490°

Banned Early Xbox One Owner Reaches Agreement with Microsoft, Will Tell More When Cleared to Do So

Yesterday Twitter user Moonlightswami made the headlines for getting an Xbox One early due to a delivery mishap by Target. He revealed all sorts of details and pictures on the console, but he was temporarily banned after a few hours. Today he had a chat with Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb and apparently everything's gonna be ok.

He reached an agreement with microsoft that apparently includes some sort of NDA, and he won't be able to tell much until cleared to do so, because some things are not yet final or announced.

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dualshockers.com
Kayant3810d ago

Well that's understandable because if something was broken and was leaked it would have been bad for MS. Good to see all is well now.

Abriael3810d ago

All's well what ends well. He said Microsoft has been "very gracious" in settling, and now I'm quite curious on that graciousness :D

majiebeast3810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

He has been offered Albert Penello's job. He basicly became a sell out though, gotta get dat cheddar.

Dont blame him because Microsoft probably gave him the "journalist package"

JokesOnYou3810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

lol, now he's working with the enemy. pffft guy just wanted his 10mins of fame, folks treating him like Gandhi.

Smart guy, he's milking it for everything its worth, laughing at the freedom fighters all the way to X1 launch event. Probably going to get a ton of free games too. lmfao

Bigpappy3810d ago

I am getting all my pre-orders from Target from now onward!

SITH3810d ago

What bigpappy said! Lol

HammadTheBeast3810d ago

Well this is good for MS. This guy was putting a dent in MS' otherwise FLAWLESS PR.

xHeavYx3810d ago

Why is MS so worried about people being online on their consoles?
It's not like they have something to hide.... Right?

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3810d ago
AlexanderNevermind3810d ago

Should have never banned him in the 1st place. Hopeful everything works out in his favor.

nasnas763810d ago

Most likely banned him so he can't use an unfinished product that would he was sharing with the internet. Once the product/software was finished they can easily un-ban anyone. Meaning, it was to prevent the unfinished system from being used (system time lock) vs punishing the user.

Moncole3810d ago

They only banned him from online in till the systems launches because they still need to set stuff up.

sobekflakmonkey3810d ago

they had no grounds to ban him, that's the honest truth though, but now, they work him into a NDA, which is bs, so now he really can't do anything, he acquired his X1 through legal means, absolutely no reason to ban him, slimy bastards.

rainslacker3810d ago

@nasnas

From what the guy reported the system was working fine with no real hiccups or problems whatsoever.

With two weeks till launch I'm sure the final build of the initial patch is finished and likely uploaded. You don't test a patch that important for two weeks and put it out in the wild. For reference, Sony put it's patch up 2 weeks ago that could be downloaded unofficially from their servers, although it was removed once the link got out.

What this guy was using was likely what everyone will be using in less than two weeks.

FamilyGuy3810d ago

@ nasnas76

There's nothing "unfinished" about it, they just didn't want him showing everything off early. The day 1 patch was live, it wasn't some beta patch, the system wasn't some beta system either.
It was retail hardware running official software. No reason to ban him other than to hush him up and MS are A-holes for doing it.

tordavis3810d ago

I guess you don't know what TOS means.

tordavis3810d ago

@sobewhatever you guys are a bunch of tools. There's a TOS that comes with the console. You have to follow that. Even though he acquired it through legal means, he shouldn't have connected it through Live and that's why they banned his account. When Live is ready he'll be unbanned. This is business. Something you obviously know nothing about.

ShwankyShpanky3810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

"Blah blah blah TOS."

Please direct us to the specific section of the TOS that was violated.

The "banning" is understandable from a particular viewpoint (accessing unfinished infrastructure), but there should have been an email/message to the ban-ee along the lines of "we apologize for the inconvenience, but access to XBL is being restricted until official release on 11/22." He shouldn't have had to make a stink all over the net to get it addressed.

And the YouTube takedown is still BS.

But hey... looks like MS roped him into some type of NDA and 'launch-party-hatted' him into acquiescence, so everything's okay. MS be MS.

BISHOP-BRASIL3809d ago

It's not simply because it's on a TOS. A TOS cannot overcome real laws, if there's a law saying you can do something, MS can put up whatever contract, agreement, TOS, deal or whatever they want for people to sign saying we won't do it, still if we go ahead and do exactly what we're not supposed to, they can't really do anything agaisnt us... Even if they claim we had an agreement, any lawyer will tell you that the agreement was illegal in first place as it goes against law and any ban applied could be considered coercion (which means we could sue microsoft).

