thoughthead

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Fall update was just released today. with 80+ new features and bug fixes you’d think the buzz surrounding the 2nd major software update for the console would be that of excitement or perhaps wonderment over some new software toys to play with. Instead I see nothing but Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (otherwise known as FUD) and a hefty helping of paranoia. Basically all of the game pirates who hide behind the thin veil of a security blanket they call “backups” are worried that their free games pass is about to expire.

For those of you who don’t keep tabs on the console modification scene, the Xbox 360 has been hacked in such a way that you can duplicate game discs onto writable DVDs. I wont get into the details as to how it works but essentially all that is required is that the firmware on the DVD drive must be updated with a hacked version.

With the Xbox 1 MS didn’t take kindly to modified consoles. Essentially if you logged onto Xbox Live with a modified console your hardware became “banned” from the service. Even still your Xbox Live account wasn’t effected nor was your ability to continue running your console in a modified and offline (offline of Xbox Live that is) state. Their reasoning while not officially known was fairly clear that they simply did not want people using their online service with potentially modified games. Games that have been modified open the potential for cheating and that really ruins the online gaming experience for everyone involved (except maybe the cheaters who somehow feel satisfaction from this, though that’s a different rant altogether).

As suspected the week leading up to the release of the Fall update the forums were filled with paranoia that their precious firmware hacks would earn them a ban, or worse “brick” their console!!! Also as suspected once the update had been released there were countless announcements that people were avoiding going online out of fear and waiting for others to test the waters first. And finally a few people received E66 errors and of course all hell breaks loose, you’d think it was the end of the world and the update was the modern day equivalent of an atomic bomb. You’d think just paying for your games… or maybe… just maybe renting them if you can’t afford to buy every game new would be worth not living in constant fear for the lively hood of your $400 worth of potential doorstop. Sorry, but I’ll choose leisurely gaming and enjoyment of new features and bug fixes over lifelong paranoia and fear any day of the week even if it does cost me a bit extra in cash.

Of course once the dust settled and people realized that they weren’t actually being banned they all decide to announce that they’re triumphant, as if this was some battle that Microsoft had lost. You don’t think it could be *GASP* maybe they care more about adding features and fixing bugs then they do about pirates? Maybe you didn’t really win this battle because Microsoft never showed up for the fight.

If Microsoft hasn’t done anything, and they haven’t said anything about it, then the reason could be anything. For all we know they’re simply ignoring it because they don’t care, maybe there’s a larger plot and they’re luring the pirates into a false sense of security so that once word gets out that the Fall update is safe everyone logs on and is banned a month down the road, or maybe the firmware conspiracy theorists are actually right and Microsoft can’t actually do anything about it.

Any scenario is possible really. I don’t understand why people get so paranoid about this stuff. It would seem to me that you’d be better off taking alternative measures to protect your discs if you do really back them up for protection, or if cost is your object just do like I do and just rent them.

I would consider the added stress and paranoia far far far worse then spending some extra time protecting your discs, maybe having to buy a new one every so often if it gets damaged or just renting most of your games.

Honestly I think that even if Microsoft does know how to stop it they wont do anything until the PS3 and Wii have been released. Banning Live accounts or Bricking consoles creates ill will among your customers even if they’re pirating. Microsoft doesn’t need ill will right now, they need new features and strong customer support to outsell PS3 and Wii by as large a margin as possible this holiday.

If anything I would imagine it’s a spring update (if any) that would bring the bannings, considering holiday time is NOT the time you want word spreading about how someone’s console stopped working due to a false-positive, or that those with modded firmwares have to go out and buy new consoles reducing the number available on the market for holiday shoppers.

Spring makes a whole lot more sense simply because it’s a dead time in the market, a good time to get people who might be pirating to start paying for games (to boost the market) and the least competitive time between the console makers meaning that if any bad blood is created, it is long forgotten by the next holiday shopping season.

I suspect I’ll have to put up with the paranoia buzz and conspiracy theories until Microsoft does start dishing out retribution. Honestly I hope they do it soon if for no other reason then I wouldn’t have to deal with all this constant whining. A 13 year old pirate in fear has to be the most annoying sound a forum can make.

All said and done I would imagine Microsoft would take the same route that they did with the Xbox 1, by simply blocking the console from connecting with the Xbox Live service to protect it’s sanctity. I almost wonder if they’re not bothering to fix the firmware at all simply because it doesn’t pose much of a threat to Xbox Live. While I’m sure alternative methods of hacking are being explored to allow for greater flexibility. I’m sure even Microsoft knows that if they block the firmware the pirates will start concentrating harder on those other hacks that are, potentially more dangerous to Xbox Live.