12 Nov 2006 2314H

XBox 360 problems with voice in multiplayer, GRAW

Not to talk about the frivolous, but I’m allowed since this is my blog.

I have an XBox 360, which friends raved about near launch, and felt some peer pressure (really, quite a lot of armtwisting) to conform since we were going online to play multiplayer co-operatively through the Ghost Recon series and also the latest installment of Rainbow Six, so, it was required equipment for weekend warriorhood. I’m really not much of a fan of the 360, mostly based on my experience with its predecessor. I wasn’t entirely convinced that Microsoft knew how to do hardware since they had so many problems with software and even that they couldn’t do well, so, the worst was confirmed for me when I started to experience problems with the machines.

The background to this was we were getting the consoles just to play Halo, the much vaunted killer title for the original Xbox. At that point, I got a used box from Gamestop and it played Halo fine, but it would not play any other game because the DVD drive would not read discs. So after a few frustrating sessions, I quietly divested myself of the XBox and traded it in for a Sony Playstation 2, which I happily lived with for the next few years, hoping to never have to buy another XBox again.

In September, the first XBox 360 was bought after a bit of arm twisting, having traded in my PS2 and a stack of games, but I immediately found a problem involving DVD playback so I brought it back to my Gamestop and swapped the console. Now on XBox 360 #2, we played through Ghost Recon 2 and its expansion pack, Summit Strike, without incident, but now, when we go online in Xbox Live and try to play multiplayer co-op in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, I cannot hear my teammates in the lobby or in the game, and they cannot hear me. However, private chat works fine, my NAT settings are Open, and everything else is connecting correctly. It’s the most puzzling thing and apparently not at all uncommon.

After an hour of A/B testing with another Xbox 360 and game disc, we now have discovered, through a process of elimination and testing through a matrix of potential problem components (server, internet service, console, game disc, hard drives, controller, headset), that the console is indeed faulty. After a lengthy series of three support calls, they had the gall to try and charge me $140 for the repair, but I was able to have them knock it down to $70 given this was my second, going on third XBox 360. It amazes me in this country that we still do not use numerical controls in the way that the Japanese and Germans do to increase quality in manufacturing and production of electronic components.

Because we now know that Microsoft products are unreliable even in the hardware domain, since they are not doing quality control at the factory, it will be necessary for all users to test any future XBoxes from them immediately after purchase along a matrix of critical functionality. Neither E. or I have figured what this is yet, only that among them, the tests will require going online and testing various functions with XBox Live as well as the console and various peripherals. If the machine passes the tests, we keep it; if it fails, back to the store.

But frankly none of this is really worth it to me. I was this ready to just dump it at the local Gamestop and just wash my hands of the whole affair. For $500, XBox fans, I expect something a bit more quality controlled. And not only me, but E. is also working on XBox #2 after experiencing a machine with a dead power brick. How much of a coincidence is this?

And now, Zune is coming out this week. Can’t wait to see the support logs for that.

Edit (16 Mar 07): So, as I’m about to receive XBox #4, my net war buddy, Kevin, uncovered the solution to this XBox Live online gameplay communications problem. Apparently, if you limit who can contact you in under your Privacy Settings in XBox Live to “Friends Only,” even if you have made them Friends you will not be able to communicate with them in XBox Live hosted games. That was the reason why I could not hear anyone in the lobby and in game play. The contact preferences is such an obscure setting and seems so innocuous that no one has been able to come up with a solution until now. Uncheck that radio button and you should be okay.

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