Microsoft responds to European inquiry on scratched 360 discs

Even though Microsoft seems to be dragging its feet when it comes to addressing the EU's anti-trust concerns, the software-giant-cum-console-maker was quick to respond to European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Meglena Kuneva's inquiry regarding accusations of faulty 360 hardware. Specifically, the commissioner wanted to know the scope of the disc scratching problem brought to light by Dutch program Kassa -- and unsurprisingly, Redmond seemed to allude to 1UP that it was toeing the same party line in Europe as we heard back in April. The bottom line here is that Team Xbox is clearly adamant that there is no widespread problem, and while they seem to be a little more reticent to blame the end user now, your only recourse remains contacting the company and crossing your fingers.

[Via Joystiq]

[Tom @ Jun 14th 2007 3:00PM]

In most cases, it probably is the end-user. You really think the average spoilt teenager with a 360 has keeping his 360 and games in excellent condition on his mind?

[Aaron @ Jun 14th 2007 3:23PM]

It's true, a lot of people don't take care of their discs. I can't imagine the same 12 year olds whose parents bought them a 360, [insert M rated game], plus Xbox Live service really give a shit about keeping their games in good shape. Hell, I even have a friend (she's 21 years old) who carelessly leaves discs lying around on top of the TV or whatever. That said, I have heard stories of people who have bought multiple copies of a game because the machine really was scratching the disc, and in the same spot. It's like what I was saying in the story about 360 heat issues: Is it true? Probably. Is it as common as we're hearing? Probably not.

[Dragod @ Jun 14th 2007 4:12PM]

Well, I am 15 and I make sure that I take care of my games and console. When I got it, it was basically my gift for Christmas, Birthday, and the next Christmas. but it was worth it. So lord knows that I take good care of it. My friend comes over, takes out the Call of Duty disc, puts it data-side up on the entertainment center and throws in Guitar Hero. I tell him to put the disc in the case or I won't let him play, lol. I actually clean my 360, too... I wipe it down every 2 weeks or so, keep it in good condition, blow all the dust out... I'm just thankful I even got my 360, let alone to have 8 or 9 games for it, no way in hell am I going to just let it get ruined.

[Shahabdin @ Jun 15th 2007 1:03PM]

Hi,
Well here's one for you who think MS are the saints. Infact the problem of disc scratching started from the prime XBOX. I am not a teenager and hardly even used my xbox. However I noticed disc were getting scratches on them even though I had never dropped nor scratched them.
The problem was even more obvious when I purchased a new game and it would play. As sson as I removed the disc from the xbox a few scratches emereged on the disc. I took the game back to the shop and the store was kind enough to give another packed disc. Despite complains to MS the guys don't even respond to the problems. To think of us suckers who favour MS! It is apparent that when it comes to customer support they suck!!! Quite frankly I've been out off buying the 360 since I was one of the idiots to buy the xbox when it first emerged at $600. And they don't even give a damn...

[Ismael @ Jun 14th 2007 3:03PM]

"software-giant-cum-console-maker"
What the heck are you on about?

[Phil @ Jun 14th 2007 5:48PM]

Uh... how about you learn some English?

Perfectly valid phrase. Or is it "cum" your adolescent heart is all a twitter about? Hate to put it to you, but this is the correct usage.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cum

[Ismael @ Jun 14th 2007 6:19PM]

Ok im sorry, when i wrote that reply i was just up. Thats a really unusual usage of that word nowadays lol. Sorry once again. Rgrds.

[Matt B @ Jun 14th 2007 3:06PM]

It's like MS is trying the old Jedi mind trick on the EU. We'll see if it works.

[andy @ Jun 14th 2007 3:14PM]

EU is NOT hesitant with the fines.


They'd be better off just saying "we don't know, but mail us a scratched disc, and we'll mail you a new one. If the problem persists, we'll review your console for defects or swap it for another."

