More on XBox Live Bans, HDD Crippling, Possible Ban Causes

While M$ is at why don't they just make the entire system go RROD. That's the best way to stop pirates. And go even further and cripple the controller from working, then at the same time burning out the CPU and the power adapter. That will teach those pirates!

(yes that was sarcasm)

trying to stop pirates is just foolish...

i could do this, get banned and sell it... trust me its not that hard, you might need to try more than 1 place but youll find a place or even ebay... and in no time someone who did nothing gets screwed =\

Most people that are up to date with gaming news would never buy a used, refurbished, repaired, etc console. If you plan on buying an xbox you better go buy a new one off the shelf and look at their return policy incase the console is already banned. A lot of people will be returning consoles specially those that had 1 or 2 week with it and are already banned, believe me there are plenty of cases.

Another thing that i've read on the net lately is people that got banned are defecting to the ps3 to start their legit gaming life. How stupid is that? I mean if you are going to start paying for your games you can get the console you already own and buy the stuff and stay out of trouble. It seems people are trying to get even with Microsoft by not buying their console even when they stole from MS in the first place.

MS is getting agressive with pirates but if you go legit you dont have to worry about their counter measures. And to all pirates that are now offline avoiding a ban, I hope the day doesnt come where you have to forcefully upgrade in order to play new games. MS could start killing other functionallity like the hability to play games and that would render your console useless.

i think it makes a lot of sense...

1) most exclusive titles for the x360 have been coming ps3 side
2) online is free, and they might have paid and gotten pissed =\
3) kick in the ass they needed to jump ship

etc

I agree. Most of those people WILL be angry with Microsoft. They will duct tape their "PC" and Xbox together, and toss them off the roof of a skyscraper. They will then purchase a PS3 and a "Mac"!!!

It's bad for business, but it's good for the PS3.

:D

Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell, Fable 3, etc etc get real even if you're on PS3 board.

It makes perfect sense. The 360s main draw for those people is that they can pirate on it and when it turns out they have to buy all their games they will naturally chose the more economical/superior console for that. Free online, better exclusives, a lot of added features AND they don't have to worry about RROD. Trust me the main reason I want a 360 is to download games for it.

Pirates arent stealing from microsoft, I dont know where you get that idea. Naturally "theft" implies a loss but who is to say MS gets anything from pirates not pirating? The one thing we can most definitely be sure about is the fact that pirates have bought the console, pay their ISP, buy blanks and some are paying to use live (meaning paying ms in some way). Banning pirates is just a matter of principle in most cases and the assumption that its a lost sale.

lame

I think MS should not ban consoles though. The list of disadvantages to a banned console really show that MS is interfering where they probably shouldnt. The ppl who could become inconvenienced aren't just the pirates involved. Prevent use of certain live features but don't manipulate the consumers paid for hardware. Imagine a world where MS can disable your ethernet port, half your ram and processor permanently if they find a pirated windows OS on the system. They go too far.

@semitope
Did you ever read EULA? Do you know how many money they lose because of pirates? Yes they can ban your 199$ elite for just 4 games (200$) or 50 games (2500$). After this mass ban wave Xbox sales will rise because guys with ixtreme and tons of backups will NEVER pay for original PS3 games. Better pay a system again then 4 PS3 games... and pirates are pirates :shhh:

After my 3rd machine broke they can lick my sack anyway :mad:

No i don't read the EULA. Any sensible person would probably not agree to those things should they read all of it and how do you impose an EULA on hardware? Can your auto manufacturer do such a thing? can your TV maker do such a thing? Can your lawnmower manufacturer do that? Why should Microsoft be able to?

Xbox sales might not rise at all. You have to wonder where those banned consoles end up. A used console sale is nearly the same as a lost new console sale

Its either you get banned from live or you get RROD. At some point ppl will just say screw this and get a ps3. Once the ps3 is hacked the field will be even, piracy will no longer be a reason to stick to a specific platform.
Big assumption there. plus the elite is not 199...

The 4 games is a bit more believable. Thats about the number of games you would need to have bought to use up the same cash as a replacement 360. Its a weird trade off. If you bought those 4 games and you lost your 360 then you are at a loss... but if you pirated those 4 games and lost your 360 its easy to replace the 360 and continue gaming.

Beautifully illustrated!! I was laughing so hard when you wrote "lame" to homeboy's list of "Great Exclusives" 'cause that is EXACTLY what I said when I read it! The ONLY game on that list that's worthy would be Mass Effect 2... (however, I must admit that is an uninformed analysis due to the fact that I have never even played the 1rst one).

