xbox

So I just got a new XBox 360 Elite (January 2008). I'd heard about the possibility of XBox 360's ruining game discs, but thought that it must be the older ones.....until it happened to me. I keep my XBox on the carpeted floor between my chair and the TV. The XBox 360 is hooked up to the front of the TV using 'standard' audio and an S-Video cable. I don't make a habit of moving it, but I had some friends over and they were using it to play Rock Band. One of them moved the console while it was running. They didn't throw it accros the room or do anything drastic. They moved it slowly and resonably carefully. They just turned it from the upright position to a laid-down position and moved it a few feet to make room for the Rock Band drum set. In doing so, the XBox 360 instantly destroyed the disc. Left a huge perfectly circular deep scratch in the disc and made it unplayable. $60 down the drain.

OK, stay with me for a second here. Take ANY other device in your home that plays CD's or DVD's. While running, turn the device on it's side. What happens? That's right, nothing! I tried it with my PS2, my original XBox, my DreamCast, and my two DVD players. Not a scratch to be found. Not to mention I have CD changers in both cars that get 'moved' every day. The only player I've ever seen ruin a disc is a GAME CONSOLE sold to both adults and kids alike. Any of you have kids or teenagers? They move things! So do adults. Now I'm scared to death to put any expensive game into my XBox 360 for fear that any movement will start costing me a fortune.

I read some articles that during the design phase of the XBox 360, Microsoft spent tons of time and money designing the physical console itself. They needed it to be appealing visually to a very wide market. Visually, the XBox looks fine - much better than the oversized original XBox. But how is it possible to overlook something as blatantly obvious as "hey, if you turn the thing on it's side with a disc in it, the disc becomes insta-destroyed. Oh, and by the way, we hope lots of parents buy this for their kids and teenagers." ?

This isn't some obscure little problem that can only affect a small population of XBox gamers under certain 'rare' conditions. This is a HUGE problem that ought to delight both Sony and Nintendo.

Anyone think Microsoft will ever fix this? There are a number of home-made fixes out on the web that appear to work. It's AMAZING that a company as large and powerful as Microsoft can spend MILLIONS developing a new product line and overlook something that basic. It would be like Mercedes developing a new car that stalls when you make a left turn.

Thoughts? Anyone.