Microsoft recently decided it would be fun for the consumer if third party memory units weren't able to work on the Xbox 360, effectively forcing everyone to buy proprietary machines or screw themselves to a wall. Datel, manufacturer of its own Xbox 360 memory units, is understandably unhappy with the news, accusing Microsoft of "disappointing" behavior.
"... We're disappointed to see that Microsoft are taking these steps to prevent customers from exercising their freedom of choice," said a Datel spokesman. "Everyone is looking for ways to make their cash go further at the moment and we believe that Max Memory offers a good value, high capacity, alternative to the official memory unit."
It's definitely a low and dirty stunt by Microsoft, a company that does very little to mask its greed in the best of circumstances. Not only does this screw over third party companies and consumers who don't want to buy more hardware from Microsoft (the Xbox 360's quality doesn't exactly make you want to rush out and buy more MS products), it also means that existing users of third-party memory devices, people who haven't done anything wrong, now need to spend time transferring all their data and possibly waste more money on another memory unit.
It is, simply put, a dick move, and I am more disgusted than disappointed by Microsoft's selfish decision.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
10:40 AM on 10.21.2009
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If you buy unofficial memory, you know what you are getting into. Or you should know, at least.
But we got on the cases of those companies too. So equalism wins again.
I say we...wait for it...PETITION! Huh? Huh? Who's wit' meh?
Not really. This would be more like if Microsoft or Sony did an update to disable Mad Catz controllers or if the Wii disabled Nyko wands.
lets call it Microsoft suck ma balls
There's a reason MS locks down the memory units and hard drives: piracy prevention. They prevent people from introducing malformed, potentially-exploitative save-data to the system, which is a big potential vector for piracy. They learned this during the Xbox 1 days. MS is not stupid.
MS wants to hold on to their ridiculous monopoly over the storage for the 360...very overpriced...I mean what? 100 bucks for 60 gigs...thats outrageous, and like 40 bucks for a 512 mb memory card......that is impossibly overpriced....they are just tempting people to find a way around this update
Right?
Pro-tip: There's a huge difference between broderline monopolistic practices and piracy prevention techniques.
Disabling R4's on the ds and firmware exploits on psp is nothing like disabling a 3rd party memory card.
It would be like disabling 3rd party controllers.
Or put it this way. If microsoft decided to release an "official" xbox 360 guitar controller, or Arcade stick, and then updated the firmware to not allow use of 3rd party guitar controllers or arcade sticks.
The are doing it because no one in their right mind would buy a 512mb card for $40. even if they add "worms" to it. So, by eliminating the competition, people who buy the 360 arcade have to buy first party.
My guess they did it now because its so close to the holidays. Being the 360/ps3/wii are huge sellers, this is the perfect opportunity to scrape a few extra dollars from people who think they are getting a "deal" with the arcade.
Not impossible, but somewhat more difficult.
That looks like the TF2 heavy lol.
M$ is an asshole company, that's never going to change.
Still a dick move though, but at least my HDD should be safe. I was eyeing one of those 2 GB cards though, and now...boo.
MS will release a memory unit that supports more than 512 mb.
</prediction>
What better way to kick it off than by cutting out the competition. Arcade games are getting sizable and LEON's GETTING LARGGGGGER...
"team, i am disapoint..."
I bought two Nyko rechargeable battery packs for my 360 a few months ago. I tried using both of them again this last weekend when I had some friends over for some Castle Crashers--it had probably been a month since they were last plugged in--and neither would hold a charge. Both of my two-year-old official MS rechargeable packs, on the other hand, still hum along perfectly... even the one that never gets used.
This is why I rarely buy third-party peripherals. In my experience, they always fail.
Not nearly as bad as Patcher's prediction that XBL Gold's price will double to $100 "soon." Even worse was the response from M$ that I read in PC World, "We don't see that happening (wait for it...) WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS."
Great. So once the ball drops in NYC, people are going to need a hundo to game online with their 360s, and of course they have to buy the overpriced, underspec'd M$ official mem units.
