The BBC Watchdog show recently reported on how thousands of people have complained that the Xbox 360 is scratching their discs. In one particular case, MS tried to blame the owner of the 360 for the scratching problem, however tests revealed that discs could scratch even when jumping around while playing Guitar Hero.

We sent the same Xbox 360s to a lab in Hampshire, where special testing equipment replicated the vibrations you'd find in a typical home. The first test simulated walking and caused the consoles no problem at all. Then the boxes were subjected to shock vibration testing, which simulated vibrations equivalent to that of someone putting a book down on the table near the Xbox. The newer console passed with flying colours; however, the older console caused a scratch similar to those experienced by the previous owner.

Our testers told us that the console had failed "very, very quickly" and that these are the kinds of vibrations you'd expect any household to have - particularly when playing games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero that encourage you to get physically involved.

It looks like the Aussies have beaten the Americans to the punch and have confirmed that all the Xbox 360's SKU's will be receiving price reductions in Australia from July 2nd. The Arcade unit is down $50 making it cheaper than the Wii, the PRO bundle will be 80 Aussie dollars cheaper and the Elite will be receiving the same treatment.

Rumours have been swirling that the Xbox 360 is about to get another price cut in the US, following cuts in Europe and Asia earlier this year. It seems the Aussies have beaten the Americans to the punch, however, with confirmation that all of the various 360 SKUs will be receiving price reductions down under from today.

Effective from July 2, the Xbox 360 Arcade unit will receive an A$50 price drop and will now retail for A$349 ($333), A$50 cheaper than the retail price of the Nintendo Wii locally. The Xbox 360 Pro bundle will now retail for A$499 (down from A$579), while the Elite will sell for A$649 (down from A$729).

An Xbox 360 exec has also confirmed with GameSpot AU that the 360's total install base in Australia and New Zealand has now reached more than 400,000 units, putting it second in the market behind the Wii. We spoke to Jeremy Hinton, Xbox group product marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand, about the rationale behind the price cut, whether Microsoft was feeling pressure from its console competitors, and what sales impact they were expecting from today's announcement.

A number of senior industry analysts have warned that Microsoft's Xbox 360 console will start to struggle in the market over the coming year. Moreover, some have labelled Microsoft's attempts to market the 360 towards the casual gaming demographic as simply disastrous.

Senior industry analysts have voiced concerns over the future of Microsoft's Xbox business, labeling the US firm's attempts to market 360 to casual audiences "disastrous", and predicting that the console will "start to struggle in the market" over the coming year.

Speaking during a panel session at last month's Nordic Game 2008 conference in Malmo, Sweden, analysts covering the UK, Europe and North America were called upon to assess the current state of the global games market, and predict key trends for the next 12-18 months. And for Microsoft, the picture in their crystal ball was anything but rosy.

"When you look at an installed base basis, the Xbox 360's going to come in third place when all's said and done," said DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole. "The concern I would have with a company like Microsoft is, one of these days they're going to have to make a profit on this business otherwise why are they in it?"

Nick Parker, MD of Parker Consulting and an analyst for Screen Digest, argued that 360's failure to succeed in key continental Europe territories pointed to a fundamental image problem. "The trouble with Xbox 360 is it hasn't managed to shake off this urban, irreverent adult male feel; so it hasn't gained traction in the more casual gaming markets of mainland Europe such as France, Spain and Italy, where it's stalled," he said. "And there are already rumours of Xbox 360 being delisted from certain retailers."

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has published a patent application on April 10 by Microsoft for a gyroscopic-based input device for use on computers and games consoles such as the Xbox 360. According to the application: Described is a technology by which a computer pointing device (generally a mouse but alternatively a game controller or remote control device) may be worn on the hand and operated without needing to contact a mousing surface. The controller is apparently still at the research and design stage and it is unclear if it will ever be released. Check the forums for a more detailed description from a source at TXB.

