Microsoft allowed to ban Xbox 360 consoles which have fan modifications

Thinking about moding your 360? You may want to think again. According to one source, it is perfectly fine for Microsoft to ban you if you have a fan mod on your Xbox 360. A user of '360patches' was reportedly told directly from MS reps that his fan modification on the Xbox 360 is in violation of the terms of agreement so therefore MS can legally ban users from live for that very reason

[fury]

wow...just...wow

[jack who]

welcome to 2001

[Panthers]

I dont get it. You bought the damn console so you should be able to do with it whatever you want. It is like they want you to get the RROD so they wont let you get a bettter fan. lol.

[BloodySinner]

I won't lie. That was a pretty funny comment.

[Ancient Enemy]

LMAO

[ReBurn]

There's nothing stopping you from doing as you please with the console. But when you take the sticker off of the drive door you agree to use it in the way Microsoft says is acceptable. So mod away, but don't get all upset when you lose warranty coverage or XBL access.

[jinn]

how in the world is that detectable

[xsteinbachx]

"His 12v fan mod wouldn't too hard to detect as voltage metering is something which should be easily detectable though bios settings."

whats stopping MS from creating a patch which lets them check your bios to see if you've modded your Xbox.

Btw Merry Christmas everyone.

[fanboi hater]

they can monitor power usage of the console. My friend got banned just recently from this. The only reason he modded it was so that he didn't RROD. So in short Microsoft are just A$$holes. Sorry for that but i just can't stand this kind of buisness model. Everything is their way or no way. BTW Merry Christmas

[Mikelarry]

banning and then just plain stupidty.ms needs to stop worrying about console mods and more about even greater games in 2008.

Edit to the guy below me.like ms there are fools and theres you. i never said ms should stop banning completely just not go overboard with it

[jack who]

your a dumb ass....if you played halo 2 when ppl started moding you would never say that again in your life..

[Spinitus]

agreed with jack who. back when i played h2 religiously lol i aways got cheated in matchmaking. i think its great that ms is banning moded 360s

[Bnet343]

If you mod it and it gets RROD, you're phucked.

[ThaGeNeCySt]

how can they tell?

[jack who]

the same way they know your copy of xp is fake

[Salvadore]

They have all been trained by a special NINJA!!

[m9105826]

I ran a cracked XP for almost 5 years and never had a problem.

[Fighter]

Gamers want to avoid the RROD and MS wants them to have it.

[AllroundGamer]

isn't that the same strategy like with Win OS? BSOD anyone? :D

[xSithx]

That's pretty low to ban people for modding the fans. I haven't done it to mine, but I know people that have because of the RROD.

Once that 3 year warranty runs out, I feel bad for anybody that gets the RROD and can't fix it themselves.

[jack who]

its a lie theres is no reason to mod your 360 to make it run cooler..the only reason they mod it is so they can just download 360 game off the pc and play it for free and to cheat in online play.....

want to make your 360 run cooler? click the pic no mod needed

[JCDenton]

I've read somewhere that NYKO's Intercooler can actually be the cause of RROD. On the other hand, Pelican Fan Stand is something that M$ recommends for additional cooling...

[DJ]

strain on the system's internal fans, so the real solution is to simply fix the internal cooling system. Not sure why Microsoft is punishing consumers for doing something they themselves were too lazy to do; this isn't piracy-based, it's meant to prevent the Red Ring of Death.

[xsteinbachx]

i've read that any cooler to your xbox 360 voids your warrenty? hmm that'd be something worth looking up.

[Jazy78]

If MC can't fix it themselves

[DJ]

Pretty soon they're going to start banning 360 owners who installed faceplates not certified by Microsoft. Uncertified stickers are next.

[Ancient Enemy]

They probably will

[Account deleted]

that's some funny shiiittt, so every company tries to enforce its drms,as 'jack who' said("its a lie theres is no reason to mod your 360 to make it run cooler..the only reason they mod it is so they can just download 360 game off the pc and play it for free and to cheat in online play.....") but this is an extrem measure, what next they're going to monitor on which tv you plug your xbox, looool, i can only say one thing "microsecurity", poor xbots

[DeejayTai]

Seems to me that microsoft is worrying too much about what's happening on the outside of their consoles. They should be worrying about what the hell's happening on the INSIDE. When 'Home' arrives on the PS3, xbox is gonna have to justify being the only console that charges you for online play...

