Microsoft Sued for Xbox 360 'Red Ring of Death'
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Microsoft is not facing a lawsuit, brought under California's consumer protection statues, filed in the Sacramento Country Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that an excessive number of Xbox 360 consoles have failed, resulting in what is commonly known in the gaming community as the "red ring of death". The lawsuit further alleges that Microsoft concealed the excessive failure of it's Xbox 360 consoles in order to compete with the pending launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii gaming systems.
The lawsuit cites a number of recent articles published in popular gaming trade journals and on popular websites such as Yahoo!. Those articles contend that Microsoft knew as far back as November 2005 that over 50% of the Xbox 360 consoles involved in the in ital sales launch were defective.
This class action lawsuit seeks an order that Microsoft disgorges all profits attributable to its sale of the Xbox 360, as well as that Microsoft publicly announce and implement a refund program in California.