Microsoft has irrevocably banned unprecedented numbers of modded Xbox 360’s from its Xbox Live service, stressing that piracy will no longer be tolerated, and happily pointing out that such units have voided their essential warranties.
The official line on the bans, which have been meted out in large numbers in the US, Japan and elsewhere, runs thus:
As you may have read online, we’ve been actively banning consoles from Xbox LIVE that have been modified to play pirated games. Our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox LIVE community remains a top priority.
All consumers should know that piracy is illegal, and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs, violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE.
The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them.
This would also be a good time to remind you that the warranty on an Xbox 360 console is not transferrable and if you purchase a used console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE.
Considering the situation surrounding Microsoft’s hardware failure rate, a completely voided warranty is a virtual death sentence to many of the units concerned (assuming they could still be passed off as unmodded). Microsoft may as well have disabled the consoles outright…
The non-transferrable warranty and potential flood of banned consoles onto the second-hand market also conveniently double as ways of ensuring a significant disadvantage to buying second-hand units, though whether this is deliberate is of course not clear.
Just what effect all this will have on Microsoft’s somewhat depressed hardware sales remains to be seen. For a significant number of users, the ability to pirate Xbox 360 games was a major advantage to owning the Xbox 360 over the PS3…
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Microsoft gives us beta games and region lock
we gives them pirate games and mods
I think it's fair
It's not like I'm supporting piracy but....I'm living in a 3rd world country & I'm leading a normal life of a student & a worker.
All I have is my PS2 (modded) & I play it for recreation only.
I was planning on buying the X360 Since the PS3 is expansive & the games are expansive too. The pirated X360 are sold widely around my country & most of the people's I've asked before are playing the modded ver.
We don't have the Xbox LIVE service in our country, moreover the X360 is gaining a good rep. here (we have some of those who bought the original ver. too) & when they're asked about the modded ver. they nod their head in agreement that since we don't have the LIVE service in our country (we can just play offline & no DLC's....correct me if I get this part wrong)
I'm not supporting piracy but seeing that Microsoft is banning them from going LIVE (not gonna affect us I think) and making their warranty void (the one which got me mad here) just seemed not to be a good way to put a stop to the people's who are buying & playing the moded X360.
Since the LIVE service is not available in my country , will the fans here be out of the ban ?
If your console is moded it lost is warranty. And since your country doesn't supports LIVE, can't think any way this will affect you.
Can you hear me now?
No, Because YOU ARE BANNED!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH
Sincerely,
XBOX Representative.
I don't pirate (Console) games, but enjoy your useless 360s
red ring of doom, putting a virus in the manditory updates to frag save files that are shared online, and now the outright banning of modded xboxes. i see it as just another nail in the coffin for xbox. i can't wait until xbox is run into the ground. i sold mine a few months ago. now i just play my ps3 and very seldomly i play my wii. won't buy xbox ever again.
It's funny, if you get console banned - the type of ban described in this article - Microsoft (under the ToS) doesn't have to give you ANY explanation as to why you were banned.
Your only recourse is to complain on their support forums, where extremely helpful moderators will reply to you with "All console bans are permanent" right before they lock the thread.
Someone on an IRC channel I lurk on posted a link of to the Xbox support forums while the crack down was going on. This was where you were shuttled to when you wanted more information about why you were console banned.
Microsoft can essentially ruin your Xbox and void it's warranty, and they don't have to give an explanation as to why they did it.
Well, unlike most people here, I agree with Microsoft. Piracy needs to be stopped, and this is a pretty good way to discourage them. Besides, Modding your console is grounds for a voided warranty in any case, last I checked, so maybe they should've thought about that before they did that.
Mysterious Voice: "Are you insane? 'Pirate' is a term coined up by those oafs in charge to demonize file-sharers. If there's no other option to get the game, be it price or region, you must mod. It doesn't contradict! With this move, Microsuck once again proves itself an idiot everytime it opens up its lying mouth."
You say that as though Microsoft wants to deliberately make gamers suffer.
Mysterious Voice: "Gee, I wonder why..."
I pirate PC games so I can try the real game before I buy it. Xbox, there's rental companies for this purpose.
