360 Racing Wheel malfunctions
MS offers smoking patch.
Trade shows have a habit of knocking certain stories down the back of the sofa, but the smell of burning quickly alerted us to this one on our return - Microsoft's offering Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel owners a "free retrofit" to stop it "overheating and releasing smoke" when plugged in. Good idea!
"There have been no reported incidences of fire, personal injury or property damage due to the Wheel malfunction," Microsoft says (a BBC item says the company has received 50 reports of overheating/smoking), but it's still advising customers to visit the support site (or call 0800 587 1102 in the UK) to register and receive the retrofit.
The good news is that the exploding/killing-your-pets malfunction only occurs while the wheel's plugged in, so you can continue to use it in battery-operated mode if you haven't just shoved it in a cupboard since you got bored of Forza 2. Obviously we're going to get ours fixed sharpish, since - explosions aside - we happen to think it's one of the best Wheels we've seen. Plus, of course, Project Gotham Racing 4's due out pretty soon.
For the Wheel deal, check out Microsoft's complete statement.