Yesterday, news broke that Microsoft had banned a massive amount of players from its Xbox Live service which is available on its popular Xbox 360 gaming console. According to reports, the banned players had one thing in common — they had modified their console’s hardware or firmware to carry out unauthorized activity such as installation of an alternate OS, playing out of zone media, or running pirated software.
Initially, the estimates pegged the number of banned users at 600,000. Now CNET is reporting that over 1 million players have been banned from the service. That’s a pretty incredible number as Xbox Live only has 20 million subscribers. That means that approximately 1 in 20 players has been banned, or roughly 5 percent of the service’s total population.
The ban coincided with the release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Tuesday, and many are speculating that the rampant piracy of the game before its release triggered Activision to demand action from Microsoft. Pirated copies were widely floating around torrents sites over the weekend, and players with modified consoles may have taken it out for a spin ahead of release.
Banned machines are showing up on eBay and elsewhere, often without warning they are banned machines.
As if we needed more proof that MS is completely clueless.
Looks like some class action attorneys are already looking at these actions by M$…
Good! I pay for all my 360 games and follow the terms of use, why should douchebags be getting a free ride by buying a heavily subsidized console (the cost of which MS reasonable expects to recover by licensing content) getting it modded and literally pirate every game they have and then using the mods to cheat coz they’re too damn pathetic to play honestly.
All they do is disadvantage the honest people who do the right thing.
Fuck’em I say.
And good luck to the whiny little crybabies mentioned by Marco who think their class action won’t get tossed out of court immediately.
Oh, and the jerks who use the “I modded it so I could back up my games coz they scratch easily” excuse SHOULDN’T TREAT THEIR GAMES LIKE CRAP!!!
I shudder when I go to some of my friend’s places and see 360 disks just sitting on tables with their undersides so scuffed and scratched from not being stored or handled properly.
“…unauthorized activity such as installation of an alternate OS, playing out of zone media, or running pirated software.”
I agree with the decision to ban those cheating or using pirated games, but even then I think the ban should be reversible.
What I don’t think is right is the whole alternate OS and out of zone media thing. If I buy a DVD in France, I expect it to work in the US. I mean, come on. French cars will work in the US. French cell phones will work (on a GSM carrier). A French GPS unit will work. But a French DVD won’t play? If it doesn’t, I’d probably consider repeatedly calling tech support for whatever product won’t play it. The fact that consumers put up with this shit is a disgrace.
The ban on alternate OSs is also unwarrented. It either shows that Microsoft really hates people that imply their product could be improved (by running more/better software), or that Microsoft fears Linux. After all, only an open source OS has any chance of being modified to run on a 360. Maybe Microsoft worries that if their gamers try Linux on a 360, they might just try it on their computer. And Microsoft wouldn’t want that.
Ok.
5% decrease is ONLINE PAY…cool. Good steady PAY service just killed off 5% of their money.
Hacked systems STILL NEEDED to be bought, so they could be hacked.
Price of software??
Lets take away Packaging, shipping tons of boxes around the USA, Art work, commissions to stores, advertising and that $70 ONLINE games is worth?? $10.
Do you think they will sell it ONLINE for $10? NOT ON YOUR LIFE..they want the PROFIT.
CHOKE HOLD of RIAA/MPAA in the USA for distribution of ANY MEDIA from any other place around the world. If someone wants to SHOW a movie in the USA, they have to PAY. Those Anime from Japan/china/korea have GREAT prices in the USA dont they? And you wonder WHY people pirate/hack and make money in the background?? THE USA DOES NOT/and WONT compete with other nations…PERIOD.
I don’t pay too much attention to new game releases but I had to check out Call Of Duty Modern Warfare! Glad I did
its not about fearing Linux. Is about people buying a powerful computing machine, the cost of which is heavily subsidized by MS for the purpose of selling games.
And the bottom line is they really cant stop you. Once again, that ban only affects connection to Xbox live, which you couldn’t do with the alternate os anyway.
The mod community can do some neat stuff, more power to them. But have sense enought to keep your head down and the system off MS’s proprietary network.
ECA, sorry bud, but you are clueless.
