Being a huge proponent of modifying the original Xbox, I’ve been following the news surrounding Xbox 360 modifications. This past week brought perhaps the biggest 360 news since the first hack; Microsoft began banning modified consoles on Xbox Live. Surprisingly, I completely support Microsoft on this initiative.
360 Mods Are Not Legal
In the past, modding an Xbox brought more legal functionality to the device. Modders could install Xbox Media Center, a program that supports nearly all media codecs. Modders could run a host of other applications such as Linux or MAME. Finally, modders could backup games to the hard drive, preventing wear and tear on discs and bringing speed benefits to games such as Morrowind.
Unlike the original Xbox, 360 mods have all evolved around piracy. Modders cannot run their own applications (yet) and can only play “backed up” games, but even the argument of game backups does not apply. Modders cannot just drop a game in their console and copy it to the hard drive. A legal backup involves taking a 360 DVD drive and connecting it to a computer. Then, running the disc through a number of applications before finally burning a copy. Anyone wanting to legally backup a copy would be nuts going through the process, resulting in the majority of people downloading pirated copies.
For the most part, banning 360 modders is only preventing piracy. Modders should not be upset since their activities are not legal in the first place. However, while I agree Microsoft has the right to protect their console, I can sympathize with modders on the recent 360 bannings.
The Modding Scene Has Changed
Unlike the original Xbox, 360 mods cannot be turned off easily. A modder cannot choose to play a pirated game offline and then play a legal game on Xbox Live; the modified DVD firmware is always running. Besides, all 360 games are Live aware, meaning simply earning an achievement requires a connection to Xbox Live.
Secondly, many of the predominate Xbox 1 modders are now working for Microsoft preventing 360 modifications. Potential homebrew hacks such as the hypervisor vulnerability have been closed before modders could even make an attempt at legal homebrew.
Finally, I lied. There are quite a few “alternative” hacking methods, such as replacing a broken DVD drive or quieting down the 360, all which require DVD drive modifications.
Conclusion
In short, I believe Microsoft has the right to block modified consoles from Xbox Live. They are trying to prevent another Halo 2 modding catastrophe, and I support them for it. Unfortunately, the banhammer means the few legitimate modifications are cut short, but it is a necessary evil in the fight against piracy.
29 Comments
I’m in the same boat as you. I love my Xbox with XBMC and 30+ games on the harddrive. But even with that, I sacrificed Xbox Live and I knew what I was getting myself into. I wouldn’t even think of modding my Xbox 360 as Live is simply too integral now.
It’s kind of funny watching people squeal as their consoles are banned. Seriously, what did you expect? Crazy how they’re banning the console now, as apposed to blacklisting the account as they did previously.
Actually, in the Xbox 1 days they banned the console also. Modders were able to work around it by turning off their modchip when going on Live (I did this). If you happened to be banned, you could replace the eeprom information from another console and you’d be back up and running.
I guarantee now there is no way to change the eeprom information, so consoles banned are banned for life. Unless modders can find out how Microsoft is detecting modified DVD firmware, most likely this marks the end of firmware modding on Live.
Who the HELL knows what all the numbers and shit means. I am blown away and wonder how the hell people even found out what these numbers and characters meant, and how to hack stuff.
I dont even own an Xbox however the firmware modification detection would be very simple. Your PC does it all the time when you boot up. Such as your BIOS.
However I think if you mod you are running the risk. Microsoft Dropped the Bomb.
But Microsoft is also running a big risk. When you ban people they go somewhere else and they take there money with them. This banning method can also be used as a weapon. If someone were to hack the Xbox Live service and change the detection Parm. He/She Could in theroy. BAN EVERYONE FOR LIFE Mod or no mod. So i say this I hope they know what they are doing. Also the Banished will want revenge. They may start there own underground versions of Xbox live and make it free. Or they might start attacking XBox live servers. Or Microsoft it self.
