MS confirms free console replacements

Users who find that their Xbox 360 consoles are not compatible with the upcoming new disc format for the platform will receive a free replacement.

Microsoft has confirmed this morning’s rumours, saying that in most instances it can sniff out any offending hardware and proactively contact the owners.

"Following a recent update to our system software, we have become aware of an issue that is preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs," a statement reads.

"This issue manifests itself a as a unique ‘disc unreadable’ or ‘disc unsupported’ error on the screen. We are also able to detect this issue over Xbox Live and are proactively reaching out to customers that may be impacted to replace their console.

"Any Xbox 360 owners receiving this error are encouraged to contact us at www.xbox.com/support/contact so we can verify if the console has been impacted."


As reported this morning, one Xbox 60GB Pro owner has already been offered a fee 250GB S model.

The firmware update the enables compatiblity with the new formats will be rolled out from tomorrow. It’s unclear which game will be the first to ship on the discs.