We all know that Microsoft deliberately rushed the Xbox 360 and then hoped nobody would notice when their consoles stopped working, but if a new lawsuit is correct, Microsoft’s ignorance runs much deeper than that. It is alleged that MS knew about the 360’s tendency to chew up game discs, and did nothing about it.
“This is … information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about,” claims Hiroo Umeno, an MS programming manager, in a declaration. “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.”
According to the allegations, Microsoft investigated the 360 after launch and realized that if the machine was tilted while a disc was in play, the disc would become “unchucked” and meet with the optical pickup unit, carving a nice groove into the plastic and ruining the game. MS had three possible solutions to this issue, but it is claimed the company rejected every single one.
Microsoft has warned consumers not to tilt their 360s while a game is running, but this has not stopped more than 55,000 discs from being gouged to bits. This, coupled with the knowledge that MS already knew about the red ring problems, confirms that Microsoft has never once cared about putting out a robust and reliable gaming system. Very much like those annoying people you find in comment threads, it only cared about being “first.”