As for whether i agree with it… I think They have a right to defend others on the service. However I also think they should allow redemption to people who mod and wish to reverse the modification.
This is stupid, I understand banning modded xbox’s but the ones from Asia got banned too. I mean, I got mine in Asia and brought original games from there. But they still banned me because it had a “chip” thats ridiculous. Even though Ive never played burned games. People who don’t agree are just stupid. Microsoft is a disgrace to my race.
Vince, to be honest just because you don’t use the mod chip doesnt make it any less illegal you STILL have the abillity to run the pirated games so yes it is fair.
yo my xbox is modified in asia..i played pirated games..can it play originals too..let me know ..peace
yea i agree with vince! i got my console in asia and i have been ban’d ! i got my games over there and they are not alegal copys just becuse they can play them dosent mean i want to play alegal copys!!!
i think this is stupid and microsoft are money grabing wankers!
I have a question.. well i got my 360 modded a couple of months ago,the mod that allows you to play burnt games.. and suddenly now my bro wants to get Xbox live( he doesnt know about the banning, mod, nothing) and im scared as shit..
Let’s say he bought final fantasy XX, 100% Original and all that..and he installs the xbox live and all that… is there a risk or a danger for his account to get banned? even though the games is fully original and paid and all??
Cause i heard that the risk of banning comes from trying to play live on pirated games and such things.. tell me please, is there a risk for me?>
Nano, ensure your 360 has the latest modded firmware. Without it, you’ll be banned no matter what game you use. The latest modded firmware is safe for the time being, and you shouldn’t be banned.
thank you=), how do i do that?
I personally do not know. I have yet to mod my 360. I would, however, recommend checking out this forum: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showforum=169 They should be able to help you.
Thank you so muuchh! ;D
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This is a retarded comment. According to your point of view, I guess none of us should own a gun since the potential is there to use it on another person. Heck, we might as well outlaw cars while we are at it since it is possible to run someone over with one. Your comment is just plain retarded! Just because the possibility is there doesn’t mean it’s going to be taken. If that’s your stance you better go back to living in a hut where you can’t hurt anyone even accidentally.
On a different note, I had a modded original xbox. But owned Halo 2 and played on live. I saw both sides. I modded it so my kids could play their games….ie no way I am paying $50 for a stupid spongebob game that has graphics that date back to the super nintendo. Even though it was modded, i had absolutely no intention of modding any game(ie Halo 2) to give me an advantage. However I was on the receiving end of this multiple times as I played people who did mod the game itself. There is nothing more frustrating than playing someone who modded the game. That being said, if MS was only concerned with the integrity of the games, they would find a different way to detect and ban people. For example when you log on, it could figure out what game you have and do a hard drive check to make sure you havne’t modified the game content iteself in any way. So MS saying it’s for game integrity is BS, they are like the little kid that got picked on years back. They are doing what they can to hurt those that are hurting them. Plain and simple. Thing is, even if you get banned, you could pick up a used core console for around $200 and just use that one on live while you use your banned one for modded stuff.
Piracy is an age old problem that will never be solved, it’s a constant race between the producers and the hackers. Every time i hear the argument that someone is losing business because of modders i laugh. It’s quite simple. You aren’t losing money off me because if I had to pay for it, i wouldn’t buy it! Plain and Simple! So how are you losing money! I will never pay for music again! Never, even if they shut down every site and somehow manage to produce some form of protection that protects all cds I still won’t buy one. To me, it’s not worth it. I’ll just listen to the radio. There is no way any CD is worth $15- $20 to me. None! If they lowered it to say $1 for a cd, then sure I’d buy it. But at $15-$20, no way. So again, either way they aren’t losing money off me because I would never buy one at that price point to begin with. So if MS really wanted to stop piracy, lower the price on your goods to make it not worth the effort to pirate the stuff. I can honestly tell you right now, if CD’s were $1 a peice, I would stop downloading them right now. It’s all about price point! MS is a greedy company and I won’t pay their prices. I’ll either pirate or just do without it. That simple.
