Kinect breaking older Xbox 360 models?

Older Xbox 360 units are apparently suffering from the demands of Kinect as a number of users have reported hardware failures just minutes after using the sensor device.

A thread on the Xbox forums contains a number of players claiming that their older Xbox models failed, some within 10 minutes of plugging in Microsoft's new "controller-free" hardware.

"I have an original Xbox dating back to 2006 - so out of warranty by a year now," said the thread's creator on the forum.

"At the weekend I spent £130 on a Kinect and a further £30 on Dance Central, so when I got home I excitedly plugged it into my Xbox... However within 5 minutes it froze up and when I turned it on again it had the dreaded 3 red rings showing."

Another user responded: "Well unfortunately same thing here...my original 360 (which I waited in line for to be a first customer) is now dead.

"This thing had been fine all these years. I got my kids Kinect for Christmas and shortly after plugging it in... [Red Ring of Death]!!"

Users are apparently being denied any free fixes under their warranty as Microsoft support reps claim the problem is with the console and not Kinect. Yet many users' warranties for their older machines have expired, meaning they will now need to pay at least £62 to get the problem fixed.

Microsoft's older Xbox 360 models have come under scrutiny in the past for high levels of hardware failure. (from DS)