One Million Xbox Live Players Banned&#63

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One million Xbox Live players have been banned? Are there really that many cheaters out there? Seriously?

"All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty, and result in a ban from Xbox Live," Microsoft said in a statement.
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I would say that people playing backup games are necessarily "cheaters"... at least in the common usage of the term.

Though explains why I saw a few FB status updates of people with banned consoles :p
 
I am surprised that MS is not pursuing them for the piracy as well. Of course that could be in the works after they determine which accounts they banned have real contact information.
 
Frankly, I am just amazed at the number.

No one at MS can comment on it so we aren't going to hear any hard numbers either but I have a feeling that "one million" number isn't accurate.

Making matters worse, all the sources used to verify / authenticate this info are linked back to one site called "Pinoy Cosplay."
 
Rather than cheaters, it's pretty much mostly modders, people who modded their Xbox360 to run backup games. Surprisingly, only the consoles were banned, but the Live accounts weren't.

On a bizarre plus side, those that are looking for an Xbox360 for offline gaming only can now get a cheap Xbox360 on places like Craigslist, as you can find a lot of listings for banned/modded Xbox360s. I've seen some listings that were going for $100 - $150. :eek:
 
I noticed one person cheating recently in Modern Warfare, his reticle snapped to my Last Stand body when he was looking above me down a hallway. I relished every moment when I riddled his digital representation with 5.56mm rounds from my M-16 :)
 
Simply another way for MS to make some extra cash.................
 
great way to sell hardware for the up coming holiday season. but yet pc gamers are labeled as the piracy whores.
 
Steve said:
Frankly, I am just amazed at the number.

No one at MS can comment on it so we aren't going to hear any hard numbers either but I have a feeling that "one million" number isn't accurate.

Making matters worse, all the sources used to verify / authenticate this info are linked back to one site called "Pinoy Cosplay."
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LOL WTF? What does anime cosplaying in our country have to do with Xbox piracy? :confused:

LOL
 
Somebody said the banned xboxes can no longer install games to the HDD either.
 
if they are just banning a modded console that seems fine, but if they are banning accounts then thats not so fine as sometimes they do get legit players banned, and from my understanding there is no recourse for banned gamers, no review or anything.
 
xorbe said:
Somebody said the banned xboxes can no longer install games to the HDD either.
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from what I heard any hard drives plugged into a banned console will also corrupt the data if you try and plug said hard drive into another console, preventing you from modding stuff on the hacked xbox or using cheats to unlock achievments and bringing it over to a fresh one.

Once you put the hard drive on a new xbox all data will be losta nd you have to recover your xbox live account.

Personally im glad to hear this, if your to cheap/poor to play games then suck it up and don't try to pirate them, or dont cry when your banned.
 
Steve said:
One million Xbox Live players have been banned? Are there really that many cheaters out there? Seriously?
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It goes beyond cheaters. It not only includes XBoxes that have modified firmware, but it also includes 360s using standard hard drives instead of those sold by Microsoft.

This is my biggest problem with the platform, you are 100% locked into Microsoft branded accessories. I am continually up against the storage limits of my 120GB hard drive, its a real headache having to delete games I might still want to play so I can install a different one.

With my PS3 I can drop in any 2.5" SATA hard drive I want to, no big deal. I'd love it if I could use my own storage with the 360, not only because theirs are ridiculously priced, but also because their options end at 120GB unless you go out an buy the new Modern Warfare 2 edition with the 250GB HD.

At least I decided not to hack my own SATA hard drive to work with the thing. :rolleyes:
 
To be clear though, Microsoft are certainly in the right to block people that have jailbroken their 360s. Piracy on the 360 is much bigger and much easier than most people think.

The hard drive thing is still crap, but whatever.
 
I got hit with the ban hammer. That number is probably pretty close to accurate. Everyone I knew with a modded (properly) 360 was also hit. One rumor is that MS had a way to detect flashed consoles even if the game rips were proper and stealthed. Well played.
 
This is sort of crazy considering a huge reason to get an xbox was the ability to mod. Imo, it is a major selling point that helped MS gain market share over the PS3.

I wonder if banned users will buy another xbox or go ps3 now considering how MS just cut them off. I know which way I'd go.
 
1 million bricked consoles on the eve of MW2. Insane.

I remember this when buying a console second hand from Craigslist. Guaranteed to be a flood of them on there.
 
I just keep hearing that song "Banned In The U.S.A", playing over and over for some reason..
 
