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Microsoft Responds To 360 Hackers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the get-off-my-lawn dept.

Microsoft would like to remind you that hacking your console most definitely voids your warranty. From the Eurogamer article: "Modified consoles, Microsoft added, 'will not be eligible for technical support, and the user's warranty will be voided ... the protection of intellectual property rights is a high priority for Microsoft and our partners, one that significantly and positively impacts economic growth, technological innovation, and most importantly, the confidence of customers who count on the integrity and quality of their products.'"

6 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Significant positive impact? by TheSB · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "...the protection of intellectual property rights ... significantly and positively impacts technological innovation..." I'd love to see MS pay an 'independant 3rd party' to determine the truth on that.

  2. Re:so wrong by Nos9 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually I for one, do prefer not to have people cheating when I play them in online games...
        Halo 2 used to be fun, running into a guy who shoots you from his flying warthog (and yes I mean the damn thing flew through the air) through walls with automatic headshots is anything but fun, nor is playing capture the flag with a guy who can run across the map in 1 second, capturing your teams flag about the same time the system tells you it has been taken.

  3. Honestly I don't care by Psykechan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Microsoft's warranty for the original Xbox wasn't worth the digital paper it was printed on. I had to send mine back three times with a defective DVD drive before I finally gave up and stopped buying games for the damn thing. It would refuse to play any discs be it movies or games intermittantly. The braindead techs at Microsoft's Xbox repair center would run their diagnostic disc on it once and then send it back with the same defective drive.

    I only started using it again when I decided to mod it to run unsigned binaries like XBMC on it. An interesting side effect was that I was able to copy my until recently unusable games to the hard drive to actually get to play them without the system locking up with an "Unable to read disc" message all too often.

    I actually bought a few games after I modded the system due to the fact that I was now able to once again use the console for what it was intended to do.

    Honestly I'll wait for the hackers to perfect a similar method for the 360 before I'll pick one up. I have no interest in pirating games but I would like to ensure that I will be able to play games that I purchase without being frustrated again. /rant

    1. Re:Honestly I don't care by Osty · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I only started using it again when I decided to mod it to run unsigned binaries like XBMC on it. An interesting side effect was that I was able to copy my until recently unusable games to the hard drive to actually get to play them without the system locking up with an "Unable to read disc" message all too often.

      Of course, with a modified system you would no longer be able to play on Live. Whether that matters to you or not is a different issue.

      The problem with your DVD drive was unfortunately common, and I'm surprised you never got a real repair for it (or at least a refurbished console). That said, the "correct" fix is to replace your crappy DVD drive (probably a Thomson) with one of the better drives from Phillips, Samsung, or Hitachi. Like you, my original Xbox had a piece of crap Thomson, but I fixed it by replacing it with a Phillips and everything was better (the DVD drive doesn't factor in to the identity of the console like the hard drive and motherboard do, so it's not seen as a hack and bannable offense). The Phillips drive did eventually die from natural causes, at which point I replaced the drive again, this time with a Samsung. Since the second replacement was not needed until I could buy a complete used Xbox for the price of a DVD drive at llama.com, I just went down to the local Game Crazy and opened Xboxes until I found one with a drive I wanted. After swapping the drives, my old box with all of my non-transferable saves was back in business. No modchip necessary, though now I have a spare Xbox in which I could put an old flakey Thomson (because the Phillips was really dead, not just flakey) that might be worth modding some day.

  4. Re:Meaningless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Microsoft actually has very, very good tech support for their consoles.

    About a year after purchasing my first Xbox (the first one), it broke down for some reason and simply would not start up. After calling their tech support, they let me know that my warranty was over (it had been over a year) and that she had "some bad news." The bad news was that they would be sending me a box for me to package the Xbox and send to them, for free to fix, for free. Afterwards, they sent the Xbox back to me weekend overnight (Saturday delivery)!

  5. Warranty was only 90 days anyway by techstar25 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to this page. The warranty is only 90 days on the 360, which means that if you bought it on or around the launch day, in November, your warranty expired 3 months ago.

    To be unbiased, the PS2 also had a 90 day warranty as well. The gamecube has a twelve month warranty.