Xbox 360 honeymoon is over

Gamers' enthusiasm for the newly released Xbox 360 quickly waned after the first reports were posted online of problems with the machines crashing and overheating.

No word yet on how widespread the problem actually is, or what, if anything Microsoft plans to do about it.

But the heat is on, and not for the first time. In February, Microsoft recalled power cords on the Xbox following reports of injuries due to defective electrical components. And a couple has sued Microsoft in a Texas court and claimed that the faulty design of an Xbox caused their house to burn down, according to an Inquirer story.

Blog community response:

"Up until today I was pretty much an Xbox fanboy, but after spending 6 and a half hours outside uncontrollably shivering for something that doesn't work right and makes me pay ridiculous sums just for basic functionality, they just lost me and a bunch of people I know."
-- Kulanose on xbox-scene

"...I came back with a couple of buddies of mine, turned on the 360 and it worked fine...for maybe a half hour then it turned off again. This happened about 3 more times. The only thing that is different is that the light is now orange. So I looked in the manual and it looks like it's an overheating problem...Man this suck...and to think I was #7 on the preorder list until I won my 360 and gave my spot to some kid that was at the store when I was about to cancel it."
-- Makaveli97 on teamxbox

"As I have been playing my Xbox this past week, I have noticed that not only is it very loud because of the fans, it is also by far the hottest running piece of equipment in my electronics rack...I personally have had no problems with it so far. But I am wondering what the long term effects of running such a hot device will have on the unit."
--Ben's Tech Blog

"Not trying to downplay anything, but I just think it's funny that we hear the same story at every system launch."
-- Bjorn kare Myskja on CNET News.com's Talkback