Product Mini Profile Xbox 360 in: Xbox 360 links » user reviews faqs/guides

Microsoft is currently facing legal action over defective design of early Xbox 360 consoles leading to problems, not just to the hardware itself but to the game media as well.  One motion filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle seeks a class-action lawsuit on behalf of fellow Xbox 360 purchasers over the console's potential to damage game discs if tilted or otherwise moved during operation.  Moving any console with an optical drive during operation is hardly ever recommended, but recently unsealed court documentation from said motion highlights how Microsoft acknowledged the 360's design was prone to scratching discs.  What's more, it failed to act upon implementing measures to decrease the chances of disc damage.

The documents quote Microsoft program manager Hiroo Umeno, who explains that their optical disc drive team identified disc scratching as an issue for the 360 as far back as September to October 2005, just a few weeks before the 360's North American launch.  Microsoft would even prepare a team of engineers to further investigate the issue of disc-scratching through tests involving sample consoles at retail outlets.  The team confirmed the 360's lack of a safeguard to prevent spinning discs from getting loose in the disc holder during movement of the console, not matter how involuntary, meant discs were at risk of hitting the 360's internal optical/laser pick-up unit.

Microsoft was presented with three options to remedy this: increasing the magnetic field of the holder, reducing the optical drive's speed, and installing rubber bumpers inside the console.  According to the court documents, Microsoft eventually passed over all three suggestions, believing they would either negatively affect the console's performance or prove too costly to implement over the long run.

The company would instead push a disc replacement program for customers affected by damaged discs, though it only covered first party titles published by Microsoft and a $20 USD replacement fee applied for each disc.  Warnings addressing the issue were also added to the console and manuals but according to the motion, Microsoft's employees themselves believed these to be insufficient for consumers.

For its part, Microsoft explains that damage to discs through movement of console hardware is hardly unique to the 360, though the motion has already noted that around 55,000 customers have filed complaints over scratches.  Some may be due to ignorance, though accidents major or minor are possible.  Microsoft attempts to hit back at this figure:

"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. We also have warnings posted online and in hard copy instruction manuals.

"While we have had some users contact us with concerns about scratched discs, it is less than one-half of 1% of the total Xbox 360 user base."