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Microsoft settles Xbox 360 Fall Update lawsuit
While it still has its share of Xbox 360-related lawsuits on its hands, it looks like Microsoft can now at least rest easy about one of them, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the company has resolved the suit it faced over its 360-trashing Fall Update. The lawsuit had been brought by Xbox 360 user Kevin Ray, who alleged that the 2006 Fall Update had bricked his console and that Microsoft had refused to repair it. According to a motion in the case, however, Microsoft says its records showed that Ray called the company for repairs again once it extended the warranty, after which Microsoft says it shipped out a replacement console at no cost to Mr. Ray, who apparently has had no further complaints. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the two sides have apparently agreed to settle it as an individual action and not a class action as had been proposed, leaving anyone else looking for a piece of the action out of luck.
Microsoft extends Xbox 360 warranty to one year, covering most "bricked" consoles
Sorry Microsoft, hate to be back seat CEOs here, but we really think it might behoove you to actually do the right thing from the start one of these days. We're all proud of you for finally patching things up for your consumers in these recent Xbox problems, but why is it so important that you wait for a class action lawsuit and/or heated public outcry before you come around? Just saying is all. Anyways, if you're one of those recent victims of the Fall 2006 firmware update for the Xbox 360 and had your console bricked, you might be glad to learn that Microsoft has extended its standard 90 day warranty to a full year, and the new warranty applies retroactively. That means current consoles less than a year old are now covered, and those who have paid for repairs for a 360 less than a year old will be reimbursed in 10 weeks ago. We're not exactly sure how this helps those who purchased an Xbox more than a year ago, just to have it bricked by the Fall update, and we're guessing that class action lawsuit isn't going anywhere, but at least it's a good step from Microsoft -- just a few weeks late.[Thanks, Andrew S]
Class action lawsuit could be building against Microsoft for 360 fall update woes
Team Xbox has singled out a recent posting on the official Xbox forums declaring a class action lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft because of hardware problems initiated by the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update. The alleged plaintiff, known by gamertag REDRUM6622, has supposedly accused Microsoft of a breach of contract, violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and negligence; and he has demanded that a jury weigh the allegations.There has not yet been official verification of the lawsuit's authenticity, but real or not, someone has taken the time to draft a detailed claim -- could it all be for a few laughs? We shall see.
Fix for 360's 1080p troubles is being worked on
Last Tuesday, we found ourselves rushing out to a local Toys "R" Us to pick up Microsoft's official VGA cable after our trusty Dell 2405FPW balked at dishing out 1080p over component. Regardless, we wanted to watch our 1080p upscaled DVDs and -- due to all sorts of arcane legal restrictions -- Microsoft is only able to offer that service over VGA and not component (note: reason #38 why we want an HDMI connection).So, you'll appreciate our dismay when we plugged in our new ($50!) cable, only to find that our display had serious issues with the 360's VGA connection -- it was entirely washed out, a known issue with the Xbox 360's VGA implementation apparently. But there's more! Any resolution, not just 1920x1080, exhibits a significant amount of screen tearing, which isn't replicated using component. And one last thing. Some televisions, most notably Sony's LCD XBR series, that are supposed to accept 1080p over component just flat out refuse. Just reading through the AVS Forums thread on the topic should be enough to convince anyone that something's rotten in the state of 1080p on the 360. Microsoft podcaster Major Nelson brings word that the team in Redmond is aware of the 1080p issues and are working on a fix ... at around 8 minutes into his latest 'cast (number 200, congrats!), he says the display issue is "kind of this bug that the guys are working on and they are aware of." He limits it to simply the 1080p over component issue, so let's hope that Microsoft takes the opportunity to isolate and correct the outstanding VGA issues as well.[Via Engadget HD]
Major Nelson: Fix on the way for Xbox 360 1080p problems
Microsoft just rolled out the much awaited update to the Xbox 360 dashboard including -- among other things -- support for 1080p over VGA and component but for some gamers and error screen was all they got. The company still hasn't said exactly what it believe is causing the issue, although some have said it may be due to either frequency supported by the VGA cable or the way it syncs with monitors, but Major Nelson confirmed on his podcast this morning that engineers are aware of the issue and are working on a fix. The TVs that suffer the problem appear to be some Sony (most notably LCD XBRs) and Samsung models that should be able to accept the 1080p input but as of yet, don't. Affected owners should hopefully have their mere 720p experience rectified soon, but will it be in time for the HD DVD player launch?
How much juice is left in your headset?
