Man Sues Microsoft For $5 Million After His XBox Scratched 2 Games

[matcom]

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SEATTLE -- A Florida man who claims Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 scratches game discs has sued the company, saying the consoles are "negligently designed and manufactured."

In the lawsuit filed Monday in a Florida federal court, Jorge Brouwer says Microsoft has received thousands of complaints but has not replaced all scratched discs. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

Brouwer said his Xbox 360 scratched two games, "Gears of War" and "Madden NFL 07," and that Microsoft offered to replace them for a $20 fee. He is seeking more than $5 million in damages, according to the court filing.

Last week, Microsoft extended the warranty for the Xbox 360 consoles that completely stop working due to a vague condition the company calls "general hardware failure." This is a separate issue from the scratched discs, though Brouwer's lawsuit cited it as evidence Microsoft "is well aware that the Xbox 360 console has been defective since its introduction to the marketplace."

Microsoft denied the allegations.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Microsoft_Xbox_Lawsuit.html