Same goes for the 360. So far there isn’t a good mod, so simply put, I havne’t bought a 360 yet. The 360 is simply is not worth $350 to me if I can’t mod it. And $60/game is outrageous! I am waiting for one of two things……a good chip to come out so I can play on live, or the price to drop on them so that I can get two….one for modding and one for live.
And for those that think modding is unjust. Think of this….Most people buy at least one extra controller(more $$ for microsoft). Most buy a live account (more $$ for MS), a lot of people buy the charge kit($$ for MS). BTW, the charge kit is the biggest rip off. $20 for a recharge kit. I paid $15 for a Sony wall charger and 4 rechargable AA batteries…That way I have 2 in my controller and 2 fully charged waiting for action. For $15! And if need be, I can use all 4 of those batteries in any other AA device I own. Can’t do that with the MS charge pack. MS is a cash cow and they will nickel and dime you for everything they can. YOu are easily padding their wallet even if you have a modded system, so I don’t feel sorry for them one bit!
Well said NYU!
WOW!! It’s amazing how people are rejoicing over the fact that XBOX Live has banned the people with modded systems, BACKUPS, and Pirated Games. Nowadays the word mod has a double meaning due to gullible people who listened to bad rumors. First off you can’t cheat with a modified system. Xbox 360 has too many security codes to allow that. The only way you can cheat is with a cheating device (AR Max, Gameshark, Codebreaker) and that was for the Xbox, which is what got most of you paranoid about modified systems in the first place. A modified board or character is not cause by a modified system people!! LMAO!!
The only people who are rejoicing over this are Ignoramuses, Friends & Family members of game developers, and people who are loyal patrons of certain games & the system itself. You all want to act as if people with modded systems are self-righteous a-holes but you’re all full of hypocrisy! The majority of you have pirated at one time or another!! THINK ABOUT? Whether it was a CD, Movie, TV Show, Music Single, or Software (Even if the software you illegally downloaded cost only $2 to purchase; even if you needed it for a class you were trying to pass; even if you needed it because your computer was full of viruses and was about to crash due to the lack of a Anti-virus program) YOU STILL STOLE! Downloading merchandise that you didn’t pay for is STEALING! So don’t give me that crap about thanking Microsoft because you were getting your @ss whipped in a game you can’t play! Get off of your narrow-minded high horse! There are people better than you!
I’m not a strong supporter of modding, even though I have done it in the past, but I hate hypocrites! All Microsoft did was cause consoles to be returned and unaware people to purchase banned systems. This STILL didn’t stop people from playing pirated games!! LOL! You think Microsoft did it for that sole purpose! MS is a money hungry company. They could have just solely blocked burnt games from being play on live, but NOOO!! By permanently banning your Xbox, Microsoft figured they could get those individuals banned to go out and buy another consoles. LOL! It’s pure genius!
stupid comments, if producers, developers, manufacturer doesnt earn from their products, why on earth they gonna make one? if movies like spiderman wont earn anything will they make one? if Ford produces a focus that will lose them money will they make one? if mc donalds loses money from hamburgers why would they serve it? i agree on lowering prices, but to a point where they would not profit much from it? who in their right mind will do that? any business takes a lot of planning, this is business knowledge, try to study some business courses, 1 dollar for a cd? ok you make that happen, try finding a top notch artist who would sign up with you. Ms is a money hungry company? well fyi, all companys are money hungry. if you guys wanna complain about prices, then why dont you complain everything you have in your house, from the brooms, your carpets, tv set, the food in your kitchen, to your school, dentist, doctors. PIRACY kills the gaming industry period.
ya microsorft are money grabbing all they want is money this explanes y most xbox 360 owners r modding there consoles and going out buying a second hand console for going on live, i have a 360 and now im thinking of buying a arcade 360 and firmware it because games are 2 costly 65 euros for a bit of plastic come on ms what r ye thing of, its yer fault that people r modding their 360 consoles,
so its ok to mod cars but not electronics? total bull! they shouldn’t have the right to dictate a set a rules for their own interest, once someone buys a box..they should be able to do what they please.
