Microsoft is rolling out a new update to the Xbox 360 which adds a few new features. Gamers in some countries can now link their PayPal accounts to their 360s and buy stuff that way, and standby mode has been tweaked.
Coincident with this update (coming over the next two weeks) comes the news that a recent firmware update adding support for the new expanded disc capacity feature may not be playing nicely with some 360s. But don’t worry, Microsoft is on the case. In fact, you might wish yours was getting bricked.
From Microsoft:
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. 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.
The unlucky/lucky few will receive a brand spanking new 250GB Xbox 360 S and a year of Xbox Live Gold access. If you’re having this problem, contact Microsoft here to start the process.
Good on them for doing the right thing here, though apparently the bricking has been happening for a little while now. After the rocky launch (never forget) of the 360 and in the light of Sony’s continuing hacking troubles, Microsoft’s generous customer service is no surprise.