So you've decided to cut the cord and purchase the new Xbox 360 wireless headset this weekend, good for you! But did you know about the snazzy new battery indicator that was enabled through the fall update?Well, our friend Major Nelson informs us that you'll be able to check not only your wireless controller's battery life, but the battery life of your new wireless headset too. And all of this battery information is easily accessible through the Xbox guide and is displayed in convenient icon form. So I ask, are you planning on picking up the new wireless headset and freeing yourself of the wires?
Fall update curbs GamerScore cheating
GamerScore whore awfullygood, from the appropriately named blog, "Confessions of a GamerScore Whore," describes how the Fall update made life more difficult for achievement cheaters:With the Fall Update, Microsoft has introduced a hybrid locking mechanism that effectively harms the first method [ for swapping game saves] and squelches the second method. Method 1 has been smacked silly because the vast majority of existing game save files created on the previous update do not work on the Fall update software version. This renders those files useless until unscrupulous members decide to re-upload hundreds of saves based from the new dashboard version. This will most likely take months upon months or possibly never happen for very unpopular games.Method 2 has been rendered useless as new console specific security is in place. Gamerscore thirsty gamers are taunted with a Corrupt Save message when the bypass method attempts to be used. Obviously, the new security may eventually be cracked by code junkies, but those game saves may also have to be re-uploaded. I'm unsure of any repercussions to method 3. I've always found trading accounts to be supremely idiotic as anyone could keep your account for themselves. Anyway, if anyone has heard if method 3 has been affected, let me know. Former champ ST TheKing quit the GamerScore race after the upper reaches of the leaderboard became became clogged with fakes, including awfullygood himself (who admits he was cheating just to keep up with the Joneses). Sure Xbox 360 achievements are intangible and useless, but they are fun to earn and these a-hole cheats make a mockery of every pallid kid who spent a three day weekend in the basement going after that final Lumines Live time attack get. For God's sake, if putting endless hours into a crap game like Bomberman gives you a limited sense of accomplishment, stealing a game save must give you even less. Of course, these changes won't stop cheating, just slow it down for a bit. But it does serve as a reminder that you're not entitled to an elite score, unless you're playing that other console.
Fall update fix released
Major Nelson reports -- from a rest stop in Massachusetts -- that a fix has been created for those having trouble with the Fall Update. Those of you that have had no problems with the update will not be prompted to get the fix and may continue on as if nothing happened. Those of you who have had trouble should call Xbox Support. We're not really sure how you apply an update to a bricked console, but that's probably why you have to call customer support. If anyone out there manages to get this patch, leave a comment here and tell us what the process was like.[Thanks, Glenn]
Fall update won't play nice with Sony 1080p TVs
Angry owners in the AVS forum report that the Fall Update's vaunted 1080p support works as advertised with Samsung HDTVs -- but not with two of Sony's most popular (and expensive) 1080p LCD models XBR2/3: I just had the time to quickly start poking around with the 360 dashboard update, and I'm sorry to report that 1080p is broken on the XBR2 via both component and VGA. When I select 1080p in VGA, I get a windowboxed picture with tons of info cut off on both sides and a warning from the TV saying "Invalid Signal--Check Your PC Output". Over component, when I select 1080p I get a screen full of static for 10 seconds before the console reverts to 1080i. Feh. Since the XBR2 is one of the most high-profile, wildely available 1080p displays on the market, you'd think MS' engineers would find a way to get the two to work together, but noooooo... While it's outrageous to suggest that MS would intentionally blacklist their rival's most popular HDTVs, it is amusingly ironic -- unless you're staring at a $4000 distorted screen right now. Another patch could be imminent. It's worth pointing out that most people on that thread say they're going to return their Sony set, not their Xbox 360. And, as usual, someone comments that an upscaled 1080i signal is indiscernible anyway.Sidenote: The general public doesn't have a prayer of grasping this stuff.
Xbox 360 fall update in a few pictures
Surely so, this morning we flipped the switch on our Xbox 360 and were able to download the fall update which, among other things, enables HD DVD, 1080p support, and Windows Media Connect media sharing. We were obviously unable to test the HD DVD support, but we did snag a few shots of 1080p in action, as well as the new media sharing capabilities. Oh, and we do apologize for the (usual) crappiness of our pics -- LED DLP displays really don't photograph very well.
Xbox 360 pre-TGS briefing set for Sept. 20
IGN reports that Microsoft has scheduled an Xbox 360 press briefing two days ahead of the Tokyo Game Show September 22:Officially, the company plans on showing off its Japanese Xbox 360 titles for the rest of the year and sharing its strategy for the Japanese market. We presume there will be plenty of long-awaited details on Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, but there should be some big surprises as well.How about some news on the Fall dashboard update. Speaking of updates, what's on your wish list?