So it was not because he got a console early, not because of what he was or wasn't using on the system (the software either came with the hardware he bought, making him eligible to use it, or he signed a TOS by either actually signing it or automatically as he downloaded it, making him eligible to use it anyway), not even because whatever opinions he was emmiting... I mean, sure MS wanted to shut him up in order to not ruin announcements, break bad news or whatever we want to speculate, but they simply had no legal basis to do so... 'Till he was stupid enough to show software on youtube.

That, kids, is what we call copyright infringement. You can't show software that's not owned by you. If you do so, you are accepting the consequences (from as little as a youtube video being taken down, to as big as criminal prossecution).

If he was smart enough to use whatever he wanted, say whatever he wanted and, yes, he could even do an unboxing video (not showing software) there would be no way MS could bully him into signing an NDA, because he would never had been banned in the first place (or could realistically sue them for doing so).

Well, good thing he probably got some nice extra stuff "to make up for any troubles this may had caused" (which is the nice way the legal department say "now in case you decide we wronged you in any way we can easily dismiss your claims as you already accepted a compensation"). Not that it would be worth sueing over this crap anyway (as long as he was getting un-banned when the release date comes).

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 3809d ago
kewlkat0073810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

Bet you he got something free...

Here we all bad mouthing Microsoft...Seems like this guy is an Xbox fan.

Visiblemarc3810d ago

For sure...yet more nebulous bs from MS. All is well. Now even end users are being hushed by NDAs and legal bull.

Eventually we're going to lose everyone we know who buys this thing to under some MS legal umbrella.

"Hey Joe, how are you?"
"Due to an NDA I signed in order to own Xbox One, I can't answer that question at this time."

buynit3810d ago

C'mon, man... Seriously?

What if everyone was just.... losing You?

I bet you are one of the bunch that feels like some one is/wants to spy on you.. Amiright! Lol you know i am...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3809d ago
4Sh0w3810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

"Moonlightswami also mentioned that he’s available for interviews even if there isn’t much he can say, that he was not threatened, and that he agreed to some sort of NDA."

lol I could be wrong but I think this was a slick PR stunt by micro.

Belking3810d ago

Remember what I told you guys about ms hiding stuff about xb1. There is more proof right there. I

Idba3810d ago

Like what? They wouldnt hide stuff if it is something good

majiebeast3810d ago (Edited 3810d ago )

Just got in to contact with Mayor Nelson. This is a world exclusive, he said the second GPU is hidden in the UI.

Kayant3810d ago

Mistermediax insider confirmed. /s

C-H-E-F3810d ago

@Majie
Hmph.. so what is the big cloud covering up? Omg must be something huge.

Brix903810d ago

@Belking

lol...still hoping for the second GPU I see

Bigpappy3810d ago

Sense seeing the demo of Kinect integration, I get a really warm feeling when I see the UI in custom colors and the apps waiting to be called up.

I understood the ban, but am glad that they reached out to the users to explain what was actually going on.

Show all comments (95)
70°

Xbox Podcast 728: Closing out 2020 with Phil Spencer

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majornelson.com
90°

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270°

Xbox's Major Nelson on Elite Controller: it Would Make Sense to "Do Something More There"

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb talks about the possibility of doing something more with the Elite controller, possibly in the next generation.

Read Full Story >>
twinfinite.net
lxeasy1844d ago

I'd be down for an Xbox Elite controller 2 for the next gen Xbox. I'm sticking with the one I have now though. I have no problem with it.

shaun mcwayne1844d ago

I love mine too. Just the weight and feel of it. Best controller ive owned.

NarutoFox1843d ago

Yep focus more on the elite controller than more exclusive games 🙌🙌

timotim1843d ago

😄😄 I mean Microsoft just spent potentially billions of dollars on acquiring and starting new gaming studios...way more than they will spend developing a new elite controller...but to the fanboys, it never happened.

1843d ago
lxeasy1843d ago

@narutofox why are you so mad lmaol can't wait to see what you type here in n4g after microsoft reveals what other studios they acquired lol fanboys you gotta love em lol

gam3r_4_lif31843d ago

@neuteredfox they are doing both whats your problem? Maybe ask Sony to make a controller as good as the X1 base controller let alone the Elite

Kiwi661843d ago

This is the first time in ages that they've talked about it so how is that focusing more on it than games ?

shaun mcwayne1842d ago

The story is about controllers not exclusives. Would u like some salt with that salt.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1842d ago
SegaGamer1843d ago

No even close in my opinion. I feel like they are too prone to failing, just like the Xbox One controller.

timotim1843d ago

What iyo is the best controller ever made?

SegaGamer1843d ago (Edited 1843d ago )

@timotim

Xbox 360 or PS2.

