As if the continuing spread of online misinformation during the US election hasn’t been enough, we’ve got a little fake news permeating the gaming world too.
Alarming videos of the new Xbox Series X seemingly billowing smoke due to so-called overheating concerns have been circulating across the internet since they began reaching early adopters on Tuesday.
Well, folks, they’re fakes. Unequivocal fakes.
Clips like the one below, which have appeared on Reddit and Twitter and have been shared widely, appear to show plumes of smoke emerging from the top console’s top vent.
Same… pic.twitter.com/QcnWY9VQBF
— Arek Adamowicz (@Arek_Adamowicz) November 11, 2020
However, it turns out the effect can easily be created with a vape or an e-cigarette. That was illustrated by the Spanish language Xbox Studio news platform (via Eurogamer), which recreated the prank. Apparently, all you need to do is blow smoke into the bottom of the console to mimic the effect (cue ‘blow smoke up your ass’ jokes).
Related: Best Xbox Series X/S games
Unfortunately, some usually reputable news sources (mentioning no names) decided to report this as an actual issue, leading to further spread of the fakery. However, there’s no ‘smoking gun’ to be seen here and you can see for yourselves below:
CANSADO de las FAKE NEWS.
Os dejo un video MIO explicando porque es Fake lo de la consola “Quemada” y como han logrado este efecto incluso estando la consola “APAGADA” pic.twitter.com/LfXzIBSu6N
— Xbox Studio (@XboxStudio) November 11, 2020
The site clarified: “For the English people: I want to show you, how, with a vapour and turning off the console, you can make a situation that looks like the console is “On Fire”.”
Why anyone would be inclined to carry out such a plan and share it far and wide is anyone’s guess. Just know that this isn’t real and it shouldn’t discourage you from hitching your wagon to the new Xbox consoles. At least we got a couple of good memes out of it, hey?
Good morning did y’all see the new Xbox’s smoke pic.twitter.com/KkYPAc1ZVO
— 🖤kak be cookn🖤 (@yuhboikak) November 11, 2020
One potential issue Microsoft might be keeping an eye on comes via reports from some users suggesting the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles are making a strange clicking noise (via Polygon). There’s a couple of examples below.
My new @Xbox has now turned into a mechanic machine gun or a metronome.. great start to next gen! Never had any issues with Xbox at all before.. @XboxSupport pic.twitter.com/N85LjyHn0b
— Ryan (@RWillows) November 10, 2020
This don’t make no sense 😡😡@Xbox @XboxSupport @FedEx @FedExHelp pic.twitter.com/2izZGgyjNz
— Glo🦾🐐😈 (@JustGlo6) November 10, 2020
Microsoft has not specifically addressed this alleged issue but is advising anyone experiencing problems to visit their hardware support pages.
At Microsoft, we put all of our products through rigorous quality assurance testing. We encourage any customers who experience issues with their hardware to visit https://t.co/23C8I7MUp2 for fastest self-support assistance.
— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) November 11, 2020