Headline stolen, because there' s no way to convey the horror as concisely as that.




Nice 360 art & sigs, yeah? All of that?

Erased.

athaniel loved his Xbox 360, and it loved him back. Purchased at launch, the Nathaniel brought his beloved console everywhere he went, and it showed. The case was lovingly festooned with signatures from Bungie staff, Xbox 360 team members, and even a sketch from Rooster Teeth Comics Luke McKay. His 360 was covered with fond memories, but the outer beauty was soon betrayed by the inner ugliness. Nathaniel' s 360 died, and he had no choice but to send it in for repair. He took every precaution to make sure that he would get his friend back in the same condition he sent it, getting assurances from the phone support specialist and even including a heartfelt letter in the packing box, sure to catch the attention of even the most mindless of Microsoft repair drones. And it worked! Soon he was holding his beloved Xbox 360 in his hands - and probably crying.

cleaned360.jpgThe serial numbers matched of course, but the case would never been the same. Completely blank save for a few smudges thought to be the remnants of diluted permanent ink. Unless they somehow printed up a new serial number sticker to match the old one, someone had cleaned off the case completely. No signatures, no custom artwork - nothing.

I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through the head of the person who did this. Perhaps there was an accident of some sort - some thinner spilled or something - and rather than return the case with a smudge they simply cleaned it off. Maybe someone was just being a sadistic bastard. I' ve no clue, but knowing the reason why won' t help. That' s the saddest thing about the whole situation. Nothing will bring those signatures back, so what could Microsoft even do to appease Nathaniel? Even if they somehow got the case passed around to the various signers and had the artwork redone it could never be the same. What a complete and utter nightmare.

As with all stories of this sort, there' s always the chance this could be some sort of hoax, though I highly doubt it, as other than discrediting Microsoft I see no real gain from making this up. We' re currently trying to reach Microsoft for comment on the situation.

Hit the link below for the full story, including the text of the letter Nathaniel wrote and more pictures of the formerly signed 360.

This story really got me pissed, and it' s not because of what they did, more than the fact that there' s a good chance nothing will be done about it.

That is awful, all the time taken to get the artwork and sigs, not that it would have increased the monetry value, but the sentimental side of things, I would be livid.

I wouldn' t have sent it in in the first place. Hell, I wouldn' t have even played it if I had all those signatures. I would have put it up for safe keeping.

You can probably bet we' ll see a lawsuit of some kind over this. He' d probably win too.

That is F.UCKED UP! That someone would take the time to actually do that is pretty heartless.

That being said, he' ll get over it! It' s just a video game console for Pete' s sake!

ORIGINAL: Chee Saw

That is F.UCKED UP! That someone would take the time to actually do that is pretty heartless.

That being said, he' ll get over it! It' s just a video game console for Pete' s sake!

I agree with you, but as a hardcore game enthusiast, he' ll likely take it very seriously. Try telling a car enthusiast that it' s " just a car" . You' re not going to get a rational answer back.

That was intentionally malicious by some disgruntled employee.

That being said, he' ll get over it! It' s just a video game console for Pete' s sake!

No, if it didn' t have the sentimental value it did, it' d be just a game console.

A piece of photo-paper' s only a few cents, and it' s really not that valuable, but a photo on a piece of photo paper can be priceless.

Maybe they' ll just arrange for him to get more signatures?

Now that will be expensive! But it would be the right thing to do.

I' m gonna have to callt his guy out as a complete moron for sending that xbox in.

Purchased at launch, the Nathaniel brought his beloved console everywhere he went, and it showed. The case was lovingly festooned with signatures from Bungie staff, Xbox 360 team members, and even a sketch from Rooster Teeth Comics Luke McKay.

Well, kind of stupid I must say of " the Nathaniel" . Repairing services aren' t even to be trusted purely with the hardware side of things. So I would' ve never sent that one I must say if the case had that much personal value.
Maybe it was someone at Microsoft who cleaned the case out of habit. Although it' s pretty obvious that this isn' t just some dirt.

Well, he at least has some pictures of it which is something so he' ll get over it eventually. I' ve also lost things like signatures before and the best thing to do is not to worry too much about it.

An eBay page selling a " copy" of Nathaniel' s case.

The guy was a fuc.king idiot to send it in. But then, the case was hardly worth bothering about anyway...

That said, ...Bungie have rectified the situation by sending the kid:

* Legendary Edition Helmet signed by most–if not all–of the studio staff
* Halo 3 Soundtrack (two disc) signed by Marty O’Donnel (with “DO NOT ERASE!” written under his name)
* Bungie Jacket
* Bungie T-Shirt
* Halo 3 Messenger Bag
* Two Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Controllers (one covenant, one human)
* Halo 3 Faceplate and Skins for Xbox 360
* Four McFarlane Action Figures (MC, EVA Spartan, Brute Chieftan, Jackal Sniper)
* Halo Actionclix Preview pack
* Halo Actionclix Game Pack 4
* Halo 3 Wall Graffix
* Halo 3: Ghosts of Onyx Novel
* Halo Graphic Novel
* Halo 3 Wristband
* Halo 3 Hackeysack

LINK

Lucky kid eh!?

Yeah, I say he made out alright on that deal.

* Halo 3 Soundtrack (two disc) signed by Marty O’Donnel (with “DO NOT ERASE!” written under his name)

Good lookin out, Marty.

Well, no more crying for him. He got a much better deal out of it.

Holy hell...

Bill Gate' s signature on a plate alone was worth the trouble.

Wow. That' s fcuking amazing.

Interesting that Bill Gates' s signature looks like that of a child.