We were told that the motion sensing controller that Microsoft was researching had the functionality of both the Nintendo Wii Remote and the Nunchuk packed into a single device, with a shape that is neither that of a banana, nor a remote controller, but more like a “pistol grip.” On top, it is supposed to have an analog stick (that could be replaced by a trackball) surrounded by the four action buttons.

Microsoft will be resetting the the entire Gamerscore for an account to zero if the user has violated the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use by tampering with their Gamerscore and Achievements. The account will be unable to regain all previously obtained achievements and Gamerscore, however, the players will have the ability to gain future Achievements by earning them fairly, like the majority of the Xbox LIVE community does. You will also be labeled as a cheater for the community to see on Xbox.com and you will see it on your gamer card.

I wanted to follow up and let you know where we are on the post I made a few months ago on Gamesave Tampering. Today we took action on some of the accounts we have identified as the most serious offenders who have violated the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use by tampering with their Gamerscore and Achievements.

The steps today takes the form of the following:

• Resetting the entire Gamerscore for an account to zero
• The account will be unable to regain all previously obtained achievements and Gamerscore, however, the players will have the ability to gain future Achievements by earning them fairly, like the majority of the Xbox LIVE community does.
• The account will be clearly labeled as a cheater for the community to view on xbox.com. You can see an example here. In dash, the personal view of the gamercard will be labeled as well.

Xbox LIVE remains committed to keeping the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone.

To read more about Gamerscore corrections read the FAQ on Xbox.com

A Sony exec has reportedly said the electronics giant is in discussions with Microsoft about Blu-ray for Xbox 360, but a Microsoft rep tells Next-Gen that there are "no plans" to bring the technology to its console.

"In response to Stan Glasgow’s statement that Blu-ray is a possibility for Xbox 360, we have made no such announcement". They also have said that "Games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available."

The launch of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360® is sure to be one of the biggest gaming events of the year. Now you have a chance to experience all the excitement of the big release party in New York City with the Xbox LIVE® GTA IV Sweepstakes!

Along with four trips for two to New York, we've got thousands of other prizes to give away, including custom Xbox 360 Elite consoles, Microsoft Points, Gold subscriptions, and more. Don't miss your chance at these great prizes—all you need is a gamertag to enter!

Before registering for the sweepstakes, make sure your Xbox LIVE account information is accurate! Potential winners will be notified by the administrator and have their prizes shipped using the Contact Info (e-mail, phone, and address) on their Xbox LIVE profile. If your contact info is not up-to-date, you will be disqualified from winning a prize.

Check your account information here.
Sweepstakes Registration

Access the official sweepstakes entry form online and complete the form and submit it as instructed. The entry period is March 1 – April 14. You must have a valid Xbox gamertag linked to a Windows Live ID account to enter.

Don't have a gamertag yet? No problem. To obtain a free Xbox LIVE gamertag and free Windows Live account, go here and follow the instructions provided. Limit one entry per person and Xbox gamertag.
Prize Information

On or about April 23, lucky winners will be chosen from all entries to receive the following prizes:

* Four Grand Prizes: Four winners will score a four-day/three-night trip for two to New York City to attend the Xbox LIVE Gold Grand Theft Auto IV Launch Party.
* One Hundred First Prizes: Custom Xbox 360 Elite console
* Two Thousand Second Prizes: A Rockstar baseball bat
* Five Thousand Third Prizes: 500 Microsoft Points
* Three Thousand Fourth Prizes: 1000 Microsoft Points
* Two Thousand Fifth Prizes: 1600 Microsoft Points
* Five Thousand Sixth Prizes: One-month Xbox LIVE Gold subscription
* Three Thousand Seventh Prizes: Three-month Xbox LIVE Gold subscription
* Two Thousand Eighth Prizes: One-year Xbox LIVE Gold subscription

Go to xbox.com to enter.

