Why sue just one console manufacturer when you could be suing all three? California gamer Erik Estavillo made headlines back in July when he sued Sony after being banned from the Playstation Network, claiming the company violated his free speech rights and caused undue pain and suffering.
Turns out a couple of other companies have allegedly been causing Estavillo pain and suffering, too. Next on his litigious list are Microsoft and Nintendo, according to a suit he filed in California's District Court this week.
Estavillo claims he suffered "undue stress" after his Xbox 360 fell victim to the widespread "red ring of death" hardware malfunction. He's seeking $75,000 in damages. He's also suing Nintendo, for a mere $5,000, after a Wii system update interfered with a hack he was using to unlock an extra character in Mario Kart Wii.
Sad? That's just the start of it.
"Estavillo says he suffers from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia and Crohn’s disease, all of which lead to his leaning on videogames 'heavily' for happiness," Gamepolitics said.
No need to feel left out, though. If you were one of the million or so Xbox owners banned in Microsoft's sweep last week, you too can get in on the legal action, courtesy of a planned class-action lawsuit that claims the bans were timed to coincide with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's release as some kind of revenue-generating exercise.