Microsoft allegedly knew about Xbox 360 disc scratching issues

Oh Microsoft, first you allegedly knew about the “Red Ring of Death” issues before you launched the console and know, according to some unsealed court documents, you knew your system would cause damage to consumer’s discs thanks to defected disc drives.

Earlier this month, Kotaku reported that an Illinois man, Jason Johnson, sued Microsoft for $50,000 in damages, after his replacement console (for one that Red Ringed a year earlier) damaged three games, rendering them all unplayable.

Now, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Microsoft was previously aware that shifting the console while a disc was playing would cause the disc to become damaged. In the documents, Microsoft program manager, Hiroo Umeno, is quoted as saying:

This is … information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about. When we first discovered the problem in September or October (2005), when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what’s causing the problem.

The documents also indicate that the company came up with three methods to fix the potential problem but were all rejected. One solution was to slow down the disc drive speed, which was rejected due to resulting longer load times. Another solution was to include a stronger magnetic field for the disc holder but that was rejected because it would cause an obstruction during the opening and closing of the disc tray. The third solution was to install “bumpers” (which as Ars Technica points out, are standard in other optical drives) but was rejected due to cost (about $0.50 per console or an estimated $35-$75 million).

If you have never experienced this disc scratching problem before, it comes as the result of moving the Xbox 360 while a disc is playing. The momentum of the Xbox 360′s movement causes the disc to become, as the article states, “unchucked”, leaving the disc with what we called in retail, the “perfect circle,” or, simply, a deep circular scratch on the disc.

This disc-scratching issue caused Microsoft to institute a disc replacement program, however the program only applies to Microsoft games and costs a $20 fee. Couple that fee with the reported 55,000 customer complaints as of April 30, 2008 and you have a customer fee total of $1,100,000. That is a lot of replacement dough. On top of the replacement service, Microsoft affixed warning labels in both disc manuals and on the disc drive itself.

While I know the notion of moving your console while it’s on is just silly to people like you and me, sometimes it can’t be helped. People who live near train tracks and airports sometimes get unlucky enough to have the booming sounds cause their consoles to jump or jiggle. Others my live in apartments where upstairs neighbors decide to conduct a re-enactment of last night’s wrestling match.

Read [Seattle Post Intelligencer] Via [1UP] Also Read [Ars Technica] Also Read [Game Culture] Also Read [Kotaku]

Image courtesy of Llamma.com