Warranty firm SquareTrade has revealed more details on its widely reported 16.4% failure rate for Xbox 360 systems. They had 171 breakdowns out of a sample size of 1040 purchased warranties, which mostly consisted of Premium 360's. Sixty percent of the failures were down to RROD, but other problems included disc read errors, video card failures, hard drive freezes, power issues, and disc tray malfunctions.

The new report does note that this only tracks up to 10 months after the warranty purchase, and once a longer period of time is given, the failure rate is likely to increase. It's also worth pointing out that since Microsoft's Red Ring of Death warranty extension was introduced last July, some users may be going directly to the parent company instead.

"Our data shows that failures spike in the third month after warranty purchase but remain fairly steady after that, with only incremental drop-off until the eight month," the SquareTrade Analytics Team wrote on the blog. "This pattern is fairly consistent with all electronics failures."

SquareTrade also said its numbers don't take into account those Xbox 360 owners who bypass it altogether and take their claims directly to Microsoft, which could mean the failure rate is even higher still.

For its study, SquareTrade tracked 27 Xbox 360 Elites, 57 Cores and 956 Premiums. Out of the 171 claims reported (60 percent), 102 were general hardware failures (Red Ring of Death). Of the other 69 claims:

- 18% were disc read errors.
- 13% were video card failures.
- 13% were hard drive freezes.
- 10% were power issues.
- 7% were disc tray malfunctions.

SquareTrade said that, because the above issues are not covered under the extended Microsoft warranty, which only covers RROD, they are the more reliable figures.

British tabloid The Telegraph have interviewed the man behind Ninja Gaiden II, designer Tomonobu Itagaki, about the violence in Ninja Gaiden. They questioned the violent content on the game, which is yet to be rated by the BBFC, and compare it to Manhunt 2. However Itagaki has stood up for the game saying that "Violence is not about cutting an enemy into pieces or seeing a lot of blood." He believes "real violence" is about inflicting "dishonoring wounds" and that "you would really have to hate your opponent and this is not what this game or this character is about."

"Violence is not about cutting an enemy into pieces or seeing a lot of blood," he says. "That's not what real violence is." To emphasise his point, Itagaki reaches for a sheathed samurai sword mounted in his office, and holds it out in front of me.

"In the Japanese warrior tradition you would shame an opponent. A real sword expert would aim his slice at the first four fingers of his opponent's sword hand. This would cost a warrior his livelihood and someone suffering this wound would normally commit suicide rather than live without their sword hand.

"That's what I consider to be real violence," he says, replacing the sword in its mount. "It's not about lopping off limbs. It is about the relationship between you and your opponent. In order to inflict these dishonouring wounds you would really have to hate your opponent and this is not what this game or this character is about."

According to Xbox marketeer John Porcaro's gamerscore blog, Microsoft is planing to withdraw from HD DVD following recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios and retailers. "Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market." said Porcaro. Microsoft have stated that they do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform.

Xbox 360 HD DVD Support Statement Updated

We just issued an updated statement regarding HD DVD support for Xbox 360.

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Microsoft announced a dynamic co-op mode today for Fable 2 that allows a friend to join your experience at any time. The 'dog mechanic', however, will not be available for player two. Also announced was an arcade preview of Fable 2 which will allow users to get a taste of the game and earn money to be used in the retail version of the game. The preview will allow players to experience the universe by participating in mini-games and it will allow players to earn money that can be transfered to your character when the retail game ships.

During their conference at GDC08, Microsoft announced new and exciting details for its upcoming role-playing game Fable 2. Firstly, Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux detailed plans to bring the Fable 2 experience to Xbox Live Arcade. Developer Carbonated Games will be working with Lionhead to release an Arcade preview of Fable 2 which will allow players to dive into the world, pre-release, and earn money to be used in the retail version of the game. Earning money, a very important element of Fable 2, will the the essence of the Fable 2 XBLA release. The XBLA title will allow players to experience the universe by participating in mini-games, like a cross between Roulette and Craps shown at the conference, that will allow players to earn money that can be transfered to your character when the retail game ships.

