Microsoft Acknowledges 360 'Bricking'
When Microsoft issued their anticipated fall dashboard update on Tuesday, 1080p support wasn't the only new feature, as several use started reporting ERROR CODE E71, which essentially "bricked" their console, rendering it unusable for surfing Xbox Live or playing games -- you know, everything an Xbox 360 is useful for. Initial reports suggested these problems were isolated to users who'd modified their firmware to play back-ups, but that's not the case.
The two are related, though. Microsoft's attempts to sniff out hackers has resulted in crossfire with users who don't even know how to crack open their case. 1UP user ReverendSlim ran into the problem not long after Microsoft had repaired a completely unrelated problem. "Got my 360 back from Microsoft today after 2 weeks without it, plugged it up, it downloaded the update, and now all it will do is flash ERROR CODE E71 when you turn it on. So much for playing Gears or CoD3 next week," he said.