Well, there goes my idea to buy a 360 elite with my tax refund. A hundo for a year on XBL and $40 for a memory card with 25% the memory of a $30 Datel card.
You suck, M$. Your fanboys deserve you.
I for one will not stand for it. From this point on I will let my money do the talking. Microsoft can't hold us hostage if we choose not to be hostages! This petition non-sense does nothing but make us look weak. Like we are at the mercy of the publishers. When in fact it is the consumers that run the market. Let us start a revolution! Hit them where it hurts the most. In their wallet!
As for the news story, yeah it totally blows.
Just to paint a broader picture beyond the myopic issue of this thumb drive they want to sell at a 1000% markup over their now nonexistent competitors-
Mongosawft is constantly found guilty of monopoly behavior in court.
Why racketeering gangster monopolists surprise people when they - create yet another monopoly? I can only infer general public ignorance of Microsoft's hatred and disdain for free market capitalism.
Absence of competition - through ANY method - monopoly included - is as anti-capitalist as what is referred to as "Communist Dictatorship".
So to be logically consistent, if our Govt. was actually pro capitalist, we would be dropping bombs on Microsoft, not giving them further monopoly through lowering their taxes.
Food for thought at least.
One of the largest rulings against a company ever in it's dollar amount($613 million).
http://tinyurl.com/yh2cwox
They are continually sued for violating other peoples patents. They have just been found guilty and ordered by a judge to "STOP SELLING MS WORD".
http://tinyurl.com/ldahs4
California (which is the 4th largest economy in the world) filed a class action suit which alleged a failure rate of @ 1 in 2 for the XBox regarding faulty soldering which was causing overheating failures - before MS settled.
Blatant, ongoing, criminal, monopolist/anti capitalist - and not comparable to any company be cause they do it on a massive scale protected by our monopolist/anti capitalist State.
the funny thing is some people think they are being patriotic by buying microsoft instead of a foreigner competetitor.
Why can't they at least make an official 8GB mem card for $50, which would still be overpriced, but much more reasonable. Assholes.
apple makes the ipod iphone and macs.. all of which you can use other companies assecories on, but regardless microsoft didnt just start doing this with the 360.. this is/was/has always been microsoft and they have been in and out of court for this kind of stuff long before the 360 came out, and the original xbox was basically in the same exact boat.
the reason that this isnt hardly new, is because microsoft has been doing this for over 10 years. doing this back when everyone thought apple was on its way out of the business
Sorry, but none of those are equivalent to preventing third parties from creating accessories for your console. Those are all done to prevent people from hacking and playing games they obtained illegally.
Sorry, but you can hack a 360 with their own hardware. Unless they're going to be putting out all new hardware replacements for everyone with current HDDs, then blocking third parties rather than forcing them to conform to a standard is still a dick move.
(the lesson is dont fucking buy MS)
thats funny becuase here in the US, third party memory cards could be found at all major retailers that sold sony's games, since the time of the ps1.
and furthermore it sounds like complete BS that it was like that in the UK, do you have any sort of article or refrence to prove that statement as true markus?
If you really believe that, God bless you. Yes, they're not trying to cockblock third-parties from making memory alternatives while forcing consumers to pay for their overpriced products, at all. No, they're just worried about their reputation!
Come on. Seriously.
when you get a real job.. you can lecture people on smart decisions.
additionally if you for even half a second believe that crap excuse that just came out of your mouth you also shouldnt be using the word dumb, torwards anyone other then yourself.
microsoft barely takes responsbility for their own shit working, they dont give a rats ass if someones third party memory card or controller doesnt work, and i guarantee they have never taken even the slightest responsibility for it.
is your comment a joke that i missed? or are you seriously trying to spin microsoft blocking out competetitors (most of whom have much more reliable products) as microsoft looking out for the consumer?
wow fanboyism has no ends, especially when it comes to the guys who work at video game stores, you cant even walk into one of those places without them trying to sell you a 360 and tell you how bad the ps3 is.
It'll never happen, but just thinking about it makes me sad for these folks. :(