Hackers use Xbox for more than games By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY SEATTLE -- Microsoft's strategy of selling the Xbox, its video game console, at a loss has wrought an unforeseen consequence. Some users increasingly view the Xbox as a cheap appliance easily rigged to operate as a fully functioning personal computer.
The Xbox is being hacked so it can be used for more than playing video games. By Tim Dillon, USA TODAY
Forget zapping aliens. Thousands are souping up their Xboxes to house movies and music, serve up Web pages, even write software. All it takes is a few hundred dollars and free tip sheets on the Web.
Microsoft's news Wednesday that it is dropping the price of a new Xbox $20 to $180 could drive more users to give it a try.
The software giant views the $100 or so it loses on each Xbox as the price of entry to compete against Sony's dominant PlayStation 2 gaming console. While it says it will attack hackers on a case-by-case basis, analysts say the company has so far tolerated the Xbox hacking as an unavoidable nuisance. "I don't think they see it as a major threat," says Jay Horwitz, game analyst at Jupiter Research.
Not just for games
In part, he says, that may be because the activities are relegated to the tech savvy, a small part of all Xbox users. It's also not a new problem. Shortly after Xbox hit stores in November 2001, hackers set to work cracking the technology intended to restrict the Xbox to playing Xbox games.
But it does highlight the complexity of Microsoft's struggles to make its products more secure. Because Xbox has so much capability, hackers have found it works well as:
Media hubs. Unlike a PC tower, the compact Xbox fits well next to the TV. By adding a start-up chip and a bigger hard drive, the Xbox morphs into an inexpensive media center for storing and playing a vast amount of games, movies and music. The TV screen serves as a monitor.
XboxHacker.com, one of several Web sites packed with information on building Xbox media hubs, logs 8,000 visitors a week. "It's like putting custom parts on your car," says Webmaster Ken Robinson, a dockworker and amateur programmer in Federal Way, Wash.
Linux PCs. A group called the Xbox Linux Project advocates bypassing the Xbox's Windows operating system and replacing it with the free Linux operating system. This lets users run a wide variety of free software. More than 150,000 copies of Linux for the Xbox have been downloaded, says founder Michael Steil, a computer science student from Munich, Germany.
Linux is continually improved by volunteer programmers worldwide, and Microsoft considers it to be one of its biggest competitive threats. Steil says Linux Xboxes are being increasingly used as Web-site servers and to write new Linux programs.
Web tunnels. Microsoft charges gamers $4 a month to use Xbox Live, its fledgling online gaming service. It hopes to add more subscribers and raise the fee. But GameSpy.com and XBConnect.com offer free "tunneling" software that lets Xbox gamers interact with each other online using unmodified Xboxes. GameSpy President Jonathan Epstein said it took technicians just two days after the Xbox went on sale to create the first Xbox Internet tunnel. "We did it to show we're really cool technologists," Epstein says. While some Xbox hacking -- copying games, for one -- is illegal, tunneling, installing Linux and building media hubs fall into the gray area of what rights owners have to change a technology once they've paid for it.
Microsoft is pursuing several initiatives that could make it illegal to tamper with hardware embedded with certain security codes.
In addition to saying it'll stop illegal hacking, Microsoft also warns that opening the Xbox -- required to install hardware -- voids the warranty. "We're very committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and we request the same respect for our innovations and those of our partners," says J. Allard, Xbox platform vice president.
What would Yoda say? The upcoming 'Star Wars' online game limits players' actions to adhere to creator George Lucas' vision.
By Alex Pham, Times Staff Writer
Can the virtual flutter of a mynock's wings change the course of history in a galaxy far, far away?
Kurt Goetzinger knows the answer is no, but that won't stop him from trying anyway.
Like thousands of "Star Wars" fans, Goetzinger has spent the quarter-century since George Lucas' science fiction legend premiered trying to re-create a slice of that galaxy in everyday life -- such as the "well over $1,000" he says it took to make his own suit of Imperial storm trooper armor.
This summer, Goetzinger will get the chance to work, play and fight in a virtual galaxy created just for fans like him. "Star Wars Galaxies," the first multi-player online computer game set amid Lucas' mythical star systems, will let fans work the vapor farms of Tatooine, tend the cantinas of Mos Eisley and even skirmish with Imperial troops.
What it won't allow them to do, though, is vanquish Darth Vader, destroy the Death Star or marry Princess Leia Organa. Or anything else that might somehow knock off course the scrupulously controlled story of the Skywalker bloodline.
Multi-player online games have flourished in recent years because they allow players to create their own legends as they slay dragons and conquer evil. But in "Galaxies," the legends already have been written in indelible ink.