[FreeRange @ Jun 14th 2007 3:20PM]

My PS2 scratched games. I mailed it in and they mailed it back a month later. Worked fine after that. And they even had something in the manual explaining that you should always remove any disks from the system before turning it off as it could damage the lens causing it to scratch disks so, legally, I would think they were in the clear to tell me I was SOL, but they didn't.

[Eric @ Jun 14th 2007 3:26PM]

As it has been demonstrated before the scratching only happens when you move the console, and only sometimes, I moved mine with PDZ playing several times with no problems, of course this was in November of 05 before the articles came out.

[Wes Lawson @ Jun 14th 2007 3:48PM]

My xbox 360 scratched my COD3 dvd all to hell. It was like something came loose in it...it made a grinding/scratching sound so I hurried up and shut off the box and when I popped the disk out it looked like you had taken a knife to it and carved deep grooves into it. I called xbox and they immediately replaced my box without much questioning. The only thing they raised a stink about was my nyko intercooler...which I could understand because of the fire possibility.

[StandardAI @ Jun 14th 2007 3:57PM]

I scratched a couple of the DVD movies I've purchased playing them on my 360, Will Microsoft buy me new ones?

[KC @ Jun 14th 2007 4:04PM]

Funny. If this was about a PS3, there would be a lot more folks yelling blue murder.

[Matt @ Jun 14th 2007 4:21PM]

You mean "Blu murder"

[Mak @ Jun 14th 2007 4:42PM]

I suppose there is no widespread disc scratching problem, just like Microsoft claim there is no overheating problem with the 360...

Microsoft: "We can not provide specific figures, but can confirm there is not a single root cause or systemic issue with any of the Xbox 360 consoles."

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/05/31/whats_the_true_failure_rate_for_the_xbox_360.html


I can't believe people are suckered in by Microsofts lies still...

[herculez_87 @ Jun 14th 2007 4:48PM]

It's written in the Xbox 360's Instruction booklet, that you shouldn't move your Xbox 360 while it has a Disc running inside the drive, but the user always ignore this, and blame the company over that issue.
that's not Microsoft or Xbox 360 problem, just don't move the 360 while there is a disc inside the 12x DVD Drive!

[M Burke @ Jun 15th 2007 1:25PM]

Have you EVER had a disc scratched in a laptop? Why cannot the same protections laptop drives have be put into a console so that it WON'T scratch a disc when standing up, or slightly nudged. I live in California for criminy's sake, the ground moves here constantly.

[Tom @ Jun 14th 2007 4:55PM]

Dragod, it will be the same here when I get my PSP in 19 days :). I 'try' to take good care of my Xbox and PS2 - but my brothers see to that.

[some one @ Jun 14th 2007 5:15PM]

The issues is the mind set, why should we as end users buy something that needs to be pampered and handled like a baby. I should be able to go and rub my CD in dirt go wash it off and still have it work! Then and only then would we really know if the device is causing the problem and not a design flaw with CDs. No, we are left with two things that could be the culprit. The CD came before the 360 so the issues is with the fact that CDs can be scratched regardless if it is the 360 or the 12 year old kid rubbing the disc in the dirt. CDs can be scratched; fix that issue then we move onto the 360 causing the scratch if it is the 360. Should we not have as part of our advancement in life that we should have not pampered things? If need be then it is not ready? We are still caring over the Album LP EP 45 issue. Can I scratch Blue-Ray and HD-DVDs? If so then they are not ready for prime time. I think as consumer testing the product should be given to a kid and if he bring it back broken it is not ready.

[Dragod @ Jun 14th 2007 7:06PM]

If that was true, we wouldn't have the iPod or the PlayStation 3. Lol... I'd prefer it that way.. not so much the PS3, but I hate the iPod with a passion.

[Dragod @ Jun 14th 2007 7:07PM]

If that was true, we wouldn't have the iPod or the PlayStation 3. Lol... I'd prefer it that way.. not so much the PS3, but I hate the iPod with a passion.

[Chris @ Jun 14th 2007 6:02PM]

This may not earn me a high rating, but....


Scaaaaareeeew the EU

[Darvin @ Jun 14th 2007 8:08PM]

Why screw the EU? They're looking after their citizen's consumer rights.

