Microsoft faces 360 lawsuit

Last week, Microsoft extended the warranty for the Xbox 360 consoles to three years from date of purchase, a move that the company believes will cost an estimated $1.05 billion. The company said in a statement that the move came "as a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles."

Now one gamer wants more from the manufacturer--he claims that the 360 scratches game discs, and is "negligently designed and manufactured," reports the Associated Press. Jorge Brouwer filed the suit in Florida on Monday, July 9, seeking class-action status, saying that his console scratched his copies of Gears of War and Madden NFL 07. He says that Microsoft offered to replace the games for a $20 fee.

Brouwer is seeking more than $5 million in damages for the class-action suit. Brouwer's lawyer, Jeffrey Ostrow, said that the disc-scratching issue was a separate one to the "red ring of death" issue, although he used it as an example that Microsoft "is well aware that the Xbox 360 console has been defective since its introduction to the marketplace."

The lawsuit also mentions investigations allegedly conducted by a Dutch TV program, which claimed that one in nine consoles tested scratched game discs after five hours. The reports of the Dutch TV show's findings came from an entry on the Wikipedia site--an online encyclopaedia which anyone can edit, said Ostrow.

Microsoft responded by telling the AP that, "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs."