Xbox One will detect heat, power down to avoid meltdown

Microsoft has implemented safeguards in the hopes of protecting your Xbox One from overheating and frying.

General manager of console development Leo del Castillo told Gizmodo that Microsoft has planned ahead for users doing silly things like packing objects over the console's vents, or playing for extended periods in hot environments, by giving the Xbox One the ability to monitor its own thermal levels.

"The way we designed the box, we don’t actually intend it to ever have to go to maximum speed under normal environmental conditions," he said.

"But there is overhead. So we’ll allow the fan to go all the way up to its maximum speed and if that solves the condition without the user having to do anything."

Hopefully upon hearing a fan ramp up to maximum speed, the user will realise the console is suffering in the heat and take corrective measures; if not, the Xbox One's interface will let them know it needs to breathe for a bit.

Meanwhile, if the fans aren't cutting it, the console can power down considerably to protect its delicate innards.

"One thing that we have more flexibility with is that we can dial back the power of the box considerably," del Castillo said.

"We had a little less flexibility with the 360. And so basically, if we couldn’t dissipate the heat, there wasn’t a whole lot of leverage we could pull to keep the heat from being generated, so we had a limited amount of time before it just shut down.

"Xbox One can actually dial it back to a lower power state, so low in fact that it can in a mode that uses virtually no air flow."

Xbox One will release in November. It won't need to use a Kinect, which everyone's very excited about.

Thanks, Gamespot.