Xbox 360 disc damaging case necro'd by appeals court

Remember when a group of gamers sued Microsoft over the Xbox 360 allegedly damaging game discs? That's back.

The case was dismissed when a court ruled each individual affected by the problem would have to provide their own proof, making a class-action lawsuit ineligible.

ArsTechnica reports a Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals judge has now ruled that the suit can go ahead after all.

"Although individual factors may affect the timing and extent of the disc scratching, they do not affect whether the Xboxes were sold with a defective disc system," the ruling reads.

The court said that because the plaintiffs believe "the design defect itself breaches the express warranty", there's no need for individuals to provide proof.

"Proof that the allegedly defective disc system caused individual damages is not necessary to determine whether the existence of the alleged design defect breaches Microsoft’s express warranty. Rather, plaintiffs' breach of express warranty claim presents a common factual question - is there a defect? - and a common mixed question of law and fact - does that defect breach the express warranty?"

Stay tuned to see how this goes; class-action suits can be pretty expensive, as they often end up providing compensation to a much broader user base than those who sue individually.

Plaintiffs argue that the Xbox 360's optical drive damages discs via small vibrations. Tens of thousands of gamers complained of the issue, and Microsoft has pretty much copped to knowing about it before the Xbox 360 launched, but said it's users' fault for moving the console while it is in use.

Microsoft has already had to pay out significant cash over the famous Red Ring of Death issue (pictured), extending the original console's warranty to three years and replacing an unreleased number of consoles as a result.