Halo 3 Limited Edition: scratched discs ahoy [update]

New discs aren't a fix. The box does not protect the disc at all! The first time you lend it to a friend, or move it to a dorm, take it over to a friends house to play etc, it will pop off it's defective box and get scratched. Basically their fix is the equivalent of replacing a wet umbrella and then sending you back out into the rain. It's useless, and it's insufficient.

when I picked up my game today, eb asked if they could open it in order to make sure the disc was ok. They opened it and it was scratched barely at all, they went ahead and gave me a new disc.

@51
Bestbuy was doing the same thing (opening them first before they sold) which leads me to believe that Microsoft has infact told them (and other retailers) to do so.

The costs of reworking the casing, re-manufacturing the casing, and reprinting the discs will probably run into the millions. Any profit Halo 3 would have made has already been negated by 3 billion dollars in extended warranty coverage for RROD'd 360's, and now this. Halo 3 went from profitable, to "Let's hope this helps us break even"

Wait until this story proliferates and soccer moms (and their kids) find out that their discs are scratched (and thus ask for a replacement, even though they didn't initially notice). This thing is going to be huge.

Went to pick up my game at 3pm after work and EB informed me that most Limited Edition disk are scratched. Upon opening my box in the store they had to replace my disk with one from standard edition. Well while walking out store disk came loose again and scratched, so this time they replaced it again but I got a CD sleeve thing to put it in. Game is amazing, but Microsoft should have checked to prevent this from happening in the first place. Then they want us to pay for shipment? After $400 for 360, $xxx in games, $xxx in accessories the least you can do is pay to correct your own mistakes. Anyways, I am loving this game and will enjoy it the more I play.

...p.s. i think the 'legendary' edition with the helmet is fine. its the 'limited' edition that has the faulty disc holders. and on that note, you can add me to the scratched disk list. me and my friend opened both of our copies at target's electronics counter only to find both of them had one scratched disk. after patiently opening 3 more LE's we both walked out with our copies. so that's 5 [five] bad copies at my local target. i was surprised at how well they handled it. i tried warning another dude about the discs, he acted like i had a trick up my sleeve to steal his game! all-in-all it worked out to be a good birthday and great haloday.

Yeah, the Legendary Edition (the one with the helmet) doesn't have the scratched disc problem. Although, it does have a useless 60 dollar helmet (Which I'll admit is pretty freaking sweet looking, but for 60 bucks? Give me a break). Ebay here I come with my helmet.

My copy arrived a few hours ago, when i opened it i noticed that both disks where badly scuffed, although the game disk was working fine until i got about 3 hours in. :-/ then i got the msg "Unable to read game disk" so now im gonna have to pay to send this back to MS and wait up to 6 weeks for a new copy which may also be scratched??? this is a total Fucking joke!

I love the game BUT.......

I was first to return the game to my local Best Buy on the 25th and the last one to see any copies of the Limited Edition in that store. We opened all but two (bet they love me now:p) just to get one without scratches. Get THIS... we were opening new cases (Co. sealed box w/ about 15-20 tins per case)and tins were coming out of the case dented and smashed... you cant tell me that happened in transit... not when some of the tins were in the middle of the case!! These were screwed-up before they ever left the company!! Btw- while we were having fun opening all these packages the manager had just received a chain of company emails (I glanced at it) from other stores throughout the country stating that they felt it should be pulled from the shelves. Look at the money wasted buy the stores having to process returns on something that could have been avoided.

I cant believe that a company would fail to see the deficiencies in their packaging. All those overpaid company jackasses and not one of them were smart enough to see it? Where the HELL are their quality control processes and who the HELL did the shipping validations!?! In case you company jackasses missed the class.... a company typically validates and documents their processes... from conception to the shelf and beyond!! You designed a GREAT game and marketed it VERY well but something as simple as packaging has just confirmed that all of you have much to learn!!

Did I mention I love the game:p?

one more thing...

Now that I have two good disks what am I going to store them in?? I paid for a Limited Edition which included the metal case. Look at this description from Best Buy... "With this Limited Edition, you'll receive a bonus disc of additional content packed with behind-the-scenes info and more, as well as a sleek, metal collector's case." and then this first sentence description from xbox.com "The Limited Edition ships in a sleek metal collector's case.".

SO, When can I expect to see my replacement "sleek metal collector's case"!?! The one that I have isn't very sleek...it's a PIECE OF SHIT and it doesn't hold the disks securely!! I just want what I paid for!!

Easy Solution. Store both the game discs in the Halo 2 box and the Extra discs in the Halo 3 box. Problem solved.

Absolutely the new discs isn't a good enough solution. I don't think people are understanding, so let me make this even clearer; EVERY SINGLE LE TIN IS DEFECTIVE. It doesn't matter where you buy it. It doesn't matter if you get a new disc if you store it in the tin. If you store them in the tin, they will get scratched, and become useless. Thus the tin is useless and defective. DO NOT STORE YOUR DISCS IN THE TIN!

To be fair to Microsoft, it's obvious why this problem wasn't apparent until launch day. How would you figure out that discs were getting scratched in transit, without opening the boxes after they'd been shipped (which is what happened on launch day). It's unfortunate but it would seem as if the manufacturing of the holding ring was screwed up by whichever manufacturing plant made the cases. I'm hoping that the problem has been fixed, and that noone is selling Limited Edition boxes right now (although I realize that I'm being way too overly optimistic)

Oh, and I won't mention names, but even after going through 10 or so Limited Edition boxes with me, and calling corporate to confirm, a certain store was still selling the Limited Edition discs =P buyer beware.

ya i got mine at midnight, opend it up and BAM! there is a disc that looks like my dog had used as a chew toy for 8 years. then i got home and its says this every time i try campain: disc is unreadable.(naturely) i got pretty pissed when two weeks after my 15th copy of halo 3 it was scrached and + i tryed them all and they had the no sound and campain ordeel so un till numba 17 comes around in bored and pissed out of my mind cuz bungie completly screwed me over after i spend waaaaaay to many hours on a game ( which im ubsessed with)

I got the Limited Edition boxed set and the game disc was cracked badly in the centre and the bonus disc was loose. Seems that the manufacturers used a retention clamp thats to damn big for the hole in the disc. Bungie go to the trouble to give us a kick ass game and some mickey mouse outfit make a pigs ear of the case. Blockbuster swapped me a new basic version for it and refunded difference after checking all their stock and agreeing they were all duff. Advise ppl just to not bother with the limited pack.

Now back to runnin round in my 'busa armour :)

WEDNESDAY 10/03/07 I RECEIVED MY REPLACEMENT DISCS FOR HALO3 FROM MICROSOFT. IT ONLY TOOK 5 DAYS. THEY ALSO SENT A ONE MONTH CARD FOR XBOX LIVE!