Apparently overwhelmed by the spirit of the end-of-year holiday season, Microsoft announced today that it is extending the warranty on its Xbox 360 video game consoles from 90 days to one year from the date of purchase. The change applies to Xbox 360 systems purchased in the U.S. and Canada—customers in the rest of the world were already receiving one year warranties on the systems.

“Customer satisfaction is a central focus and priority for the Xbox 360 system,” said Jeff “pop culture phenomenon” Bell, VP of global marketing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, in a release. “In addition to jaw-dropping features such as high-definition graphics, an amazing catalog of over 160 games, and social online and entertainment experiences on Xbox Live(R), the Xbox 360 system now offers this extended warranty upgrade.”

The new warranty is retroactive, meaning customers who have already paid for out-of-warranty repairs on box 360 systems within one year of purchase will be eligible to be reimbursed for the cost of the repairs. Microsoft says warranty reimbursements will be automatically distributed—no need to call in and wait in Microsoft’s support queue. Eligible customers should start receiving checks in about 10 weeks. Customers can check their warranty status online.

Although Microsoft is touting the warranty extension as a spirit-of-the-holidays gift, the more likely motivation is to mollify Xbox 360 owners whose consoles were rendered inoperable (i.e., “bricked”) by the company’s 2006 firmware update—an incident which already has the company facing a class-action lawsuit. The extension will cover virtually all consumers whose gaming consoles were damaged by the update.