Rumor: Defective Xbox 360 reports run rampant

Source: A small mountain of anecdotal evidence springing from message board forums around the Internet.

The official story: "We have received some isolated reports and calls of consoles not operating as expected. The call rate is well below what you'd expect of a consumer electronics product of this complexity."-- Molly O'Donnell, senior manager of global Xbox public relations.

What we heard: As was the case in the days following the launch of the PSP, reports have begun to surface about problems with the Xbox 360 hardware. Some people complained of games freezing. Some complained of systems overheating. Some complained of hard drives not working. Some complained of disk drives that scratched games.

There is little doubt that some of these things happened. It's a new console launch, after all, and historically problems happen at console launches, especially when there's a shortage of systems and the manufacturer is rushing to deliver them to retail. It's as predictable as people getting robbed for new systems.

So far, all the Xbox 360 units GameSpot staff members have bought at retail since launch have encountered no hardware-related problems. But the people with perfectly working 360s aren't going to be nearly as loud as the people who waited in line all night to blow hundreds of dollars on a bum system. They are understandably livid, and reports (like this one) that conclude with a "sucks to be you" are of little comfort to those affected.

To that end, O'Donnell says help is on the way--or at least will be soon. Gamers with console problems who call 1-800-4MY-XBOX and wind up needing repairs or a replacement 360 will have a prepaid shipping box overnighted to them. She said that typically said gamers will have a fixed or replaced 360 arriving at their door five business days later.

However, O'Donnell stressed to GameSpot that the problems with the system have thus far been very limited. "The most important thing to note here is that the vast majority of Xbox 360 owners are having an outstanding experience with their new systems," she said.

Bogus or not bogus?: Have there been some defective units? Not bogus. Are defective consoles prevalent? Bogus...according to Microsoft, anyway.