UPDATE: This one just got a tad more confusing. Stay with me here!
Microsoft has not responded to my request for comment on today's reports about disc drives, but Eurogamer's gotten more. The issue has nothing to do with the upcoming firmware update but, as it turns out, a previous update.
"Additionally, this disc read error message is tied to a change in the disc reading algorithms in a recent software update and is not specific to older or newer versions of Xbox 360," the company said in a statement.
As such, if you haven't had an issue with your machine playing retail discs so far, you're out of luck when it comes to getting a brand-new Xbox.
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The spring update for Xbox Live is imminent, bringing an important security change to the way Xbox 360 machines read discs, freeing up a substantial amount of space to developers on each disc. The update breaks the ability for a "very small number" of Xbox 360s to read retail discs, however, prompting Microsoft to reach out to affected consumers, offering them a replacement Xbox 360 S.
== TEASER ==Kotaku first broke the news, based on an email received by an Xbox Live user. You can imagine their surprise. Xbox Support's Twitter account then verified the email, based on other folks receiving similar emails, were true. Microsoft then released a statement to Eurogamer, elaborating on the issue itself.
"Following a recent update to our system software, we have become aware of an issue that is preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs," the company said. "This issue manifests itself a as a unique 'disc unreadable' or 'disc unsupported' error on the screen. We are also able to detect this issue over Xbox Live and are proactively reaching out to customers that may be impacted to replace their console."
I've contacted Microsoft separately for more information but have yet to hear back. Let me know if you've heard from Microsoft. My Xbox 360 is several years old, but I've heard nothing from them yet.