The red rings of death may get all the headlines, but they're not the only hardware issue with the 360. No, the consoles also scratch discs. And Microsoft knew about it all along.
Testimony from a Microsoft employee submitted as part of a class action suit reveals that, even before the console was first released in 2005, the company knew that repositioning the console with a disc inside would often result in the 360's optical lens damaging the disc.
And yet they didn't fix it. Partly because fixing it would have increased load times, partly because fixing it would have cost Microsoft an extra 50 cents per console.
So the next time your 360 renders your favourite game unplayable, forcing you to pony up for their $20 "replacement program", console yourself with the knowledge that your $60 game was broken by the absence of a $0.50 bit of rubber.
Report: MS knew about disc-scratching problems with the 360 [Opposable Thumbs]