Your Xbox One Can Be A Dev Kit, Microsoft Says Please Don't Do It

[Karloff]

Your Xbox One Can Be A Dev Kit, Microsoft Says Please Don't Do It

Keep your hands to yourself, unless you have a Sandbox ID, says Microsoft.

Once upon a time, it was said that every Xbox One could be a dev kit [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIO4k3v2a9Y], and lo, this turned out to be true. But, says Microsoft, there's a catch. If you fiddle around in there without Microsoft's express permission, you could end up with a damaged console.

The revelation comes courtesy of a second show [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx4BzbOgPN4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUbeqXRlmweG97AMkxdObomQ] with more information. Even Corbman doesn't recommend going forward without the Sandbox ID, which is Microsoft's way of letting you into its world. Without that ID, you risk putting your machine into a boot loop.

"There are many concerns such as privacy, security, stability etc.," said an unnamed Xbox One developer on Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/1rsnnt/all_xbox_ones_are_dev_kits/], "that need to be sorted out before we can allow anyone and everyone to simply sideload an app onto their box." Microsoft itself has since weighed in with an official statement, advising its customers not to change their new consoles' settings.

"Changing the settings in this menu is only intended for developers for Xbox One, and this alone does not turn the console into a development kit," says Microsoft. "We strongly advise consumers against changing these settings as it could result in their Xbox One becoming unusable. Customers who have put their consoles into this developer setting can revert by restoring factory defaults under Settings / System, select Restore Factory Defaults."

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-02-every-xbox-one-really-can-be-a-dev-kit]


Permalink

 

[Nooners]

Okay, so I guess the question becomes, how expensive is/hard to get is a Sandbox ID? If it's just a buck or two, or even a free download, I don't see too much harm.

 

[rofltehcat]

I'm sure those options will just vanish in one of the next updates. This sounds just to be too good for people aiming to mod consoles to play pirated games on and/or hobbyists aiming to jailbreak it for tinkering.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Okay, so I guess the question becomes, how expensive is/hard to get is a Sandbox ID? If it's just a buck or two, or even a free download, I don't see too much harm.

Did some quick searching. It doesn't help that most every Microsoft product seems to include a "sandbox" feature or mode.

Anyway, from here:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Developers/faq

Q: I am a student and want to learn on a dev kit, how or where do I get one?
A: We currently do not offer dev kits to students or Universities. Dev kits licenses are only offered to professional game development companies that have passed our rigorous qualification process.

I figured their concern was much less for customers derping around and bricking their systems, and more about securing that proprietary platform they just spent billions developing.

Doesn't bother me either way. I'm never getting one unless professional obligation dictates it (extremely unlikely)
*shrugs*

 

[Vivi22]

I figured their concern was much less for customers derping around and bricking their systems, and more about securing that proprietary platform they just spent billions developing.

And that's fair. What isn't fair is marketing said billion-dollar device as being capable of becoming a dev kit when they've no intention of allowing it to be so.

Pretty much this. They were basically making the whole dev kit thing sound like a huge boon to hobbyists and indies. Turns out it isn't even remotely the case. How many times does Microsoft need to lie and screw over customers before we see it reflected in the sales?

 

[loa]

There are many concerns such as privacy

What, why is privacy a concern?
Does this turn on hyper NSA mode or are they still investigating how to best monitor people who do it?
Also this may turn into another "other os" incident and we all know how well that went down for sony.

 

[Atmos Duality]

And that's fair. What isn't fair is marketing said billion-dollar device as being capable of becoming a dev kit when they've no intention of allowing it to be so.

I never contested that, but was just confirming my suspicions.
As for flip-flop advertising, Sony removed Other OS from the PS3 even after advertising it as a feature and they got away with it scot free. (the US Air Force tried, and well, Sony still got their wish)

At this point, I don't trust the console manufacturers to not muck around with the platform to suit their needs; even when it goes against what they initially advertised. At least until someone legally challenges them over it and wins, but I don't see that as being terribly likely.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

That's pretty much how consoles work. Even developers with real devkits have to ask Sony and Microsoft from time to time to give them more access to the console, to give them shortcuts and tricks on how to use it to its fullest potential. Game developers don't just figure it out on their own.

 

[james.sponge]

Sorry but does that mean xbone is much more modding friendly than ps4? How did that happen?

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

That's an interesting development. I'll be interested to see what the more creative types can do with this. Maybe they can find a way to get rid of all the bullshit on the Xbox One's dashboard (If it's anything like the 360's dash, I assume it's got more ads and product placement than NASCAR), or the "Kinect is always watching" stuff.

Spoiler: The Xbox One dashboard looks like this

I suppose "Featured" is the place to put ads, but there's none there yet. Regardless a little column of ads off to the side is less obtrusive than the ads on this very website.

If Kinect bothers you just unplug it. It's not recording anything unless you tell it to though.

This isn't even a development really, Microsoft has said for a long time that every Xbox One would be a devkit eventually. All this says is that the feature is available right now in an unstable form.

You can't even use a devkit to modify the system OS (which you would need to do to remove adspace or change Kinect's behavior). You could make a whole OS yourself of course, but it's not like developer mode will just let you install it. I'm sure there's someone hard at work getting their console to run "Linux Won" or whatever, but they would have been doing that anyway.

You should try to be more informed in general.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

"This is a dev kit?"

"Yes...?"

"Imma change it."

"Don't you do it."

"Imma do it!"

"Don't you do it!"

*Fixes bullshit dashboard*

I can see nothing but good things from this.