The Xbox 360 is an unbelievable console.

[mjc0961]

So I'm getting ready to play some good ol' Modern Warfare 2 (Haters gonna hate). Take the disc out of the case, seems normal except for all the minor scratches it has gained over the last year. I have it installed to the hard drive so those scratches aren't a problem. Over time, the disc has gained cracks in the useless plastic part in the very middle of the disc that did no harm either. I put the disc in, it's read by the 360, and I play private match for about 45 minutes. We decide to play online and that's when I get an "unreadable disc" error. I check the disc and it has a crack halfway through it. The 360's on a balanced, flat surface and is laying vertically. I also payed $100 to get this thing repaired about a month ago. I honestly don't know what could of caused this other than the console itself.

I can make a good guess. It's the part I put in bold. That crack did do harm. A cracked disc is on its deathbed: eventually all the spinning will cause it to grow until the disc is no longer one piece anymore. I had the same thing happen with a copy of Yuri's Revenge once. All of a sudden the game freezes, so I had to reset my computer and then the disc can't be read. I open the drive and here's my disc in pieces.

And yes, your disc wasn't spinning that much because the game was installed, but still, it is checked on start-up and eventually that's going to do it. It's not the 360's fault, that'd happen to any cracked disc in any disc reader. Just be glad the 360 has a tray instead of those awful auto-feeding things that the PS3 and Wii use so you could just open the tray and remove the pieces rather than have to send it off for repairs or dismantle the console and then disc drive yourself.

 

[Jamash]

Those "cracks in the useless plastic part in the very middle of the disc" are caused by users not taking the discs out of the case properly, or not putting them back properly (especially when they're warm and more brittle after a long period of use).

If you don't full depress the button in the game case (so that the spindle is smaller than the disc hole), then you put a lot of stress on the disc as you force it on or off the spindle, which cracks the centre part.

Once there are cracks in the disc, then it's just a matter of time before the high RPMs of the console's DVD drive will cause those small cracks to enlarge.

There's nothing in the 360 that can actually cause those cracks, but if you attempt to use a damaged disc then the normal actions of the DVD drive can make the cracks worse.

 

[Xanadu84]

Ive seen plenty of unpleasant occurrences involving design problem in the 360, but honestly, I think this sounds just like one of those, "There's always a small chance of catastrophic failure" occurrences. Every once in a while, the stars happen to align just right and something fails spectacularly. Probably not the console per say. Just bad luck.

 

[Grey_Focks]

So, you put a cracked disc into your console, and are now blaming said console for it breaking? Alright then. Good talk.

 

[Coldster]

Yep. That is the biggest problem with the 360 and its the reason I bought the "slim" version when it came out. Never had any problems since. Now only if my Wii would stop making that really loud noise...

 

[DirgeNovak]

Well, that will teach you to handle your fucking discs properly. I have never, in 15 years of disc-based gaming, damaged a disc. And I don't consider myself particularly careful, either.

 

[Flunk]

Consoles work a lot better when they're lying in the direction their disc reader sits (horizontal for the 360). I've always had mine horizontal and with lots of breathing space and it's never been a problem. Although I don't exactly live in a hot place so it could be partly that.

You can contact the game's publisher for a replacement disc, they don't normally charge much.

 

[devotedsniper]

Sounds to me like it was gonna happen anyway since you were putting an already cracked disc into something that spins it at high rpm, i've never had a 360 (owned one for 4 years before getting rid for a pc) crack or even scratch a disc when its vertical or horizontal (well i lie my nephew did knock it once when it was spinning but what do you expect, that was my nephews fault anyway not the xboxs).

It sounds like you don't take care of your discs anyway, i've never managed to crack a dvd disc unless i forcefully tried to break it and even then they bend into a U shape before even braking the plastic (granted the discs wrecked by that point but come on surely that shows how tough the plastic is).

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Installing a game to your hard drive doesn't mean that cracks don't matter anymore. If it's as banged up as you described, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. I've been playing 360 for 4 years, still works just fine.

 

[noxymoron19]

Since I don't know what to say I'll share my xbox story. About once a week my xbox stops reading discs. So then I proceed to smack it around for a minute or 2. Then it starts reading discs again. Xbox's are magical

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

and is laying vertically

I think I've found your problem.

That's nothing to do with it. I always have my 360 vertical and I've never had any problems with it. He clearly just has a faulty xbox. That or he's not handling his discs properly.

 

[cgmetallica1981]

I'll thank the retards who said this had no discussion value for wasting their time for the good laugh. Your loss, saying this has no discussion value doesn't harm me at all, you're the ones who wasted time. Oh and that's false because the thread wouldn't have 29 replies. And as a few decent people said the case broke the center of the disc not the Xbox.

My bad for mistaking vertical for horizontal, I was pretty disappointed when I wrote this.

 

[Vicarious Vangaurd]

So the Xbox sucks because you don't take care of your discs?

 

[Pearwood]

I'll thank the retards who said this had no discussion value for wasting their time for the good laugh.

As far as I saw virtually all the replies were just saying that you should have seen it coming so don't get too smug. And yeah just to repeat what everyone else said, you really should have seen it coming, if you spin a cracked disc at thousands of RPM it'll shatter eventually.

 

[bob1052]

If the 360 had a large flaw such as cracking discs with no outside force (kicking your console over will do the same thing, but it doing it on its own is strange) you can bet there would be an outrage over it and it would be a well known issue. As an example: RROD was an issue with Xboxs, and everyone knows what the RROD is.

What you have is an isolated incident that is evidently not an issue with your xbox. When you have a unique issue and the only difference between your Xbox and everyone elses Xbox is you.

Sometime down the line you caused damage to your Xbox and/or case and compromised the disc drive, causing it to damage your disc, or you compromised the integrity of the disc causing it to break under normal functions.

It is your fault and complaining about the console isn't going to get the money you wasted back.

 

[aaronobst]

I really wish they included a disc slot in the redesigned 360s Like the PS3 and Wii have, That tray scraches the shit out of your discs

 

[TimeLord]

I got a 360 for the first time last week. Within 15 minutes it had ruined my copy of Halo: Reach because accidentally tapping it made the stupid thing throw a fit and tear into the disc.

My response; fuck you Microsoft. I'm not replacing my copy of Reach out of sheer spite to a poorly designed console. My PS3, PS2, Wii and ever DVD player ever made can all be budged a few centimetres with a disc in without it ripping it to shreds.

 

[Dan From Aus]

I still don't believe in the existence of the Xbox 360.