In light of the recent blight of console failures and the cost of software, gamers should probably know the difference between product liability and warranty, even though the legalities of either are not always black and white.

The latest Law of the Game column on Joystiq delves into just this subject matter, including assessing the job developers and publishers have done so far in addressing games released with problems:

For now, however, it seems that the rare occasions where disks are actually faulty have been, by and large, addressed by the manufacturers without intervention by the courts or the government, which does put the game industry in a pretty good light when it comes to not overburdening the consumer with the resolution of an error.

If, per chance, a faulty disc shattered inside a console, rendering the machine useless, the author (a lawyer) believes that, “the manufacturer would almost certainly be held liable, even with a liability disclaimer.”