According to a seattlepi Xbox insider, MS only opposed Blu-ray because Sony supported it and they hedged their bets by making the HD DVD add on. He believes if Sony cooperate, MS could have an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 very quickly, however he thinks it will be difficult as Sony wants to control their technology. He concluded that over the next few months Microsoft will come out with a Blu-Ray player, or they will file suit to force Sony to share their technology.

"Spooling bits to the hard drive at first boot is an intentional thing when the game knows that a HD is always in the system. Xbox 1 did it. The reason is to decrease the load time for some of the game content. That's the main advantage of having a HD in every console, and a gameplay optimization that all devs use. Regardless of how long that takes at first boot. If you all go back and read Xbox 1 blogs, you'll see the same types of comments against Xbox 1 too. They don't need the space per se, they have it to use and would be foolish not to. Hard disk spool time is so much less than optical disc drive spool time, resulting in better games."

"On to HD-DVD v Blu-ray. MS opposed Blue Ray because Sony supported it, plain and simple. I was in the room when the decision was made. But they hedged their bets by making the Media player a plug in. They could very quickly have a Blue Ray external plug in just like the HD, if Sony will cooperate."

"Therein lays the rub. MS, one of the worst co's to get info out of to make products compatible, needs Sony to help a competitor do just that - compete with a compatible product that depends on the competitor's intellectual protocol. Sony knows that they cannot justify charging MS a fee that is larger than any other customer. Sony wants to make Blu-Ray ubiquitous so they have shaved down fees as much as possible. So MS must get the same deal as everyone else."

"But Sony wants to control this technology in the gaming space, and prevent success by a competitor in the expansive entertainment markets of this space. Where much of the cash flow for these kinds of products will lie in the coming years from also using gaming consoles as home entertainment media extenders, central to the digital entertainment lifestyle."

"What would you do now if you were Sony? The same thing MS has done over the years. Make the technology intentionally incompatible, withhold information, withhold support for design input to make it compatible, etc."

"We'll see over the next few months. Either MS will come out with a Blu-Ray player, or they will file suit to force Sony to share, in much the same way many others sue MS for the same reasons on Windows compatibility. It will be interesting to watch this unfold."

"Once again, users are caught watching the battle from the sidelines. Unless you make sure you vote with your dollars and put an end to this nonsense by insisting on unified standards across vendors. Kinda like the Blu-Ray fight..."">Xboxfounder has chimed in the comments on Digital Joystick on the developments of HD-DVD/Blu-ray for game systems.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 may have fallen behind the PS3 and Wii during the month of January, but MS have put on a happy face and emphasized two points. The first is that Xbox 360 owners spend more on games and drive the ecosystem, and also games play and sell better on the Xbox 360 as supported by facts such as CoD 4 on the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3 equivalent by 2:1.

Xbox 360 Owners Spend More on Games; Drives Industry Ecosystem

In January, $297 million was spent on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories combined), compared to $244 million on Wii and $219 million on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
$159 million was spent on Xbox 360 games alone in January compared to $131 million on Wii and $80 million for PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
Total customer spending on Xbox 360 life-to-date now reaches nearly $8.6 billion; this is more than double PS3 and Wii combined. (U.S. NPD, January)
Six of the top 10 best selling games in January are on Xbox 360’s platform. (U.S. NPD, January)
After five months on the market, “Halo 3” continues to make the top 10 best selling games list according to NPD with 127,000 additional units sold in January. (U.S. NPD, January)
Games Play Better, Sell Better on Xbox 360

