Xbox Update Confounds Console Pirates

[Logan Westbrook]

Xbox Update Confounds Console Pirates

Xbox 360 owners can once again load their copy of Halo: Reach [http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Reach-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA20M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295522267&sr=8-1] the second they turn the console on. As long as their copy is on the level, that is.

Microsoft may have used a recent mandatory update to correct a fairly minor bug with the Xbox 360 dashboard to confound and frustrate software pirates. Reports suggest that following the update, burned copies of certain games will no longer work on the console.

The stated reason for the update was to restore the "Boot to Disc" feature, which allowed users to load the inserted game disc immediately after switching the console on. The feature was accidentally disabled in the November dashboard update, and while the option still showed in the menu, it wouldn't actually work. But following the update, some users found that their burned copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1295522370&sr=1-1], Call of Duty: Black Ops [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1295522347&sr=1-1], and Halo: Reach had stopped working, whereas the official discs worked just fine.

The effect of the update is a little too specific to be a happy coincidence for Microsoft. It's not that hard to imagine that it might use the opportunity to use tighten up security a little, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time that a platform holder has done so.

Source: Engadget [http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/19/xbox-360-mandatory-update-restores-boot-to-disc-detains-call-of/]


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[Nimbus]

DRM that doesn't effect regular users whatsoever? I can get behind that.

 

[jakko12345]

what a tragedy. they'll have to actually pay for the games now. The audacity!

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

I have no idea how that works but I am 100% okay with it.

 

[Andronicus]

Xbox Update Cofounds Console Pirates

At the risk of sounding like a spelling/grammar Nazi, you might want to add another n to that "Cofounds".

 

[smut]

Minor software patch has totally defeated all forms of piracy forever. Reports are flooding in of every single pirate around the world committing suicide. Truly a momentous occasion that will be remembered for eternity as the day law triumphed over crime.

Don't we get a new article like this every fortnight?

Don't you people realise it's a technological arms race with no end?

Doesn't anyone realise that pirates aren't even worried because it's simply course of nature to them?

Exaggerate what the story said much?

And good one Microsoft.

 

[Daniel_Rosamilia]

Well, kudos to Microsoft.
I do wonder if they can trace the Xbox's that used these pirated discs and ban them for a very, very long time...

 

[CleverCover]

Not a bad move, Microsoft...Can you ban them too?

So, who wants to make bets on how long before a Pirate makes a counter move because they live for this stuff?
(On the chance that it wasn't done while I was typing.)

 

[Critical_Sneeze]

I'm not a fan of piracy, but what about the people who were just using backups?

 

[tkioz]

Apart from spending 30 seconds to update my 360 this doesn't effect me at all, since I don't pirate, so unlike a lot of "anti-piracy" things out there, I really don't mind it at all, in fact, good on them.

 

[MercurySteam]

Yeah, I wondered what that update was for. Now all they need to do is bring back the 'Downloads' tab in the 'View Details' selection when you have the disc in so you can jump straight to the game's page on the XBL Marketplace.

 

[tkioz]

I'm not a fan of piracy, but what about the people who were just using backups?

Unfortunately we lost that ability a long time ago due to pirates, I hope in the future systems like Steam will show up all over the place, allowing us a safe, secure, way to store our games.

I know in my last move I lost a box full of older PC games, including my original copy of Star Craft, so it's easy to lose the real copy you purchased, if game companies are going to pull the "you don't buy the game, you buy the licence" bullshit they've got to back it up with a way to recover lost media.

 

[tehbeard]

DRM that doesn't effect regular users whatsoever? I can get behind that.

DRM that also works, and isn't based off of shoddy code?

Double kudos Microsoft, though I have to say Sony showed the world the best anti-pirating system (OtherOS) and how without it everything will be hacked eventually.

 

[Pandaman1911]

I'm not a fan of piracy, but what about the people who were just using backups?

It's not legal to back up your discs. It says so right on the warranty that comes with the game. I don't have a game on me right now to write it here, but check the back of the instruction manual. It essentially says "Backing up your game isn't necessary so don't do it."

On topic, though, I lost all respect for piracy when it changed from people wanting to fight DRM and the like and oppressive play policies and such into people who just wanted to play their games and not pay for it. So this seems like a step in the right direction.

 

[WittyInfidel]

I'm not a fan of piracy, but what about the people who were just using backups?

Non-Microsoft back-ups, burned discs, emulations, user-created memory files containing the game, and ect have never been authorized. Unauthorized copies fall under the heading of piracy when it comes to matters such as these. Basically, if you have a copy of it, they want money for it somewhere down the line.

OT: Way to nail 'em, Microsoft. I know it won't be long before they find a way around it again, but the same goes for the anti-theft software. I just wish the pirates would figure out that it's honestly cheaper to just go out and buy the game instead out having to go out and buy a new Xbox every time they catch a perma-ban.

 

[DTWolfwood]

wait, modded xbox can still be used online?! y would pirates update their xbox?

so i take it a regular xbox can just play copied games? O.O

 

[Daniel Laeben-Rosen]

As someone currently without Xbox-Live(shit internet AND it scares me), this doesn't affect me much but I always get a chuckle out of pirates getting a boot to their e-nads. I don't see any reason to pirate console-games personally. I think partly because my town's library allows for 2-week loans of various console-games for free, and partly because I keep myself pretty well-informed about games I look forward to, check reviews and the like to know if the game in question is for me. If it is, I'll buy it. If I'm unsure, I'll either borrow it from a friend or the library. If I don't think I'll like it at all... I'll avoid it. Simple as that.