Gamer Sues Microsoft

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Gamer Sues Microsoft

Postby Thoul » Thu Dec 13, '07, 11:20 pm

Did you hear about this news story? A guy in San Diego filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Bungie because he says Halo 3 crashes a lot. He's charging them with violating consumer protection laws because the companies haven't taken steps to fix the problem, which he says is widespread.

What do you think about this? Should game companies be liable, legally, if they release a game that crashes from time to time? Are they obligated to fix such games? [i:*]Could[/i:*] they fix them and feasibly distribute those fixes, even if they wanted to do so?
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Postby Silver_Surfer1 » Fri Dec 14, '07, 3:29 am

I haven't heard anything about that, but sure, I think he has a good case and they should be liable to have to fix a flaw such as this, especially considering how much some of these games, etc., cost. If they can't fix them, then they should be ready willing and able to offer returns, refunds, etc. Having to do that may make them distribute a more perfect product in the first place. :grumpy:
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Postby Neithird » Fri Dec 14, '07, 6:55 pm

If it can be proven to be a persistent and important flaw in the game, sure they should be responsible. Most of them could not really provide fixes, however. To get a fix for something like this, you'd have to mail them your old game to get a new one. Who wants to go through all that trouble?

Games have always had freezing and crashing bugs, but companies have never done anything about it after publication. It would cost too much. Look at Phantasy Star Collection for GBA and the PS1 crashing bug. Even if they fixed it, that would be trashing all the existing carts and doing a second print run. They'd never go for that.
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Postby SparkyIII » Fri Dec 14, '07, 7:09 pm

But....everything crashes alot, people should just deal with these problems. XD I have to, there's nothin they can really do about it. Plus the game testers would have noticed if it was crashing, so there would have been something done about it. But I'm feeling a lil strange now, i might just be rambling. XD
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Postby Thoul » Sat Dec 15, '07, 3:38 am

With the Xbox and Halo, it might be possible to make a update to the game that can be downloaded online. Lots of PC games have patches to fix bugs or add new content after the initial release. Maybe Microsoft can do something like that?

Of course it wouldn't help when dealing with a cartridge based game, but as more and more systems and games have internet capabilities, the companies could use that to distribute updates.
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Postby DrkTr14ce » Sat Dec 15, '07, 8:55 am

Halo 3 crashing? I personally believe he has done something to his Xbox 360, because I haven't seen nor heard of such a case yet.

I mean, we've all heard the tales of the (roughly) 33% of 360 systems that are suffering from "The Red Ring of Death" along with a few other problems. And while I'm not doubting the chance of a bug on that disc that might be screwing up his game, and if there really is one, it's most likely a problem that can be fixed with a patch, as some of you have said.

To shorten it up, I think the guy is full of s---, and that's putting it nicely. You bought the game, there's a problem with it, you don't immediately go out and sue. You E-mail Bungie and alert them instead.

Idiot.

Edit:
Sorry if I sound like a jerk, but I'm getting tired of these people suing over silly matters like this.
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Postby Atolm » Sun Dec 16, '07, 4:21 am

Perhaps he needs to take better care of his system.
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Postby SparkyIII » Sun Dec 16, '07, 6:04 am

I wouldn't be surprised if he dropped the Xbox on his way home. XDDDD
Everything has a pattern. Something set. Even random things. They aren't random at all, its complex mathematics. The trick is to find the pattern. Then you can exploit it.

People think things have a certain end. Taxes. Work. Due dates don't really exist. Trust me. When you put a band of world scholars in the same room, and set them on talking about anything, the most interesting topics come up. The existence of negative time. The probability of "random occurrence". The government's involvement in the media. And falsified due dates. They aren't real, trust me....
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Postby Tsunami » Sun Dec 16, '07, 6:27 am

SparkyIII wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if he dropped the Xbox on his way home. XDDDD
Reading that made the scenario of the guy playing catch with it run through my mind... I'm terrible.
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Postby SparkyIII » Sun Dec 16, '07, 6:32 am

Reminds me of the commercial, "Long has man been entertained by the simple game.....*SMACK*... of catch." XDDDDD
Everything has a pattern. Something set. Even random things. They aren't random at all, its complex mathematics. The trick is to find the pattern. Then you can exploit it.

People think things have a certain end. Taxes. Work. Due dates don't really exist. Trust me. When you put a band of world scholars in the same room, and set them on talking about anything, the most interesting topics come up. The existence of negative time. The probability of "random occurrence". The government's involvement in the media. And falsified due dates. They aren't real, trust me....
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