'Faulty' Halo 3 discs lead to MS and Bungie lawsuit
by Dustin Burg 
{ Nov 29th 2007 at 4:30PM }
Is anyone familiar with the process to become filthy rich in America? That's right, use the courts, makeup a frivolous lawsuit and sue corporate America for all their worth. And that's exactly what's going down in San Diego.On behalf of all Halo 3 owners (how sweet), Randy Nunez of San Diego has filed papers claiming that Microsoft and Bungie knowingly released a faulty product that "consistently causes the Xbox 360 to crash, freeze, or lock up while the game is being played". Nunez claims that his copy of Halo 3 (specifically) causes his 360 to act all funky and he wants compensation. Right ... Mr. Nunez may not be familiar with the whole Xbox 360 hardware failure fiasco that came to a head this year and was acknowledged by Microsoft to cause Xbox 360 problems.
We're pretty darn confident that Nunez's 360 hardware problems aren't Halo 3 specific. If we could give any advice, we would say to call 1-800-4-MYXBOX and we think Microsoft would be willing to take care of the hardware issues lawsuit free. But then again, that wouldn't result in boatloads of cash. And heck, even if a person were lawsuit happy and wanted to specifically attack Halo 3, aren't there other more credible issues to go after? Frivolous lawsuits are lame ...
[Via Joystiq]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony @ Nov 29th 2007 4:36PM
As you say, MS has basically acknowledged all of these potential issues and offered fixes. I can't imagine him being awarded anything beyond being told to go do what every one else has to do.
elmersglue @ Nov 29th 2007 4:42PM
I know this is completely off topic, but is there a way to reassign 360 controllers to a different port. Like say I want the controller assigned as player 2 to be player 1 (like in the instances where the guitar hero controller is player 2, and when you start the game up, it wants you to sign in as a different person since it thinks you're a second player). Its annoying, i usually turn the xbox off and back on, is there an easier way around it?
Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 7:02PM
start up the xbox with whatever controller you want to be player 1, and add controllers in sequential order.
the xbox connects the controller id to whatever player number it first connects as, so if your playing with 4 people and your batteries die, you don't switch from player 2 to 4 when you reconnect.
as far as i know, theres no way to reassign controllers without restarting the system.
Fafhrdd @ Nov 30th 2007 8:16AM
You can. All you need to do (while the console and wireless controllers are on) is hit the Connect button on the console and then hit the Connect button on the controller you want re-assigned. The Connect button is that small round button on the front on the Xbox 360 and the top-back of the controllers and has that little three wave symbol (((
dunnypop @ Nov 29th 2007 4:51PM
@ 2... not sure. I think you can unplug (turn off both) controllers and then replug them in order.
else sign out with your gamer tag, and sign in with the other profile?
Piers Beaumont @ Nov 29th 2007 4:52PM
As bad as the problems have been MS have always admitted them and not tried to obscure them, they offer free repairs which are usually very prompt so ill be suprised if this guy even gets a free copy of the game, hopefully he'll be forced to pay the cost's...
xenocidic @ Nov 29th 2007 4:53PM
Only in America...the land of the lawsuit.
Knight Marquise @ Nov 29th 2007 6:09PM
Amen.
It pisses me off, to no end, to see the litigation happy people of this country. I've been on the receiving end of this, a client sued my company for 1 million dollars in damages. I won, but it took 2 years in court to win. Once that suit was over, my lawyers wanted to counter sue for damages, etc.
I had every right to, however, I refused. People need to wake up and smell the coffee, start being personally responsible for themselves, and quit trying to "nail the big one" through litigation.
I wish the courts would be more consistant in punishing the frivolous lawsuits, and the attornies who help propogate them.
Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 7:03PM
Didn't you know the new american dream?
Sue your way to happiness!
SharpBlade @ Nov 29th 2007 5:13PM
xenocidic: Well said! Why does this not surprise me that this is taking place in "The land of stupid, home of the sue happy" (I'm American btw).
