Xbox 360 Modders Banned From Xbox LIVE

[Nathan Meunier]

Xbox 360 Modders Banned From Xbox LIVE

Tinker around with your Xbox 360, and you may get the shaft from Microsoft.


Microsoft isn't messing around, and it doesn't want you to be either - at least when it comes to its popular gaming console. The company is dropping the hammer on players who illegally mod their Xbox 360s to play pirated games, by banning them from accessing its Xbox Live online gaming and entertainment service. confirmed [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/LIVE/] reports of console banning and offered a few comments to boot.

"In our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games," he said in a post this week on his website [http://majornelson.com].

Hear that folks? There are eyes everywhere, including inside your favorite gaming console.

Hyrb goes on to explain modding the console is a breach of the Xbox Live terms of use agreement. Doing so will void the system's warranty and result in a ban from the online service, he said. Being able to get your Xbox 360 serviced if it breaks and being able to access the full features afforded by the Xbox Live service are two rather crucial elements needed to fully enjoy gaming on the console.

"The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive, both from manufacturers and the local companies that support them," adds Hyrb. "We will continue to employ and bolster anti-piracy security measures to counter piracy in the gaming industry and improve security in the Xbox Live community."



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[Baby Tea]

So I guess the only ones who will ***** about this are the ones who are doing this illegal crap in the first place. I'm ok with that!

Hopefully this may even weed out a few douches from the LIVE community.

Although, I'm half waiting for the time when MS makes the mistake of banning someone who doesn't have a modded box. I guess time will tell.

 

[GothmogII]

Well...this is similar to Limewire and P2P I guess...technically there are innocent people who genuinely use those services to share legal files, or in this case mod their Xboxes, but the other crowd are the one's who are doing the dirty stuff. It's a shame really, as I understood it, isn't removing the region encoding so that you can play overseas games also 'modding' your console?

 

[Nimbus]

This is OK with me. Dosn't seem to hurt anyone but pirates and modders.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I'm waiting for the thousands of bans for people who haven't updated their games or connected in a while. Connect> invalid version> ban you filthy pirate! Or even better bans for people using third party hardware...

I thought M.soft already did this anyway? For a long time a mate of of mine has had two 360s, one modded the other standard for playing games online. He always says he doesn't want to get banned.

 

[Zipidi Duda]

I don't see anything wrong with modding your console, pirating is a crime surely, in some places games cost your sole, they are way too expensive and of course those people who can't really afford them want to play them, but if they don't have any money they will pirate it. By the way I doubt that the pirates are doing any damage to the other players as M$ stated, how are the pirates making the xbox live not safe? M$ is banning the consoles for money, duhh. The one who got banned will go out and buy another console to play over XBL again, oh look! More money for M$!

By the way, hackers will find a way around the new security system or whatever, this is like PC pirate community, you can't stop them.

 

[k3v1n]

This is OK with me. Dosn't seem to hurt anyone but pirates and modders.

what's the differnce between pirates and modders?¿ not trying to sarcastic or anything, I really don't know

 

[666thHeretic]

This is OK with me. Dosn't seem to hurt anyone but pirates and modders.

what's the differnce between pirates and modders?¿ not trying to sarcastic or anything, I really don't know

Pirates download the game, put it on a disc, and then play it without having payed for it. Modders adjust the workings of the console mainly to make these pirated games playable, but it's possible that they could give themselves unfair advantages online.

Does using that trick to fix the red ring count as modding? My Xbox might be out of warranty, and I'm not paying $400 for a new one when a $10 screwdriver could make it work again.

 

[klc0100]

This is OK with me. Dosn't seem to hurt anyone but pirates and modders.

what's the differnce between pirates and modders?¿ not trying to sarcastic or anything, I really don't know

A modder may just want his xbox to do other things that they would not be able too do without there xbox being modded they will still buy games a usual. a pirate may also do this but at the same time illegally downloads there games or or buy pirate copy's.

same with the PSP modding.

 

[Lithran]

This is OK with me. Dosn't seem to hurt anyone but pirates and modders.

what's the differnce between pirates and modders?¿ not trying to sarcastic or anything, I really don't know

Pirates download the game, put it on a disc, and then play it without having payed for it. Modders adjust the workings of the console mainly to make these pirated games playable, but it's possible that they could give themselves unfair advantages online.

