Microsoft Wants To Block Out 3rd Party Storage
from the freedom-to-tinker? dept
faceless writes "Xbox Live's Major Nelson (aka Microsoft's Larry Hyrb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live) announced on his blog that the newest Xbox 360 Dashboard update will block unauthorized 3rd party memory devices. These 3rd party items are big sellers because Microsoft charges $30 for a 512MB Memory card and $130 for a 120GB HDD. A 3rd Party 2GB Memory Card is $40 and is also expandable as it supports Micro SDHC cards. A 3rd party HDD is $70, and the Microsoft HDD's are just 2.5" drives in a proprietary enclosure.Consumers having larger memory devices is good for Microsoft, since more space means people can buy more Xbox Live Arcade games and more Downloadable Content such as new map packs, levels and expansions for retail disk based games, as well as buying and renting Movies and TV Shows via the Xbox 360's online marketplace. Another important factor is these devices have been sold for years. In the case of the hard drives, the Microsoft and 3rd party devices look identical, so many consumers may not even know that they have purchased an unauthorized device.
People on various videogame forums, such as NeoGAF are worried about the content they bought not working and not even being able to get online on their Xbox 360 console if their memory device is locked out by the update."
Once again, this seems incredibly short-sighted by Microsoft. The idea of breaking legitimately purchased hardware that makes the core of Microsoft's profit center (the games) more valuable, this only serves to piss off Microsoft customers and drive them away from Microsoft. Blocking out third party hardware -- especially without a detailed explanation for why -- goes against the basic right to do what you want with your own, legally purchased, hardware.
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Filed Under: 3rd party storage, freedom to tinker, xbox
Companies: microsoft
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Re:
But then, I'm not into the super graphics and dazzling effects. Give me Fallout 2, Final Fantasy 7, MVP Baseball with a roster update from www.mvpmods.com, and Civ III and I'm pretty much good to go...
And with a laptop, I truly do mean GO. I can play and fly across the country, play in the passenger seat of our car, play in the bath tub, play while I'm pooping, play in bed, etc. etc. etc.
When the hardware race winds down, I just don't see consoles holding up, and I think we'll see a resurgance in PC Gaming...
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Really, consoles have two main attributes that PC gaming has had a hard time matching: consistent hardware, so you're not getting unintelligible errors that prevent you from playing the game, and a uniform user account across all games to track things like friends, statistics, achievements, etc (Steam is close, but it's not near pervasive enough). They can't really do anything about the first problem, unfortunately, and the second one seems hard for any one company to tackle.
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Next?
(I agree on annoying errors, but there are also a ton of other advantages to PC gaming that allow me to tolerate them).
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paying 50-150 every 3 to 5 years for a new graphics card versus paying 600 every 3 to 5 for a new console. i think ill stick to pcs. i spent about 500 on my custom rig. found great deals. it whoops the s*** out of any console i found and i can play any game i want. point: consoles may be cheaper in the short run but in the long run they are more expensive
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So I guess it really plays down to preference no matter what.
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meh
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Surprisingly, Sony went the right way with this same issue
They explicitly allow users to install 3rd party HDDs in the PS3. The case includes a special access door to get at the drive without taking the system apart (ie, this does not void your warranty) and they have included directions in the manual for replacing the drive, as well as software to back up and restore your data.
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And they removed the ability to install Linux on the PS3 with the latest hardware revision (the PS3 "slim" does not allow it).
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Re: Surprisingly, Sony went the right way with this same issue
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So what else is new?
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Lock In...
Freedom
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Why not? Your "people" don't like saving money?
I work in the games industry and I buy 3rd party accessories, cables, and controllers all the time. Sometimes it's to make sure they work with our games, but way more often it's because the item does the same job at a lower price, or a better job at any price.
This is just Microsoft's same old "embrace, extend, and then extinguish" for standards, now applied to hardware. It's evil and it deserves DOJ scrutiny. Consoles have been doing this forever, but in this case they pulled a bait and switch by using standard interfaces up front, and then locking them down by device ID via software. There is no possible justifiable reason for this change, especially when the 3rd-party equipment often exceeds the capabilities of the 1st-party equivalents.
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PCs next?
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Microsoft does have a stated reason
Why do that? Well... you'd have to ask a cheater or someone who really cares about their gamer score.
All that said, the real reason they're doing this is to make you buy their over-priced proprietary memory unit.
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Re: Microsoft does have a stated reason
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Are their really Sony fanboys putting down Xbox on every Xbox story?
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Anti-Competitive move
I don't own a game console and any games I play is on the computer. It's "moves like this" that makes me think my next computer will be an Apple computer or a Linux based computer.
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Re: Anti-Competitive move
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The HD and gamepad issues MIGHT make some sense at the system launch, as it is now the platform is about 2/3rds of the way through its service life. It doesn't make sense.
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It's not just MS...
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It's happening.
The most disappointing/irritating/boneheaded part about this is, of all the unofficial third-party storage options available (bootlegged drives, Chinese knock-offs, etc.), the memory cards are probably the ones that most innocent people will get burned by, as you can allegedly find the Datel cards at Best Buy or other big-box electronics stores right next to the official ones (thus showing how much of a mark-up the official ones carry).
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My point is that it's unconscionable for Microsoft to block access to generic storage devices, just so they can charge $30 for a proprietary 512MB Memory card or $130 for a 120GB HDD device for the XBOX 360. Microsoft has every right to charge whatever ridiculous prices they want for their add-on products, and I'm sure there are people who will just buy directly from them. However, they have no right to block the use of generic add-ons and storage accessories for the XBOX.
What would happen if T-Mobile crafted the G1 so that it wasn't compatible with generic devices, including car chargers, storage devices and adapters? There would have been people screaming about the greed of Google, T-Mobile and the G1 manufacturer, and I would have either broken my new T-Mo contract or gone back to using my five-year-old smart phone (which is still superior in almost every way to the G1).
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I do hope they get what they deserve eventually.
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Another reason...
My suggestion is to convert these consoles into Unix or Linux web-servers (google search the info). Play your games on a computer console emulator.
And tell these pathetic idiot corporate stooges that you won't buy their products anymore until they stop screwing you over. Boycott their products. ;)
Lucky for me.. I don't buy anything created or produced by M$. I reeeeally hate those guyz. Including sony. };>
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:)
http://www.craigspr.org
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Thanks for the laugh, Mike.
You mean the same people who go out and buy this console despite its failures as indicated by the Red Rings of Death (RRoD)?
Never going to happen. If anything, people will simply find a way to circumvent the DRM Microsoft will impose.
Side note: *everyone* knows first party hardware is overpriced and Microsoft's claims that people don't know is asinine. People do know. That's why they buy 3rd party when there's no difference to the hardware save the price.
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With the removal of the 20gb 'premium' console from their line-up they're obviously working to leave you with 2 choices - Buy the Arcade and their expensive add on memory, or the Elite with the ample 120gb HDD.
If you can buy the Arcade and a 3rd party £120gb HDD for a total that's less than their Elite they're going to lose out...again.
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