Microsoft's reasoning for blocking non-MS memory units

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6:40 PM on 10.23.2009, Jordan Devore

53 comments | 12219 views

Microsoft's reasoning for blocking non-MS memory units photo

#Industry Bullshit #Microsoft #Xbox 360

Chances are you've already heard how the forthcoming Xbox 360 update isn't going to play nicely with "unauthorized storage devices" aka all memory units that aren't licensed by Microsoft. It's a bummer considering how expensive the company's storage devices are, no doubt about it.

Patrick Klepek at G4TV got a spokesperson from Microsoft to explain why the decision was made, in addition to what would happen to those who didn't obey the new rules. According to the rep, Microsoft is looking to "protect the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE service from cheating, which is the primary purpose and use of these unauthorized MUs."

I understand that cheating and/or piracy can be a concern, especially when it comes to the name Datel specifically, but really? Is it worth pissing off customers who are simply looking for affordable, fair pricing?

Apparently so, since now people will have no choice but to purchase the $29.99 512 MB memory unit from Microsoft. Those who refuse to comply by not recovering their profiles from the unauthorized MUs "will not be able to recover their profiles following the software update."

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next 50 comments

53 comments | showing # 1 to 50

mrandydixon

This is so absurd it's hilarious. Thank Penis I have absolutely no need for a memory card.

mix

I think the real reason is more money in M$ pocket. I highly HIGHLY doubt that they are doing this to stop people from "cheating"

Jon B

I see why they did this. Most of the hacking done on the PS3 is via removable hard disks being accessed on a PC.

However I don't see why absolutely everything has to be blocked. Especially considering the redonkulous prices that MS charge for memory devices.

xaliqen

Why the decision was made: "We're greedy and we don't like supporting third-party devices. If we get more money by screwing you over, then we will. Because, in the end, all we care about is our bottom line. Our customers are not important to us, unless it affects our profit margin. The negligible number of users who have third-party memory units makes it an easy decision, because, even if we lose every single one of them, it still won't make any real difference to our customer base as a whole.

In short, I would just like to summarize by saying 'Fuck you,' and also by placing my private parts inside your mouth and thrusting my hips.

Please wait while I take a dump on your head and steal your wallet.

There, now that you're thoroughly screwed, I'll be on my way..."

squirrelyg

@Jon B
If you could even really call what's being done on the PS3 hacking. The only game I really know people have been able to cheat on is COD4. Where as on the 360 you have people playing game backups.

I do feel though that they are trying to get more money out of their user base as they can before the end of the current console generation.

SantanaClaus89

Microsoft is gay and so are all of you.

Wedge

Yeah I'm pretty sure the 360 is hacked to hell and back without use of 3rd party memory cards...

whormongr

the funny thing is that the more that people like MS do things like this the more validity you give to hackers and pirates, it always hearkens me back to the story of my youth when (as an electronic musician) I was at a clinic for cubase vst when the rep from steinberg literally said "what is the difference between a good musician and a bad musician? It's how much they are willing to spend on their gear- we could sell our software for less money but we don't because it wouldn't be fair to people willing to pay what we ask" from that moment on I never used cubase again but did everything in my power to give anyone and everyone pirated versions of the software.

007

xaliqen gets it.

matrixdude171

WOW, $60 for a gig, holy shit that's expensive!

brainderailment

$30 for 512Mb would be appropriate in 2002. Not now.

SpencersGifts

wow is this that big of a deal? i mean shit u wanna play then u gotta pay. Its the way the world works, everyones in it to make a buck. Like it or not microsoft puts out a good product with live, and if they wanna ban all these half knockoffs then they have every right too. You dont bitch the the state says what you can or cant have on your car, so why are you bitching about this.

Yea it sucks they cost so much money, fuck then buy a used one, and stay the hell home. Its not that big of a deal, its their company, if they wanna charge 100 bucks a game they can; because at the end of the day, we all will keep going back because they have the best selection out there.

Steve Cebu

This is SOP for M$. They have been pulling shit like this for years, going all the way back to the beginning. This is why I have a PS3. M$ doesn't care about anyone but their bottom line. Funny thing is piracy is rampant in many countries and M$ actually has to pay off teh cops to shut places down and then they reopen the next day.
This is just another money making scam from Bill & Co.