If Halo 3 is a faulty product then why hasn't my 360 acted up when playing the game for hours on end? This lawsuit is getting way more exposure from the media then it deserves. I hope they cover the verdict as well as they are covering the lawsuit(fat chance!). When the judge laughs this guy out of the courtroom and I really hope MS sues this guy to pay for their legal fees. I can't imagine the type of lawyer who would even think there is a case here.. Oh wait, nevermind it's a lawyer.. Karma is coming for this guy.
Leathersoup @ Nov 29th 2007 5:21PM
Why didn't he be smart and go out and pick up a dvd lens cleaner?
I was getting disc read errors on a few of my games. Picked the lens cleaner up. Ran it through twice et voila!
Eddie @ Nov 29th 2007 5:24PM
Do you hear that, chief?
It's the world's smallest violin.
We're all really broken up about your hardware issues and Halo 3. We'd feel alot worse if you were a decent human being and knew how to work for a living instead of preying on others. I hope you choke on the pop tarts you bought with fraudulent food stamps.
Benjamin09 @ Nov 29th 2007 5:31PM
Holy Crap! My cheeseburger from Mc Donalds wasn't assembled correctly! LAWSUIT! I'm rich bitch!
Benjamin09 @ Nov 29th 2007 5:33PM
@ 2.
if wireless just hold in the guide button and turn off the controller not the console, then turn on the one you want as player one, then player 2....
Adam Hill @ Nov 29th 2007 5:50PM
The issue isnt whether MS has ever acknowledged problems in the past. But will they acknowledge them in the present. Neither MS nor Bungie will admit there is an issue so people out of warranty can get some relief. All they would have had to say is "Wow, Halo 3 is causing some older boxes to freak out, please send your machine in and we will replace it". They chose to stay silent. (Bungie even says on their forums they are not responsible for Halo 3 problems)
I had a machine that refused to play past the first cutscene in H3. My freind had an XBox that worked fine on all other games (Bioshock, Orange Box included) but immediately RRDOD'ed after playing Halo 3 after a few minutes. Severe WTF?! land. Dont even get me started on the inane things 4MY-XBOX was telling me the problems were or promising "patches will be coming soon" :)
We sent ours in, they came back, both now working fine. But for the 700 other people out there on the list, tech support is just telling them to clean their discs and sending out replacement discs. And if your box is out of warranty they want $99 *unless* you are getting RROD. Not really helping guys.
The only way it seems to get a company's attention is with the big stick of the court system sometimes.
Project Ekim @ Nov 29th 2007 5:40PM
Whats next....
Tom @ Nov 29th 2007 7:21PM
well it wired I have not had any problems with my halo version at all, other then losing my place in campaign mode but I was able to figure out how to finish it anyways.. My xbox has been over a year old and it working fine other then 3 times since I had it it froze up but I don't think it that bad considering all the issues that some people have had, I think most of the law suite are people that are money hungry out of this situation or they are sony fans wanting to make a mark on the 360 holiday sales.
Larry *not allowed to say cheevo* @ Nov 29th 2007 6:01PM
It would be nice to sue them over hardware issues! My 5th xbox broke on the 11th, and I was told not to expect to see it this year! I might have to buy an xbox, rip the guts out, embed a text book in the case and return it for a refund. Yeah, stick it to the man! *high fives self*
lolz2802 @ Nov 29th 2007 6:13PM
Not Trying to spam but, what are the odds of my 360 getting RROD is disc problems if I got a new one like a week ago. (New Model with HDMI, n Some Crappy Marvel Game)
Knight Marquise @ Nov 29th 2007 6:15PM
Sorry buddy, I don't buy it. It was most likely a dirty dvd player or if you had a bad LE edition disc. I have 5 xbox 360's in my house, including a launch console, and all 5 play Halo 3 flawlessly. I also bought a legendary, LE and the rest of regular version discs and none have any problems.