That doesn't deter Goetzinger, who relishes even a bit part in Lucas' grand drama.
"Some people believe their fate is always determined," said Goetzinger, a 35-year-old executive at a Nebraska nonprofit. "So why try? Why not just chill and play games? But we do try."
From the outset three years ago, the programmers and designers assigned to "Galaxies" knew that setting an online game against the backdrop of "Star Wars" would be both a blessing and a curse. And as one of the most recognizable stories in popular culture, "Star Wars" would attract players.
But that story is so guarded by Lucas that every creature and relationship in "Star Wars" -- from the butterfly-like mynocks to the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia -- is canonized in the company's official 12,000-entry database to ensure consistency in the ever-expanding body of movies, novels, comic books and video games.
"Video games have to allow for multiple outcomes," said Howard Rothman, president of Lucas Licensing Ltd. "There's no way to make a game with a predetermined outcome because it would be boring. So how do you open it up to create a fun and rich experience and still hold true to the universe?"
With earlier Lucas games set in the "Star Wars" universe, designers simply wrote the story and players followed it. For instance, if the game called for players to attack an Imperial base, they either succeeded or failed. And they could play over and over until they won.
Multi-player online games are different. In games such as "EverQuest," which does not have to fit within the confines of an existing story, more than 400,000 players from around the world pay $10 a month to create virtual communities. If someone wants to be a warrior, the games include plenty of quests on which to embark. But if a player wants to be a merchant and just trade goods, he or she can do that too.
The attraction is the interaction between players and the ability to create history, even if it all unfolds on the silicon of a computer server. That's possible in a fantasy role-playing game such as "EverQuest," which started with a clean slate.
Lucas executives, though, feared the chaos unfettered "Star Wars" fans could unleash. What if players decided to create a Wookiee boy band that sings stupid tunes? What if players staged plays that depict Yoda as a drug dealer? What if they started a religious sect that preaches Han Solo is a coward?
Most game proposals are 25 pages long. Not so for "Galaxies
Slashdot Mirror
Some things are tough. heh..
"Israel is just an excuse for genocide. They have already killed over 3 billion Arabs, but they have destroyed all evidence."
Excuse me? 3 BILLION people? That statement could use an edit, I'd imagine.
So, essentially, we just institute the kinds of things Thailand and Singapore do?
I can see the policy now, 1 hit with the cane for every 250k of spam you send.
Life would be good.
Ah, yes. The multi-billion dollar company vs. the 12 year old girl who lives in a city housing project. Truly a battle of titans.
...Microsoft pays you.
Hackers use Xbox for more than games
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
SEATTLE -- Microsoft's strategy of selling the Xbox, its video game console, at a loss has wrought an unforeseen consequence. Some users increasingly view the Xbox as a cheap appliance easily rigged to operate as a fully functioning personal computer.
The Xbox is being hacked so it can be used for more than playing video games.
By Tim Dillon, USA TODAY
Forget zapping aliens. Thousands are souping up their Xboxes to house movies and music, serve up Web pages, even write software. All it takes is a few hundred dollars and free tip sheets on the Web.
Microsoft's news Wednesday that it is dropping the price of a new Xbox $20 to $180 could drive more users to give it a try.
The software giant views the $100 or so it loses on each Xbox as the price of entry to compete against Sony's dominant PlayStation 2 gaming console. While it says it will attack hackers on a case-by-case basis, analysts say the company has so far tolerated the Xbox hacking as an unavoidable nuisance. "I don't think they see it as a major threat," says Jay Horwitz, game analyst at Jupiter Research.
Not just for games
In part, he says, that may be because the activities are relegated to the tech savvy, a small part of all Xbox users. It's also not a new problem. Shortly after Xbox hit stores in November 2001, hackers set to work cracking the technology intended to restrict the Xbox to playing Xbox games.
But it does highlight the complexity of Microsoft's struggles to make its products more secure. Because Xbox has so much capability, hackers have found it works well as:
Media hubs. Unlike a PC tower, the compact Xbox fits well next to the TV. By adding a start-up chip and a bigger hard drive, the Xbox morphs into an inexpensive media center for storing and playing a vast amount of games, movies and music. The TV screen serves as a monitor.
XboxHacker.com, one of several Web sites packed with information on building Xbox media hubs, logs 8,000 visitors a week. "It's like putting custom parts on your car," says Webmaster Ken Robinson, a dockworker and amateur programmer in Federal Way, Wash.
Linux PCs. A group called the Xbox Linux Project advocates bypassing the Xbox's Windows operating system and replacing it with the free Linux operating system. This lets users run a wide variety of free software. More than 150,000 copies of Linux for the Xbox have been downloaded, says founder Michael Steil, a computer science student from Munich, Germany.