WorldExclusive said:
1 million bricked consoles on the eve of MW2. Insane.
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If I'm not mistaken they did the same thing around when Gears 2 came out last year and Halo 3 the year before. They love doing this around major releases, and why not, it gives a nice additional boost for hardware sales.
 
I wonder if these bans were giving out to retards trying to play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 before it was released on xbox live.
 
Serpico said:
If I'm not mistaken they did the same thing around when Gears 2 came out last year and Halo 3 the year before. They love doing this around major releases, and why not, it gives a nice additional boost for hardware sales.
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They got what they deserved. They modded their console which is strictly prohibited by Microsoft and they got banned. Fair deal to me. Any company out there would do the same. Apple disables Palm's iTunes sync in every iTunes release which is far less of a issue than hacking a console

As for HDD pricing, it is a rip off from Microsoft but it is no different than Apple selling locked down computers and charge a premium for it. You don't seem to mind Apple's premium pricing on their hardware and you consider it a good business (and I think it's a good business too). Yet you complain why Microsoft does the same on one of their products. They realized people will pay for it and hence they are charging for it

PS: I have both PS3 and Xbox 360 and this is exactly why I'd always choose a PC over any of these consoles. I'd like to be able to mod my system. The same reason I switched from Macs to PCs this year
 
thesmokingman said:
Unless I'm mistaken, isn't this thread about 1 million modded Xbox's being banned?
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He usually defends Apple when it comes to their computers and their locking out schemes but for Microsoft, it is prohibited. I'm pretty sure if Xbox 360 was made by Apple, he'd defend those limitations on the basis of "improving" the user experience
 
Instead of banning why doesn't Microsoft just do the same thing that it does when they "think" you have a "pirate" copy of Windows. In other words just flash an annoying message that says you have to call them, pay them more money and get a code to "Fix" your Xbox..
 
thesmokingman said:
Unless I'm mistaken, isn't this thread about 1 million modded Xbox's being banned?
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The post I was responding to implied that people felt justified buying 360s because they were easily modded. It might be easy but it isn't justifiable, and these people should not be surprised by Microsoft putting the smack down.
 
jwalk6 said:
Instead of banning why doesn't Microsoft just do the same thing that it does when they "think" you have a "pirate" copy of Windows. In other words just flash an annoying message that says you have to call them, pay them more money and get a code to "Fix" your Xbox..
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I think it has more to do with the fact they lose money on each console sold (I dont know if they still do or not) and make all the profit on games which means no money for Microsoft on the pirated consoles. Also game publishers care a lot for the piracy so it is Microsoft's way of reassuring them as well as protecting their bottom line

Although a pirated Windows means no money for Microsoft their margin on software is high so the loss is much less on Windows because they make most of their money selling OEM licences. Plus Microsoft would rather have you on a pirated Windows than going to the competitor's platform
 
WAKASHIZuMa said:
As for HDD pricing, it is a rip off from Microsoft but it is no different than Apple selling locked down computers and charge a premium for it. You don't seem to mind Apple's premium pricing on their hardware and you consider it a good business (and I think it's a good business too). Yet you complain why Microsoft does the same on one of their products. They realized people will pay for it and hence they are charging for it

PS: I have both PS3 and Xbox 360 and this is exactly why I'd always choose a PC over any of these consoles. I'd like to be able to mod my system. The same reason I switched from Macs to PCs this year
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Comparing the lock down with Macs doesn't make any sense because it isn't even close to the degree that we're talking about. You can install any operating system you want to on a Mac. Even before the move to Intel CPUs you could install PPC compatible Linux, BSD, etc distros alongside or on top of OS X. You can install any RAM you want, any hard drive you want, any printer you want, any wireless adapter you want, any mouse, any keyboard. Do I have to go on?

The 360 is hands down the most nailed down system out there, but as I said earlier if you actually read my posts, Microsoft is well within their rights to do so. Its their hardware. It sucks with things like the hard drive considering that the PS3 is wide open for accessories (I can use any BT headset with one, any keyboard, a mouse, I'm not restricted to a branded $100 wireless adapter), but whatever, that's how Sony decides to do their business.
 
Serpico said:
What's it like to be wrong?

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034894835&postcount=17

Eat your words fanboy :p
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Id' eat my words if I were wrong

When people on this forum complain about Apple limiting the choices on their platform they are categorized as Apple bashers. You dont seem to mind those limitations (which is fine since Microsoft and Apple way of doing thins are vastly different with their own pros and cons). But at the same time Microsoft is being an evil by controlling and charhing a premium on their hard drives (which is ridiculous nevertheless). But how is that different from what Apple is doing which is charging a premium for something you can find cheaper on the competitor's platform? They both know they can get away with it. How come one is considered a good business model but the same thing but from a different company is portrayed as evil?