“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” on Xbox 360 was the number one selling game across all platforms for the third month in a row. In January, the fourth edition of Activision's acclaimed war game sold more than 331,000 copies on Xbox 360 and outsold the PS3 version by more than 2:1. (U.S. NPD, January)
Music fans love to jam on “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” on Xbox 360! The Xbox 360 version of “Rock Band” sold more than 172,000 units in January and ranked fifth on the top 10 best selling games according to NPD. “Rock Band” on PS3 failed make it into the top 25 list for January. (U.S. NPD, January)
Third party publishers made 61 percent of their retail revenue, this generation, on Xbox 360 compared to 20 percent on Wii and 18 percent on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
Xbox 360 has 83 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher compared to just 42 for PS3 and 14 for Wii.
Looking forward, Xbox 360 will continue to be the destination for the best games with powerhouse franchises such as “BioShock,” “Call of Duty,” “Guitar Hero,” “Halo,” “Madden,” “Mass Effect,” and coming in April, “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Whether you are an experienced gamer or a family looking for a night of fun, Xbox 360 is today’s preferred gaming experience, where everyone is invited to play.

Warranty issuer SquareTrade said that they had found 16.4% failure rate for Xbox 360's from a sample of 1000. Microsoft has responded saying it does not comment on hardware failure rates. However, they did say they were unfamiliar with SquareTrade and the methodology of their report was suspect.

Warranty issuer SquareTrade revealed the results of its recent examination of Xbox 360 failure rates. The company said that, based on a sample group of 1,000 warrantees it had issued, 16.4 percent had service calls -- more than half for general hardware failures (a.k.a. Three Red Lights) and the rest for disk drive problems, hardware freezes and other issues.

"Microsoft does not comment on hardware failure rates [emphasis by Microsoft], nor do we comment on speculation," Microsoft spokesman Joe DiMiero told IGN in an e-mail message today. "We have not seen the report, and are unfamiliar with the agency that filed it. Based on the enthusiast community's feedback yesterday, the methodology of this report is suspect."

Warranty firm SquareTrade has amassed over 1000 warranty claims for the Xbox 360 and come up with some interesting findings. They have found that the failure rate of Xbox 360 systems is at 16.4%, compared to a 3% rate for the PS3 or the Wii with sample sizes in the high hundreds. The Red ring of Death accounted for 60% of their Xbox 360 failures. The CEO for SquareTade said that in the future we may see an even higher percentage due to prolonged use.

SquareTrade CEO Steve Abernethy speculated that the future may see an even higher percentage. "It is reasonable to believe these failure rates will increase over time, since the Xbox 360 failure issues tend to increase with prolonged use where overheating appears the main culprit," he said. Abernethy went on to note that while the company didn't track the different variations of the 360, he "would estimate most if not all were the original motherboard."

In taking statistics, the two most important factors are sample size and randomness. By using a pool of over 1000 redeemed warranties, the report's sample size is sufficient. On the other hand, since the sampling was taken from people who have to seek SquareTrade's warranty service out, the possibility exists that the randomness factor could be skewed, leaning towards heavy system users who are more likely to overheat their 360s. This doesn't invalidate the report by any means, but it is worth keeping mind.

Microsoft's senior VP of Interactive Entertainment, Don Mattrick, has said that Grand Theft Auto IV will have downloadable content and online multiplayer support that's unique to the Xbox 360. If true, the news of exclusive Xbox 360 multiplayer elements would be quite a blow to PS3 owners.

"It's an amazing piece of software, and I'm really excited with its downloadable content and online multiplayer support - again, that's something that's unique to 360," he said.

"We think consumers are going to love that, and it's going to create what I would describe, again, as the premium experience on our platform."

Microsoft may have coughed up huge amounts of cash to secure exclusive DLC for GTA IV but online rumors indicate that besides the two long chapters which will be exclusive to the Xbox 360, the rest of the downloadable content will be heading to the PS3 as it is on the Xbox 360 system.

Microsoft Corp. may have stumped up an alleged $50 million USD to secure exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content for its Xbox 360 console – much to the chagrin of PlayStation 3 fans everywhere – but it would appear that the deal doesn’t really leave Sony’s machine too far behind in the DLC stakes.

