News
Xbox 360 Update Will Lock Out Third Party Storage Devices
Microsoft Rededicates Itself to Getting ALL of Your Money
by Sean
A posting on Major Nelson's blog let it be known that the 360 will be getting a system update this week. While a firmware patch to MS's console might be considered news by some, the real story on this one comes not from what the update will do, but rather, what it will change. While the update prepares users in the Preview Program for the new social network integration (Zune, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), it will also render "unathorized" third party memory units useless. From Major Nelson:
"If you've moved your profile or saved games onto one [of these devices] to "back it up," you'd better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games."
Third party storage devices are considerably cheaper than the authorized Microsoft versions. For example, as GamePolitics pointed out, you can get a 4GB Max Memory Card from Datel for about $50, while the official 360 Memory Unit gives you 512MB for $30.
As you might expect, this news did not go over too well with Xbox users. The comments on Major Nelson's post go on and on lauding Sony for the PS3's open framework, allowing users to attach any hard drive or USB storage device. In fact, there was so much negative reaction to the announcement that this morning, Major Nelson got back into the conversation:
"It took some time, but I have read all the comments here. Some interesting points that I'll be sharing."
Honestly, although Nelson is going to share the community's thoughts on this matter, it would be very surprising if Microsoft backed down on this one. Obstensibly, blocking third party devices is in an attempt to stop hackers and modders from continuing in their illicit ways, but it also has the side effect of pissing off gamers who legitimately want to save some money on storage and have a legitimate storage option (512MB? Really?!). We'll bring you more information on this if it comes out, but again, it may be a cold day in hell before MS relents.
Comments
Ya, the 360 HDD unit is a total ripoff.
you can buy an external 1TB drive for the price they are selling their meager 100GB drive.
It's only a matter of time when my turtle headset will stop working too
....%&#@ you Microsoft
Reminds me that I need to buy a new HDD...
Please make your anger known to MS, spread the word as far as you can. Here are my thoughts on the subject...
MS have known about these products for some time, but have not made their policy publicly known until now. They have let people purchase these products, refraining from publicly issuing a cease and desist to the makers of these devices.
MS should have came out publicly, clear and firm, months or years ago that they would actively work to disable the use of any unauthorized memory devices. Any such statement should have been issued after each unauthorized product released by 3rd party manufacturers.
The Datel Max Memory has been out for about 6 months. There have been at least 2 minor dashboard updates in that time, which have not addressed this issue.
These products are being sold in store and online by major retailers including Gamestop and Best Buy. By not immediately acting against these products publicly, MS has essentially implied that they are ok. MS has vendors that visit stores regularly, where some of these unauthorized products are being sold, yet these products are still on the shelves...
There are many consumers who will be financially damaged by this update, having purchased these products without realizing that they were not licensed for the Xbox 360 system. I think Datel and MS should be held accountable for these damages, or offer a generous amnesty trade in.
Of course MS doesn't make a memory card that even comes close to the capacity of the entry level 2GB Max Memory card, so any amnesty trade in wouldn't even be fair unless they gave out four 512MB cards in exchange for a 2GB Datel memory card, or eight official cards for the 4GB Datel card.
wow that is pretty lame.. i mean did they really think 512MB was a viable storage solution?
Very glad that Sony lets me put whatever i want into my System.
Yeah, this is kind of inexcusable. I really hope that Major Nelson is able to convince the higher-ups that this is an extremely bad idea, but I'm not optimistic. Of all of Microsoft's hardware screw-ups, this one ranks near the top.
"sigh" fine. everone grab your bat's weer gonna need to do a little persuation