Does using that trick to fix the red ring count as modding? My Xbox might be out of warranty, and I'm not paying $400 for a new one when a $10 screwdriver could make it work again.

They probably will. It's $400 less for them.

I'm not cynical when it comes to M$, I promise...

 

[Virgil]

Good for them.

I'm waiting for the thousands of bans for people who haven't updated their games or connected in a while. Connect> invalid version> ban you filthy pirate!

You can't connect with old versions of either games or console firmware - it checks for updates when you connect, and if you don't apply them you won't be allowed to connect to Live (with that game, or for the console, depending on what is out of date).

By the way, hackers will find a way around the new security system or whatever, this is like PC pirate community, you can't stop them.

MS actually tracks the users over time and then does rounds of mass banning in order to make it extremely difficult for the modders to track down exactly what triggers the ban. Even now they can only guess at what MS looks at. While it may not stop them entirely, it certainly does help keep them off of Live.

what's the differnce between pirates and modders? not trying to sarcastic or anything, I really don't know

On the Xbox 360, pretty much nothing. As far as I know, there are no other legitimate uses - unless you count playing "backups" a legitimate use (Insert whining about some early 360's scratching disks here). The usual argument for modding is "homebrew" - but with the XNA development kit release that doesn't really hold water.

 

[Virgil]

Does using that trick to fix the red ring count as modding? My Xbox might be out of warranty, and I'm not paying $400 for a new one when a $10 screwdriver could make it work again.

Most likely no - the modding that they're banning for are mod chips, re-flashed DVD drives, and other similar hardware changes.

On the other hand, I really would suggest contacting MS support instead of trying to fix it yourself. Even if it's out of warranty (which no console is yet, at least not for the RROD) it's a lot cheaper to pay the repair fee than to void the warranty with a trick you saw on the internet and have to buy a new one.

 

[calelogan]

If there were a way to certify that the modder is not necessarily searching for a way to play pirate games, I guess it would be ideal.

Problem is there isn't (that I'm aware of) and it violates the Xbox Live terms of use agreement.

For the time being it seems acceptable, but it's far from ideal.

Nevertheless, the "security method" probably won't change.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Good for them.

I'm waiting for the thousands of bans for people who haven't updated their games or connected in a while. Connect> invalid version> ban you filthy pirate!

You can't connect with old versions of either games or console firmware - it checks for updates when you connect, and if you don't apply them you won't be allowed to connect to Live (with that game, or for the console, depending on what is out of date).

Fair doos.

I still think there's going to be some kind of mass ban related disaster though, this is Microsoft after all.

 

[Royas]

You can not illegally mod your console to begin with, unless you fill it with explosives or poison or something. You own it, you can do with it as you please, legally. Mod it, paint it, shoot it, throw it, whatever, it's yours, it's legal. It's just a violation of the Live terms of service. I really wish they'd use correct terminology when discussing this sort of thing.

 

[Frederf]

Most likely no - the modding that they're banning for are mod chips, re-flashed DVD drives, and other similar hardware changes.

Recently I replaced my optical drive in my Xbox 360 (refurbished, yay $20 savings). I ended up just swapping the PCBs but I was all prepared to flash the drive. If I was banned for just trying to repair my own console I'd be pissed.

Be anti-piracy all you want but being anti-modding is ridiculous. The anit-modding thing is strictly profit based. How are they supposed to rape you with insane repair and accessory costs if you can do it yourself?

 

[GrimFandango92]

I'm just wondering, does this apply to consoles that have been re shelled, or painted or what Ben Heck does? would these things void the warrenty

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I'm just wondering, does this apply to consoles that have been re shelled, or painted or what Ben Heck does? would these things void the warrenty

Case-modding alone wouldn't get the console banned... it'd have to be fiddling with the guts of the console. However, opening the case does void the warranty so re-shelling (as Heck does so well) will leave you high-and-dry on that aspect.

-- Steve

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Good for Microsoft. The game-modders almost certainly knew what they were getting into the moment they cracked open their 360 cases and they probably were expecting this to happen eventually. Better now than later.

 

[ae86gamer]

I'm fine with this. It only affects the people who are doing something illegal anyways.