Gamer Sues Sony; Says Final Fantasy XIII 'Bricked' His PS3
Categories: Law & Order, Tech
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A disgruntled gamer named Daniel Wolf last week sued both Sony and game company Square Enix, claiming a $60 game disc of Final Fantasy XIII -- an oxymoron, when you think about it -- "bricked" his $500 Play Station 3. The lawsuit conveniently explains that "the term 'bricking' refers to the notion that after a Final Fantasy XIII disc destroys a PS3, the PS3's only remaining use is as a brick or paperweight." Thanks for clearing that up.
This was, apparently, just another bricking in the wall. Complaints regarding "brickings" are ubiquitous on the internet; the suit claims that Wolf's plight is far from unique and that, in addition to total "brickings," many gamers have suffered partial "brickings," which render it impossible to play Final Fantasy XIII. This is a class-action suit, and it claims the "aggregate amount in controversy" exceed $5 million.
The suit claims Sony and Square Enix have adopted what could be called the "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter; you got your peanut butter in my chocolate" defense when confronted by angry consumers. The hardware company claims the problem is with the software; the software company says this is a hardware malfunction. Sony, the suit continues, has offered to fix "bricked" PS3s for upwards of $200 -- though the machines in question allegedly broke only due to playing games branded as compatible to the system.
"Both Defendants are eminently aware of the damage being caused by their defective products, and have chosen to do nothing about it," reads the suit.
Also included are references to You Tube messages such as the above and actual samples of numerous complaints culled from the internet -- with some written in text-message-like, profane vernacular:
...I cant play Final Fantasy 13 for more than 35 minutes without it FREEZING!!!! My game has forze more than 20 times now and im afraid to play it anymore cuz I know it will inevitably break my system. I have never had a problem until I played this game... I called [Square Enix] and sony today and the people at [Square Enix] were complete [*******.] They actually had the nerve to tell me that the people on youtube [complaining about Final Fantasy XIII] were lying and that im the first one to call and complain.
It warrants mentioning that the eight-letter word represented by asterisks is undisclosed on the suit. But "assholes" is eight letters long. And fits.
H/T | Courthouse News
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