a discussion about an article on the PS3.
The Sony extremists blow most every news article about the 360 out of proportion and rarely stick to the facts, always choosing to embellish what is not that severe in the first place. Granted, most is good for a giggle, and I enjoy a good laugh once in a while... but the sad thing is that most of the time, you actually seem sincere in your beliefs.
There have been no reported fires, no reports of faulty wireless adapters, etc. The list goes on. 0.02% of people who bought a wireless steering wheel reported having problems when it's plugged in to an electrical outlet (on a wireless controller, mind you). Sure, you lose force feedback while running on battery power, but that should be a non-issue to all the PS3 fanatics who claimed their new controller didn't need rumble anymore. All of a sudden all of the steering wheels are total junk, and you risk setting your coffee table on fire if you use one according to the "expert(s)" on this forum. Total BS.
The point is, there have been no reported incidents of fire, property damage, or bodily injury resulting from a design or manufacturing defect on any one of Microsoft's products that I am aware of (that wasn't the direct result of someone's misuse of the product and not following the safety guidelines). The same cannot be said for Sony.
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|Yet.
Lets hope it's not your kids, that Microsoft kill with their shoddy hardware.
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|Why not just say the wall wart transformer is overheating?
Nevermind. That is not nearly as exciting as implying that the unit itself is overheating.
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|It's not as scary (or exciting, if you bat for Sony) as a flaming steering wheel in your hands.
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|At least it wasn't the actual steering wheel unit itself. I guess the fact that such a minuscule amount of problems were reported was due to the possibility that the vast majority of people were actually using the unit in the manner for which it was designed...
Wireless!
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|There you go Ed Oswald. I'm proud of you, and everyone else is proud of you. I know it's hard but sometimes it's ok to do the right thing.
Now go work on your apology letter to MS for this article... blame me for it if you would like.
[Relax Ed it's a joke]
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|The recall is the second related to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console;
the reliability issue never caused a recall... should have.. but didnt.
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|Microsoft should be able to afford better than Chinese manufacturers. ;^)
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|Like the companies from US never recall anything. Or from other European companies. Grow up!
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|Maybe it should have been Japanese made, then?
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