Microsoft has stated they have found a flaw in older versions of the Xbox 360 (which versions are not stated) that is causing them to have issues playing retail games. Major Nelson was quick to clear up that this is NOT related to the recent dashboard beta that allows play of a new disc format, but a previous, unspecified update.
The story broke via Eurogamer, users in European countries able to check via their Xbox Support site if their console is afflicted with this problem. US players apparently must wait for e-mail confirmation, Microsoft figuring out which consoles are causing issues over Xbox Live. However, this information remains vague, the only possibility coming from a user who claims to have received an e-mail from Microsoft, as reported on by Kotaku. If you are receiving either ‘disc unreadable’ or ‘disc unsupported’ errors, you can also directly report to Microsoft’s support page.
The good news in all of this is that if you do have one of those consoles, Microsoft will be sending you a brand new 250GB Xbox 360 Slim plus a free year of Xbox Live. The company states this is only affecting a “small number” of users, but has otherwise been cryptic on the subject. While this sounds like a great deal for many older Xbox 360 users, and Microsoft deserves a pat on the back for dealing with it in this manner, there are still far too many questions and conflicting answers.
