Microsoft doesn't care if you use turbo controllers

"In a podcast with Major Nelson recorded yesterday at PAX 2009, Stephen Toulouse hosted a panel about rules enforcement on Xbox LIVE. During the panel, he explained that Microsoft allows the use of turbo controllers. For those unfamiliar with what a turbo controller is, it is a modded controller that allows users to perform multiple actions by holding a button or pressing it once when normally it would require repeated button presses. For example, in a game such as Call of Duty 4, you can make the slowest firing sniper rifles into rapid fire machine guns."

[Sunny_D]

Yay! Cheaters can have fun NOW! Wow...

[RememberThe357]

The developer does need to take responsibility for how their game plays. I do think that MS need to take a tougher stand then, "no our problem". But that is kind of what I'd expect from them.

[IcyJoker187]

Rasing standards one day at a time: Microsoft

Sarc

[Bnet343]

No way for Microsoft to combat this. I don't think they can detect if you're using the controller or not, so it's up to IW to fight this.

[blackmagic]

Actually, the podcast that he links to is really an excellent and informative listen... if you have the time I recommend it.

[bjornbear]

I'd be pulling my hair off knowing cheaters were ruining my online experience, and no one was doing anything about it =/

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

MS didn't care if you payed to play through laggy P2P connection, why would them care if you are being shat on the face by cheaters?

MS just don't care... I hope and assume Micro also don't care for people pirating their stuff.

[Elven6]

You guys do realize Turbo controls have existed for quite some time and still do exist on consoles today right? Not just the Xbox 360 mind you but all consoles.

[Winter47th]

For 50$ a year you better damn well start caring.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@Eleven6

But you do realize that people expect something in return to those 50 dollars they give MS yearly for LIVE other than directions to buy things, right?

Would you pay me to enter my game store?

What if I charge you to make multiplayer matches? You and your friends have to bring consoles and games...

Do you mind if I cover you with ads on our way to it?

My point is, people are paying for XBL experience and there is great things in it, but MS should be concerned about balance and fairness on their system.

And don't give this older consoles crap to me. 360 is a closed system. RB and GH can't have wireless peripherals unless they payed MS to use the tech. You can't develop a controller to 360 without MS say so. All they had to do is say no and this alone would help a lot.

For sure, some people just mod their own controllers and MS wouldn't be able to stop them, but at least they could have said they aren't cool with cheaters.

[Mr Bean Laden]

M$ dosen't care about xbl users that cheat, only shows how it's a waste of 50$

[wxer]

XBL full of n00bs, cheaters, kids and stupid ppl

[shutupandplay]

PSN full of nothing.

[54percent]

lol

"PSN full of nothing. "

That's the best you can do? lolololololoolol

[TheTruth89]

Nothing > N00bs, cheater and stupid ppl (like you)

[n to the b]

voice chat in Home shut down immediately due to rampant verbal abuse from 'kids and stupid ppl'.

[Jdoki]

If this is journalism then the gaming industry media is in a sorry state...

This 'journalist' listens to a podcast where a Microsoft guy is asked 'Does MS allow turbo controllers to be used'.

Microsoft guy answers 'Yes. We don't consider it cheating'.

The rest of the article goes on to describe what a turbo controller is!

Where's the follow up? Was it too much to try and contact MS for a statement on WHY they don't consider it cheating and WHY they allow these controllers to be used in a service which they charge gamers for? How about contacting Infinity Ward to see what sort of headaches it causes them having to create patches to deal with this issue

Any idiot can repeat what someone else said, but a journalist should at least try and question why!

[RememberThe357]

This has been going on for years.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Maybe they edited it or we are not looking at the same article, but they do say why MS allow it, which is a lame "some developer maybe even meant it to be used, so it should be up to developer to stop it if they don't want turbo".

Basically: "NOT OUR PROBLEM" (even through they are the ones getting 50 caps yearly per user to play online).

Now, this don't make the article a lot better, since they don't say the source of this... They point Major Nelson as the stating of "turbo is not cheating" and point Toulousa (which as far as I know is a city in France... Toulousa who?) for the "blame the devs".

[divideby0]

That is cheating and I dont like it on Live.
I pay Live to take care of stuff like this and MS wont ?

[kaz-hirai]

Thats because M$ don't care about customer satisfaction ;-D !!!!

Evidence being its faulty hardware and paying £5 a month just to pretty much host your own games ;-D!!! if you chatboxes cant get your head around that ^ think about it ;-}!!!

[The_Devil_Hunter]

Microsoft doesnt care period.

[XboxBoy]

Hehe nice.

[NaiNaiNai]

why should they care.

its not like every person does it.

I've run into a few people with them. they suck more then most people. I say let them keep it. not like it makes them any better at the game. XD

[Saaking]

Perhaps because you pay 50 bucks a year so they can keep a good online service. Cheaters ruin the experience so if they don't do anything what's the point of paying?