[wil4hire]

Lets see:

-360 RROD's, needs aftermarket Cooling.

-People buy aftermarket cooling for 360 to prevent RROD and the longevity of the system.

-Microsoft Bans people for trying to keep their 360 in better health, and prevent known hardware issues.

You can say "Well my 360 didn't rrod so." Yes, so that means you aren't part of the 30% failure rate. Kudos, that doesn't mean its not a problem for everyone else on the 360 forums.

I'm just sad you guys were so desperate for games, and MS is the only one that answered at the time. I guess you guys think you owe MS something? No, they pretty much have all your $ combined money for the wifi/hdd/hd-dvd/on button/ Whatever else.

There should be such a huge lawsuit out. I am 100% sure this would happen if it were the PS3 in question with a 30% failure rate and NEED for "towel" methods or aftermarket cooling.

I wont say do it now, but as soon as Home/PSN gets finished. Its time to Jump Out. XBL is great, and the community is worth not selling the 360 right away. The PS3 has the superior hardware, and the better games. You can keep the 360 to play your old AAA's. And great multiplatform titles if you dont have a PC.. like

Huxley
Alan Wake
Warhounds
Gears of War 2
Halo 9: The final battle.

But guys, its a friggen wash. MS screwed you guys over again. Lets see how long until the next Xbox is out. That 3 year warranty doesn't last forever :) And you cant even fix it if you know the problem. Or banned.

Yes you had a few good times with the 360 PWNING the ps2 graphic wise. I mean, it really did.. the PS2 had nothing graphically on the 360. Yes you even had good times Pwning the PS3 at launch. With no games, and delays.. I'm sure it made you feel like 'BOY, I'm sure glad I bought a 360, and not a PS3.' But theproblem with that, is that you are a gamer. And deserve better than the RROD.

I mean its not even the end of 07 yet and the PS3 is already selling just as many units in one year, and thats a BAD thing for sony considering their past historic sales figures.

Uncharted is second to none. Bring up gears all you want. Then read reviews saying that "Uncharted is the best looking console game out."-Gametrailers. You guys know that the 360 isn't capable of pulling off 1/2 of what uncharted does. Be it the ANimation system/Lighting/Water.. Yes it can do parts, but not all at once. I mean Mass Effect couldn't even st--r--e--a----(loading)m.

All Multiplats are almost identical. Thank god for that one. Now Multiplats are back to normal, versus idiots programming for the ps3 not knowing how to keep a framerate, then blame the hardware. But then they look stupid when Infinity Ward says "Here's COD4, Its perfect." THen they stammer around and wonder why they couldn't hit the "on" button for the PS3 Dev Kit.

bubbles.

[prodg52]

"wifi/hdd/hd-dvd/on button/ Whatever else"

Thats funny:)

[FrozenFrag]

How much is sony paying you?

[Sez]

i had problems with the ps1 and ps2. does that make me one of the people that filed a class action suit against sony. and didn't that make me part of the failure rate.(which is unknown because to this day sony denies)

Edit: @bloodmask
wow. so let me get this straight wil4hire post his rant about the 360 and MS. but i can't post about hardware issues i and others had with the ps1 and ps2 and your responces is a video. i guess we can talk about the 360 and RROD. but when it comes to sony. it never happened.

[Blademask]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=...

Interesting video.

[Lord_Mike]

Bubble for your effort.

[BloodySinner]

If you had games to be playing on your PS3, you really wouldn't have time to write an essay about how much YOU hate Microsoft.

[DeejayTai]

You hit so many points now I don't have anything to riff about!! LOL

[wil4hire]

I have plenty of time on my hands. When the entire family is over and watching Rattatoulie in my 1080p front projection home theater. Banishing me to the office.

I feel completely confident saying that gamers deserve better hardware.
I see you disagree. We are all entitled to our own wrong opinions.

