If the blog post I’ve just read at Hawtymcbloggy (along with a number of other blogs and websites) is to be believed, Microsoft has made another blunder recently. I recommend that you read the post itself in its entirety, as it is explained in much better detail than I’ll go into here.
Basically, there was a kid named Nathaniel who had an extremely customized Xbox 360 which he preordered and had since the console’s original launch. He had traveled with his Xbox for 2 years and had it signed by some of the important figures in the gaming industry, and also had some custom art put on it. Unfortunately for Nathaniel, his Xbox got what is known as the Red Ring of Death (RRoD). This is a light which is usually green around the console and turns red after a very common hardware fault. In order to fix it, the owner has to send it back to Microsoft for repairs. He was worried about the art and autographs on his machine so he called in to Microsoft and they assured him that everything would be fine. He sent the Xbox in with a note explaining the circumstances and requesting that the autographs and art (in black marker) not be removed. Instead, he received his working Xbox back with all of the art wiped off with rubbing alcohol. This news is hitting a lot of the major gaming blogs, so maybe he’ll get compensated for his loss, but it seems slightly doubtful. You can see photos and the whole article at the link I posted above, but maybe you have to be a gamer to really understand how crappy this could be for someone.