The thumbsticks on the 360 controller would fade quickly, but I always used to use thumb grips anyway, so it never bothered me. My main 360 controller is still going strong now and it must be 10 years old now.

My PS2 controller has been going for about 15 years now though. That thing is amazing. The only reason why I don't use it on my pc anymore is because I prefer the positioning of the thumbsticks of an Xbox One controller.

If Xbox One controllers didn't develop problems so quickly, then they would easily be my favourite controller.

timotim1843d ago

It seems as if you're talking more of durability though. I would disagree with your picks, however, before the Xbox One, I did feel that the 360 controller was the former king. However, the 360 controller had the battery bump on it that prevented gamers fingers from fully articulating, where as the Xbox One controller made it flush with the gamepad. This reason alone is a huge improvement over the 360 controller...the Elite controller is on another level though, even over the standard gamepad.

SegaGamer1843d ago

Durability is the most important part. If a controller stops working properly, then it's pretty much useless.

Imortus_san1843d ago

PS2 controller, hahahahahaha.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1843d ago
quent1844d ago

yeah slap a stick on it and call it the pro2, add "4K" and cloudgaming on the box, young gamers eat that shit up

lxeasy1843d ago

you sound mad old gamer lol

SpineSaw1844d ago

How bout let's make some games to go with all the controllers and different consoles your making. Xbox gamers need more games not controllers or another console.

1844d ago Replies(4)
timlot1844d ago

Dude I literally have hundreds of games on my Xbox that I've downloaded but never played because of time restraints. Games isn't the problem. Time to play is.

1843d ago
gam3r_4_lif31843d ago

Tim PStrihard is a toddler. He has all the time in the world to play the 5 games he has in h8s collection. Most real gamers have more games than time. When i do get time to play I prefer using the best controllers

annoyedgamer1844d ago

Well Gears and Crackdown is trashed, Halo looks to be going the looter shooter route. They definately need something new.

1843d ago
Fritzwochel1844d ago

Used both:
Dual shock 4 has a superior d-pad and button layout + "map button" (touch pad)
Elite controller has rumble in the triggers, which is nice, but many games does not utilize it sadly.

I prefer the DS4.

PyroMessiah861844d ago

Said noone ever. It's pretty much a well known fact that Xbox controllers wipe the floor with PlayStations. Not even close

WickedLester1844d ago (Edited 1844d ago )

Said me ever. Stop stating opinion as fact. I prefer the DS4. One thing Fritzwochel didn't mention is the face buttons. I MUCH prefer the flatter, softer face buttons on DS4 to the rounder, hardened "jewel" buttons on the Xbox controller. I also prefer the symmetrical analog sticks over the asymmetrical design. After gaming on both for many hours, the DS4 is just more comfortable in my hands. The only design aspect of the X1 controller I prefer is the individual motorized triggers.

Also, while criminally underutilized, the controller speaker in the DS4 can really add an extra level of emersion to the game (DMC 5 being the most recent example).

Giblet_Head1844d ago

I have a DS4 and a Steam Controller. DS4 is usually my go to for couch games, while my Steam Controller is more for games not intended for controllers, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R where there is no alternative. DS4 can be hit or miss sometimes, especially with bluetooth connectivity on PC. Unless you're using Steam, which now supports DS4 natively, you're gonna have trouble with most other games outside that, requiring a third party utility such as DS4Windows, or SCPServer. Steam Controller mostly goes around these issues (if you can get use to the learning curve), because it's emulating a keyboard&mouse across all games.

414gamer1844d ago

Agreed that Xbox controller is far superior to dualshocks. Now the durability of the Xbox controller is another subject

Razzer1844d ago (Edited 1844d ago )

Why are we pretending there is some enormous difference between the two controllers. "Far superior"? lol....ok, for you. There are marginal differences between the two controllers. And the fact is that every person's hands are different so any and every claim to which is superior is entirely anecdotal. Even the article I posted above (to rebuke the ridiculous 'no one ever' claim) is either one person's perspective or the collective opinion of a small number of people.

1844d ago
Razzer1844d ago (Edited 1844d ago )

Of course. Despite PC Gamer's choice, most PC users are going to go with Xbox One controllers as the prompts in most games correspond to the Xbox One letters.

Oh wait.....are you saying sales indicate which one is better?

Sitdown1844d ago

@Razzer

Hahaha, yes, that is exactly what is ignorantly being said. If PS4 has sold more, I would hope that by default it would sell more controllers. 😂😂🤣 29315;

1844d ago
Razzer1844d ago (Edited 1844d ago )

@AscendedHuman

"Y = Triangle X = Square B = Circle and A = X. I've used both interchangeability and the prompts don't make a difference."

