Microsoft Confirms Banned 360s

Today Microsoft spokesperson Major Nelson confirmed on his blog that modded Xbox 360s are being banned from Xbox Live. Nelson says Microsoft has a zero-tolerance policy towards modded consoles accessing the service in an attempt to ensure a level playing field for all users. If Xbox Live detects a mod chip in the console, those 360s will be banned and unable to access Xbox Live.

[Dick Jones]

Its about time too.

[Havince]

you mod it and go online knowing the risks, you cannot complain

[gta_cb]

exactly.

[Nik]

Users mod mainly for piracy since games are region free so I'm with Microsoft on this. Users who paid for Live Gold are screwed btw, and they won't get their money back since they broke the TOS.

[TheMART]

"If Xbox Live detects a mod chip in the console, those 360s will be banned and unable to access Xbox Live."

Its also the ones with flashed firmware of the DVD (not even a modchip). Bad thing though, also original 360's are hit by the banhammer.

Lets hope MS will take some care cause when the wrong ones are banned, it will have a big impact on the sales...

[gta_cb]

true, as one of my friends (on the xbox 360 friends list) had flashed his DVD fw etc, and i got a message from him yesterday night saying he is going to have to get a new Xbox 360.

i obviously had to send a message back to him saying haha! =D
but anyway at LEAST one good thing is you can still use your gamertag, means when he gets his new Xbox 360, his GamerScore wont change etc.

[Mr Playboy]

good move MS

[dale1]

there goes a few thousand 360,s

[DrRage77]

it's about time they finally did something like this. i am not going to lose any sleep over the thousands of chumps that were playing on modded 360's.

[sparco]

Sure there might ba few 360s goin. But just think, most of these people will have to buy new ones. So it aint too bad for MS. They still have the money in their pocket from the modded consoles purchase.

[hfaze]

Keep in mind that somebody that has a flashed firmware on their DVD drive SHOULD have followed the directions and saved a dump of their original DVD firmware. And even if they didn't, all they would have to do is go on eBay and pickup a new DVD drive.

So the only people that will be buying new 360's off of this is dorks that don't follow directions, and are not technically savvy enough to replace a DVD drive...

I sincerely doubt this will cause a surge in sales of the 360...

[DirtyRat]

totally agree with the ban, i just hope a way round it isn't figured out

[gta_cb]

well only time will tell

[solidt12]

Good. I wouldn't mod a current gen system. An orignal Xbox yeh, but not a 360 because it is made to go online and it's not worth the risk. When the new Xbox comes out, then mod the heck out the 360 and get the old games you always wanted. my 2 cents.

[conjurdevil]

i am sure if modders can get through the console n mod it they will get through this also!

[hfaze]

I give it one week TOPS before a workaround is in circulation...

All I can say is look how rapidly modders were able to work around the PSP firmware "fixes".

Where there's a will, there's a way...

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

MS should put in a system where it stops the console from working when they get caught, teach the potential modders a leason before they mod. (after all its Microsofts console they should be able to do what they want)

Ban Me below me I do not agree with modders in any shape or form, they break the law and should therefore be punished for it accordanly. The 360 is yours when you buy it but the tech inside is not yours and its wrong plain and simple and if you mod I truly hope you get caught and prosecuted and have to pay full penalties. We have laws man like em or not we abide by them or let murders and rapist run free to do what they want. A modders whole purpose is misuse and thievery, would you want your neighbors to steal electricity from your homes? No you wouldnt so why should you be able to steal yourself. Not to mention Modders can ruin the experience for everyone else on live. No I do not agree nor will I ever and I hope you get caught and go to jail.

[Ban Me]

Haha, WTF are you on mate? I think you should stop being such a drama queen.

I dont see how you can draw comparisson between console modders and murderes / rapists! Letting people away with modding their console isnt going to cause society as we know it to fall apart only to be replaced by choas and anarchy. Its seems like that's what you're suggesting.

Also, just because someone mods their console it doesnt mean that they are automatically a criminial or partake in other forms of criminal activity.

Weather modding is ok or not, that's a very narrow minded view you have there.

For the record my 360 is legit and all my games are bought and paid for.

If I was was going to mod it then the only mods I would do are cooling mods like better fans, heatsinks and thermal paste to prolong the life of the console.

You'd probably send me to jail for that too though right?

[hfaze]

They already do that with the 360. The CPU contains "soft fuses" which can be blown out through updates (or through the hypervisor).

The problem is that the modders figured out a way to have their hacked firmware report back to the rest of the hardware/software the same way the original does. Which makes it VERY hard to detect.

