Xbox 360 repairs will cost Microsoft &#36;1B
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In another setback for Microsoft Corp.'s unprofitable entertainment and devices division, the company says it is planning to spend at least $1 billion to repair serious problems with its Xbox 360 video game console.
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(InfoWorld) - Just days afterÂ Microsoft took an earnings charge ofÂ more than $1 billionÂ to fix hardware problems in Xbox 360 consoles, a class-action suit says that the consoles also damage game discs. Filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the suit claims that Xbox 360s scratch game discs, making them unusable. Thousands of people have been affected by and have complained to Microsoft about the problem, the suit claims. While Microsoft hasn't yet evaluated the suit, it says it hasn't heard a significant number of complaints. "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs," said Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, in a statement. The problem isn't limited to the United States, the suit says. It describes a television program that aired in the Netherlands earlier this year detailing complaints by Xbox 360 users and including results of lab tests that resulted in disc scratching by some of the consoles. Microsoft offers a worldwide disc replacement program for games that it authors. A user can send a damaged disc back to Microsoft plus $20 and receive a replacement. Microsoft also will examine and repair consoles that consumers believe may have scratched discs, the company said. The suit details the experience of Jorge Brouwer, the plaintiff in the case. He said that his two games stopped working on his new Xbox 360. When he called customer support and mentioned that he noticed scratches on the discs, customer support advised him to buy replacement discs. He also said that customer support wouldn't acknowledge that the console might be to blame. The suit asks for damagesÂ of more thanÂ $5 million and the repair of Xbox 360s that cause the scratching and replacement of damaged discs. The filing follows an announcement on Thursday that Microsoft would repair or replace Xbox 360s that suffer a certain type of hardware failure. Users have been complaining about the failure, which is indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. Microsoft has not offered details on the type of hardware failure. The company has yet to record a profit for its Xbox business but said that, despite the $1 billion charge, it expects to be profitable in 2008. Microsoft sells the consoles at a loss, hoping to earn profit from games sales.
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Plus: Microsoft to release three versions of Xbox 2. [News.com Extra]
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Blog: The software maker will cover the game console for up to three years for certain hardware failures. Microsoft says it is taking a charge of more than a billion dollars to cover the cost of the move, which followed an investigation into reports of problems
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Microsoft is counting on the biggest weapon in its video-game arsenal, Halo 3, to boost the Xbox 360&#39;s fortunes after the company&#39;s warranty problems.  At the company&#39;s event Tuesday on the eve of the E3 video game industry convention, Bungie Studios showed the first live footage from the second sequel in the best-selling sci-fi combat series. Halo 3, which arrives in stores Sept. 25, will come in three flavors: a $60 standard edition; $70 for a limited edition with a bonus making-of disc and art book; and $130 for a limited &quot;Legendary&quot; edition that comes in a Spartan military helmet case.
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Microsoft Corp.  eked out a gain in quarterly net profit despite a $1 billion charge to pay for repairs to its Xbox 360 game consoles, and the company slightly raised full-year earnings and revenue forecasts.
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Microsoft Corp., facing its second Xbox 360 headache of the summer, will replace parts of its Wireless Racing Wheel video game controllers after 50 reports that they overheated and released smoke.
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The software giant may be forced to take a $1.15 billion charge due to hardware problems with the Xbox 360.
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A class action suit in Florida claims that Xbox 360s can scratch game discs, making them unusable.
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Microsoft managed to earn a slight profit for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter despite a billion-dollar-plus charge incurred to fix faulty Xbox360 consoles.
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Microsoft&#39;s video game division is taking a one-two punch. Earlier this month came news that the software giant was taking a charge of more than $1 billion to pay for costs related to extending the Xbox 360 warranty to three years. Now Peter Moore, the company&#39;s Xbox standard-bearer for the last four years is resigning to join EA Sports as its president. Replacing Moore at Microsoft as senior vice president of interactive entertainment business (Xbox and Games for Windows) is Don Mattrick, who was once EA&#39;s president of its worldwide studios.
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Parts for the Xbox steering wheel controller are being replaced following reports that some are overheating.
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An Xbox 360 user in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft for damage done by the console to individual game discs.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O on   Wednesday announced U.S. and European pricing and availability   for its Xbox 360 HD-DVD player and a new video game partnership   with the Academy Award-winning husband-and-wife creative team   behind "The Lord of the Rings."
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Microsoft said Thursday &quot;an unacceptable number of repairs&quot; to its Xbox 360 will force it to take a charge of more than $1 billion for its most recent quarter, and it announced a new, extended warranty for the video game console.
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A new report from independent warranty provider SquareTrade has found that the failure rate of an Xbox 360 is not as high as critics would have you believe, but it is still much higher than the official number from Microsoft.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft said Wednesday it will replace discs of its Halo 3 Xbox 360 game that were already scratched when users purchased them. On its Xbox 360 Web site, Microsoft said an Xbox Disc Replacement Program will replace Halo 3 Limited Edition Game Discs and Essentials Discs at no charge through Feb. 1, 2008, but only for Xbox 360 console owners in countries where Xbox is sold at authorized retail locations. Microsoft released the highly anticipated Halo 3 Xbox 360 game on Tuesday at midnight, but some users found that their game discs were already scratched upon purchase. Some attributed the scratches to the company's packaging of the discs, which did not keep them in place. Users did not report any performance issues with the scratched discs. To get a new disc to replace one that was scratched, people who purchased Halo 3 and meet the program requirements can fill out and print a program form and send it to Microsoft. They should receive a replacement disc in about two weeks, according to the Web site. Halo 3 is the latest installment in the critically praised and enormously popular first-person shooter series developed by Bungie Studios. Microsoft said it had more than 1 million preorders of Halo 3 before its release this week, and fans lined up Monday outside of a New York Best Buy retail outlet for the game's launch hours before the game went on sale.