That doesn't work for me. Having to do the translation in-game is annoying. Obviously you have no problem with it, but I do. I stick to Xbox One entirely when playing on PC. If not for the prompts then I could with either one.

"Most PC users are going to use an Xbox controller because of it's driver support and overall ease of access support in games in comparison to other competitor controllers"

Yeah, I agree those are better reasons. Native support is crucial. I tried the DSWindows on PC and it worked ok, but again, I couldn't get passed the prompts.

1844d ago
414gamer1843d ago

The Xbox controller just feels much better using both analog sticks. Yes the r1 and l1 are nicer on the ds4. But most games require our thumbs on both thumb sticks 90% of the time. Unless you got long ass thumbs the ds4 just isn’t as conformtable.
Now the durability I can’t speak of on PS4. I go through Xbox controllers often. Atleast 2 a year. The triggers wear out fast it seems.

DarXyde1843d ago

"Pretty much a well known fact" is, in fact, not factual. If it can be debated, any objectivity is immediately dismissive. I would say the 360 controller is better than the DS3 mostly (I would argue that the 360 controller is trash for fighting games compared to DS3), but you're going to tell me that the Duke controller was better than DS2? Yeah, okay. Good luck getting a consensus on that one.

For the current generation, I liked Xbox One's controller feel at first, but after buying an Xbox One, I find those controllers are not as durable as the DS4, which, at first, had problems with the sticks wearing out. That was the only issue I've had with DS4. I've broken bumpers on 2 different Xbox One controllers (literally, the bumper cracked in half), which is unheard of. I'm sure the elite controllers are great, but I'm sure as hell not going to shell out $150 for a video game controller for a console I barely play.

Anyway, my point still stands: some controllers are better than others, but no, I don't agree Xbox has just had better controllers every time.

KickSpinFilter1843d ago

360 was better than DS3, but DS4 is much better than XB1’s trigger buttons are horrific with their placement. Elite controller does not count as it is not included hardware.

sinspirit1843d ago (Edited 1843d ago )

It isn't even close to a "fact". It's just fabricated user regurgitated jargon with no basis. Same with Live being "better". It's really not. Even when Live used Peer to Peer on its biggest games while free PSN had dedicated servers people said Live was better. Technically, Live was actually worse for online gaming. Nowadays it's tied, except certain games like Destiny that rely on user made parties so much are a little more frustrating on XBox because the population is nearly half.

If you want to get technical, there is zero benefit that an asymmetrical thumb stick gives. Absolutely, zero. It's all personal preference. The common misconception I still hear is that the DS4 is smaller and not for bigger hands. The dimensions of the controller are bigger, but still grippable for smaller hands. Whereas XBox controllers are designed around the palm being up against the grip and holding it more tightly, the DS4 gets much more comfortable if you don't palm the grips, but have it in between the middle of your palm and pinky and resting more so than gripping it for dear life.

Getting techinical again, the XBox controller does not have full button pressure sensitivity which PlayStation had since PS2, D-Pad is an obvious loss of control to reach for in that position and the buttons are just not good for all around gaming. It's a cheaper alternative. Face buttons are more of a pain in games that need right analog and face button input, especially Souls games where you claw the buttons to sprint but still have camera control(using your index finger). Oh, and most importantly. The analog sticks on XBox have larger deadzones, which easily means less sensitivity for better sniping and small adjustments.

Best advice, don't be biased and believe the XBox controller hype. It really isn't "better". It's still a really good controller though. Don't hold the DS4 with a death grip like many XBox gamers do, it's not the same handle, as can be seen by the DS4 round handles and XBox curled handles.

Oh, and it's evidently present that only XBox gamers obsess over controllers so much, which is why 3rd party controllers are so popular on XBox and PlayStation 3rd party controllers receive way less marketing since those gamers are clearly content and not brag-posting about controllers to have false sense of superiority. This is why 3rd party controllers on PlayStation still have asymmetrical sticks. Because, despite a far bigger userbase on PlayStation, the gamers on XBox buy into controller hype and spend the money on all the "pro" controllers. Companies see less success on PlayStation 3rd party controllers and just use the same units for their PlayStation offering, just with the different wireless standard.

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 1843d ago
Kornholic1844d ago (Edited 1844d ago )

The normal controller has rumble in the triggers, too.

PS4 controller's shoulder buttons (R1 and R2) are also better than the Xbox One controller's equivalent.

gam3r_4_lif31843d ago

@Fritz its ok to have bad taste

Razzer1843d ago

Someone's offended. lol

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