Specifically, current online chatter suggests that Redmond-based Microsoft’s big-dollar edition of Rockstar Games’ upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV will be bolstered by the inclusion of two longevity-friendly downloadable game chapters, which will arrive exclusively on the Xbox 360 platform via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

However, those chapters – while no-doubt tantalising - will supposedly be the sum total of the exclusive content secured by Microsoft’s bank-busting deal, with all other downloadable content related to the eagerly anticipated title equally as available for the PlayStation 3 as it is for the Xbox 360.

Jeff Bell, VP of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Division, has said "never say never" on the possibility of releasing a Blu-ray drive if that became the consumers choice. He said they have had a long history of partnership with Sony and says they have a 'coopetition', which is a word he learned at MS.

1UP: Microsoft's seen some good success with the release of the HD-DVD add-on for Xbox 360. With Warner Bros. recent announcement to go Blu-ray exclusive, clearly it's not a knock-out punch -- but a blow to the format. How do you see that changing Microsoft's perspective on the ongoing format war?

Bell: First of all, let me say Warner Bros. is a great partner. They are the number one partner in terms of downloadable content with TV shows to own and movies to rent on Xbox Live Marketplace. We were disappointed with the announcement. It has a consequence. I will tell you that we are committed to HD-DVD and still have some great partners -- Universal, Paramount, DreamWorks -- these are great participants in the format. We have sold very well the HD-DVD accessory.

We did make a specific choice; we did not impose technology upon our consumers. We would like choice to be our guiding principle, and it has worked for us. We're not demanding that people choose a format, but rather, we're with DVD in the Xbox 360. Satisfaction with DVDs, by the way, is like 96%, at least in the States. So, we continue to give the alternative in HD-DVD, we have downloadable movies and television shows on Xbox Live Marketplace, Media Center Extender is available and as we just announced, IPTV will be brought onto the Xbox 360, first with British Telecomm in 2008 for consumers. So, there's more than one choice to watch movies and TV shows.

1UP: In the event that HD-DVD no longer becomes a viable alternative in the retail space, how do you think Microsoft will respond to that? Peter Moore had at once said, before you released the add-on, that he was open to the possibility of releasing a Blu-ray drive if that became the consumer choice. Is that something that's still on the table for you guys?

Bell: You know, interestingly, we have a long history of partnership with Sony. Obviously, they run our software on their personal computers and other devices, so we have a 'coopetition' -- a word I learned at Microsoft when I joined. We've been talking to Blu-ray all along because we have the best piece of software in the business, called HDi. It is the backbone that powers interactivity in HD-DVD and we have that available to potentially partner with others.

You never say never. I think we'd like to see how things evolve. Our commitment, however, to HD-DVD is profound and consistent, and we have done very, very well in term of our accessory sales. We have 400 HD-DVD movies from great studios available. It's a long time between now and June.

The supposed insider who has worked on the Xbox 360 project and revealed a wealth of information behind the Red Ring of Death failures has responded to critics. He says MS knows who he is, so it would be pointless identifying himself and that fanboys would end up harassing his family and hacking his PC. He says Microsoft are worried about him revealing their problems and that he has contacted every single attorney who has filed a lawsuit against MS offering to help with some accepting his offer. He says he has always been in a position to stand up for the customer but MS stopped him from doing so and now they must pay the price.

