Xbox warn gamers not to vape into console as “smoking” Series X videos go viral

The new Xbox is finally in the hands of gamers but it’s not the console’s performance everyone’s talking about after a series of viral videos.

Gamers are uploading videos claiming to show the new Xbox Series X console billowing plumes of smoke that the manufacturer says “do not align” with its testing results.

The highly anticipated new console from Microsoft was launched on Tuesday and soon after videos started to appear on social media and forums claiming smoke was billowing out of the new consoles.

Xbox Series X users are reportedly facing hardware issues on launch day, as multiple consoles start to smoke.#XboxSeriesX #Xbox pic.twitter.com/nMLlxoFmbc

— OpyGam3r (@opygam3r) November 11, 2020

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But one person who got their hands on one of the in-demand consoles claims to be able to show the videos are being faked.

He says what appears to be smoke is actually vapour.

Update: @XboxStudio shows how to recreate the viral videos of Xbox Series X consoles "smoking” using vapes pic.twitter.com/SVUevkSTJ6

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) November 11, 2020

By hitting his vape and blowing into the console’s air intake he was able to simulate an effect that made it look like the console was smoking.

Xbox tweeted as well to promote that those smoking videos probably aren’t real as well as advising against replicating them yourself.

We can't believe we have to say this, but please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X.

— Xbox (@Xbox) November 11, 2020

“We take all product safety reports seriously and our products meet or exceed industry standards,” a Microsoft spokesperson told news.com.au on Thursday.

“Findings from our initial investigations do not align with some of the claims being broadly reported, however we are in the process of investigating further,” they added.

Microsoft’s engineering teams tested thousands of the consoles during development and haven’t come across any ones billowing smoke yet.

The Xbox Series X has an advanced cooling system to accommodate its increased power, and while Microsoft advises against using it to make your own smoke machine there are some other cool stuff you can do with it that are less likely to damage your console.

A fun game emerging online is to use the powerful fans on the Xbox to make things like ping pong balls levitate while you play.

People have realized they can float ping pong balls on the Series X vent and

it's glorious pic.twitter.com/VuDdxFUwjp

— Mike Rose (@RaveofRavendale) November 11, 2020