Xbox Disappointment
The rumors of the new Xbox 360 console back in May sparked anticipation within the electronic and gaming community which exploded earlier this month. Microsoft purposely held back on the manufactured amounts creating such an intense demand that individuals were able to acquire even the most basic core systems only by camping out in front of stores. It is currently impossible to purchase the console in stores and nearly every site has customers wait-listed until possibly as late as February. Microsoft has sold roughly half-million consoles since its release and Ebay seems to be the only place where consoles are available and the price for avoiding the waitlists is between $500-$600 – without the controllers and games included.
However recently, excited gamers have expressed extreme disappointment with the system and glitches with the system have led to the suing of Microsoft by a man in Chicago. Accusing the product as being “defectively designed”, the console constantly causes the hardware to overheat (a problem for the heat-sensitive chips) which causes a freeze in the middle of game play. Unfortunately for the company, the usual excuse of the problem being an “isolated incidence” won’t hold because it seems to be a problem among many users across the board. The problem can especially be seen on online forums and sites (example of smart mobs!) and my own friend’s Xbox underwent the same exact problems. Console owners also have complained of (along with the freezing) random crashing, black screens, and a variety of error messages.
Critics and analysts have blamed the faulty systems on Microsoft’s rushed production of the program. After Microsoft’s initial press release, Sony followed suit and soon began releasing promotions for its own PS3 console. To date, Sony has reportedly sold 100 million PS2 game systems, a good 74 million more than Microsoft’s original Xbox. The video game console industry itself is worth $21 billion and people have suggested Microsoft rushed the technology to meet the Christmas rush and to beat Sony’s own release – its game plan for beating Sony sales.
Such an incident relates perfectly to Ben Schneiderman’s theory in Leonardo’s Laptop that companies can no longer create ignoring the consumer demands: consumers must demand high quality from companies and companies in response must listen and meet these demands. Microsoft is one of the largest technology companies and is known world-wide. However by placing their own profits and their competition above that of consumer desires, the company is now suffering and could possibly face fines and recall all the long-awaited consoles from disappointed customers. This is not only hurt their name but also incur tons of costs which could have been avoided in the first place.
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