Profit is key, but eventually, piracy’s benefits outweigh the risks for a lot of people. The whole DVD firmware thing is not that easy to do for most people out there, and those who do it have to spend a considerable time and risk to do it. But is it worth? Sure if games are 60 bucks. What about 20-30? Probably not.
I just got a 360 and have bought my first 2 games for under 30, which is reasonable to me. I won’t pay 60 for STFU (hehe double meaning just realized it). Does that mean that I will mod? Probably not, but if the opportunity becomes available, I may. I don’t care to play on Live so not a big loss to me on that end.
In the end, everybody is greedy and trying to get more for less. That includes the movie industry, gaming industry, pirates, cheapos looking for games on sale, etc. This war will never end because nobody is going to exchange a service or product at a reasonable price for everyone. Somebody is not going to like it and is either going to enforce with banning or make modchips. Pick your side. Don’t whine about ethics. They are all relative.
a simple fact is movies like spiderman as you said make a whole lot of money when they 1st come
out into the movies they make billions i mean hell £13 a ticket donno about america $20?
people go to see it 2-3 times depending how good this movie is so they make billions,then it comes
out on DVD again they make billions from dvd sales as every kiddie wants a copy of spiderman then
it comes out on cable tv wich u pay for monthly,they make even more money from royaltis so at end
they spend 50million on a movie an make back over a few billion profit and then they make it in
to games “spider man the movie ps2″ and so on they get royalties from that lets not forget that
music cd’s the artist dose live shows selling tickets for like $30-50 each 100s go to see so in
1 night they maken a lot of money then they sell cds even more money
games cost alot to make? yea prob a few million+ to make games like mgs4 etc,but 1s that game is
made it costs them $1-2 each to make then they sell to shops for $10 then shops sell for $60
at end of the day its about money and you should be allowed to mod xbox 360 i dont own 1 atm but
i belive that 1s you buy some thing its yours not theres,if some 1 sold you an old car an u
wanted to restore it to what it 1s was an they told you your not allowed,wouldnt u be mad?
u payed for it you did not get it free there for it belongs to you,1s they make it an sell it
they do not own it worlds in a money crisis atm and insted of puting games at a low price to help
they leave them the same an spam tv adds so kids will see and beg mom an dad for a copy just cuz
they the only 1 in the grp who dont have a copy $50-60 is to much for a few hours of enjoyment
i wont mod my 360 im only getin to play live with friends but ill be buying my games pre owned
rather pay $20-30 then 50-60 for the same game just comes with a wraper piracy is so big cuz
the prices are to much for normal familys to afford with food n bills n kids insted of 50-60
charge 20-30 they will see a whole lot more sales as face it why spend $10 on a fake cd copy
when for $10 more u can have original copy that would save game bussness not destroy it
lastly banning is stupid people can mod get cought sell on ebay for $20 less or hell its moded
not alot of ppl give acrap about live an sell for $100-200 more i seen in a shop moded xbox 360
$595 then just buy a new 1 or even buy 2 mod them sell for a profit an with that profit alone buy
a 2 new 1s mod 1 an keep 1 normal so at end it evens out to the same crap all companys need to
relise we work for our money too it dont just jump out of our wallet on command we work just as
hard as they do if not harder to make our money and 1s the relise that there wont be any need
for priercy i use to get my ps2 chiped my ps1 chiped for the reason $10 for a copy off a mate was
100x better then $50-60 all games drop in price over time when they relise no 1 is buying them
cuz we have no money to kids want xbox 360 for christmas with 3-4 games thats $400-500 an for
poor familys thats a hell of alot of money
sorry for bad spelling lack of sleep
I agree totally with NYU, Lower the price and there will be no such thing as piracy… how much is it for a DVD-DL for microsoft? it cant cost much more including all the develpment of the game etc. than £3 / $6 per game… sell them for £5 / $10 each i would buy it… they will still be making a HUGE profit at that…
In another perspective I have a modded 360 and I have over £700 / $1,400 worth of games all ready… any Onestly I only like and play 3 of them… the rest are rubbish and I would be so upset if I baught them.