This isn't about generating revenue for the sake of it.

It's all about laws and citizen consumer protection.

Something the U.S government is scared or has to priorities to do.

[Chris @ Jun 14th 2007 10:36PM]

Paaalease... US courts are notorious for awarding huge sums of money to idiot consumers, the most famous one, the woman who spilled hot coffee on herself in a mcdonalds drive through.

The USDOJ anti-trust division are far too ambitious (see current bs problems with XM and Sirius. A merger that would HELP the consumer). The EU makes USDOJ look like girl scouts. They're a bunch of jack-booted thugs who want to make money off of a continuously flourishing American economy by fining the hell out of profitable companies. I guess when your continental unemployment is between 10 and 15%, you have to make up for the tax revenue shortfall somehow.

[Andrew @ Jun 15th 2007 2:39PM]

Continental unemployment? What the hell is that? News for you buddy - there are 27 countries in the EU - and 47 all together in Europe. Guess what! There are radical differences between all of the countries - and only France and Germany have unemployment at 10% (and falling). Only because they have great job protection and no low paying Walmart McJobs. The EU economy is greater than the US in GDP! We don't even need to tax US companies - just protect our consumers from greedy US "Enrons".

[Chris @ Jun 16th 2007 8:56AM]

Did you really just compare an issue about a console scratching discs to Enron, do you even know what happened to Enron? I am sorry, greed is not isolated to the United States. If you think it is, you're living in a fantasy world. Europe has plenty of greed and corruption to go around. And, FYI, public companies who trade on a US exchange are far more regulated than in Europe (not something that I am particularly fond of).

The point is, I get uneasy when I see the long arm of the Federal government (in the US) and foreign countries sticking their nose where it doesnt belong. This is an issue that is between the consumer and the company. That is why we have class action law suits. I do not see the need to outsource my responsibilities as an adult to the government.

On the unemployment issue: Sure, we have our share of low paying jobs. But there are (at least) two things to consider there. Low paying is better than NO paying, and the US supports a huge amount (13 million plus) of unskilled illegal immigrants from latin america. And we still have only 4.5% unemployment.

The comment about France is really good though... I almost started drooling immediately. They are doing a great job... at suppressing a young, powerful, and highly unemployed Muslim population. For a while there, a good nights in France were measured by Peugeot torching index; under 300 new automobile corpses in a morning meant a good night. Perhaps they wouldn't be quite so angry if France's employment regulations weren't so unbelievably ridgid so that Muslims under the age of 26 have a 50% unemployment rate. I bet they would appreciate a Walmart or two,no matter how much it offends the leftist sensibilities of some.

Anyway, that is my last comment... take your parting shots.

[S @ Jun 14th 2007 7:08PM]

The console scratches disks. Get over it, People who for some reason side with microsoft...and realize the truth.

Never have I had another dvd drive scratch one of my disks, no matter how much I moved it around while it was playing. My 360, OTOH, has scratched every disk I have ever inserted.....sometimes because I bumped the 360 while it was off, and presumably moved the disk...and sometimes just with no explanation at all. It seems like there should be a recall on the disk drives, as they are the obvious culprit.

[_man1c_ @ Jun 14th 2007 8:45PM]

get a new 360. that should fix that problem. why on earth would someone keep putting in disks in the same machine while you keep getting them scratched?!. if its a easy fix then do that.

[Overgauss @ Jun 14th 2007 11:29PM]

@Chris

Not meaning to pee in your coffee, but that is the absolute worse example to bring up to prove your point. It's the latter half of 2007. Didn't you get the memo?

I mean if you were to bring up a case that actually supported your argument then sure...

[Brian @ Jun 15th 2007 3:59AM]

I bought my 360 and my Call of Duty 2 game brand new. What happened the first time I popped the game into the console? The "ring of death". No, not the red lights, but the ring around the center of my COD2 DVD. It scratches discs. I don't know what the definition of "widespread" is here, but it seems to be common enough that MS should step up and offer some kind of rebate/exchange program.