14 DAY TRIAL // Xbox 360 offers a more than complex gaming experience. It will actually bring gamers as close to the edge as possible. Death will only be a spark away, with overheating as a guaranteed catalyst... However, Microsoft wants the Xbox to kill no more and has debuted an initiative designed to take all the precaution measures necessary to ensure that the usage of its gaming console will no longer result in the loss of human life. There have been several incidents directly connected with the Xbox. Towards the end of May, Microsoft together with Wall-mart faced legal action from an Illinois family whose infant was killed in a fire started by an overheated Xbox console in 2004.
The lawsuit claimed that the power supply of the Xbox and the adjacent wiring overheated and sparked a power supply on fire which ultimately resulted in the child's death. In response to the lawsuit, Microsoft filed a dismissal arguing that the family abused the Xbox in a manner that caused the platform to overheat and produce the blaze. Still, overheating is a major issue with Xbox, as the recent example of a 14-year-old gamer from North Carolina illustrates. The boy attempted to cool down the console by dipping it in water.
In the wake of the latest Xbox overheating incident, Microsoft announced that it will provide retrofit for the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, in a preemptive and voluntary action "sparked" by reports claiming that the component was malfunctioning.
"Microsoft Corp. today announced that it is taking a precautionary measure and voluntarily providing customers with a free retrofit to the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. The action is being taken after Microsoft was informed of a very small number of incidents of a malfunction in the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, in which a component in the wheel chassis may overheat and release smoke when the AC/DC power supply is used to energize the wheel. There have been no reported incidences of fire, personal injury or property damage resulting from the component failure in the wheel," the Redmond company explained.