360 video service has issues, Gates compares PS3 to brick

Microsoft's high-definition content download service for the Xbox 360 went live this week, but users are reporting a myriad of problems.

Congestion on the Xbox Live network is leading to many paid-for downloads halting arbitrarily and failing to successfully re-download. Unable to get the content, users are phoning Microsoft's support service - and consequently jamming the telephone lines.

MS has acknowledged the problem and says that frustrated users should sit tight - they'll get refunds for the content they haven't received. Users can hit up the Video Marketplace forum or call 1-800-4MYXBOX.

In other news, Bill Gates has said that the big battle between Sony PS3 and the 360 will come next Christmas. Speaking to Cnet, Gates says:

I wouldn't change positions with them [Sony] in a million years. I mean, we know what it's like to be a year late. We feel great about the position that we're in. And, of course, they're going to sell a lot in Japan.

You know, Sony can make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them. So the real competition--you're going to see the impact of our innovation and all the momentum we have in Christmas 2007. This Christmas, the story is: XBox 360 is going to sell super-well, and they'll sell the rounding error amounts they can make.

Comparing the PS3 to a brick? Ouch, that's fighting talk Billy. Does Microsoft have the power to walk away victorious in 2008? Let us know your thoughts over in the forums.