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Bloggers report scratches on special `Halo 3' disks

A copy of Microsoft's new Halo 3 video game for the Xbox 360 is shown on Tuesday in Seattle, Washington, along with the limited-edition tin packaging that many gamers are blaming for scratches on the game's two disks. PHOTO: AP

Just hours after die-hard fans finally got their hands on a copy of Halo 3, blogs brimmed with reports that special limited-edition packaging is scratching the video game disks.

While the scratches do not appear to keep buyers from playing the game, it is a rough patch that Microsoft Corp, which has faced several Xbox 360 glitches in recent months, could have lived without.

Microsoft, which owns the studio that makes Halo 3, responded on its Xbox Web site with details for a replacement program. Customers in the US, where the game went on sale early on Tuesday, can fill out a form and send in their scratched limited-edition disks for a free exchange through the end of December, it said.

"We have identified that there are some instances of blemishes on discs as a result of the packaging," Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said in an e-mailed statement. "This is a small fraction of the total number of Halo 3 games shipped and sold and is a limited production version of the game."

Microsoft is selling the limited-edition version, which comes in a tin decorated with the Halo 3 logo, for US$70. A regular copy of the game costs US$60, and a "legendary" version, which comes with a replica of the helmet worn by game protagonist Master Chief, costs US$130.
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