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December 19th, 2008, 07:43 GMT · By

Microsoft Admits That the Xbox 360 Scratches Game Disks

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Microsoft is definitely a happy company these days, largely due to the fact that its Xbox 360 console is following a high ascending trend in terms of sales, and is set to bring quite a lot of profit this holiday season. The low price and the fact that it is bundled with a variety of games will certainly attract a lot of customers who are looking for a great entertainment system this Christmas season.

But not everything is all sunshine and butterflies for the North American company, as a class-action suit – regarding the fact that the Xbox 360 is “defectively designed” and, if a game disk is inside its optical drive when the console is moved, the disk will get scratched, making it obsolete – has recently been filed against it.

Microsoft has replied to these charges, stating that, although the phenomenon isn't widespread, it has issued warnings to users about the dangers of moving the console while a game disk is inside it. Such warnings were reiterated in the manuals and in the online terms of service issued by the company, where it stresses that it has no fault if a disk gets scratched if the console is moved.

“While we have had some users contact us with concerns about scratched discs, it is much less than 1 percent of the total Xbox 360 user base,” reads the press statement. “Xbox 360 is designed so that it will not damage a game disc as long as the console is not moved while the disc is spinning. Too much movement of any game console, not just Xbox 360, can cause scratches on a disc. That's why we put a warning on the face of the disc tray, which the user has to physically remove before the initial use of the system.”

Although it seems that Microsoft took the necessary steps in order to prevent such problems, people sometimes forget about such things when they are in a hurry to move their console or rearrange their furniture. It's definitely a sad thing to find your game disk scratched, but not enough to demand a class-action suit though.

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READER COMMENTS:


Comment #1 by: Xelliz on 19 Dec 2008, 16:34 UTC reply to this comment

This is a big issue. First, as far as design goes, Microsoft went cheap and really made a horrible design choice. However...legal side...Microsoft did tell everyone 4 times that they are cheap and not to move the console cause it will damage the disc.


Comment #2 by: Big A on 19 Dec 2008, 16:44 UTC reply to this comment

I am a hardcore Xbox Fanboy! I have no problem with this article being written. Seems honest and fair and the facts is the facts. I love my 2 Xbox consoles but understand there are some flaws with the system and the press is helpful in revealing such. Why are PS3 fanboys not able to accept the truth from legitimate media sources about their somewhat failing console and bad online interface (Home.) Sometimes the truth hurts but the press must be allowed to do it's job.


Comment #3 by: SiriusSnape on 23 Dec 2008, 01:32 UTC reply to this comment

I am having an issue with a scratched disc (a perfectly round ring etched into the disc), and my 360 is firmly secured and stable to prevent movement that would cause scratching. I don't think it is just movement of the console that does it in all cases. I'm working on my second 360 now (the first one died the red ring death), and this one is just under a year old.


Comment #4 by: Andrew J on 18 Jan 2009, 12:20 UTC reply to this comment

You don't have to remove that warning sticker at all to play the x box. I only took it off last night after my dog jogged the console and the piece of shit x box scratched my gta 4. I've owned it nearly a year before i even new that sticker had safety advice on it.


Comment #5 by: WiiZ3T on 25 Jan 2009, 04:14 UTC reply to this comment

Microsoft's lying when they said that your discs will not be scratched when they are not moved. My Xbox's firmly secured to that postition for a year already and still my GoW2 disc got scratched badly by it, and that rendered it unreadable. And upon closer inspection, I found out that almost all of my Xbox game discs were scratched too, though not too badly compared to my GoW2 disc.

And my Xbox360's got that Red Ring of Death last week, about 2 years after purchase; I've should've counted myself lucky. Now that piece of shit machine's staying in that corner beside my printer for all I care now. The Xbox360's a plain piece of cheap metal bent on wasting your money. Buy at your own risk. I've wasted like 1000 bucks on that brick.


Comment #6 by: Brian Nunn on 05 Jan 2010, 20:07 UTC reply to this comment

I bought my son a Xbox 360 elite for xmas this year (2009) and within a week it scratched the two games that came with and two others. Brand new it was very noisy and any slight movement would result in grinding noises. After researching the problem it appears to be defective hard-drives that have missing foam buffers allowing the disc to wobble. If I would have done a little research on it I would now have a PS3. Anyway, Microshaft now has it for repair after one week of use and if I'm lucky I'll have it back in 2 or 3 weeks. I would urge anyone who reads this to put their name on a class action suit in your state just to CYA.


Comment #7 by: disk scratiching... on 14 Jan 2010, 22:09 UTC reply to this comment

to fixn the disk scrathcing error, insert the game, exit the game, and go to the home page where it shows the game. instead of pressing the A button press the Y or X button (iforgot which one.) then press download into hard drive. this will take about 5 minutes. when its done play the game and your disk will not scratch FOREVER. even better: the hard drive makes no sound, and game performance is improved


Comment #8 by: DGM on 28 Jan 2010, 13:13 UTC reply to this comment

Never moved the XBOX-360 so far it's SCRATCHED a LOT of VERY VERY expensive Game Disks!

It's never been upright and I'm not about to BUY yet another NEW XBOX-360!

what the hell is Microsoft doing? I can buy a dvd player for under 40.00 NEW and a hell of a lot larger Hard drive for a few dollars more.

299.00? how about 25.00 for the XBOX 360 and All the Games it Can EAT for Free?


Comment #9 by: FU XBOX on 02 Jul 2010, 18:03 UTC reply to this comment

So, I just got the new XBOX 360 with the built in WIFI and 250 GB drive. I thought maybe they would fix this problem. NOPE. NOT FIXED. In fact, I think it's worse. I moved my box over, not up or down where the disk would be inverted, but side to side and it scratched the disk. A nice clean circle. FU MICROSOFT. Don't buy the new Xbox if you already have a WIFI adapter. Not worth it.


Comment #10 by: andrew on 13 Dec 2011, 00:23 UTC reply to this comment

I completely disagree with the movement part of this story for my son has the 360 which sets stationary on its side! And I can tell you I believe it has something to do with poor construction of the older consoles.............the laser shifts or the tray is too flexible and warps causing this exact problem! It happens in a gouging circle completely around the disc.......and I am sure we weren't having an earthquake at the time as I have witnessed this same problem when I have played on his console!

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