Sacchiuy

This is one of the reasons why I love the PS3. You can just use normal USB drives. Hell, you can backup save games too so easily :D

Hopeless Savage

@SpencersGifts
the quality of a videogame console is necessarily dependent on its games and accessories. the reason for the complaints is microsoft is intentionally reducing the utility of a product consumers already own for an increased profit margin.

it's the equivalent of microsoft suddenly modifying all their operating systems to only be compatible with internet explorer as a web browser, on the pretense that firefox, safari, and chrome "pose a security risk." they'd probably get away with it, because microsoft has 92% of the personal computer market share, but it still fucking sucks.

bickle

"M$ doesn't care about anyone but their bottom line."

Locking out the memory units is a stupid move, but this comment is just naive and unrealistic. Do you really think that it isn't true of Sony and Nintendo? Newsflash: EACH COMPANY CARES ONLY ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE. No one is doing this out of the good of their heart.

Czech Monster

@bickle,

and what exactly does SONY care about? Cherry Trees?

HEL105

@bickle
You took the words right out of my mouth. ALL these companies are interested in getting as much of our money as possible with the least investment on their end. They might do it in different ways, but their ultimate loyalty is to cash, not to these idiots who run around slavishly worshipping their system of choice.

Sorry fanboys, but Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo doesn't give a shit about you beyond your wallets.

xaliqen

@HEL105 -- Way to ride the wave of false equivalence.

Fact: Good companies care about their bottom line.

Fact: Microsoft is screwing people who use third-party memory devices.

Fact: It is extremely easy and user-friendly to add third-party memory devices to both PS3 and Wii.

See what I'm doing here? I'm using facts to paint a realistic picture of how Microsoft's actions differ from Sony and Nintendo.

Sony and Nintendo have policies supporting third-party memory devices. Sony even goes as far as using a standard format for their hard drive, so you can use third-party hard drives as well. While it is true that all three companies care about their bottom line, it is also true that, because of this decision, Microsoft is screwing their users over in a way that Sony and Nintendo are not. Isn't this pretty darn obvious?

xaliqen

I would also like to point out that there are different ways to help your bottom line. You could say that shutting out third-party memory cards is helping your bottom line by (supposedly) reducing avenues for piracy.

You could also say that shutting out third-party memory cards is burning bridges with a potential core gaming demographic as well as third-party hardware manufactuers. So, the real question is, "Is this move really helping your bottom line in the long term?" Microsoft's answer to this question is obviously that it *will* help their bottom line to pull this move. Sony and Nintendo obviously feel differently about the issue.

Personally, I would prefer to remain consistent and stick with a policy so as to minimize ill-will with the user community. If my policy was to not allow third-party hardware, I would stick with it. If my policy was to allow third-party hardware, I would stick with that. Microsoft is switching their policy halfway through the game, and that's just a shitty move.

gamadaya

The real reason, and it's the same reason any business decision in the history of business has been made, is for the money.

mrandydixon

You're absolutely correct. All good companies care about their bottom line, and what M$ is doing is BS. However, to imply that $ony and Yentendo (kinda like the way that one sounds) don't practice similar (though not the same) assfuckery is to be wrong. $ony forces you to repurchase all your UMD games if you want to upgrade to a PSPgo, even if you paid full price for them the first time around. They could offer them as free download codes with proof of purchase, but they don't. Yentendo requires us to purchase add-on hardware to make their remotes work like they claimed they would out of the gate. They could give them away to anyone who has already purchased a remote in the past, but they don't.

And why don't they? Because they a) know you'll end up giving them more money if they don't and b) don't care about you anymore than any other company does.

I know that these examples are in a completely different ballpark from what M$ is currently pulling, but they all reinforce the fact that NOBODY CARES ABOUT US. THEY JUST WANT OUR MONEY.

denjunki

Microsoft overcharges for storage products because they're mad at the world for attributing "640k should be enough for anybody" to Bill Gates.

xaliqen

@mrandydixon -- I never implied that Sony and Nintendo don't make bad play decisions. In fact, my comment history proves I've been very critical of Sony's decisions with the PSPGo.

