Fallout 3 stopped working

I noticed that my game had a large scratch around the edge of the disc. When I put the disc in the console told me to clean the disc with a soft cloth and to restart my console. I did, and when the disc was put back in, it launched only to come to a screen telling me "To play game,put into a xbox 360 console" in 10 different languages. It was in an x box 360 e console. I took the disc out and put it back in, and it was recognized as a DVD. Is there any way to fix this, or should I replace the disk?

Solution 1:

The fact that you're getting inconsistent (ie: different) results each time you put the disc into the console makes me wonder if this is really a problem with the disc, or one with the console itself. Do you have any problems with other game discs that aren't scratched?

The first thing I would do (if possible) is find a second Xbox 360 console and put your disc in there, to see what it does. If the game loads properly there, then that suggests there's something wrong with your console. If it behaves erratically, that supports the idea that it's the disc.

Assuming you can safely rule out the console being the problem, you could look into options for resurfacing the disc. I know these exist, both in the form of gadgets you can buy at retail, and services provided by some outlets, although I've never availed myself of such gadgets or services, so I can't speak to their efficacy in making the disc behave properly again.

I'm not sure what other options there would be if it's not the console and resurfacing the disc doesn't help. I think you'd have to repurchase the game. On the plus side, Xbox 360 copies of an almost 10 year old game are probably gong to be cheap. On the down side, they might be difficult to find (I dunno.)