I justify PC piracy by the large amount of CRAP released, and it's the ONLY way to try before you buy on the full product, since you can never trust a demo. But if a game is good, and worth buying, you go buy it. because lets be honest, playing on those private L4D servers fucking sucks. And as someone said, economically, they make money on games, not console sales, so yeah, if you buy just to pirate, they don't, and SHOULDN'T give a rats ass about you. And for those of you complaining about your country's taxes, that falls under the guy who said "So I can't afford a car I should just go steal it". That's a bullshit justification. If you don't like your country's policies, MOVE, or, make a friend in country with lower taxes, and work through them, and have them send it to you as a "gift", you may still have to pay the tax, but the retail price was lower that way at least.
in my country we pay $90us for 1 game
Well I'm glad I don't live in your country. Tuff!
lol at everyone whinging about games costing too much. doesn't give you the right to steal them you stupid fucks.
a 360/PS3 game costs like $120 US here, so i just import stuff.
What about if we can't import them for X reason? Fuck the poor and handicaps right?
YES. Game consoles aren`t for poor people. Now shut the fuck up, and bend over so I can shove this 3-foot wireless motion-sensing dildo up your ass.
It has Bluetooth!
That should be Microsoft's new slogan
Yep, SCREW YOU POOR FOLK! like we give a crap if you're hungry. lol
I rotfl'd so hard wen I first read the arguments posted against modders!!! It's really hillarious! The way sum of u people on here talk u make it sound as if the game designers and workers at MS r gunna starve to death. Only 4 maybe 5 percent of xbox 360 owners are even actual modders! It's like a loss of 4 bucks out of every hundred they make. They're still gunna drive they're fancy cars and eat their delicious food and buy their nice houses w/ or w/out modders. The only reason MS is even doing this is in hopes of driving up profit of new consoles bought by those 4 percent. The fact that they only cancelled Xbox Live accounts shows they still want a profit. Personally my account wasn't shut down but that's becuz I'm no idiot to be playing games that haven't even been released yet online already. Those r inexperienced modders that got caught. As long as you play ur unreleased game offine until it gets released you'll be safe. And to all the idiots hating on modders get over it. Just becuz you prefer to waste your hard-earned money on riddicuously over-priced games doesn't mean I shud waste mine. I paid for my console and I'm damn well gunna do wat I want with it (eff the terms of service). Who really reads those anyway? As long as I'm not caught, and even if I get caught, im still gunna continue. I don't tell you how to play your xbox so who r u to tell me wat to do with mine? Get off ur high horse and stop acting like uv never stollen a thing in your life either cuz I'm willing to bet all the music on your iPod wasn't bought from the iTunes store. Or any of your CD's dont have a mix of downloaded music. MS are the ones who are stealing money with their riddicuously priced accessories, faulty manufacturing of products for their own profit, costly live account and games at 60 bucks a pop. You wanna accuse sumbody of stealing look to the greedy crooks at MS. No matter what they do or wat you say there r still gunna be people like me finding a way to keep doing wat we do. If you don't like it then tuff luck for u cuz while you pay hard earned cash on these over-priced products I'll be finding a way to do it for free or cheaper! Im manipulating the system for my profit and I'm sure that ticks you off but that's just the way it is and that's the way it's always gunna be.
Xbox fanboys, only a step away from being retarded.
WE ALREADY ARE RETARDED SINCE THE DAY WE WERE BORN. Retards that were born in 1990 and after are complete f***ing idiots. Thank You!
It's a risk they were willing to take, so they should have no right to complain, but it's a bad idea to take out customers in such a brutal way though. I mean it's like storming into death row and killing everyone. There's a chance they might have liked to at least say goodbye first and maybe say their last words before being killed, you know.
developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers
Why are you all trying to justify not paying for something you're supposed to? Do you all honestly think that it's okay to pirate games? That it's okay to play a game that you're supposed to pay for for free just because you can't afford it?
Well I should be able to steal a car because I can't afford it and shouldn't have to pay my entire four months worth of salary for one. Asshole Honda.