Linux is continually improved by volunteer programmers worldwide, and Microsoft considers it to be one of its biggest competitive threats. Steil says Linux Xboxes are being increasingly used as Web-site servers and to write new Linux programs.
Web tunnels. Microsoft charges gamers $4 a month to use Xbox Live, its fledgling online gaming service. It hopes to add more subscribers and raise the fee. But GameSpy.com and XBConnect.com offer free "tunneling" software that lets Xbox gamers interact with each other online using unmodified Xboxes. GameSpy President Jonathan Epstein said it took technicians just two days after the Xbox went on sale to create the first Xbox Internet tunnel. "We did it to show we're really cool technologists," Epstein says. While some Xbox hacking -- copying games, for one -- is illegal, tunneling, installing Linux and building media hubs fall into the gray area of what rights owners have to change a technology once they've paid for it.
Microsoft is pursuing several initiatives that could make it illegal to tamper with hardware embedded with certain security codes.
In addition to saying it'll stop illegal hacking, Microsoft also warns that opening the Xbox -- required to install hardware -- voids the warranty. "We're very committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and we request the same respect for our innovations and those of our partners," says J. Allard, Xbox platform vice president.
Kill Darth Vader You May Not
What would Yoda say? The upcoming 'Star Wars' online game limits players' actions to adhere to creator George Lucas' vision.
By Alex Pham, Times Staff Writer
Can the virtual flutter of a mynock's wings change the course of history in a galaxy far, far away?
Kurt Goetzinger knows the answer is no, but that won't stop him from trying anyway.
Like thousands of "Star Wars" fans, Goetzinger has spent the quarter-century since George Lucas' science fiction legend premiered trying to re-create a slice of that galaxy in everyday life -- such as the "well over $1,000" he says it took to make his own suit of Imperial storm trooper armor.
This summer, Goetzinger will get the chance to work, play and fight in a virtual galaxy created just for fans like him. "Star Wars Galaxies," the first multi-player online computer game set amid Lucas' mythical star systems, will let fans work the vapor farms of Tatooine, tend the cantinas of Mos Eisley and even skirmish with Imperial troops.
What it won't allow them to do, though, is vanquish Darth Vader, destroy the Death Star or marry Princess Leia Organa. Or anything else that might somehow knock off course the scrupulously controlled story of the Skywalker bloodline.
Multi-player online games have flourished in recent years because they allow players to create their own legends as they slay dragons and conquer evil. But in "Galaxies," the legends already have been written in indelible ink.
That doesn't deter Goetzinger, who relishes even a bit part in Lucas' grand drama.
"Some people believe their fate is always determined," said Goetzinger, a 35-year-old executive at a Nebraska nonprofit. "So why try? Why not just chill and play games? But we do try."
From the outset three years ago, the programmers and designers assigned to "Galaxies" knew that setting an online game against the backdrop of "Star Wars" would be both a blessing and a curse. And as one of the most recognizable stories in popular culture, "Star Wars" would attract players.
But that story is so guarded by Lucas that every creature and relationship in "Star Wars" -- from the butterfly-like mynocks to the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia -- is canonized in the company's official 12,000-entry database to ensure consistency in the ever-expanding body of movies, novels, comic books and video games.
"Video games have to allow for multiple outcomes," said Howard Rothman, president of Lucas Licensing Ltd. "There's no way to make a game with a predetermined outcome because it would be boring. So how do you open it up to create a fun and rich experience and still hold true to the universe?"
With earlier Lucas games set in the "Star Wars" universe, designers simply wrote the story and players followed it. For instance, if the game called for players to attack an Imperial base, they either succeeded or failed. And they could play over and over until they won.
Multi-player online games are different. In games such as "EverQuest," which does not have to fit within the confines of an existing story, more than 400,000 players from around the world pay $10 a month to create virtual communities. If someone wants to be a warrior, the games include plenty of quests on which to embark. But if a player wants to be a merchant and just trade goods, he or she can do that too.
The attraction is the interaction between players and the ability to create history, even if it all unfolds on the silicon of a computer server. That's possible in a fantasy role-playing game such as "EverQuest," which started with a clean slate.
Lucas executives, though, feared the chaos unfettered "Star Wars" fans could unleash. What if players decided to create a Wookiee boy band that sings stupid tunes? What if players staged plays that depict Yoda as a drug dealer? What if they started a religious sect that preaches Han Solo is a coward?
Most game proposals are 25 pages long. Not so for "Galaxies
Wouldn't most of our problems be solved if they'd just have used duct tape in the first place?