MS is disabling 'unofficial' memory cards guys. Hard Drives from Ebay could go too.

If you have a non-MS memory card make sure you get your game saves and stuff off of it before the next update which will render unofficial memory cards unusable.

Just a heads up.

Pretty shitty of Microsoft. Maybe if they didn't want people using third party 2-4gb portable memory units they should make some themselves that won';t cost you an arm and a leg...

Microsoft can get some things so right sometimes... and others they just fail miserably. So bizarre.

It's not in their interests for people to purchase "unlicensed" 3rd party products. That'll be all its about.

This most likely includes most HDDs bought on ebay...(they are cloned drives)

So beware, you could get your Live account lost or possibly banned depending on how stupid MS is.


So many cloned HDDs out there sold on ebay and Amazon marketplace. Buyers had no way of knowing.

Pinoy, I'd like to add the HDD part to the thread title so people have a chance to put their profile on a memory card just in case.

It's not in their interests for people to purchase "unlicensed" 3rd party products. That'll be all its about.
Pretty much... MS is determined that if anybody is going to be the pitcher it's going to be them :eek:
This most likely includes most HDDs bought on ebay...(they are cloned drives)

So beware, you could get your Live account lost or possibly banned depending on how stupid MS is.


So many cloned HDDs out there sold on ebay and Amazon marketplace. Buyers had no way of knowing.
I guess that's possible, but AFAIK it's only applying to memory card thingies, not hard drives... though anything is possible when it comes to proprietary overpriced peripherals.

Pinoy, I'd like to add the HDD part to the thread title so people have a chance to put their profile on a memory card just in case.

Feel free, I'd do it myself but I can't :lol:

Pretty much... MS is determined that if anybody is going to be the pitcher it's going to be them :eek:


It probably is party pro consumer too though, MS don't know how these drives will act, and no doubt if one "lost" all it's data it'd be MS that copped it. Definitely far more business driven, but I can't say I blame them for the move.

But I'm a mug who always buys official accessories :lol: I had extremely bad experiences with 3rd party stuff back in the 16 bit and 32 bit days, most notably my Competition Pro PS1 Memory card that decided to blank itself as I was about 20 minutes from the end of Final Fantasy VII :banghead::crying:

Where are you getting this news from? It's highly unlikely that billions of memory cards will suddenly become garbage.

Given that there aren't billions of unlicensed memory cards, I agree. This information has come from various gaming news sites inc Kotaku.

Where are you getting this news from? It's highly unlikely that billions of memory cards will suddenly become garbage.

Here... I suppose this will be enough for you. (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=unauthorized+360+storage)

Thanks, I'm quite familiar with Google. The word is unlicensed not unofficial and it seems to be to do with Xbox360 mainly as far as I can gather.

Therefore I'm not concerned.

Had the OP explained a bit more fully I wouldn't have had to ask.

Ah, you were assuming to do with PC platforms too? Yeah the post is just referring to unlicensed (i.e. unofficial) Xbox 360 memory cards and possibly Hard Drives. Nothing to do with anything outside of the Xbox. :)

Had the OP explained a bit more fully I wouldn't have had to ask.

Per Joystiq:

In plain English, this means that any third-party Memory Unit you might have been using will be rendered useless.

It goes on to say:
Mr. Hryb suggests moving any saves on said devices get moved to an authorized one, unless losing access to "stored profile or saves games" simply ain't no thang for you.

Unauthorized or is it any third-party Memory card?? Hard to say since even Joystiq has conflicting information. Either way, no need to be snarky. Pinoy is a well respected member here.

And judging by your additional posts, I'm guessing you use the feature of the forum that lets you see what the newest post at HDF is, regardless of the subforum it's placed in. This post was specifically placed in the gaming section. The OP didn't need to be anymore specific.

By unauthorized, I'm assuming they mean any 3rd party product which doesn't bear the official Xbox logo (I know on the original Xbox microsoft licensed loads of 3rd parties to make them).

Ummmmm, I didnt even know you could use unofficial mem cards :o

Of course that doesnt make what they are doing ok, but wow I had no idea :lol:

Bastards :(

Thanks, I'm quite familiar with Google. The word is unlicensed not unofficial and it seems to be to do with Xbox360 mainly as far as I can gather.

Therefore I'm not concerned.

Had the OP explained a bit more fully I wouldn't have had to ask.

