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Microsoft Sued Over Scratched Xbox 360 Discs

Posted by Zonk on from the so-the-doctor-says-don't-go-like-that dept.

Xbm360 writes "Microsoft has been sued by Jorge Brouwer from the US who claims that Xbox 360s scratched his game discs, making them unusable. 'Some gamers speculate that moving the console between vertical and horizontal positions while a disc is spinning inside could cause the scratching. Microsoft warns against such actions with a sticker placed on new consoles, and Brouwer said in the lawsuit that Microsoft's customer service representatives asked him if he had tilted the console. He said he had not. The lawsuit also cites investigations of similar consumer complaints conducted by a Dutch television program, which found that one of nine consoles tested scratched a disc after five hours of play.'"

7 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Imagery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why do I get the image of Steve Ballmer sitting next to a stack of SpongeBob SquarePants XBox360 game discs with a pocket knife and a bottle of Jack Daniels laughing maniacally as he scratches each disc one by one, packages them back up & puts them in the "toys for underprivileged children" charity box?

  2. Disc Return? by vigmeister · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One thing I have never understood is why anybody who sells their shit on optical media doesn't institute a return program for scratched discs. You give me a scratched disc (with a holographic seal of authenticity) and I'll replace it free. Given that the disc itself is cheap to produce (unlike floppy disks), this should ensure TOTAL consumer happiness. In fact, they could even (if possible) clean and sell mildly scratched discs as refurbished/pre-owned and make a profit out of this whole cycle.

    Cheers!

    --
    Atheist: Buddhist in a Prius
    1. Re:Disc Return? by figleaf · · Score: 5, Informative

      Microsoft does exchange scratched discs for games published by Microsoft. Some other companies has similar schemes.
      http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox36 0/gameplay/discreplacement-program.htm

    2. Re:Disc Return? by Psmylie · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "If you buy a car, is it reasonable to expect a brand new car if you return the old, scratched one?"

      That argument doesn't hold water to me. We're talking about two very different things.

      1. You scratch a car, it is still drivable. In fact, a scratch or even a dent or ding will not stop you from using the car as intended. A scratch on a DVD, however, can render it useless.

      2. A car costs a lot of money. The material cost, labor cost, transportation cost are all extremely high. The cost of actually manufacturing a DVD is so low, it's trivial. I'm not talking about R&D for game design, package art, etc. Just the disk.

      3. According to the game companies, we aren't buying a disk or a game. We're buying a license to use the ip contained on the disk. And, according to the license and associated DRM, there are several things we aren't allowed to do, like make backup copies, copy to a hard drive, whatever. Since we have already paid for a license, and are thus allowed to use the IP, why should we be required to pay the same premium again just for replacement media?

      4. The material of a CD/DVD is flimsy. If content companies are serious about not wanting to allow backups and not offering free or at-cost replacement for damaged media, then they should make the media sturdy enough to not get damaged easily.

      --

      psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

  3. Back it up by Kawolski · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know, a scratched disc wouldn't be such a problem if he had simply made a backup of the disc. Oh wait...

  4. Little known secret... by Fx.Dr · · Score: 4, Funny

    The 360 reads its discs with phonograph needles. It's a real bitch winding that sucker up, too.

  5. 360 DVD drive has a faulty design... by Hamster+Lover · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you watched the TV clip from Dutch television you would know that the 360's optical drive is missing the bumper pads that surround the laser lens and protect discs from scratching by the lens assembly itself, a common safety feature that is present on every other optical drive ever made. Why Microsoft or the drive manufacturer's chose to omit this common optical drive design feature is a bit of a mystery to me, but it is not simply a problem with gamers moving the console while the drive is in operation (although that obviously has to be the cause in at least a few cases). 360 forums are filled with complaints from customers that have had to replace some games two or three times where they have done nothing adverse to the either the console or the discs.

    Perhaps Microsoft has absolutely no control over the issue insofar as it is entirely the fault of the drive manufacturer, so we may want to give MS a bit of slack on the issue. Still, MS has to be aware of the problem and you would think that they would insist that all drives be manufactured with bumper pads.