Watchdog Snaps At 360' Dirty Discs News

The Xbox 360 has found itself under the spotlight once again, this time around following an investigation over the 'dirty disc' issue by the BBC consumer group, Watchdog.

Although complaints over the notorious 'Red Ring of Death' appear to have died down a little, Watchdog's investigation focussed on another well-known 360 problem with scratched discs.  While anybody who's owned a 360 can warn about the risks of moving the machine while playing a disc, Watchdog highlighted the misfortunes of two individual cases who maintain the console was never moved.

Watchdog's report put the 360 to the test, sampling both an original and new model with expected results.  Three days of 'intensive' gaming for six hours straight by the Watchdog team failed to replicate the “dirty disc” error.  Nevertheless, undeterred the 360s were sent to a lab to undergo slightly more stringent testing.  By simulating the normal household vibrations, the first test simulates the motions of people walking, but failed to replicate the error on either machine.  The more menacing 'shock vibration test' simulates forces such as a placing a book on a table next to the 360, or as the lab expert pointed out, anybody playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band with a little enthusiasm.  The results were unsurprising enough for anybody who bought into the 360 during the early days: the original failed, but the newer model with its revised chipset passed.

Watchdog's report follows the threat of legal action hanging over its head in the US, and the promise of an investigation by the EU Consumer Commissioner from July 2007.  Results from the proposed EU investigation have yet to surface, though Watchdog suggests the department has sent two letters to Microsoft, seeking answers as to why they have received so many complaints over the issue.  Microsoft has previously issued a disc replacement program that covers first-party titles, although a cost of £10 is charged for every swapped disc.  The situation over third-party titles is less clear.

In response to Watchdog's investigation, Microsoft claims that the issue surrounds a very small number of people and maintains that there is nothing wrong with the Xbox 360, while pointing to the fact that it's own extensive tests haven't been able to replicate the error.