I'll assume the country you were born in has low taxes and plenty of economic opportunity. Truth is, some countries don't. In most of the world, Hard work and intelligence don't get you the kind of money required to buy products like expensive video games. Should people in worse situations than you be forced to shell out tons of cash for overtaxed products? I think not.
However, if you have the finances required to fund your gaming hobbies, then pay! Don't complain to Microsoft or any other company about this if you're making a good income and can afford to pay rather than pirate.
(you can complain on the behalf of those less fortunate than you though)
It's an obsessive problem for this generation.
LOL FAGGET FAGGY FAGBOX
developers (a) developers (b) developers (c) developers (d) developers (e)developers (f) developers (g) developers (h) developers (i) developers (j)developers (k) developers (l) developers (m) developers (n) developers (o)developers (p) developers (q) developers (r) developers (s) developers (t)developers (u) developers (v) developers (w) developers (x) developers (y) developers (z) developers
lolz pwned ur spam filter!
PS3 always has been and always will be the better system. I feel bad for the people who got suckered into buying a fail box.
And Betamax was a better system then the VHS. Doesn't change the fact VHS flourished and Betamax went to hell. Just being better means shit.
I bet you don't even fucking know what a Betamax is.
The funny thing is, I can remember the eight track player my parents used to have around the house when I was a lot younger. And until me and my brother got our own radio, we had to listen to Saturday Night Fever, Peaches & Herb, and Abba. Every. Fucking. Day. >_< T_T Bad memories I'd rather forget. Call it PTSD.
I don't recall my parents ever buying a betamax system though. We did have an early VHS VCR, as well as the cable hookup for TV.
There's something called the Internet.
ITT Pirates trying to justify piracy.
I couldnt care less about pirates, its when they try and justify why they do that gets me annoyed.
Just shut up and play your free games, and I'll shut up and play mine that I paid for.
The sympathy for the pirates gets me irate. But I don't give a shit 'cuz I don't play either PSNetwork or CrackBox 360 Live anyway (not having either PS2 or XBOX could account for that...).
I feel more sympathy for the customers who will get boned over buying second hand shit someone else modded/pirated. Of course 'Caveat Emptor' holds true for them also. So my sympathies, while notable, will still be on the order of headshaking and going 'I told you so!'. ^_-
A lot of people downloaded bad MW2 rips; so Microsoft was able to ban a lot of people.
Microsoft took advantage of this, and stated that "We've had enough of piracy, and now were going to ban you ALL."
It's a scare tactic.
Download good rips, and you'll be fine.
uhhh not true. I had legit ISO's and I got banned. I had full proof ways of checking the copies before ever playing them and they still found me.
good thing im not a console fag. COS U BITCHES JUST GOT BURNED
HAHAHAHAHAHA
People trying to justify pirating. Lol, at least have some fucking pride.
It is wrong to pirate, but that's not going to stop me from doing it. At least I'm not some fag trying to make it seem as through it is right.
I don't pirate 360 games, so I don't give a shit about this too much.
Articles like this are why consoles and console games are shit. You`re all a bunch of gullible clowns.
PC 4 life.
HAY GUIZ REMEMBER WHEN CONSOLE GAMES WORKED ALL THE TIME AND STARTED UP INSTANTLY WHEN YOU TURNED THE POWER ON AND NEVER BROKE DOWN?
I <3 MY ATARI 2600
theft and priracy is wrong, but i feel bad for the people who actually payed for live and ended up getting banned. also for the people who modded there xbox to play region locked games. stupid region block. bleh
Hey, some of these people should get together and file a lawsuit for this.
I also have to disagree that piracy is 'bad' or that it is even 'theft'. Theft is when you steal something that actually has some PHYSICAL VALUE... with pirates, they are just downloading and burning games that they wouldn't be able to afford in most cases anyway, so the whole argument that 'piracy takes dollars out of the hands of Microsoft and others!" falls flatter than a cat that's been run over by a steamroller.
My friend's 360's disk drive is modified to play burned pirated games, he has been playing pirated borderlands online for a while now, even today, and he's still not banned. His 360 has been modified for the past year or so and he's been playing pirated versions of the most popular games for awhile.