[BloodySinner]

1080p front projection with absolutely nothing to play it on. Of course, we all know PS3 "gamers" don't buy games. They spend most of their time on N4G.com talking nonsense.

And what better way to prove my point by providing this nice link. - http://www.thesimexchange.c...

Like you said, we're all entitled to our wrong opinions.
Merry Christmas and good day to you. =]

[DJ]

and stop spreading false info. Game Software purchase rates are identical across the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

[wil4hire]

I forget how I am supposed to respond to your basic fanboy attack . Let me see here, page 9 of the guide book.. Ok.... "The No Games Argument."

Wait, it first says I am supposed to ignore your lack of response to HARDWARE FAILURE, and bringing up a counter argument which has nothing to do with the original argument. K let me ignore that.. now.. back to games.

Well I have games. Recently Released Games like:

Cod4, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Assassins Creed, Unreal 3. And those are all recent releases. Thats $300+ in GAMES that I just paid for.. I should return them, if they aren't games that I'm playing? What are they? Portals to Narnia?

Or is this going to turn into the patented "AAA" Argument, which then changes into "no.. I meant Exclusive AAA'!!!" Which then leaves the 360 with 3. And the PS3 none after one year. So then you celebrate over 3 aaa's... Which then some how discounts the other great games because they are multiplat? But wait. COD4/Bioshock are winning GOTY. Halo3.. aint. So what is it that makes a good game? How Good it is? Or if its an exclusive title that boosts your ego or not?

PS3 has a great 1 year lineup.

Sorry, didn't mean to own you

What all this has to do with the 360's RROD Rate/Towel Method/Fans.. I have no idea.

[Sez]

also part of the SDF manual. page 3. if anyone should bring up hardware issue with ps2 dre or sony laptop batteries should ignore the comment or deny it ever happen. by no means should any employee or sonyfanboy admitt this or respond to said issues. and in final we here at sony corp. thank you for being a fanboy and fighting the good fight. merry christmas

@ the idiot below.
you just proved my point. you fanboys bash the 360 for the RRoD. but when it comes to ps1 or ps2 no one should bring that up.you sonyfanboys act like the great sony never make any hardware that has problems. well i have shown you three examples of hardware issues.ps1,ps2,sony laptop batteries. yet all you complain about is 360 one hardware issue. why you think wil4hire and bloodmask or any other fanboy never answered me. you act like wil4hire owned someone. but in fact he didn't. i have answered his question about no system should have hardware issues with three examples. you say MS should build a more reliable system. your right about that. but i feel it shouldn't take you three gens to get it right either. and thats what sony did.

[dantesparda]

You seriously "owned" his @ss! you put his stupid @ss in place, Sorry Bloodyperiod, but he got you good.

And to Vega, what does PS1 and PS2 DRE problems have to do with the PS3? huh!? smart guy! and how long ago was that? So let me get this straight 360 fanboys. So PS1 and PS2 problems from how many years ago on a cheaper priced system is supposed to matter, but an even more serious hardware problem with a even more expensive system today doesnt!? That's acceptable? Yeah, i think i see the 360 fanboy's logic here. Its not the 360's red-ringing left and right today that matters. Its what was happening to the PS2 years ago that does..., riiight! Smart, very smart. So the next time my 360 breaks, i shouldnt get mad, cuz i should thank god, that its not a PS2 DRE right? You people are getting exactly what you's deserve for being such fvcking idiots, its just unfortunate that im getting caught up the crossfire too

Edit: To the fvcking even bigger idiot above me
Fanboy? me!? I OWN A FVCKING 360 nitwit. Its funny to me, that im the fanboy, when in realty you're the fanboy. Nobody is saying you cant bring the PS1 & PS2 having hardware issues up. But so what? that doesnt matter now, cuz they are over that, and its been taken care of course since years ago. Whereas the 360 is having even more serious issues NOW! its breaking now. And completely and totally breaking down at that too. So whats worst? PS2 breaking down then (which is taken care of now) or the even more expensive 360 breaking down now? i dont deny that systems have problems, but this is the worst case of it i have ever seen. But i dont even know why i am wasting my time trying to explain it to a fanboy like you. You people dont listen