[NaiNaiNai]

People pay 15$ a month and people still cheat there.

every game has cheaters. even other paid games.

so what the big deal. I may hate cheaters, but most of them suck at what they do anyways.

thus why they "have" to use the cheats. and most of the time they still suck.

>.> unless its a aimbot.

[betrayed gamer]

well r there turbo controls on the ps3?

[Grandreaper9999]

There probably are, like it is possible... But I dunno. Even though it may be going on, it hasn't caught anyone's attention as of yet.

[Elven6]

http://www.jr.com/ps3-wirel...

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Yup. It's a increasing practice in COD4 and SOCOM (I don't see the advantage in SOCOM, but anyway if a guy was cleaver enough, he would be capable of play by the rules, not needing to cheat..).

I just hope those 500k new PS3 owner aren't 10 years old brats with headsets and turbo controls, but we know they will be comming sooner or later...

Sony should look up for preventive action, if there is anything they can do within the system to stop it before it becomes a big concern.

I don't know if Sony can stop it... 360 is closed system that you need MS tech to develop hardware for and there was this turbo controls way before MS manifested. PS3 in the other hand is open system that can have basically any USB or bluetooth device hooked up.

[Grandreaper9999]

What CAN they do about though, really? They would have release new controller models that didn't allow for that particular mod method. Still, people would find a way.. or a mad catz version would come out and do the same thing.

Turbo controllers were actually kinda fun to use back in the day. Something to just turn on and try out with different game to see how it worked..

In a way it's MS's problem, even though it shouldn't be. Developers will just have to work around it with animations that can't be interrupted. That's all I can come up with?

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

Of course they dont care, all they care about is $$$.

[Shadow Man]

Thats why killzone2 hit the bargain bin 6 months after release.

[Saaking]

Platium= Sold enough to satisfy Sony and thus they cut the price to make it available to more people.

Get it right bot.

[CaptainAmerica]

nice spin?

[Saaking]

It's not spin, it's fact. Besides if all sony cared about was money wouldn't they leave the price as high as possible instead of dropping it.

[air1]

spin it saaking, spin it..

[LuHawk21]

That punk Saaking is the king of spinning things around

[BX81]

Before Uncharted Saaking was playing Wheel of Fortune because that's one hell of a spin!

[-MoOkS-]

It's up to the developer to sort that out, not microsoft.

Sony doesn't care about modded controllers, thats as fair a statement as "microsoft doesnt"

[IcyJoker187]

Yeah but you pay for live, so that M$ should try to stop it, I mean thats what those 50 bucks are for right?

[mrblacknut]

Listen again. Licensed "turbo" controllers are allowed. He goes on to specifically say that an end user that opens up their controller to mod it, or one that they get from a piece of crap company that does it for them, is a bannable offense.

[Xander756]

mrblacknut, it says that right in the article.

[Saaking]

So wait, I pay 50 bucks a year, STILL get ads, and STILL get cheaters? What exactly am I paying for MS?

[cereal_killa]

Cross game chat, Twitter, great online gaming that the PC offers all of this for free stuff like that.

[badkolo]

a better service then what you get for free??

[CaptainAmerica]

@ Sukking, dont act like you own a 360.

[Saaking]

Online is great on PSN and it's free. Basically, the only missing feature is cross game chat and that certainly doesn't justify MS charging $50 for it. And Captain America, I do own a 360 (on my second 1, first on went RROD)

[Gamer1111]

and there are still cheaters on psn....don't be all high and mighty

[BlackTar187]

dont like paying for the service either with adds and such but BadKolo has a excellent point. It is better then psn it is they may be close to as good but live is better and not just for you or whatever it does offer what psn has and more for its specific purpose. Now with thta said psn offers some stuff it doesnt but the live is for chat and cross game chat etc. that psn doesnt have. Now i dont think live is that much better in my opnion but Bad's point is still very valid.

[Gamer1111]

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-N...

i wonder what sony is doing about it......nothing also...lame article

[BX81]

MS should set the standard for devs. on their system. Cheating will be deterred and most certainly be punishable. It's up to the devs. to make sure no one can cheat on the games they make but it's up to MS to tell the devs. you can not make a game on our system if you allow it.

[Kwertie]

Seeing as now turbo pads are legal, let's start using lag switches. Seriously, turbos are sh1tty and ruin it for everyone. More fool anyone using it. Do you suck so bad you need a cheat to beat someone online?

[outlawlife]

turbos are just annoying, you rarely find a game of cod without at least one in it...well up until recently

[rockchalk0058]

I think that if the developers would put a speed limit on all the guns saying how fast that particular gun can shoot would fix it. But Im sure someone would figure out away to get around it. Modded controllers have ruined COD 4 for me. I hope it doesn't do the same in MW2.