The truly ironic part about this is that the DVD firmware hack would have never been possible if Microsoft had changed the way the DVD drives validate discs when they went from the XBox to the 360. If they changed it now, they run the risk of older 360 games no longer working...

One thing that the modding scene is good for is that they keep Microsoft on their toes and PATCHING ISSUES IN THEIR SOFTWARE. If not for the modding scene, how long would it have taken for the hypervisor privilege escalation exploit in kernels 4532 and 4548 to be fixed?

Plus, the guys involved in finding and exploiting that hypervisor issue were kind enough to go to Microsoft HQ, and SHOW them how they did what they did...

http://www.bunniestudios.co...

So before you go off talking all kind of trash about the modder scene, remember this... They are a necessary evil...

[Ban Me]

If man can engineer it, then man can reverse engineer it.

But as everyone has said, everyone knows the risks of taking a modded console online and it was only a matter of time before MS brought out the ban stick.

It's not like 360 modders have XBMC as an excuse like they did with the original xbox. The only reason to mod a 360 is to play "back-ups", which is the polite term for pirated copies obviously.

Personally, I dont care as long as no innocents get taken out in the process.

[Ban Me]

To be honest, the person who paid the money for the console should be able to do what they want with it.

The morality of what they choose to do is another matter of course.

[USMChardcharger]

your right they can do anything they want with it...except play on LIVE.

it is just like a sports league...nfl, nba, ect...they have rules to follow if they want to play...they can't use sport enhancing drugs without getting caught eventually and punished or permanently banned from the league...

same here, you can't play with a modded xbox, because it is the rules...mods can have cheats to...they can't risk it...it would make xbox LIVE a living hell to play in for those looking for a hasel free fun environment if people were allowed to run rampid and do anything they want.

[Observer]

wow that hurts ! As if one can't buy two xbox360's, one for online play, and the other for playing backups.

The price of 8 full-priced games (or lack thereof since they can be downloaded or bought @ 3$ ) should offset the price of the extra Xbox console, and heavy-gamers who buy a lot of games wouldn't have to sell their clothes/golden watches/pc's/ipods/dvd's/girlf riends ds in order to practice their favourite hobby.

Personally I do not mind piracy, as long as the people have a minimal "gaming awareness" to buy a good title that deserves the money though they'd already have it pirated.

With the presence of a plethora of awful-to-abysmal titles priced @ 60$, there has to be piracy to balance things off.

Besides, piracy in asia and the middle east results in the selling of millions of consoles, and any gamer, though having a modded console, would average 10-12 original titles per console, so it's not like piracy is hurting the industry as much as companies make it seem so.

Jack Sparrow ftw ! Pirates rock !

[TOM]

They buy systems so they can play their stolen games.System sales isn't the number to go buy,software sales are.Being a thief is never a good thing.

[Observer]

what part of

"AS LONG AS PEOPLE HAVE A MINIMAL "GAMING AWARENESS" TO BUY A GOOD TITLE THAT DESERVES THE MONEY"

was too hard for you to fathom ?

Whether your eyes are filled with semen, or lack basic reading comprehension, i could care less ... just don't go around calling people "peabrains" and make a retard out of yourself.

Cheerio. :)

[USMChardcharger]

again i say M$ showed them mercy by just banning the 360 and not their accounts.

rules are rules...they knew the risk

[kamakazi]

so let me get this straight MS would ban your 360, but is still willing to take your money by keeping your account active? wow i know MS loves the green but this is a new low.

[USMChardcharger]

ok...no they are giving you a chance to get a legal xbox and still be able to play on LIVE after you broke the rules...breaking the rules & cheating, that's low.

being that your account is still active, you could log on to xbox.com and cancel you subscription at any time.

[bednet]

I think everyone saw that one coming a mile away.

They can still play online using XBConnect, plus it's free.

[mcintosh233]

can they detect if you are modding your console with things like leds inside/ different cooling and different cases etc.(if they are circuited into 360's power)

you know mods to individualise your console

[THC PRITCHARD]

lol they will be a way to hack round it as always

Halo 3 will be full of mods soon

[PS360PCROCKS]

I got an idea Microsoft. Instead of worrying so much about people modding working xbox 360's you help the people who are trying to keep their unmodded 360's working...And yes everyone I do think the modding thing is a good thing I just think time spend elsewhere like reliability would benefit all.

[darktick]

Thank u MS it's about time, now take care of those game saving too take them off line or clear their gamer score, and all those web sites need to take them off too even if they have one game saved achievement!!