I think this ban only affects certain types of modifications. Like the kind that allows you to play ISO's from an external HDD connected to the 360 by a modded 360 HDD.
This is a very old issue.
Microsoft bans modded consoles since long ago.
I don't mind buying good games, likely would buy MORE games if the method of selling to me was intelligent (it isn't).
Piracy is partly a poetic justice sort of irony. The industry is so stuck on it's perceived rights, that it can't see that if it just changed it's method of delivery things might improve.
We haven't 'needed' brick and mortar retail for a few years now. Locations that function based on reselling used copies likely kill more sales than digital theft does. Every time a used game is sold, the creator gets sweet fuck all.
The thing is retail is essentially the only way most ever learn of the existence of games aside from online, and believe it or not online is not as visible as a lot of us like to think. Ever been to Matrix Games?
it's probably the largest source of serious wargames.
MS simply hasn't needed to get clever though, because it has the muscle of it's OS domination. The same way Sony has the muscle factor of selling hardware outside of gaming.
I just can't fathom why so many are so devoted to a machine so reliably capable of breaking.
mmm, im saving up for a ps3 anyway. I'm sick of scratched disks and drama associated with my 360 when my buddy's ps3 performs immensely better and he treats it like crap. It don't give me bloodshot eyes in HD either lol, also there's the fact that there are more like swordfighting and rpgs on the ps3 anyway (*shock and awe* i neither like nor have any skill for fps game other than fallout 3) so it's a better buy, the free online is nice too
STOOPID CONSOLEFAGS to to pc
Only faggots mod their consoles.
You guys that are all for privacy are funny, are atleast know something along the lines of eletronics. You could probably , depends on your computers motherboard mod ur xbox for couple dollars. Thus saving you alot of money. I know i have tons of games. Its funny because Lot of you people are idiots n dont know shit about any kinda eletronic device. Keep paying for your games. Im sure if you knew how to mod your xbox n knew what to do with the games all of you suckers would of been burning games. But i may have been banned with the modded xbox but give it a matter of time n we all will be out to get you lame as mofo's. You really dont understand the door ms just opened for all of us elite. Just a matter of time....
drop the price of soft ware and you might not get so many pirate games if they were priced realistickley
Piracy doesn't need to be stopped. Piracy is the god damn EQUALIZER that the little man has against the companies that try to nickel and fucking dime everyone.
Shit like RE5 Versus Mode DLC... Why are we paying $5 for SHIT ALREADY ON THE FUCKING DISC?
Dragon Age 'day one' DLC. Yes, yes, WHY IS IT NOT ON THE FUCKING DISC?...
Piracy doesn't need to die, piracy is the last bastion of freedom we have against greedy capitalist corporations that think it's morally ok to nickel and dime ppl now as opposed to making COMPLETE PRODUCTS for release. Companies that think it's ok to RUSH HALF BAKED GAMES OUT THE DOOR and just patch them later, or finish them later with 'DLC' and make you pay extra...
Piracy gives us 'option 3'. No we won't buy your half finished shit, but it looked good so we'll try it... But no we won't pay you out of principle... OPTION 3, WE'LL FUCKING STEAL IT :D
No, piracy is not legal. But don't ever fucking try to say it is WRONG. It is simply ILLEGAL, doesn't make it wrong. In my eyes, the current nickel and diming bullshit with DLC is far far worse of a crime than piracy EVER will be.
+1 for freedom to take a damn stand.
You are a FOOL, and I ain't going to listen to some FOOL WHO THINKS PIRACY IS "OKAY".
Are you an idiot? Piracy is wrong because anything "illegal" IS WRONG dumbass. Piracy does need to die. You speak of greedy companies and state that they milk us for our money. Well I'll tell you this now. THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO. THEY MADE THE PRODUCT. If I had a company I would do the exact same thing.
Simply go by the saying "Treat others the way you would like to be treated".
By saying piracy is right your basically saying that stealing is right and if stealing is right then how about I just steal everything you own? How would you fucking feel dickwad?
