Kotaku: overheating

XNA User Creates Ultimate 360 Fireplace

Mike Fahey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:20:00 MST

Now owners of Xbox 360 consoles with temperature control issues can finally put that extra heat to practical use with the innovative Xbox Live Community game, Fireplace.

How should I explain this? Fireplace is a fireplace. It turns your television into a simulated fireplace, just like TV stations all over the country used to do back in the old days on Christmas morning. Some still do, from what I hear, but certain Xbox 360 consoles go the extra mile by adding heat to the equation, making this perhaps the most realistic fireplace sim ever to grace a gaming console.

Fireplace, created by Xbox Live Member SniperED007, is now available for download in North America, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, for 400 Microsoft points. Is it worth it? Check out the video below and make that determination for yourself.

Fireplace [XNA Creators Club Online via Major Nelson]

PS3 Kills Xbox 360

Kim Phu — Thu, 03 May 2007 09:40:00 MDT

Like a bad Sunday afternoon rerun of a Poroit, this mystery starts off with the usual suspects: kids, a confined PS3, an exposed XBOX 360, and mucking around on a typical morning. This, of course, becomes a recipe for murder and as John Davidson finds out that the motive was simply one entertainment unit wasn't big enough for the both of them. As one child accidently turns on the PS3 while the Xbox is being actively played, unforeseen events unfold:

Needless to say, temperatures rise, fans kick in, then more fans kick in, then some new, untold level of nuclear reactor-grade cooling kicks in deep within the bowels of the PS3, and the first thing I know of this is when a little voice cries, "Dad, something's wrong with my game."
Conditions in the confined space had become so super-heated that the 360 red-ringed out, big time. So. Bottom line, my PS3 killed my 360.

Death by heating fan. Could be the first, probably won't be the last. Kim Phu

My PS3 just killed my 360 [John Davison's Page at 1Up]

The Playstation 3 is HOT!

kotaku.com — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 05:00:47 MDT

Although we've seen the PS3 billboards before — and though all of us besides those Kotaku editors desperately phoning in the hard-hitting gaming "journalism" for which we're known felt our eyes glaze over and our middle fingers involuntarily twirling the mouse wheel past the mundane, uninspired posts — this one is interesting.

And not just because I'm posting it. Do you see that melting clock? Great Salvardor Dali's Ghost! Obviously, it's trying to tell us that the Playstation 3 is the hot console of this holiday season. But wait a second: is, perhaps, a national campaign showing a household appliance liquefying from the heat emanating off of the PS3 a wise move considering that Sony's stock has actually nose-dived after reports of all the overheating problems at TGS?

The short list of Playstation 3 advertising symbols, denoting the hotness:

1) Melting clock
2) The radioactive trunk from Repo Man
3) The Ark of the Covenant

Florian Eckhardt

PS3 Overheating Problems

Brian Crecente — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:01:12 MDT

It looks like we weren't the only ones to notice the Playstation 3's overheating during the Tokyo Game Show. Macquarie Equities analyst David Gibson also saw some PS3s locking up and having to be reset at the big show. And he didn't like what he saw:

"While the reason for this is unknown, we suspect it may be due to overheating as a result of enclosing the units and the high temperatures at the venue," Gibson wrote. "We are concerned that such a problem has occurred so close to full production and is clearly negative news for the company."

News of the glitches caused a 2.75 percent drop in Sony shares, says Business Week.

In Sony's defense, TGS was, by all accounts, a sweltering A/C-free pit and, so far, all next-gen hardware locks up. My Xbox 360 and debug unit both lock-up if I play them for too long without leaving my entertainment center doors open.

I won't know until I get my greedy little hands on one, but I suspect the PS3's overheating issues are about the same as the issues with the 360. I can't wait to heat my house with the PS360s when they're fully installed and running. I'm already heating my lounge with the Xbox 360 and Plamsa TV. Brian Crecente

Sony Shares Plunge 2.75 Pecent [Businessweek, thanks Colin]

Xbox 360 Liquid Cooling System to be Shown at CES

kourosh — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:52:28 MST

A Canadian company says it will showcase a liquid cooling system for the Xbox 360 at next week's Consumer Electronics Show. I've asked the editors of our sister site Gizmodo to take a look at this puppy, since they'll be prowling the show floor. There wasn't much detail in the press release and the photo of the product seems sketchy. Most of the problems of overheating arise from the coal-burning power supply, not from the actual console itself, so why is their cooling unit chilling the CPU and GPU? We hope to have the answers for you next week.

Oh, and if you visit the company's official site, check out the USB-powered beverage chiller. I ordered three.

CES 2006: Xbox 360 gets liquid cooling [TG Daily]
Xbox 360 Gets Chilled in Vegas at CES Show [CoolIT Systems press release]
CoolIT Systems [Official company site]