Reasons to Avoid Microsoft

Show All

MS XBox

Warning: Missing argument 6 for item(), called in /var/www/lugod/microsoft/index.php on line 637 and defined in /var/www/lugod/microsoft/includes.php on line 38

• Microsoft: No Xbox for You! (Slashdot, 2002.Oct.18)
  Microsoft is very concerned about a man having been acquitted after allegedly selling modified chips... So concerned in fact, that they are saying: change the law, or they will have to reconsider selling the Xbox in Australia.
  

• Microsoft takes heavy losses on the Xbox (Red Herring, 2002.Jun.24)
  Beating Sony and Nintendo in the gaming console market is apparently worth billions to the software giant.
  

• Electronic Arts in Sony Game Deal (New York Times, 2002.May.16)
  ...officials of Electronic Arts said that although it was also in talks with the Microsoft Corporation on joining [their] online effort, it had reservations about Microsoft's strategy. ... Microsoft had been trying to force software publishers to offer their online games on data-serving computers controlled by Microsoft, a move that could potentially give Microsoft access to information about customers.
  

• Microsoft Tried to Buy Nintendo (Gamers.com, 2002.Apr.26)
  Following last month's rather shocking revelation that Microsoft had originally tapped Sega to develop the Xbox, it's now been revealed that at one point Microsoft was dealing with Nintendo too. In fact, Microsoft was all but set to outright buy the company.
  

• Analysts: Xbox momentum slowing (MSNBC, 2002.Apr.09)
  Microsoft Corp. may be falling behind on its fiscal-year shipment targets for the Xbox ... In its regular global video game survey last week, Goldman Sachs said U.S. retailers showed a "surprisingly clear" preference for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 over the Xbox.
  

• Xbox Revelations: Sega Paid Off, No Square Support, MGSX Cancelled? (Gamers.com, 2002.Mar.26)
  Sega proudly supports the Xbox with several titles, but the secrets behind how this arrangement came about are shocking. Back in 1999, Bill Gates forged an agreement with Sega's late president Isao Okawa that would have handed the Xbox hardware design and manufacturing duties over to Sega.
  

• PlayStation 2 gets kicked out of CeBit (ZDNet, 2002.Mar.18)
  Less than a week after Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told visitors to the massive CeBIT exhibition in Germany that he wanted to see a warmer, friendlier Microsoft, his company has become embroiled in a row with Sony over gaming consoles. Microsoft complained to the show organizers ... that Sony was breaching show rules by letting people play on Sony PlayStation 2 game consoles. ... Microsoft officials denied that the company had complained ... [but] the show organizers confirmed [it].
  

• Xbox woes: Some customers angry (CNN, 2002.Jan.05)
  Hundreds of people who bought Microsoft's hot new Xbox game console over the holidays received defective systems, and some say they waited for weeks before the devices were fixed. ... 'The whole thing that was so frustrating was) just the fact that still to this day I'm waiting for a call-back just to explain to me what happened.' ... [One customer] said it took nearly two weeks before he received an empty box to send his faulty Xbox back for repair. At one point, customer service couldn't find his records. ... Still later, someone called him and asked him how he was enjoying his new Xbox -- which he'd never received.
  

• Xbox squared (Salon, 2001.Nov.15)
  Microsoft's game-box revolution takes the path of mediocrity... Gone is the bold promise to innovate and revolutionize gaming... In opposition, all Microsoft really has is a horde of mediocre titles-- and $500 million to spend on a megaphone loud enough [for Steve Ballmer] to bellow 'Give it up for me!' into a quickly emptying auditorium. ... In any event, the Xbox's reputation as being the ultimate developer-friendly console seems to be waning even before its release.
  

• FiXbox (Gaming Age, 2001.Oct.23)
  Multiple resets also failed to resolve the problem. Soon after, a screen appeared that said the Xbox needed customer service repair. The screen provided a list of customer service phone numbers to contact. Several Toys R Us employees did not know what went wrong with the Xbox demo unit that now carried a 'Out of Order' sign. The store received their unit on Tuesday. The in-store demo units are believed to be actual finalized hardware that consumers will see at launch. [Another] Xbox unit [...] is reported to have 'freezing' problems that requires employees to open the kiosk every 75 minutes to reset the console.
  

• E3: Xbox Impressions (Gaming Intellegence Agency, 2001.May.17)
  ...the hardware is not entirely stable yet - a crash during Nightcaster revealed a familiar looking PC boot screen...
  

• XBox Screenshot Flim-Flammery? (Slashdot.org, 2001.Mar.18)
  Apparently a game character was pasted on the scene background and a stock Photoshop lens flare was added. ... The screenshots on the XBox site have been updated, but gamers seem to have long, intense, pixel-specific memories.
  

Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux systems, remote system administration and custom software development.

LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us

LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.