Hi everyone. I understand the questions you all have. I hope you understand that it's a bit overwhelming to try and answer everything in real time. After tonight, I'm going to ask Jake (or Jacob?) to field your questions and funnel them to me for answers. Then we can do that in an organized way. But for now, I'm going to try and answer some that I thought were most important.
First, why the secrecy?
MS knows who I am. That's why I'm not concerned about self identifying to them in these postings with details only they would know, as some here have pointed out. The people who founded Xbox hw number 10. 1 left to go be the VP of manufacturing at Qualcomm, 1 left to go be the GM of engineering at Zune, 1 left after only 2 months in '99 due to conflicts with toddhol. He works on Surface now. The rest still work on Xbox. I am the only one who left the company entirely.
I am not concerned about MS knowing who I am. They are worried about me revealing their problems. Not the other way around. Plus, I have contacted every single attorney who has filed a lawsuit against MS and offered to help. Some have accepted, and that work is in progress. We'll talk about that in another post. It's very interesting, I just don't want a bunch of fan boys trying to hack my home PC (that I use for work). Harass my kids, call my house, etc.
Second, why now?
Well, it's not just now. I've been reaching out since before the product went into manufacturing. I left before launch. But many employees continued to contact me about the problems with the product and its launch. I did my best to help them figure out how to mitigate the problems caused my bad management decisions, and test the boxes right. Sometimes my ideas worked, sometimes they didn't. I then started to contact reporters. Sometimes it went no where. Sometimes, it resulted in a spectacular thing, like the ambush interview with toddhol just before MS admitted guilt. But still, it happened too slowly for me. That's one reason I'm doing this now.
When those articles were posted last July, I chimed in as a commentator. That's when Jake invited me for an interview. But I didn't see it then. It was only recently when I goog'ed "xboxfounder" on a whim that I found that old invite. So I contacted him to see if he was still interested. I sent him a current resume from my current work email account, and he believed me. If you guys don't, then tell me what you need to see as proof. And I will provide that.
Last: My motivation.
I have always been in a position to stand up for the customer. MS stopped me from doing that. They need to pay the price now. If you guys won't get together and make that happen, you have no hope for the future with them. It's not my fight, but I am here fighting. You decide what you want to do. And then do it!

MTV managed to have a chat with the lawyer who is suing Microsoft based on their lengthy Xbox Live outages. The lawyer stated that MS knew what was going to happen with the Xbox Live overload and if they didn't then they wouldn't have put out so many Xbox 360 unit's to start with thus proving MS's priorities were out of order. Moreover, he went on to comment they take money for subscriptions but don't make sure the service will be there and in the process put the cart before the horse.

At least some gamers' hopes lie with Gibson, a consumer-fraud attorney who claims he's never lost a trial and who has recently been working on a case against coin dealers who allegedly suckered elderly collectors into bad deals (one of the alternate URLs for Gibson's law firm is coinfraud.com).

"When you have one person who is mad and they can't get a response, and they can't get their complaints addressed by a company like Microsoft, the only way to get their attention is in numbers," Gibson said. He said the company had to have known what was going to happen with the Xbox Live overload. "If they had not anticipated the sales, then they would not have put out that many units of the Xbox to begin with." Last week, Microsoft announced that Live had reached 10 million subscribers and claimed record-setting revenue for consoles sold in 2007, covering strong sales through the holiday season. Gibson said that proves Microsoft's priorities were out of order.

"They take the money for the subscriptions, but they don't make sure that the service is going to be there," Gibson said. "They kind of put the cart before the horse. To me, you make sure the service is going to be there. Make sure the product is going to be there. And then feel good about taking money for the service and the product."

Dennis said Microsoft could not comment on the lawsuit because the company has yet to be served. Gibson is in the process of doing so, after which Microsoft will have 20 days to respond to the suit.

Asked if any alleviation of the Xbox Live issues would nix the suit, Gibson said the damage has already been done and that he would proceed. He said he has received more than 500 e-mails from gamers, 10 percent of them mocking or questioning the lawsuit but the rest expressing solidarity. He said that more than 50 more plaintiffs have joined Kay, Smith and Perez in the suit.

"What they would like to see is Microsoft fix the problem," Gibson said. "They'd like to be reimbursed for the money they spent when they haven't received the service, and hopefully it will make Microsoft do the right thing in the future."