And p.s. Wilshire so chumped him down, and you're point was weak, and a straight play out of the fanboy playbook

[essien]

apparently sony defense force is trolling the n4g stories nowadays. anyone who can't see that the xbox 360 is a superior console to the ps3 is one of two things: ignorant and sony loyal, or they believe that hardware makes the system great. sorry to burst your bubble kid, but the xbox 360 boasts more better games than the ps3 at the moment. your comment that "uncharted is second to none" is biased because you love sony. the fact is that uncharted may look good, but it is about as fun as watching paint dry. so what if the xbox 360 can't quite keep up in hardware performance? who wants to buy a super console that only has ONE good game to play? I sure as hell don't, and it looks like the rest of the world doesn't want to either - judging by the fact that you can head to ANY store in the world that sells electronics and find ps3's stocked up.

sony's cell processor is supposed to be the saving grace of the ps3 and no developer has yet to capitalize on it. the xbox 360's gpu is better than the ps3, graphics and graphical rendering are negligible between the two consoles regardless of what you think - mass effect and gears of war DO look as good if not better than uncharted. and that brings us back to the point that mass effect and gears of war are more fun to play than uncharted. that's why no one wants to buy ps3s...games make the system, not graphics. sony blew it on that one.

[Sez]

first off calm down and get your panty out your @ss ok. take a breath and chill. i owned a ps1 and 4 ps2's.(due to dre issues) by no means did i doubt or question the fact if you own one or not.but i went thru 3 ps2's so just like you i have if not more reason to rant then half the sonyfanboys posting about the RROD when most of them never owned or will ever own one. funny how you b@tch about hardware issue with the 360. but again i gave you and every other fanboy three prime examples of hardware failures with the sony brand. and all you can say is it happened years ago. let me clear something up for you. sony never explained why or admitted to the problem. it took a court of law to make sony repair the ps2 free of charge. how do i know. because i had to pay for two of them to be repaired and this was all before the first year i had it. did sony fix the problem. no they didn't. they revamp it.the 360 you have a 3 year warranty to get it fix.i have never had a problem with the 360.but at least i feel better knowing that i have 1 year left on my warranty. unlike sony charging for repairs.and no i don't care if it happened years ago or two days ago. sony had more problems with their hardware than MS, let count them shall we. MS,(360) sony.(ps1,ps2, sony laptop batteries) wow look at that MS has 1 while sony has 3.
and again wil4hire said to bloodysinner that no hardware should have problems like the 360. well i showed him sony had more. so what is he really complaining about.

[Account deleted]

but alot of you ,if not everybody, didn't point to a fatal mistake in his thoughts, halo 9 will be named the final battle
but you will have to wait until halo 10 to finish it,
they will do the same publicity stunts they did this year but i can see more risks involved in the future to add to the levels of excitments at the xbots, they will need smth new, some new types of ads like finish the battle toilet paper, finish the battle dog shiiiittt removal kit
now that's gonna be exciting to watch

No disrespect xbots, but this year "microsecurity @ modded rrod machines" also know as microsoft made me sick with this silly ad campaign.
Have a good sense of humour
prone to game anytime anywhere

[dantesparda]

You really dont want to get it do you? Im not denying that Sony has had problems or any other system for that matter, i know PS2 had problems, I've seen them many times. But if you think that because Sony had problems with their first 2 systems, makes it alright that the 360 RROD, then you my friend are dumb and foolish. If you hated having problems with the PS2 then, then why are you so ok with a RROD proned system? Just because of a 3 year warranty? Most things dont even need such a warranty because they last. And the only reason why MS fessed up is because they knew they had to cuz the heat was coming down on them bigtime. And good for you that you havent had the RROD problem but i have and i am on my 3rd system and will eventually have to return this 3rd one for a my 4th one because it's been disc read erroring and freezing up since day one that i got it back from them, and have continued to tolerate it til now. And you have to wait for a month to get it back from them. And i have never owned a Sony system to be concerned with it. Whereas here i am getting afflicted by MS' system problems.

