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…
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
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 f♥♥k 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.
Only faggots mod their consoles.
drop the price of soft ware and you might not get so many pirate games if they were priced realistickley