Its beond a joke! and on top of that we have to pay for content downloads!!!
To me getting banned of Xbox Live is nothing a am sick of it anyway… is it actually possible to join a game without so 7 year old american kid screaming “GRENADE WHORE!!” or without some 40 year old virgin living in his pearents basement breathing heavily down the mic. like hes wacking one off… It started well with the Xbox now on the 360 they have lost it…
ENJOY YOUR MONEY WHILE YOU CAN MICROSOFT BECAUSE YOUR NOT HAVING MINE.
Some of you people make me laugh hey,
You won’t pay $60 for a game, what will you pay $60 for then?? If you are so passionate about defending what is essentailly an illegal activity so that you can personally enjoy your games better. It doesn’t make sense to me, Gaming should be an art, and enjoyable past-time, clearly you don’t realise how much effort goes into the production and selling of these titles. Make a little more of an informed decision about your over-priced gaming, can you develope games of such quality in this modern day, do you own a developing studio. I would gladly pay the price purely based on the fact I have no clue how they do it, I commend them for doing the job they do. And if I purchase a game that severly fails to meet my expectatinos, I return it.
The point, NYU, is to own a modded version of the console is to, under Microsofts eyes, have a product that is no longer theirs. Why should they allow you to use something that you’ve taken and changed and use on their services, where so many others have an orgianal product that meet the standard requirements. You owning something that can perform at a level higher, no matter if you intend to use it, is simply unfair. The same can be seen in any industry that offers a competetive playing feild. A standard variation is set, and those seen to opperate outside of those variations are repremanded. Don’t bitch about not being able to use your modded console in an average feild, even though ‘you do not intend to use it that way’.
Darshan is right, about one thing, everyone, no matter who we are, is only really out for themself. Every industry, there will never be a mutual ground where developers will meet with modders/hackers and discuss how their product could better suit the wider community of people who got offended and dissappointed with the original product in the first place, they decided to change and alter it. Some things are just self explanatory, and everything, as Darshan said, is relative.
I don’t endorse everything that Microsoft does, nor everything the modding community does, you each have flaws in your argument and motives. Either be happy with what you have, or find somewhere else to take it, don’t kick up a fuss about something you don’t like, change it, then demand to be able to use it as it was.
There will always be piracy, no matter how low the price is. It things such as these were free, people would still pirate them, because it would they would still have to go to the shops and physicaly pick it up. Why exert effort to get something that costs nothing, when you can get something that costs nothing from the seat of your lounge, or computer desk.
At the end of the day, if they don’t your money, they probably don’t need it, they guy next door will give them double.
if i put an illegal hard drive in my 360 and dont play xbox love can i still be banned
if i get a hard drive to save games on in my 360 but dont play live will i be in the clear
Don’t matter to me. Save my 49.99 and play my games offline. If i want to update my sports rosters i just go over my cousin house and download the roster on my memory card. To many people quit on you on xbox live any ways, so im cool with my system being banned xbox aint making no money off of me and im still having fun.
I’ve been banned from xbox live for ‘modding’ my xbox.. I am 14 years old i dont know what the fuck xbox is thinking. I have a life im not going to spend my time dickin around wit my xbox. This is just stupid, iv’e tried calling atleast 10 times but they refuse to unban me. I did nothing and for this i say that microsoft is a joke. Anyone else having this gay problem?
exactly what does microsoft ban you from? Your Gamertag and Xbox Live or your whole console? And if it is your console, can you still play offline?
How to modifly my xbox 360?
thank you,
Jose
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