*SIGH*
His point is- like the oldfag remembering a 2600, is there was a time when game developers produced a product that gamers could be assured was a QUALITY product. (Quality assurance =/= 'good') That it was a COMPLETE work, and noone purchasing it was excluded from the experience for not paying more, and that the product WORKED. 100%.
.. All of which are now false.
Consumers are not treated as valued and loyal partners in the game market, they are simply resources to be exploited.
Consumers don't really get anything other than what they pay for. Its not their job to treat you and value you highly. The only thing they care about is selling the product. Its your choice on whether you buy it or not. Just because people can't afford things doesn't mean stealing is ok.
Aight, time to buy a PS3 if i have to buy legal games anyway.
Data is and should be free. This is a modern international problem where 'censorship' is given a thumbs up because of Information Distribution.
I pirate games for PC because I have an addiction, srsly. I need to get my fix of new games ASAP. BUUUUUUT when I play these games I do it critically, because they are like books for me.
I've bought 100% of my library of pc games AFTER playing the pirated version, in order to support the development team who did something good. Latest addition being Batman Arkahm Asylum.
I finished the whole thing till 100%, pirated. I usually eat the game up in a day.
I was utterly satisfied and said to myself that THAT is a game development team who needs the money. They wrote a 'book' I love and will be playing every now and then for the rest of my gaming life. I then paid about 60 bucks for adding it to my Steam game library. And there it will be, with much money going towards the team rather than to the distributors and middle men (while not entirely cut from the deal, there's less comission).
I would have never bought it if I hadn't seen it was worth the cash. Sure, I had access to the demo (and played it) but demos are made in order to impress in short time spans, and often times I find that they are better than the game itself. It's an inversion, I need to know what I'm supporting.
Also, I hate people who don't understand who are the ones pirating.
There are guys who do it, like me, to broaden one's knowledge, sometimes more like myself who work or study amidst the entertainment industry, and some do it for the shear possibility to do so, mostly because there is lack of access to the data as intended by the original distributors.
Imagine you wanted to get your hands on, for example, Richard Dawkin's "God Delusion". Everywhere you turn you read it's an exeptional book. Yet you live in a country whose backassed politics censor the work or lack proper distribution highways with the few who do charging up till 90% more of a 30 USD hardcover book.
You want it, you get it if the access to it is there. Royalties are not damaged by you, you are not a lost sale as people have been draged to belive.
You are, in fact, a probable additional end user, eventually going to many extremes to get your hands on the product you consider great. Sometimes soon, sometimes later.
But in the end no one is actually losing anything. If the market worked as people in business suits who have never developed information intended, you'd all have bought that horrible game about the Cat CEO, because if you don't you are "lost sales".
stupid... now how are we suppose too play regional games?
Sort of dangerous, to bann japanese players, with them already beeing few in numbers. Well, thats how it feels, I don't know any real numbers.
Thats why PS3 rock and GAYBOX suck.Cuz it is pirated.
Let the person who has never pirated anything in their lives(music, movies, ect.) cast the first stone!!! Becuz I can guarantee that just about all the people saying "stealing is wrong!" have illegally downloaded music on their iPod or has watched/bought a pirated movie OR knows someone who does download music illegally or has pirated movies and I'm willing to bet your not going to turn them/yourself in. HYPOCRISY ANYONE?
The People who got banned deserve it, there are ways to ensure you won't get detected by MS.
i heard that some ppl are able to mod the xbox without xbox being able to dectect it the only reason i would eva mod would jsut to be able to play other region games so im just gonna settle this by getting a japanese xbox it would eb cheap since xbox arnt very popular haha
I never felt the need to mod my 360. I have a job. Something like the PSP, on the other hand, now that's worth modding. You just can't take 60 UMDs and PS1 games with you wherever you go.
Agreed, never modded a console, but modding the psp was definitely the right move.
dont blame any1 for piracy....blame the distributer or manufacturer because they wanted to earn more so they put game in high price... what if they made original game price = to the piracy game price.. then piracy will be out... simple solution... if this happens why buy piracy instead of original
you fool
piracy is free on internet
you want the game price to be free?
