Rim Semiconductor Company (fka RSMI)

[GrooveMaster]

Holy lack of bandwidth Batman!

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12000DMAC33C

Xbox 360 Live Overwhelmed by Demand
By David Garrett
November 24, 2006 9:38AM

Digg It! Bookmark to del.cio.us
The video download service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 Live gave users trouble this week, as Xbox 360 fans found the download service overwhelmed by demand. The sheer volume of data, coupled with the number of attempted downloads, seems to have overloaded Microsoft's Xbox 360 Live servers, bringing them to their virtual knees.

Related Topics Xbox 360
Microsoft
Gaming
Sony
PlayStation
Nintendo
Wii


Latest News Xbox 360 Live Overwhelmed by Demand
Ericsson, Sony Join on Mobile TV Push
Inmates Sue for Right To Use the Net
Firefox 2 Hit by Password Vulnerability
Microsoft Fights Back Against Phishers



Microsoft gave its critics more ammunition this week as download problems struck its Xbox 360 Live service, grinding portions of the service to a halt yet still charging users for downloads they never received.
On Wednesday, Microsoft launched a new Xbox service that lets users of Xbox 360 Live download TV shows and films, many in high definition. The service boasts content from Warner Brothers, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Turner Broadcasting, Paramount, MTV, and CBS, with more content to be released weekly.

But the new service tanked when users reported widespread problems with the downloads, complaining of wait times in excess of four hours or downloads that stopped cold in the middle of transmission. What's more, their accounts were charged as if the downloads went off without a hitch.

On his blog at www.majornelson.com, Larry Hryb, Microsoft's Xbox Live director of programming, fessed up: "We understand these technical issues have resulted in a very unpleasant experience for our members, including extremely slow downloads or not receiving the content they purchased."

He also said that members of the Xbox team had made progress toward fixing the problems by working "as fast as they can around the clock," and counseled users to call the customer support line at 1-800-4MYXBOX with complaints or requests for refunds.

Too Many Downloads?

The Xbox glitch appears to stem from a simple and (some say) well-known problem: Videos are huge files, by definition, and HD files are larger still. The sheer volume of data, coupled with the number of attempted downloads, might have overwhelmed Microsoft's servers, grinding them to a halt.

That's bad news for Redmond, which hopes the Xbox Live service will give it an edge over Sony 's new PlayStation 3, released last week to fans from coast to coast. But Sony offers only short clips and sundry downloads for the PlayStation, while Microsoft offers hundreds of hours of TV and films through Xbox 360 Live.

Sony plans to upgrade its download service to compete with Microsoft. Nintendo, which last Sunday released its own next-generation gaming console, the Wii, has no plans to offer TV and movie downloads at present. But then, the Wii is roughly half the price of the least-expensive consoles from Microsoft and Sony.