This is some smuck that is looking for easy money because large companies are targets for the leeches of society due to the fact it usually easier to just pay the damn looser then pay the lawyer fees. Been there, done that, and I'll pay the attorney fees every time to bitch slap some smuck looking for an easy hit. I trust MS will do the same.
Knight Marquise @ Nov 29th 2007 6:16PM
Gotta love the blogsmith reply system. The above response of mine was directed at Adam Hill.
Grant @ Nov 29th 2007 7:07PM
happens all the time on joystiq too, theres something funky about it.
I've actually gotten in the habit of double checking to see that it says "Replying to" above the box it used to happen to me so frequently.
Randy @ Nov 29th 2007 6:19PM
if he only had a brain
my god randy nunez do something worthwhile in life ...say...internet porn?
Josh @ Nov 29th 2007 7:01PM
Would this be handled locally? I live in San Diego and would love to see this go down. >_>
Edzo04 @ Nov 29th 2007 7:47PM
I definately believe its h3. my original copy was f-ed up. My system started screwin a little. The game refused to save so i went through like 3 halo 3 discs that day. i was hella pissed
I Dex I @ Nov 30th 2007 3:54AM
Jeff Gerstmann fired from Gamespot for giving Kayne and Lynch a bad review. Sign the petition. This kind of behavior on Cnet's part cannot be ignored!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/GAMEJEFF/petition.html
Steve @ Nov 30th 2007 8:18AM
Good for this guy.
This is the same stunt MS tried to pull with the 2006 Fall update that bricked a million consoles (which they still won't fess up to ).
They put a trojan horse in the update to purposely brick modded consoles and I believe Bungie has tried the same thing this time by inplementing something in the software to catch cheaters. Remember the quote from Bungie about their "new technique to stop cheaters"?
Anyone with decent programing knowledge can tell you that it's utterly retarded to try and make a hidden virus to brick hardware when the hardware in question is so varied. You can open up 50 different 360 consoles made from launch until now and find massive variations in the components made from different companies. They constantly switch parts from varied manufacturers based on the current pricing.
That's why the fall update bricked perfectly legit, unmodded consoles and that's why Halo 3 is doing the same thing now by making the system suddenly not be able to recognize discs. I would guess the desired function Bungie and or MS hoped for was for modded 360's to not be able to read the disc but it's obviously the same clusterf#%k result like before..
My 360 (my 3rd thanks to a faulty launch console and the above said fall update) worked like a charm for a year until I played Halo 3. Then 99% of my games simply stopped working. I would sometimes sit and open and close the tray for 15 mins before it would finally boot up a game. It's simple common sense to see that all of the sudden disc read errors taking place and Halo 3 are not a coincedence. Just go read the threads devoted to this issue on xbox.com and bungie.net that have almost 5000 comments.
I'm glad someone made a class action lawsuit and I'd love to see the courts force Bungie and MS to admit they tamper with the 360 hardware in such a way. It's disgraceful to cause such a thing upon your customers.
Fafhrdd @ Nov 30th 2007 8:20AM
I completely agree that this is insaine! If MS loses a bunch of money you all know what happens, prices go up or quality go down.
This is what pisses me off. The good guys always have to pay for buttholes like this guy. You have to pay a fee for uninsured drivers on the road with your own money so the insurance company does not lose out... The good guys always carry the bad ones...
ERICK ANDERSON @ Nov 30th 2007 10:19AM
The guy who filed this lawsuit is Class A Trash. Is he somehow special with his RROD? Does he actually think Halo caused his system to crash?? Did he even call Microsoft first or is he just wasting taxpayer $$$ tying up the courts so he can get his name on teh internets?
DjChad @ Nov 30th 2007 10:21AM
I think most of you are crazy. I'm all for the lawsuits. Without them Microsoft will just think its ok to cut corners on their next console and then we got to deal with the same problems all over again. Some people may be trying to get rich off it but who cares, everyone is getting a better console.