Now why dont you get your head out of your @ss, and understand that just because the PS2 messed up doesnt mean that people dont have the right to complain about the 360 messing up now. And if you think i was mad in that last post, then you wouldnt want to see me when im really mad. And are you the one who took my bubble? And wilshire so pointed out what Bloodysinner and most of the 360 fanboys do

[rbanke]

i'll sit back and wait for the obligatory 'Of course we wouldnt ban someone for doing a fan mod' responce from the usual PR rep.

[hadouken007]

like they say bout the ps3, u get what u pay for.

[highps3]

Just be careful, Hackers have a good grasp on how to get around the 360 security.

www.360-hacks. com

[gamesR4fun]

the hackers can get away with all kinds of mods no prob if their smart but M$ is punishing the honest users who are just trying to get a little more life from their rrod prone POS.

[WilliamRLBaker]

you can do what you will with your system, but by in no means does that means microsoft has to put up with you beyond selling you that system.
and that means fix it and xbox live...ect

Oh and by the way, If you we're to do the any sort of mod weither it be case mod, cheat mod...ect and send it into sony do you think they'd fix it? not blooming likely.

P.S: i do believe this is rumor, there is no proof except the word of mister hacked my 360, and maxconsole...a console hacking site...

[Lord_Mike]

Wow you get banned simply because Microsoft couldn't figure out how to cool the system efficiently. It doesn't make any sense, it's not the consumers fault... it's Microsoft's.

[IntelligentAj]

If this is true(which i'm not sure about as it seems pretty dumb)then MS has a large set of balls on them. People are trying to fix a manufacturing problem that you knew about and you won't fix their console if they tried? That sounds very disrespectful to your fan base. That being said I don't think MS is that dumb to actually do something like this.

[tk]

Modding is bad for software sales. Maybe the after market cooling systems must have external power source. The cooling systems could maybe cause surge or something else bad to the motherboard. Just guessing - but they would not do this just to screw the customer over. I don't like MS - but I don't think they will do this without a reason.

[Horny]

actually I agree with microsoft on this one. How would they know that u didnt mess up the system by opening it and tweaking certain parts. Put yourself in their position, forget about the failure rate for a sec, if someone broke ur product by trying to change it to their convenience would u fix it for them. Ya they have to do something about the overheating but letting everybody do it could also mean hackers use to their advantage.

[gamesR4fun]

They are going to ban consoles from live just for opening the box and adding a little extra cooling power or even just pimping it out...
Sad stuff imo

[squirrelly89]

They will not fix the piece of shizzit and they do not want anyone else to either?? Hmm....

[athlon770]

How else are Microsoft supposed to get repeat sales if people start fixing their console themselves? Now they start banning paying customers because they 'think' they modded their system? Merry Christmas indeed!

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Man I took my High speed blue LED fan mod off early this year when one fan stopped working. Glad I did.

[DeejayTai]

They will find a way around it.They always do

[Prototype]

Wow this is stupid; whats next? Banning people from live for sitting their 360 next to the Air Conditioning? Or how about turning it off after 2-3 hours to give it cool off time? I can see it now...

(From Microsoft) "Today we decided to ban 360 users from Live for taking a break after a 2-3 hour gaming session because it slows the progress of getting online achievements and also because it makes sense to not burn out your 360." Also if your caught placing your 360 around a cooling source (air conditioning) we will send a virus to that cooling source allowing it to Blue Screen or Red Ring and you will owe us in lost time, which will be around 1/30 of Bill Gates fortune."

*about 35 comments on why Bioshock and Gears of War is STILL Better*

ok back to reality

Seriously I can understand modding to cheat or download games but to reduce your heating to PLAY games? Come on thats a little overboard, especially when Microsoft was the ones who initially sent the hardware out bugged.

Glad I bought the ps3 where I keep mine on for WEEKS at a time without powering it down, AND have a good selection of games I can play without running the risk of modding, Red-ringing, or even getting "banned" because I want to continue playing online with some friends.

