Early Adopters

I resisted making an early purchase of the Xbox 360, mostly because the enhancements from the original Xbox are in graphics more than gameplay, and the graphic improvements are only experienced through HDTV, which I don't have. Despite my penchant for buying new and shiny objects, I've been a stalwart in the TV department. My TV is so old I think it has screenburn from the original Nintendo.

But it looks like I made a wise decision to steer clear of the newest-fangled game system, because people are reporting problems.

On the Teamxbox.com site, run by Fox Interactive unit IGN Entertainment, a poll on the forums indicated that between 14 and 16 percent of respondents are having problems with their machines.

Users have reported that their machines shut down after only about a half hour of play, and troubleshooting efforts uncovered heating issues.

Well, that can't be good. How do you feel about $400 for 30 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay, followed by an unceremonious machine meltdown? I don't think Microsoft should minimize the problem, because 16% of the 1.8 million sold amounts to 288,000 machines. Gad! In fairness, "only" 600 complaints have been registered on the aforementioned site. Then again, I would be back at my retail store looking for a replacement if this happened to me.

Of course, by the time I upgrade my TV we may be on the third of fourth Xbox generation.