My Xbox ran out of warranty already and I'm having the RROD problem, meh it's still fixable and it will be better then sending it to microsoft to get few parts changed and it'll just broke down again :)
DIY ftw
For a significant number of users, the ability to pirate Xbox 360 games was a major advantage to owning the Xbox 360 over the PS3…
What a well thought out comment taking into account the opinions of a 'significant' number of users through some form of magical opinion survey device in a totally unbiased manner.
Alternatively:
For a significant number of users, the inability to pirate PS3 games was a major disadvantage to owning the PS3 over the Xbox 360...
That's EXACTLY they reason why I chose to get an Xbox 360 over a PS3 2 years ago but then after 10 months, I got RRoD. Managed to fix it. Bought a PS3 so now I use my Xbox 360 for their shitty non-existent exclusives and other shitty games and my PS3 for actual exclusive games and other games which I think it's worth buying original.
YOU fixed a RRoD error that you got TEN MONTHS into your consoles life? A console that has a THREE YEAR warranty for RRoD?
You, sir, broke my bullshit meter. I'm guessing you either have no 360 because mommy and daddy couldn't buy it or you're just another retarded Sony dick-sucker. Either way, you fail for not knowing what a warranty is.
And yes sir. Your bullshit meter is broken. A RRoD can be fixed and that very easily. There are tons of tutorials for it and not to mention a ton of videos on Youtube But yea your a total retard for thinking that a RRoD can't be fixed. Go do some research than bash at people.
Lol although some of the things you said are true that about it going to the fagcrosoft for around 3 months I modded my xbox in april but bought it in the summer of 2008 and since my warranty was only for a year I just gave the middle finger to M$ and modded the console. Still hadn't had a RRoD but I don't think I won't be able to fix it and besides. I don't play too much. Prefer to watch animes instead of playing but when I want to play I play. As for the Gold. I couldn't care less. They want money. Go get some other fag not me. Everything I have is either hacked or doesn't even need it. That is my PSP x360 and PC I also have a ds but I play on it even less so yea.It's not hacked well I just don't have the stupid card to run the games but I don't care. PC is rarely used as a gaming gear since it's full to the brim with animes I want to watch so games are a really rare item on it.
Unlike you who's blinded by the faggotry of your gaybox, I do own the freakin console. I live in a country where most of the gaybox are already modded so yea, the warranty issue is somewhat my fault but who cares, I heard even if you sent your gaybox back to microshit to get it fixed, you'll have to wait like months to get it back and then it'll someday die again anyway and sooner or later your precious warranty will die too. So in conclusion, you buy a gaybox for 300 bucks, play for few months or a year, it died, you send it to microsoft, you wait months to get it back, play for few months again, it died again and the cycle continues until you'll eventually gave up and buy a newer gaybox which costs another 300 bucks. Not to mention you have to pay like 50 bucks or something a year for online gaying.
Some countries simply don't have support for warranty.
I don't get the point of this comment. Are you somehow seeing a non-existent attack on 360 in that particular sentence?
oh noes! I modded my system by putting stickers on it. I WILL BE BANNED FROM XBOX360! :(
Is this a marketing **** up?
Why do people PAY for xboxlive? PSNetwork is free, why would anyone pay to play online on the 360 when it's free on PS3?
Analogy time....PS3 is a slut who wants to get as many people playing her as possible, and xbox360 is a high maintenance hooker who let's anyone play with her as long as they pay.
Quite possibly because Xbox live is better than PSNetwork as many users who own both consoles attest to time and time again. Basically the only thing that PSNetwork has that Xbox live doesnt is its free while Xbox Live has much to offer over PSNetwork.
If you're bitching about 30-50 dollars A YEAR, you have the wrong hobby. Maybe pressing flowers would be more your speed. It's free, so it is better than video games.
Free is always better, amirite?
Anon 1:57 must be rich. :O
Then you are getting a raw deal. I'm getting a US XBL card in Japan for 60 Yen. If you're old enough to care about XBL, you're old enough to get a damn job. I've done my reserch because I buy memberships for more than just the US and Japan. It is almost always a straight currency to currency conversion. Same with Microsoft points and online game codes.