A lot of you people still support 360 because of the games but whats the point of having hardware that runs a high risk of overheating or other issues? "Falcon" motherboards is some sort of stepping stone in the right direction but look how long it took for it to come out, and on top of that its not even that much better.

Situations like this just makes it harder for me to even consider a 360 despite the game selection; I look for quality in the hardware AND games, not just games.

[Blademask]

Looking for quality games and hardware isn't too much to ask. I think the current outcome/growth of the PS3 is going to force Microsoft to adapt to new hardware quality control regulations.

[Bolts]

Another way to get screwed from MS. Its my console, I should be able to do whatever I want as long as I'm not breaking the copy protection or hacking accounts. Now they want to ban people because of some after market fan? Way to stick it to your fan base.

Voiding your warranty is one thing, thats the norm, but banning peeps from Xbox Live?? DUMB!!

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Bye bye you modder thieves

[m9105826]

What're they stealing, exactly? Seriously, they're only fixing a mistake that MS never should have let out of the labs in the first place. No need to ban them from XBL.

[Prototype]

With the money Microsoft has you would think they could spend it on making a lasting console rather than just trying to buy out every publisher just to say "Hey we have games!" yea games don't mean a thing if the hardware doesn't live up to the standards. With the money they have they could easily run some sort of Diagnostics to see what was modded specifically to know who/what to ban rather than some sort of standard outdated codes.

What they should do is provide some sort of poll on WHY people bought the 360 to really determine how many people are new compared to people who have to spend another $300-400 just to get banned/red-ringed again over something that could have easily been corrected in the first place.

It seems lately Microsoft is more concerned about people correcting THEIR mistakes rather than them fixing their own and actually admitting their faults; like providing some sort of "thank you" for purchasing their product. An extended 3 year warranty on outdated hardware isn't gonna cut it with talk of a new system comming out within 2 years.

[Enigma_2099]

WTF?!?!?

[DeejayTai]

Hey man, on that other thread i was just messing around. Truth be told, I was one of those scrambling for a wii shortly after it dropped and I dig the system. Got a PS3 too but I own double the Wii games so far. Just thought it'd be fun to 'get into it' with someone and I thought it was fun. You really let me have it towards the end! Hope I didn't piss you off too much, my buds were laughing when you ripped me. Hope no harm done! Stay cool.

[v1c1ous]

and go see if they fix it.

this is a move against the agreement you make when you use a console online.

sony, nintendo, microsoft ALL have the right to ban your console from online for something like this.

[m9105826]

This isn't about whether or not they'll repair it, obviously this will void your warranty. This is about banning people from a service they are paying hard-earned money for because they want their console to not crap out on them.

EDIT: How could you possibly disagree with my statement? This article IS about banning from XBL, and not about whether or not MS will repair your modded console. Seriously, the trolls are getting really bad here.

[Prototype]

Yes your right, thats within the ToS of online gaming with the companies.

The argument is faulty/outdated hardware over morale.

[FPS nut]

How many times do modders have to be told to stop modding?

[The Snake]

1) How do they know?
Most likely by the voltage increase.

2) How do they know the voltage increase is caused by a fan and not something used to give an advantage over others, such as an overclocked CPU?
They probably can't tell.

3) Is this allowed by their TOS?
No.

4) Why are people who don't even own the console crying foul?
Either they're waiting for MS to change their policies so they can feel safe jumping in, which is understandable, or else they're retarded, which I suppose is also understandable.

[m9105826]

I have no problem admitting that I will buy a 360 as soon as all of the kinks are worked out that can't just be fixed by a firmware update, and so far I've been disappointed with the steps MS is taking to remedy said problems. When failure rates drop to <2% I will pick one up. Until then I cannot justify spending money on the console when I can get 90% of the games I want to play on it on either the PS3 or the PC.

[The Snake]

That places you in my first category, which is fine by me. It's the people who don't even want to play the system but still complain that get on my nerves.

[N4GayFanturds]

If I install a performance muffler to my new car, that voids my warranty too so....WTFCARES!!

The reason for the Live ban is simple. It's like racing a stock car against a modded one. My xbox is stock & yours is modded (in ANY kind of way) is not a fair game.