Unlicensed, unofficial, unauthorized... whatever, it all ends up being the same thing when it comes to gaming peripherals. I'm also unaware of MS 'licensing' any memory cards for any other type of hardware *except* XBOX360's :huh

There are no officially licensed non-MS Memory Cards for 360.

Also, Major Nelson won't confirm that this won't affect people with cloned (ebay bought) HDDs.

Microsoft spokesperson Major Nelson announced on his blog that "unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360" once consumers download and install the system's anticipated November update. (http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/update-uproar-xbox-360-revision-will-disable-quot-unauthorized-quot-memory-cards/1364906)

http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/ga/buzz/feature/vg22/xboxmemory_300.jpg

Seems Datel responded - makers of popular Third Party products.

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/10/21/datel-responds-360-lock-out

Makes me wonder, if a well known manufacturer (or at least packaging) of known "3rd party" products are curious of the impending lock out - if any 3rd party product is actually licensed.

Since it uses USB - industry standard, FAT32 partitions - industry standard, what exactly can Microsoft do to lock out "unlicensed" products? Is it changing the partition format?

Seems Datel responded - makers of popular Third Party products.

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/10/21/datel-responds-360-lock-out

Makes me wonder, if a well known manufacturer (or at least packaging) of known "3rd party" products are curious of the impending lock out - if any 3rd party product is actually licensed.

Since it uses USB - industry standard, FAT32 partitions - industry standard, what exactly can Microsoft do to lock out "unlicensed" products? Is it changing the partition format?

I would imagine they use the USB identifying information. Similar to what Palm was doing with the Pre to make iTunes to think it was an iPod.

I would imagine they use the USB identifying information. Similar to what Palm was doing with the Pre to make iTunes to think it was an iPod.

I haven't looked into this, but I doubt its that simple as an ID serial.

iPods have their own file structure, so the Pre must be emulating more than just a key. If that were the case, plugging the Pre into any USB device would read it as an iPod.

Hook me up with some knowledge, where can I find this Pre info?

EDIT: Oh ho! Considered me learned! If the Wiki info is accurate, I guess an ID Key is enough to blatantly rip off/emulate hardware.

Wow...I guess Microsoft can do this super easy.

Seems Datel responded - makers of popular Third Party products.

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/10/21/datel-responds-360-lock-out

Makes me wonder, if a well known manufacturer (or at least packaging) of known "3rd party" products are curious of the impending lock out - if any 3rd party product is actually licensed.

Since it uses USB - industry standard, FAT32 partitions - industry standard, what exactly can Microsoft do to lock out "unlicensed" products? Is it changing the partition format?

Datel make a lot of dubious products which can enable gamers to modify software, exploit code etc as well as give yourselves unlimited lives, ammo etc in games.

Non of their stuff is ever licensed (making licensed 3rd party stuff is different as it means Microsoft receive a royalty, Mad Catz at the very least I know pay MS to manufacture controllers etc.)

Datel actually make a 3rd party 360 Hard Drive adapter (allowing you to use any 2.5" HDD) which isn't authorised by Microsoft. It'll be to lock stuff like that out.

What does a cloned hard drive accomplish with the XBox 360?

Chris

Datel make a lot of dubious products which can enable gamers to modify software, exploit code etc as well as give yourselves unlimited lives, ammo etc in games.

Non of their stuff is ever licensed (making licensed 3rd party stuff is different as it means Microsoft receive a royalty, Mad Catz at the very least I know pay MS to manufacture controllers etc.)

Datel actually make a 3rd party 360 Hard Drive adapter (allowing you to use any 2.5" HDD) which isn't authorised by Microsoft. It'll be to lock stuff like that out.

Dubios? I'm not sure I agree with that. I don't think a manufacturer creates a product for the intention of nefarious actions. That boils down to the user.

If Datel makes a binary hack designed to alter game code at the user's whim well then, haha, that is their right to make. With the DMCA in place, they can't openly make hardware/software to circumvent DRM, but that doesn't mean it can't be used as a tool to accomplish that :D haha

As for "authorized" and "unauthorized" that just boils down to certification and logo usage. The last thing we need is more royalties.

Dubios? I'm not sure I agree with that. I don't think a manufacturer creates a product for the intention of nefarious actions. That boils down to the user.


The legality of them is constantly questioned. That IMO makes them a bit dubious. Datel actually openly breach copy protections/region protections (they released a multi region DC disc with the sole purpose of circumventing region locking etc.) and their products for that sort of reason are always unauthorized.