You need to work on your anger management and use your damn brain. If you're being ripped off that badly, maybe you should find other ways to get your goods. I you can't, move. 50 dollars a month should of been a huge tip off that someone, somewhere was taking you for your shit. If I'm not mistaken, most your country runs off the UK servers, so get some cards from there. Should be around 60 to 70 euros a year. If you watch on Amazon UK, you can get them around 30 euros.
I swear, every Bulgarian I've met is a fucking raging asshole. 12 of them got deported at my college for started fights against other nationalities. Even if they didn't get deported, they were all in trouble for parting 24/7 and passing out bad booze. They were about as pleasurable to be in a class with as a having your prostate scraped with a rusty nail. You need that hair pulled out of your ass.
30-50$ a year IN AMERICA! here in Bulgaria a 3 month membership costs around 50$ while a 1 year membership goes from 90 to 120$ well excuse me but shut your mouth when you think that those prices are the same for all the countries in the world. Do shut up and before you go blabbering your mouth up do a research. Not to mention that in some families the parents don't let their children buy online with a credit card no matter how old the children are and they can't afford the 50$ year membership but have to go off to a shit shop to get the membership while paying the double price. If I have to sum up what I said. YEAH! FREE IS BETTER! And before you go telling me that I should in that case get a PS3. Yeah I've been having that thought for over a year now but are you going to be the one who will pay it for me since here in Bulgaria a PS3 costs over 700$.
Well if you knew how they rip us off here in bulgaria with cards I doubt you'd want to buy something online since they put way too many taxes no matter on credit card or normal bank account. Sure I've wanted to buy a gold account and MS points online over who knows how many times but heck just when I think that I'll have to pay the bank the double amount of money that I spend on the good I'd rather pass. Think about it. If you buy a 1 year gold it cost's 50$ or euros (depends from where you buy) but adding to that sum around 30$ more and it gets the same as to wether you'll buy it online or from a shop that gets such goods once or twice a year. As for ragefags bulgarians yeah most of us are like this since here the way we treat with each other is different and most of the bulgarian population is quite aggressive but what I don't get is what they got against other nations. Well I'd guess 70% of bulgarians are full idiots true I admit I was kinda pissed yesterday since I had a few problems with my x360 but the other 30% including me are quite peaceful and don't have problems and yet the other 70% are total fags that destroy even more the bad reputation that bulgarians have and make it even worse.
Nope, I manage an online gaming store. We currently carry US, JP, UK, and will special order XBL cards for smaller areas. We even carry PSN cards for the areas which, IMO, is fucking stupid. If you have a credit card, you should be able to buy anything off any Playstation Store, but Sony wants to be a bunch of cocks.
Anon @ 06:49 is getting ripped off big time and, instead of finding a better way to get his fix, he's just bitching about it. In the grand scheme of things, XBL is very cheap. It's the price of one game. Hell, most of us spend more than $50 a night at a club on some slutty skank and don't even thing twice about it, but ask someone to pay $50 dollars for XBL and what do you here? "WHAT?! THAT IS TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE!" It's stupid, really. These days, people expect everything to be free. Free MMOs are shitty, free games are mostly shitty, and free online is mostly shitty. (PSN gets it's period every 2 weeks where I live and can't descide if it wants to go down, stay up, or block voice/Home/PSStore. XBL never does this, but that is my experience. I'm not in America, Japan, or the UK so Sony doesn't fucking care about me.)
I have my XBL payed up for 5 years at 90 dollars because, instead of being some whiny little bitch, I've gotten my cards at a steal off Amazon and other sites that sell them under value. You just got to keep your eyes open, just like you have to do when saving on video games. Like I said, this hobby isn't cheap and we shouldn't act like it is.
Nothing beats good old freedom of PC networking.
like a bill, of course.
It seems the entertainment robber barons have struck again. Steadfast your dollars friends, for it is the only way to harm them.
I've always thought xbox live was a rip off. Both wii ps3 and even ds and psp allow for free online play. Obviously it doesn't cost much to run microsoft is just ripping idiots who want to pay for the internet conection and for microsoft to allow them to play online.
Good point. Microsoft makes you get a gold subscription for things the PS3 does for free, and it obviously doesn't bankrupt Sony to do it.