[m9105826]

"Ha ha, I have the advantage of not having to worry if my 360 will die in the middle of Team Deathmatch! Advantage goes to me!"

If I'm the only one who sees so many things wrong with that statement, then I wish faulty electronics upon you all...

[Lord_Mike]

So its fine to you, if you were banned' from the US roads just because you have a performance muffler installed? Yeah your muffler gives you an advantage of 2hp so its not fair for the stock cars accelerating towards the highway.

Same concept M$ is doing with 360 being banned from live with having a more reliable machine running with a cooler fan.

"Yeah your the guy with the better fan you have a huge advantage of playing the game longer on XBL without overheating. This is considered an advantage, everyone should have a 30% failure rate." BANNED!!!

"Hey you! You left a finger print on your white 360, thus allowing less light reflecting toward your eyes. You have a slight glare advantage" BANNED!!!BANNED!!!

"Your using those new Energizer batteries that supposedly gives you 3x longer battery life on electronics. Not fair to other gamers using regular Alkaline batteries." BANNED!!!BANNED!!!BANNED!!!

[gololo]

i think this is good...ok so most of you made a point about RROD but i just remember how halo2 got all screwed up cuz ppl started modding their consoles and cheating...so maybe they should define what they mean by "modding"...if it's to fix the internal cooling system of the 360, then why the heck ban users? if modding is used for cheating, then def. ban

[Kyur4ThePain]

If something as simply as improving the cooling system and nothing else, it could still be said that you have an advantage over me, because all else being equal, my console will probably overheat before yours, giving you the advantage of being able to play longer and gain more points.

They'll have to be careful where they go from here, as MS could open a can of legal worms on the issue...on themselves.

[MANTIIS]

Yeah, I don't understand it either. From my experience, a more powerful fan does work, and can actually prevent RROD if its installed before you get the RROD. Its simple, you keep the system cool, its doesn't go belly up. Good point, Kyur4. Personally, I hope they do open a legal can of worms in hopes that its brings events one step closer to their demise as a gaming platform. I would like to see the clauses in the XBL user agreement that says users cannot install hardware to improve the life of their system.

[MANTIIS]

This news is really shocking to me. Almost disturbing. I never knew what the depths of MS's disservice to its customers would be, but this takes the cake. Glad I got rid of the machine a while ago, or this would have affected me. When I was getting RROD, and jerked around by MS's repair department, I had no choice but to try to remedy the problem myself. Apart from employing various ways to cooling the system off, including fresh Artic Silver thermal paste, better ventilation with new casing,..etc, I had installed a product called a Whisper Fan into my 360. The thing was supposed to work 40% better them the stock fans. It actually did work too, but the RROD was too far gone. Its both a relief and a feeling of disgust to know that with this news, I would basically have been punished by MS for trying to fix THEIR damn problem. I, at that point, had been one of the first adopters of XBL and that is how they would have thanked me. These a-holes need to get out of this market, I hope that the rising power of PS3 makes this happen.

[JokesOnYou]

the news even begins with:

"According to one source,"= which turns out to be "a user of 360patches", ??? OK?

I know a couple of friends who actually have fan mods for at least a year with no problems or threats of being banned, me, my roomate and plenty others haven't tried anything, simply because I think its foolish to tamper with your 360 especially with the 3 yr warranty and none of us have had any problems, but either way I won't put to much stock in this source until I hear confirmation from one with a little more creditability. I have no doubt micro won't hesitate to ban anyone who's mods his console for piracy reasons or trying to gain an advantage online because they have been very focus on preventing it as much as possible this gen, IF indeed he was banned for a "simple fan mod" I think thats stupid, and IF this turns out to be true for alot of gamers they probably just needs to complain and explain their case because micro have corrected some "bonehead" descisions in the past but honestly I dont think thats the case and its too easy for anybody to claim he was banned for something simple when in reality they got caught doing something wrong so until I hear more creditable info I'll just file this one under "someguy said...."

