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There has been a lot of rumour on the web about XBox 360 disc (disk?) scratching over the years, but it seemed to come to a head last Christmas with the launch of the Kinect. KitGuru chased Microsoft hard after we first went live with a series of XDisc stories – and we finally got a response back. We've been sitting on it for a while, to check details. Here it is.
Here is the hard-hitting question we asked – alongside the official responses we received.
If using the Kinect for Xbox 360 EXACTLY as it was intended to be used, causes ‘disc death’ – then who is responsible for replacing the disc media?
“Kinect for XBox 360 is one of the most tested and successful consumer products in Microsoft’s history. With over 8 million sensors sold to date, worldwide response to Kinect has been overwhelmingly positive. The Kinect sensor itself does not come into physical contact with game discs, and we have seen no evidence of a correlation between normal use of Kinect and disc scratching”.
“In the unlikely event that any XBox owners do experience disc readability problems, we recommend they contact our toll-free support hotline on 0800 587 1102“.
“Additionally, we offer a Disc Replacement Programme for Microsoft Games Studio titles. Eligible games may be replaced under this programme, regardless of what caused them to stop working. This programme applies ONLY to games published by Microsoft and is subject to availability. If the game is published by another company, customers should contact that company for a replacement disc. For details, visit this site“.
We also asked Microsoft about its response to the official European Commission inquiry into its hardware.
Microsoft says that it has responded to the European Commission.
“We have been unable to reproduce the disc scratching problem or find any associated design or manufacturing issues in any XBox console used under normal operating conditions – including those returned by customers for examination. The EU Commissioner was satisfied with our response and both parties now consider the matter closed”.
KitGuru says: It's a solid response, but we're still not 100% sure that all eventualities have been covered. In a follow-up article, we will be speaking with an expert called Anthony Taylor who claims to have a solution.
Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.