I think Microsoft is trying to shift the profit they're losing in the Operating System war with Apple. Microsoft is Shifting it's priorities. They finally make "Vista done right", and I don't see it anywhere. They're too busy making their new motion controller, which I call "Natal that great".
Sorry to go slightly off topic, but Natal is not for the average working person. When someone gets home from a long day a work, they don't want to jump around in front of their TV hitting virtual balls. I have to give Sony's motion controller it's props, because it looks like you could use it from a lounge chair.
Yeah, 91% of the OS market share is "losing the battle".
Congratulations on stating the obvious.
enjoy your ban
hihi don't cry :)
Real gamers use PCs anyway.
Real gamers use PCs? You're no better than some console fanboy. Besides, I've had games that ran like crap because i didn't have a particular line of vid card or something. I'd rather buy a game for a console where it's been tested extensively for the hardware I have than take chances that some unforseen problem will arise trying to make the game run. Gaming is a leisure activity so why the fuck would I want to make it a second job?
Why your games were developed on a PC afterall, so real gamers use PCs.
Your console exclusive junk? We ain't want no part of that, no thank you.
True! But there are some (mainly many) game titles that are only available on game consoles.... : (
ha!
The PC is the major tool in piracy anyway
This is a good move by microsoft. Now all the kids who got banned will just buy a new xbox 360 so microsoft will earn even more profit.
Not that they weren't already doing so with the RRODs...
A perfect example why people these days are retarded. They rather spend another 300 bucks just so that they can fap while looking at master chief.
Real gamers would have all 3 console and a gaming PC. If you actually think real gamers are solely PC users nowadays, then you are sadly wrong.
The main problem with PC gaming is that PC users will just pirate it. Consoles actually have more exclusives coming out each month then PC. Take last month for example. Count up the amount of good exclusives and you'll see PC barely had anything.
This trend will continue for awhile because gaming companies know that if they release it on PC first, everyone will just pirate it. That's why most PC ports gets their release later then console.
It is true, I remember the most popular games that was pirated was Diablo 1 and 2 untill Blizzard did there own crack down against Piracy for those who still play the PC game. When they did that forceing people to buy real copy of the game, sales of the game gone up.
This is because most ppl playing (atleast diablo II) were playing online.
Call me oldschool, but if you're playing on a 480p and using a gamepad then you're NOT a real gamer. There's a reason why casual gamers and real gamers (read: "hardcore") use different platforms (read again: PCs over consoles).
Piracy really is a bigger deal on the PCs, but not because of the platform, but because 90% of consoles users just aren't tech savvy (read once again: their dumb) enough to pirate it.
more like; 90% of people aren't tech savvy
I think most people I know just use emulators and ROMS. It's a lot to work with for the average asshat
I've yet to meet a modder outside of a few guys and gals who run shops in the city
No, you're just having some superiority complex. Even back then, real gamers would hook up their gamepads to their PC to play games on their small CRT monitor.
Casual gamers are people who buy and play games only to have fun for a short amount of time. Hardcore gamers would play games regardless of the platform, even go outside and play at the arcade.
You're probably too young to call yourself oldschool. At least you should have known the difference between "they're" and "their"...
Casual gamers are people who buy and play games for only a short amount of time. Hardcore gamers would play games regardless of the platform. They'd even go outside and play at the arcade.
BTW, it's "they're dumb", not "their dumb".
>>> PC barely had anything. You obviously don't know about eroges.
He said "Good exclusives". Not "random eroge number 2049282396832".
The real reason is that its a lot cheaper to developer for consoles and their set boundries then it is to develop for PCs having to satisfy those who like fancy graphics and those that are not willing (or able) to spend a ton of cash on a high end rig.
It's much more cost efficient to develop for a console and then maybe release some half assed PC port.
PC titles demand higher standard in QC and testing, which companies should be doing in the first place. With consoles, you can cut corners far more easily, but that's it. It's not as terribly expensive as console fanboys would have you believe and it's certainly not expensive enough to justify the lost profits.
Besides, you can't convince me that big names such as Sony, Square/Enix, Namco, THQ and LucasArts are too poor to release PC games.