Doesn't mean I havnt been buying Action Replay's since the 16 bit days though ;)

The legality of them is constantly questioned. That IMO makes them a bit dubious. Datel actually openly breach copy protections/region protections (they released a multi region DC disc with the sole purpose of circumventing region locking etc.) and their products for that sort of reason are always unauthorized.

Doesn't mean I havnt been buying Action Replay's since the 16 bit days though ;)

But the legality isn't in question as much anymore. There are strict guidelines (at least in the US, not sure how they are in the UK) about circumventing DRM. The DMCA is out of control, in my opinion.

But, region locking I wouldn't say is the same as DRM. Region Locking is designed prevent illegal copies of a product from functioning. We can run out and buy Region Unlocked DVD players (even Blu-Ray players) at a major retail. And some have instructions on how to change the region code on the player.

You couldn't, at least I didn't know about it haha, go to a store and buy a DRM circumventing Action Pro Replay device with the instructions in clear print in the manual. You'd have to buy product A and then scour the underbelly of the internet for the hacks, implementation, and other bumps to get it to work. To me those are two different animals.

Again, "unauthorized" to me doesn't mean it was certified by say Microsoft or Sony. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be allowed to work with their product for the basic functions of say storage. Why do we, as consumers, need to buy Microsoft/Sony approved only products? Let reliability burn the consumer in the end (note I always by first party, haha, one time I bought 3rd (unauthorized) it blanked out on me multiple times) but that isn't the companies job to decide/mandate.

This reminds me of the early Microsoft OS days. Only "authorized" code would work on their platform, but to get "authorized" Microsoft would have to screen the code, and suddenly you're product appeared as a Microsoft feature...fishy.

We can run out and buy Region Unlocked DVD players (even Blu-Ray players) at a major retail. And some have instructions on how to change the region code on the player.


There used to be very strict regulation on region free DVD players, in the UK a licensed DVD player was not allowed to be region free out of the box.

On Blu-ray that has become even stricter as you are not allowed to manufacture a multi region Blu-ray player. (even software locked like how they got around it with DVD players) It is hacks that are making a few players region free, though I certainly don't know of any major retailers selling region free Blu-ray players. It's a breach of the BDA contract to produce a player that can be easily switched between regions and such a player would not be able to have a Blu-ray logo on it.

Region protection is considered as sacred as piracy protection by some. Products which bypass region protection (such as the Freeloader on GC) were constantly being locked down and are dubious as it is a grey area as to whether producing something which is capable of making a device do something it was not designed/supposed to do is legal. (the manufacturers certainly cry that it's not, however it seems to depend on the mood of the judge as to which way they fall.)

What does a cloned hard drive accomplish with the XBox 360?

Chris
It saves you money over purchasing the official one.
Dubios? I'm not sure I agree with that. I don't think a manufacturer creates a product for the intention of nefarious actions. That boils down to the user.

If Datel makes a binary hack designed to alter game code at the user's whim well then, haha, that is their right to make. With the DMCA in place, they can't openly make hardware/software to circumvent DRM, but that doesn't mean it can't be used as a tool to accomplish that :D haha

As for "authorized" and "unauthorized" that just boils down to certification and logo usage. The last thing we need is more royalties.

Datel does make a pandora battery for the psp's... just saying.

What does a cloned hard drive accomplish with the XBox 360?

Chris

People get the 360 casing in bulk from Ali-baba and put in regular 2.5" drives. Slap on some cracked firmware with the serial number of an official drive and you've got yourself a product that will easily sell for $80 on ebay for $30 worth of parts. Multiply it times a few hundred and you can see why there are so many on ebay.

Literally thousands of 360 users could be SOL if they go after the cloned drives. The buyers really had no way of knowing. The drives are usually sold as lightly used or refurbished so the buyer isn't expecting original packaging.

Could get pretty ugly, but I'd hope MS would have the sense not to go after the HDDs since so many people would be affected (who didn't do anything intentionally disingenuous).

But, they could.

All this proprietary stuff with the 360 makes me glad I have a PS3. :D

Normally Sony is the one going proprietary but they are pretty open with the PS3 for the hard drives & memory cards. IMO, this will just move more people to decide to get a PS3 I think. I know if I was trying to decide this would push me to the PS3. Dumb move by MS.

MS wants $49.99 for 512 megs of memory in 2009.

Gates said all you'd ever need is a few hundred k soo....;)

different types of memory :p

He always said 64k (was it?) of RAM was more than you'd ever need. Bet if he saw the specs for even Windows 95 he'd be eating humble pie with that comment :p