[gibber9583 @ Jun 13th 2007 3:48PM]

This isnt a big deal. I'm pretty sure MS would take legal action against anyone they knew was hacking their 360 for illegal use. I know MS bans any live accounts running hacked firmware. WHile that isnt taking legal action, it is something. They probably just cant prove what you are doing on the console with a hacked firmware. However, i'd rather legal action taken against me than be banned from LIVE.

[paloooz @ Jun 13th 2007 3:58PM]

Because Microsoft would do it, it's okay for Sony to do it? No. If I buy a console, it's MY hardware. I should be able do whatever I want with it. There's a certain company with a certain product that takes the stance, "It's your hardware, do with it what you please." but I won't mention that company's name for fear of getting ranked low. You know how that is ....

[gibber9583 @ Jun 13th 2007 4:13PM]

You are completely free to do with your hardware what you want to do with it. However, MS and I'm sure Sony, have guidelines that you must abide to use their service(Xbox Live). No hacked firmwares are allowed on Live. I'm sure there is a similar rule on whatever PS3's online is named. Thats my only point. I would have hacked firmware if I did not rely on Live.

[Tavis Veighey @ Jun 13th 2007 4:32PM]

You sir, are a moron!

If I wanted to run Hacked Firmware AND play on LIVE, I would have 2 360's! One would be my online gaming one, the other one would have my hacks on it!

I have a classic XBox Hacked out to the max, I do not play online, so it does not matter to me. If I wanted to play XBOX Online, then I would just get myself another XBOX for Online play!

[gibber9583 @ Jun 13th 2007 4:51PM]

Actually, you sir are the moron. I'd say approximately 95% of my gaming is done over xbox live. You are telling me I should buy another console to play 5% of my gaming? No Thanks.

[paloooz @ Jun 13th 2007 4:53PM]

You just don't get it do you? They shouldn't ban people from XboxLive for hacking their firmware. If I want to run homebrew stuff on my Xbox, I should be allowed to because it's my hardware. There shouldn't be ANY "consequences" for doing that, and Microsoft should make it easy to do so.

It's MY hardware, I should be able to do whatever I want to do with it.

[Drei @ Jun 13th 2007 5:46PM]

"It's MY hardware, I should be able to do whatever I want to do with it."

it's their XBox Live service, they are able to allow and ban whoever they want... so there.

[gibber9583 @ Jun 13th 2007 6:19PM]

Thank you Drei, you beat me to it.


Also, the reason behind MS not allowing hacked firmwares on xbox live is not only to protect their own investment, it is to protect developers. If hacked firmware was allowed on xbox live, people could then play their 'backups' copies over Live. Actually, let me replace 'backups' with 'pirated copies'. If this were allowed, I guarantee that a hell of a lot more people would have hacked firmwares on their 360's

[Zeus the God @ Jun 13th 2007 11:34PM]

Paloooz, you are a certifiable retard. You can do ANYTHING you want with your hardware, as long as it is legal.

You can't play online with a HACKED Xbox because LIVE isn't yours, its a service. It isn't incorporated into your hardware, hence the separate Terms of Service, which clearly states that modding or hacking is bannable. Maybe if you took the time to read...

Again, hacking your Xbox is fine. Its YOUR hardware. Since LIVE is not YOURS, you are not allowed to play with a modified console. If you still reply with your same old canned answer, then you will set the fact that you're a retard in stone.

[James @ Jun 14th 2007 5:00PM]

I don't mean to throw (much) fuel on the fire, but it's kind of *not* "your" hardware, inasmuch as you probably agreed to an EULA the first time you fired it up, or even before that if you took off a sticker that says "use of this device is subject to..." or some such -- I can't remember what my 360 had on it when I bought it.

Anyway, I don't *agree* with using such things to limit what consumers can do with their hardware, but you can't change the business model overnight. See, everybody makes consoles to sell at a loss, then makes back the loss on game licenses. Even without piracy in the picture, people who use a hacked (subsidized) console as a PC replacement don't pay back the subsidy through game licenses. I don't know why that's the standard, but it is. So if Microsoft et al don't have a way to use the law to make people use their hardware the way "they" intended, they wouldn't be able to protect their business model.

For the record, I don't think they *should* be able to do that. But! I fear that if they were forced to sell hardware at a profit (e.g. it was ruled that they can't control what people do once they buy the hardware), they would not bring down the price of games commensurately (to account for no longer needing to make up the loss on the console). I figure they'd just push up the price of the console and say "We have to do this, look at the court ruling, it's not our fault" then keep charging 60 bucks a game.

Also for the record, I owned a hacked Xbox until it crapped out on me -- you can't find a better media extender for a hundred bucks! I also hacked my PSP -- OE firmware features kick the original ones to the curb. I'd hack my 360 if I could "switch modes" between hacked and clean, to go on Live -- I want to use e.g. XBMC on it, but I never want even the option of cheating on Live games, or pirating. Frankly, network-enabling XNA would be good enough. I'd probably even hack my Wii, but in none of those cases would I want to do it for piracy -- I've got the money to support my game habit (especially now that I don't have time to play more than a few hours a week; I'm still getting mileage out of Super Paper Mario, and I bought it on release day). The point is, I like benefiting from the work of hackers, but I can also see it from the console makers' point of view.