However, this article is about Microsoft and their bad decision. I didn't think it was an excuse to bring up unrelated topics about Sony and Nintendo.

Besides, this decision is worse than Sony shipping their PSPGo without a UMD drive. You're only screwed over in Sony's decision if you absolutely had to get a PSPGo and have a huge library of UMD games that you can't transfer. You're screwed over in Micorosoft's decision just by the fact of using a third-party memory unit. In other words, there was fair warning with the PSPGo. Everyone knows the deal with the Go and either opt in or opt out. There was no way to opt in or opt out of this decision by Microsoft, and that makes a huge difference.

glasgowryan

I'd say burn your 360 in protest, but it does a fine job of that on its own...

AlLeBlanc

greedy motherfuckers

The-Excel

Doesn't this count as anti-competitive practice?

xaliqen

@The-Excel -- Probably, but the manufacturers MS is screwing over aren't big enough players to raise this with the FTC and be taken seriously (I'd love to be proven wrong here).

They may have a better chance in Europe since the EU is more strict with their anti-trust regulations (especially with Microsoft), and Datel is based in the UK. But, considering the amount of legal weight MS can throw around with bags and bags of cash, it would be a tough fight and probably weigh heavily on a company's stocks & etc... if they chose to take them on.

In other words, winning this one would be long shot since MS is a 300 lb gorilla and it could drag on for a long time.

HAMMERCLAW

Remember, Nintendo did this to The Game Genie for the SNES, after LOSING a lawsuit against it's manufacturer. They put blocking chips in all their new systems, that prevented the device from working.

HEL105

@xaliqen
But the situations ARE equivalent. A company is doing something that is in its own best interest, with little concern for their customers. All 3 console makers are guilty of that practice.

Every time an article like this is critical of any of the systems, there's an immediate outpouring of comments about how "X company sucks and that's why I like Y company". My whole point was that none of these companies are trying to be our friends, they all are ultimately interested in money. Why does that surprise anyone anymore?

I'm not quite sure what there was about my first post that was so disagreeable. It was more of anti-fanboy rant than anything else.

xaliqen

@HEL105 -- I guess I just disagree, because I don't think they're equivalent.

All three companies believe they are acting in their own best interest. My disagreement is that I believe MS' actions in this case are actually not in the company's long-term best interest. I pointed out that Nintendo and Sony have difference practices when it comes to third-party memory devices and I think their stance on the issue is better.

I'm not saying that I think Sony and Nintendo are always better and I never implied anything along those lines. I'm merely saying that I think their policy about memory cards is both the right one and the one which will serve the their interests better over the long term.

In my opinion, MS' decision on this issue displays not only inconsistency (which will result in loss of consumer and industry confidence), but also hurts their bottom line in the long term.

pedrovay2003

Or maybe I just want to pay an actual decent price for my memory.

NyghtcrawleR

The problem here is that MS charges the most absurd prices for their memory products. I put a 500gb HDD in my PS3, cost me $100. MS sells a 120gb HDD for $150. Whats wrong with this picture? One guess....

People have their opinions on the way MS, Sony, Nintendo do their business and how they charge, but MS by far rapes you the worst and the worst part is most people take that raping and keep on feeding MS.

I have both systems, but imo MS is the worst when it comes to this crap and its sad people have supported their nonsense like they have. I am not saying Sony never pulled any shenanigans but MS rapes you and laughs because the people keep on coming back.

HEL105

@xaliqen
My focus wasn't really on this particular issue, but instead it was about the baffling loyalty that fanboys of any kind have towards these companies that would gladly violate our cold corpses for hours if there was a $100 checkl waiting for them at the end of it.

