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Xbox 360 Update Shuts Out Hackers, Fixes Issues
Gamasutra reports on the update to the Xbox 360's Live element, which fixes a number of bugs and smooths out certain elements of the system. It, allegedly, is also intended to shut out folks trying to hack Microsoft's new console by making the demo disc unusable on retail machines. From the article: "The demo disc in question was produced for Xbox 360 retail demo kiosks, and was found not to contain any copy-protection when hackers obtained their own unauthorized copy of the software in mid-December ... meaning it was possible to run demo versions of the Xbox 360 software on the disc on burned media. Several commenters on website Xbox-Scene seem to confirm that the disc is no longer functional."
Despite MS's efforts, I feel safe saying it's still only a matter of time before a modded 360 becomes a reality.
If forums teach us anything, it is that logic and critical thinking should be required courses in the public schools.
Microsoft loses money on each system sold currently, and (hopes to) make it up on license fees for game sales. More games sold is more money in their pocket. Each unit sold is money lost.
So every unit sold for homebrew modding for Linux, or modding for running pirated titles, is a financial loss, since it won't have any game sales to offset the loss and turn a profit.
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What's the surprise? It's not marketed as a "hack this for fun" box. It's a box marketed to play games licensed for the XBox 360. There's no deception, and spending your money on something designed to foil you is silly indeed.
The problem, as I see it, is that big industries are beginning to just assume that people have to buy their stuff. They seem to feel that it's their system still. Like Blizzard and the Warden, like all this DRM nonsense, like all the crap the music and film industries are throwing out there. Big Companies can't accept the idea that their industry as a whole can shrink. They assume that there is no way their industry could shrink, and no one else is allowed to enter their market. Both of which assumptions are completely anti-capitalist.