JOY

[Bullseye]

Banning modded consoles is good for xbl, it reduces cheating and it's one of the reasons why we pay our forty quid.MS take the trouble to ensure our service is as free as possible of these cheats.I know their main motivation is revenue, but never the less.Also if people see others being banned for unacceptable behaviour, then it may make them think before pouring their hate on others.Slightly ironic, because for every lock there must be a key, so this situation will always continue and the price for this vigilance is a few innocents may get banned along the way. The very same people that pay for this service!Getting a free service may sound attractive,but anyone that has ever played for FREE on a PC,if they are truthful,will also tell you it's riddled with cheats and mods and almost impossible to find a fair game anywhere,of course it's your choice.Personally, i think MS must be pretty sure of their facts before banning someone and i suspect many of these 'innocents' are angry modders.

Merry christmas to all NG4 members and a big thanks to all the contributors, for keeping me entertained over the course of the year.

[ravenguard88]

They make it perfectly clear that you are breaking the terms of use by doing any hardware modification of the console.

Voiding your warranty to install your own fans to prevent hardware failure is a little.... slow?

Let Microsoft pay for their own problems, if you think it's making your system failure proof it very well be doing nothing but saving MS money when your system goes bad.

[Matpan]

This would be perfectly comprehensible if... say... the failure rate of the 360 was 0%

Mine went RRoD, personally fixed it and modded my fans... Screw MS.

[sak500]

I dont think it is related to anyone getting some sort of advantage playing online. What about millions of people playing online games on pc? What about their hardware, overclocked cpus/gpus, 2meg low ping connections etc? The ping is the most important thing in online gaming.

Either this news is bull or there is something more to it than meets the eye. What if someone has plugged in his ipod, has a vision camera and wifi card connected to his 360, wont it be consuming more electricity ? How would ms know if its modded or not?

BTW if you play backup games on modded console do you unlock single player achievements? Just curious.

[jaygeezy]

B.S. microsoft needs to grow a pair and worry about those games. It seems like i have been playing the same games on that system since it has been out. The only game that they have that is remotely different is Rock Band. Its cool that they are selling the most systems right now but you can kind of tell where they are heading,for as improveing there service when they have time to monitor how much power is people used at my house that i pay bills. What about working on giving us the chat room option back or checking some of the racist fat f**ks that be online in COD4, but noooooo they want to make sure that your dam 360 is going to break in 15mins--3yrs and justify it now by saying that YOU broke your warranty. WOW I guess you don't become the richest man in the world without f**king over a couple of million people. Don't know about you guys but i will keep my PS3 on standby.

[MIAMIFROST]

First the RROD and now there is a chance of getting banned for nothing.
Another Microsoft penetration!!! MS owners must like it in the a$$!

Its not too late to come to the darkside.

[ReBurn]

People aren't getting banned for nothing. I'm sure it happens to a few, but I'd wager that most people who get banned deserve it.

[ROCCOZILLA]

360 will soon be trown along the wayside.i hear more and more people leaving 360 every time im in gamestop.its sad how m$ treats its people.i think they want out of the gaming world.they would rather stick with software like windows and that stuff.2008 will be its last.PLAY B3YOND!

[Carbon]

28 days and counting! :)

[Bill]

another blatant reason M$ should not be in the hardware business. This makes no sense.

[fredy]

Fools no hardware has been perfect, well maybe nintendo over the years but thats why u have warranty.

The ps2 had it's faults but still sold very well as the ps2 so don't give me that bs just because it is Ms. I know every fanboys wants ms head on a stick but you people are so delusional about anything other then ms.

You should get banned fo rmessign with the hardware. If your under the 3 year warranty then You have nothing to worry about, and if you dont like warranties and waiting then imagien buying a PS3(waiting is nothing new to them).

Nothing is perfect...not sony or other manufactures.

[plastixblue]

I have Talismoon fans in my 360,and Im not banned. Also xbox-scene.com has nothing up about this,and when the Microsoft banhammer falls they jump all over it so I call false.

[Funky Town_TX]

cheaters and hackers should not be allowed to play online. Now honest people should. If M$ is banning honest people then then need to fix it. I don't have a fan mod and my launch console has worked fine.