Comments on: All I want to do is play Beautiful Katamari

Question: All I want to do is play Beautiful Katamari

msali — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:47:12 -0800

Does anybody have any idea why an Xbox 360 would all of a sudden stop recognizing Xbox 360 games, thereby rendering it a useless chunk of white plastic?

Yesterday the damn thing worked just fine. Halo 3 was played, a good time was had by all. Today I went out and actually bought my VERY OWN GAME - first one ever - because the men in my house are having such a fine time with the new machine. Did I mention it's new? Just bought it on the first of this month, and up to this point, worked like a charm. Until today. Now it won't play Xbox 360 games, but mysteriously, will still play regular old Xbox games. I've already called Microsoft and spoken to one of their friendly reps, who is sending out a box for me to ship my brand new machine to the Xbox hospital. But I'm trouble shooting in the meantime. What gives? The dude at Microsoft had never heard of this before.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:55:20 -0800

Whenever my Xbox would freak out, I would unplug the power cable out of the back of the machine and let it sit for like, half an hour. Then it would magically start working again.

By: slavlin

slavlin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:17:16 -0800

I am wondering what region your 360 and the game you got are. You might want to che the regions. If they don't match, that could be it.

By: sien

sien — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:38:58 -0800

The guy at MS may have been being careful to be surprised.

There are rumours that the Xbox 360 has failure rates of up to 30%.

That's probably high, but the warranty changes and what not indicate a seriously high failure rate.

By: mphuie

mphuie — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:01:33 -0800

If you bought it on the first of the month, return it and get another one.

Going against what sien said, I've had two 360's bought in the beginning of 2006 that are running strong. (knock on wood). One of them has been running almost 24/7 as a media center extender.

By: graventy

graventy — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:47:14 -0800

Yeah, I would just return it to where you bought it, and get a new one. XBOX360's have a notoriously high fail rate.

By: msali

msali — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:11:28 -0800

Phaedon, per your suggestion, I unplugged the game for a half hour, no dice.
Mphuie, already called the Gamestop where I purchased the system, they won't take it back. Indeed, the information packet that came with the game itself said not to return it to the retailer in the event of a problem.
Slavin, game system vs. games purchased are not causing any issues as far as zone differences are concerned. Both the system and all games have been purchased in the US of A.
As for your snarky suggestion Phaedon of trying to regain my life, I'm just gonna ignore you, 'cuz I was brought up to be a lady.

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:14:20 -0800

Really helpful answer there, phaedon. Pure class.

I'd follow everyone else's advice and exchange your xbox for another one.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:08:33 -0800

Really helpful answer there, phaedon. Pure class.

Actually, mal, phaedon's answer was completely reasonable. For many processor-driven electronic devices, a complete power-down/power-up forces a total system reboot, rather than a quick "reset".

By: iamabot

iamabot — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:16:31 -0800

Thee 360 has a history of overheating that can only be cured by unplugging it for a while. This resets a couple of things internally. Phaedon's answer was correct, but I say we bring out the pitchforks and torches anyway.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:35:19 -0800

I believe Phaedon had a second comment that was deleted.

Regardless, dont feel bad about shipping it to MS. Ive read they are adding beefier heatsinks to 360s that come in for service. So you might get back a machine that works better than ever.