This memory card issue was just the further proof that spurred me towards making my comment that none of these companies are worth free blowjobs that fanboys (which I'm not accusing you of being) lavish on them daily. They're all guilty of being assholes to their customers in one way or another. This time around, it was Microsoft's turn. And yes, it very well may hurt their bottom line in the long run. No sane person (i.e. non-fanboy) would disagree with you that it would be a lot better if 360 owners could just pop a generic storage device into a USB port.

xaliqen

@HEL105 No argument here. I'm curious to see whether MS & Sony continue using standard USB ports with their next consoles or whether they go back to proprietary input. My opinion is it would stupid for them to go back to proprietary, but I also would have guessed MS wouldn't pull a move like this with their memory cards for the same reason.

UnnDunn

And the wailing and gnashing of teeth continues.

Gaming is an expensive hobby. Deal with it.

xaliqen

@UnnDunn -- Hmmm, I think you may have failed to address all of the relevant issues in your post.

HEL105

@xaliqen
That would be a huge step backwards, but it's not like we haven't seen that kind of thing before.

whormongr

@HAMMERCLAW I think that the thing that you are ignoring is that people who are affected by this aren't the people looking to upgrade something or purchase something it is for people who already have items purchased, it is actively disabling products that people have already purchased simply because they don't want you to spend money on another company's product.

jase52476

Holy crap, how can anyone be so surprised about this? This is why the 360 is so cheap--because M$ knew they were going to make the money back by overcharging for the peripherals, online access, and memory. Saw this coming a mile away.

And by the way, EVERY company cares about their bottom line; there are companies that do business ethically, and then there are companies like MicroSoft.

This is why I don't ever buy MicroSoft products anymore.

NyghtcrawleR

@whormongr

Yes, that is the worst part. How many years into the system lifecycle and how many people already have third party memory and will now be screwed by MS.... And all the people that dont read blogs like this and find their memory units not working after the update will be might pissed off and rightly so.

@jase52476

I dont think people are surprised outright but doesnt make it any less of a thing to be angry over. Actively screwing over existing customers that have done nothing wrong is absurd and disrespectful. I can only hope that people will finally stop supporting the 360 and MS the way they have with their shenanigans with hardware failures and things like this. Problem is most people will probably just keep feeding MS more money as they always do this generation.

Kyousuke Nanbu

@jase

Yea because MS is the only company guilty of doing this, its not like Nintendo charges you for the classic controller, its microphone peripheral, its wii fit board or sony charging you for a mic among other things.

Blame the pirates for forcing Microsoft's hand.

But hey you know M$, so witty and cool, cause I spelled with a dollar symbol, it means they're greedy M$ motherfuckers.

xaliqen

@Kyousuke Nanbu -- That's right, blame the pirates. In fact, let's just blame the pirates for every dickish move pulled by any company. I would hate to live in a world where companies are actually responsible for their own actions.

Benson

I'm still curious about the hard drives though... My Xbox has a 10GB hard drive and if I wanted to buy Microsofts upgrade it would run me 200$ for a measly 120GB. I got 1TB for that price! I think it's a rip off anyways....

NyghtcrawleR

@ Kyousuke

So you think that the pirates are to blame for this? Hilarious. Just hilarious....

Its Microsoft, there is nothing more to explain.

Fogo

As someone who currently has about a gig left in their X360, I was about to pull the trigger on this thing and a 16 gig SDHC card a couple of months ago. It would've replaced the idea of buying another hard drive that's for sure.

Anyways, the thing that MS should do is drop the price and increase the sizes on all of their hard drives and MUs so they are at least reasonable with what stands for current standards. One they do this (which they probably won't) then this thing with Datel will be a non-issue, except for those that bought the max memory card.

NyghtcrawleR

@ Fogo

Thats never going to happen. The price difference between MS and the standard memory price is insane ans there is no way in hell MS will even be coming close to those prices anytime soon.

Bigmoose85

Buy a TREY

jase52476

Piracy has absolutely nothing to do with this. 3rd party memory breaks MicroSoft's business model, so they're throwing up another barrier to legitimate competition.

I spell it like M$ because it's funny and it is a fitting statement for what I think about MicroSoft. Profit at all cost, ethical or otherwise. Embrace, extend, extinguish; lock out compeitors; and if all else fails, cannibalize your customers.

If you have a different opinion, good for you.

Minamu

I don't have one of those memory cards, or any other cards for that matter but still, eat me, MS :) Shit's ridiculous.

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