And also with the first guy: I to, attained a 360 STRICTLY for the purpose of downloading ISO's and playing them to test drive a title, determine which console it performed better on (for multi-platform releases), and make an informed decision as to where to sink 60$ on a new game.

PS3 does have the superior hardware this generation, as the XBOX had for the last; and this move by M$ is just another thing that will way heavily in the minds of customers as a HUGE negative, and - ultimately - make the PS3 an even more attractive asset than it has already become! Ban the gamertag (or even the IP?) NOT THE HARDWARE!

Some of those backups are not quality games and most people dont come back once they finished the game or had enough of it either by playing it online(yes pirate copy) or by playing hours upon hours and completing the game 100%. When you have a lot of games to choose from its only natural you move on to the next new game and forget about the old one.

Mass Effect 2 isnt a good example to use seeing how it has a strong chance of porting to the ps3. The developers just released there first game on ps3. So thats a good chance it could go multiplatform. Who cares about shity fable, the 1st one was awesome but two sucked so bad. Everyone I know returned it before they beat it.

If microsoft cares so much about piracy why dnt they just make the system so it cant be pirated. Because they obviously dnt care about there fans or they would have fixed the RROD already. But they probably think since people are still dumb enough to buy broken hardware why even bother. Future XBox 360's will include a complimentary towel. All im saying is stop the bitching. If they didnt want this they should have made their system better.

Mass Effect 2 has already accidentally been confirmed to come to PS3 and Splinter Cell: Conviction most likely will too. Those are timed - exclusives for the Xbox 360, much like Bioshock, nothing more.

anything to boost console sales eh? :rolleyes:

I honestly believe the last XBL update or one before it has something to do with it. They can probably detect if people have it, they just want to ban people a little bit at a time so people don't know they can detect you. This way people purchase more consoles and drive there sales up. And with Christmas around the corner and the console wars really heating up, it is a good decision on there part. Momy my 360 broke can I get a new Elite or MW2 version for Christmas? Parrents we'll be hearing alot of that this year.

Anyways all else fails buy a PS3 or 360 to purchase and play online titles with your buddies and keep your banned 360 to play one player titles on. And guess what no more waiting for release dates, it's not that bad.

PS: I'm not banned, just sharing my thoughts.

hosmy i'll mail you asap once those games leaked :) for all those 360 games ill just dl for PC... for those ps3 games well ill just play them on my ps3 :)

What gets me is M$ are clearly more worried about the 360 being used for Linux et al than running pirated games.

The second the JTAG exploit is rumoured (and not even released) M$ release an update to counter it.

If they really want to stop pirating as someone mentioned above, disable the console and if they have a live account that is traceable to an address inform the police. But they don't want to stop it as it drives sells, the just want to be seen to be doing something...

Just to update the post, c4eva just released a statement that a new FW is coming out that will be very undistinguisable from the original and no more bans. A lot of people are suspecting by his statement that M$ could indeed check the drive to know if it was modified or else why no more bans with a new FW.

So you know the drill people you mod the console you are on your own, sure its cheap to download all those games but the console wont be safe. Seems like a cat - mouse game the ixtreme team is playing with MS.

The most effective way of countering the piracy from M$ point of view is to ban the box, not the account.
If someone with a modded drive had their live account banned, sure that would piss them off, but creating a new account is far cheaper and easier to do than buy a new 360!

Also, "ban the IP"?? howabout the person who's IP is banned just sets up a dynamic IP and resets their router... sorted.
So basically, banning the box is M$ best way (short of getting the banned box's MAC address and giving them to the police) of tackling piracy.

Im not condoning what M$ has done, and iv not got a banned 360, just pointing out that moaning bout being banned and asking the powers that be "why my box, and not my account?!" is redundant because these people clearly do have an idea of how to tackle piracy (they built the thing thats being pirated!), which is what they have done.

Also, i just wanna add that i do believe there may be a way of how to counter this in the future, just not yet.

Everyone who modded their console knew the risks, and they shouldn't bitch now. An xbox is £160, a game is £40. The people who download the games are saving so much money, when they banned they should be happy to buy a new console. Just my thoughts...

I made a new Site News article for this here now- Thanks adrianc1982 and +Rep! :tup:

http://www.ps3news.com/XBox-360/xbox-360-gets-hack-to-play-backups-not-detectable-by-microsoft/