My point is about having double standards
 
^ Sony does that cause they want the greater market share, since they got their asses handed to them first by the 360 then by the Wii, if Sony locked anything down they would only loose even more sales!
 
Serpico said:
Comparing the lock down with Macs doesn't make any sense because it isn't even close to the degree that we're talking about. You can install any operating system you want to on a Mac. Even before the move to Intel CPUs you could install PPC compatible Linux, BSD, etc distros alongside or on top of OS X. You can install any RAM you want, any hard drive you want, any printer you want, any wireless adapter you want, any mouse, any keyboard. Do I have to go on?

The 360 is hands down the most nailed down system out there, but as I said earlier if you actually read my posts, Microsoft is well within their rights to do so. Its their hardware. It sucks with things like the hard drive considering that the PS3 is wide open for accessories (I can use any BT headset with one, any keyboard, a mouse, I'm not restricted to a branded $100 wireless adapter), but whatever, that's how Sony decides to do their business.
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I know the limitations of Macs because I have used them for years and yes Apple does limit your choices. I cant sync my iPhone with anything but iTunes. What if I dont want to install iTunes on my Windows (Mac Version of iTunes is fine but the Windows version is a disaster). And when I say sync, I mean calendars, notes and such not just Music

What about the fact that I cant put any graphics card in my Mac Pro other than a 4870 which is being offered at twice price of the PC version with half the memory?

What about Mac OSX Blu-ray playback?

Apple has limitations and they are actually proud of it. They control the hardware and software and that's their business model and frankly it works good with certain type of folks

As for Xbox 360 being the most restricted system out there I dont disagree but then again it is the same business model of charging a premium for a comparable hardware compared your competitor. Apple and Microsoft both know that in terms of hardware value they are definitely at a disavantage when it comes to the competition but at the same time they have those little neat features that allows them to charge a comparable and premium price and yet retain their customers. Microsoft is really using the same arguement that Apple uses with regards to their competition. Their hardware is less powerful (no Blu-ray + RROD) and their accssories tend to be more expensive. Yet they claim they can charge you the same amount because the overall "experience" is superior compared to the competition (which is subjective and up to the person to decide). It is the same exact reasoning behind Apple's marketing
 
WAKASHIZuMa said:
Id' eat my words if I were wrong

When people on this forum complain about Apple limiting the choices on their platform they are categorized as Apple bashers. You dont seem to mind those limitations (which is fine since Microsoft and Apple way of doing thins are vastly different with their own pros and cons). But at the same time Microsoft is being an evil by controlling and charhing a premium on their hard drives (which is ridiculous nevertheless). But how is that different from what Apple is doing which is charging a premium for something you can find cheaper on the competitor's platform? They both know they can get away with it. How come one is considered a good business model but the same thing but from a different company is portrayed as evil?

My point is about having double standards
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They'd be double standards if you were correct. Apple charges less for more powerful and higher quality all-in-ones than Dell or HP, ditto their Xeon workstations and ultraslims (throw Sony and Lenovo into that mix). This is on top of having really nice hardware and a kickass operating system. Their 15" notebooks carry a premium but given the insane battery life, the trackpad, the travel accessories, IMO it is worth it. Their only fault is not selling desktops with consumer grade CPUs (ie - not Xeons) and PCI-E expansion, as well as having a sub-$1000 desktop that is crippled by cramming expensive sub-notebook parts into a tiny case (I hate the Mini, terrible value IMO, but some people here still like it...).

That's the thing, I've called Apple out on those things numerous times over here. I understand why they try to shut down jailbreaking in the iPhone even though I don't approve of it, same with MS and the firmware and hard drive situation. Just because I disapprove of certain policies, it doesn't make their good products bad. I play the 360 way more than any of my other consoles, even though I feel that the PS3 has the best game in years right now in Uncharted 2. If I'm not on my PC I'm on XBL, its a great service with great games, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize things too. Same with Apple.

The idea that for one thing has to be good, the other thing has to suck, or that a company with some bad policies means that all of its products are worthless, is completely fucking ludicrous.

ALL of these companies have great products as well as stupid policies, but whatever, you go with the good stuff they offer if its worth it. IMO Apple, Microsoft, and Sony they all have something good to offer even though all have done things that range from boneheaded to outright aggressive towards the consumer. Whatever, life goes on.

Holy crap that was rambling. :eek:
 
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