10 bucks???
Open your freaking eyes for a moment and look into what it costs to make these games today. The people who work on them are not morons like you, they are highly skilled and smart people who deserve to be rewarded for their hard work. Many games today have budgets that exceed that of movies, yet you’ll pay around 15 bucks to sit through 2 hours of entertainment in a movie theatre. Games provide way way more hours of entertainment than a movie – therefore they should cost a lot more – PLUS you can sell the game as used and get something back for it.
Wow!, the stupidity is unreal. People today have absolutely no idea what things cost or what the value of something is.
Boo hoo. 1-million possible cheaters banned. So many are complaining about their rights, etc., being violated by MS… WTF? They can still use these units to pirate games, run other OSes or whatever. They just can’t be on Xbox Live. As an online Xbox 360 gamer, good riddance. This is part of keeping cheaters from running bots and hacks for cheating in game. I applaud Microsoft for keeping it real. It is one of the reasons I migrated away from PC gaming where cheating is rampant.
29,
YOU ARE IGNORANT OF THE BUSINESS.
A group of people MAKE a game..
THEN you MUST go thru a distributor..
The distributor is the one that does the SALES, and adverts and so forth.
YOU CANT distribute a game in the USA unless you have contacts, and the small company DOESNT.
EA is a distributor and maker..
Atari, is only a distributor..
Many distributors, BUY the software OUTRIGHT..pay the small firm OFF and make TOTAL profit.
when they BUY OUT a game/software they have ALL RIGHTS.. a group of 5 that spent 2 years making a game, is paid an average of $10-30K each. THATS ALL.
The distributor will make his money, WORLD WIDE, by selling 1 million copies, at $1 profit, IF he uses ONLINE distribution.
WHICH is what MS and sony are doing.
ECA YOU are the ignorant one.
Small companies are more than welcome to distribute their wares through the Live Online Marketplace service (I’ve bought several games this way and the authors get one hell of a lot more $$ in their pockets than the usual distribution system)in much the same way that iPhone app writers can make money via the iPhone app store, and independent game studios can by making their work available via the STEAM game distribution method on the PC.
No longer does ANYONE have to sign a dummy contract and lose all sales and control of their IP to a big distributor like EA or Activision, though they can do that if they wish.
Grow up and do a bit of research before posting bullshit you don’t understand.
So these Xboxes are not bricked, they still play games. Will they still work with Boxee or XBMC? Will the HD-DVD player play regular DVDs? Hmmm… I wonder what these things are going for on eBay? Might be some real bargains!
32,
aWW, I see you know Steam..
Its a nice thing, EXCEPT..
try to play a game WITHOUT STEAM.
Try HL2. HL2 ep 1, ep2..WITHOUT steam.
Its a very good idea and great for smaller companies to get their CREDIT. AND those small companies can make GOOD money, WITHOUT going thru the BIG COMPANIES.. But STEAM still gets money. THEY are becoming 1 of the BIG companies.
Go look at the PS3, and the 360..
STEAM and a few others, are fighting over the PC platform. and HOW to make a SOLE(SINGLE) distribution system.
See, IF someone can make a FULL FLEDGED, online distribution system, EVERYONE ELSE has to use them. THEN they can write their OWN check.
At 50 years old, I have SEEN whats happening.
reseller makes $10-20 PER $50 software sale.
$30 left
$10 goes to shipping and handling and distribution. CLOSED LOOP distribution. its hard getting to EACH of the places and ASK EACH of the stores to sell your product.
$20 left
$10 goes to adverts and PRINT adverts and ONLINE adverts and NEWS of the release.
$10 left
THAT is what the ORIGINAL company that MADE the game gets.
Look up ATARI. They are no longer a SOFTWARE maker..They BUY it from the makers, PAY THEM OFF. then OWN it and do all the rest.
Look at EA, they are doing the SAME THING as Atari.
The BIG business is in DISTRIBUTION.
IF another company can setup an ONLINE system, it will CUT COSTS by 66%, and increase profit by 200%. but for WHOM?
ONLY of the MAKER makes a DEAL with steam, will they make GOOD money.