NEWS
L.A. Noires 3 Discs Causes Absolute Mayhem For Xbox 360 Gamers
It was only yesterday that L.A. Noire finally came out in the UK, but for some it has been a lifetime’s worth of hell trying to get hold of the full game.
Due to using DVD discs rather than the much more spacious Blu-ray discs favoured by the PS3, the Xbox 360 version of L.A. Noire has been squeezed across three separate discs. Although this is normally just a small annoyance for lazy gamers, it has proven to be more than just a nuisance at a couple of superstores in southwest England. Many keen shoppers have rushed into a local Tesco, ASDA and smaller stores to get their copy of L.A. Noire for their Xbox 360. The transaction seemed to go well; they had their 3 discs and were making their way back home to become a full time detective. All was going swimmingly.
For some, the problem didn’t start for a few hours after they started playing the game. It was not until they reached far enough into the game to get the familiar “Insert disc 2” screen pop up that the problems started. At this moment their detective work had satisfied them greatly, but upon opening up the case to grab the second disc, their smile dropped instantly. There was no disc 2, only two more copies of disc 1! Angered, they now marched back to the superstore from which they purchased the game, waving the receipt in the air. But what they found was no orderly queue at the returns desk, but a riot! The staff were frantic and outnumbered by a sea of red faces, all shouting abuse at their incompetence.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the copies of L.A. Noire for the Xbox 360 that were sold across these multiple stores were somehow dispatched with mismatched discs. Some did not receive the first disc, some had two copies of the third disc and others had three copies of the second disc! Normally, this would easily be dismissed as a discrepancy with the blame being directed at a few hopeless staff. But this happened across multiple stores and with the majority of the copies sold at these retailers having the same problem.
One of the people I spoke to amidst the rowdy crowds said that he was now in a rush and was actually going to ask the store to compensate for his fuel costs due to having to make a second 50 minute trip to return the discs and get back home again. It seemed that many others had the same idea. Secretly I laughed at their idiocy; who doesn’t check their discs before they leave the store?
Joking aside, it seems there are more unforeseeable problems being caused by Microsoft’s decision to stick with the rather limited DVD format for their Xbox 360 discs. It has not been until recently that this poor decision has started to really cause problems for consumers, but now that it has started it seems it will only continue to grow worse. Fortunately for Microsoft, it will not be them getting the majority of the anger thrown at them from these kinds of upsets. But be warned Microsoft, make some wiser choices in the future.