Third party peripheral firm Datel, who make a range of Max Memory storage units for Xbox 360, says it's "disappointed" with MS's decision to stop unofficial memory units working with the 360's upcoming dashboard update.
"We are following this issue and awaiting the outcome like everyone else," a Datel rep told CVG.
"If the Major Nelson blog is to be taken at face value then we're disappointed to see that Microsoft are taking these steps to prevent customers from exercising their freedom of choice.
"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."
I don't know what the quality of Datel products are like but it's just typical of M$ forcing people to pay more, I still can't believe the price of that bloody wireless adaptor.
Exactly Stoney cold one the most annoying thing about MS this gen (apart from the obvious reliability issues) is how much they want for their peripherals. I for one will not pay their extortionate prices for their gear. Now shutting out peoples choice with 3rd party stuff is just madness, not a good way to treat existing customers or attract new ones with such a closed policy as regards to hardware.
It might not be directly involved with the 360 but I wonder whether this will be picked up legally at all. What I mean by this is as to how they would be able to get away with something which stops freedom of choice. Especially when people have already forked out for the products which will now stop working. My ultimate point here being the lawsuit against Microsoft about only supplying one Browser with their new OS yet surely this is much worse than that because they actually didn't force you to use their browser!
Ever since Bill Gates took a step back things seem to have been a little bumpy. At times like with Windows 7 they can be really good and innovative but other times like with this and Games for Windows Live they really do take the p**s!
Tell me about it. I'm still using the 20GB hard drive. It's almost full but there is no way I'm paying Ł90 for a 120GB version.
What's even worse is that today I saw a 1TB external hard drive going for Ł65 on the high street, paying Ł90 for a 120GB drive that can only be used for one thing doesn't compare favourably at all.
I'm 100% with Datel on this one but would have used words a lot stronger than "disappointed"...ffs Microsoft, do the right thing for the consumer for once and not the bank balance!
I mean, how big is the memory card market? They're just for kids / people too cheap to buy a console with a hard-drive. Give them a break!
Likewise how much MORE money would they make if they sold an EMPTY HD Caddy, which you could put an off the shelf HDD in? I for would have upgraded my HDD by now had this been the way it worked. But I will not pay through the nose for an MS branded upgrade.
MS don't seem to do "competitive". They do "wait until you've bought in, and remove all other options".
Forcing you to buy official memory cards is certainly a bonus for MS but it's not the reason they're doing it. They're stopping companies releasing peripherals that allow you to flash your console through an SD card. At the moment people have to jump through hoops to apply custom firmware. If a device that made playing illegal copies of 360 games as easy as using an R4 on your DS, piracy would sky-rocket.
Memory cards like this: http://www.destructoid.com/use-micro-sd-in-an-xbox-360-memory-card--132094.phtml
Can be used for 360 hacking, hacking to use pirate games & modding save games in favourof the cheater.
You can use removable storage for the PS3 becuase Sony actually made the PS3 very, very hard to hack. But MS in their rush to bring their products to the shelf have made their machine just as easy to hack as the Wii. I agree with cutting out piracy as much as possable but its becuase of Microsofts slap-dash approach that they are forced to ban the use of Memory cards like the one in the link. But if MS actually gave a toss about the end user they would block the use of SD-Card memory units by using the electronic model number and all other 3rd party cards that worked in the same way as the offical MS one would still work fine. They don't give a toss about the end-user and think of their wallet first.
Memory cards like this: http://www.destructoid.com/use-micro-sd-in-an-xbox-360-memory-card--132094.phtml
Can be used for 360 hacking, hacking to use pirate games & modding save games in favourof the cheater.
You can use removable storage for the PS3 becuase Sony actually made the PS3 very, very hard to hack. But MS in their rush to bring their products to the shelf have made their machine just as easy to hack as the Wii. I agree with cutting out piracy as much as possable but its becuase of Microsofts slap-dash approach that they are forced to ban the use of Memory cards like the one in the link. But if MS actually gave a toss about the end user they would block the use of SD-Card memory units by using the electronic model number and all other 3rd party cards that worked in the same way as the offical MS one would still work fine. They don't give a toss about the end-user and think of their wallet first.
Sadly like most of the big compaies in the world, I must admit I thought it was the blu-ray that was holding up the pirates rather than anythng else, but hey what do I know
way to be harsh to the consumer M$! you'd think they'd be umm is nice the word? since theres a world recsession on! oh wait a damn minute, they are thinking of the recession, but only for themselves! sick! you can get a 500gb harddrive for a ps3 for 30 odd quid on amazon, probably even cheaper if you really look!
Have to agree with a number of you who have posted here. MS in my view are not playing fair, in I will go as far to say they are actually punishing us for our loyalty.
But, Sony and Apple (especially Apple) have the same agenda. Force it's customers to HAVE to buy from them. Which I think long term affects them.
Microsoft doing this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Sure weren't Microsoft brought before the European Commission a few years ago because of the internet explorer interfering with non-Microsoft browsers. I can't remember the exact details but it was due to possible monopoly/bullying tactics which the EU said no no, bad Microsoft.
This is exactly how I feel aswell. It's like a love-hate relationship. I love the Xbox360 but I hate the greed-before customer care attitude that Microsoft uses. They seem to love p**sing us of to make some extra money. From the overpriced peripherals to the absolute rip off prices we get for the DLC and XBLA games.
To be honest I think Datel and other non-licenced companies should have seen this coming.
How long did they think they could get away with selling unlicenced products, when their competitors had to obtain a licence from Microsoft to legitimately sell 3rd party accessories for the Xbox360?
I really don't have much sympathy for Datel or the other moaners I'm afraid. If you can't afford to buy a legitimate licenced product, then don't buy one at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.
The reason why Microsoft have blocked these memory cards is because it is way to hack into the 360 and your profile by moving your profile to the pc and hacking it that way people were unlocking all the stuff in the avatar store and also unlocking achievements.
The reason why Microsoft have blocked these memory cards is because it is way to hack into the 360 and your profile by moving your profile to the pc and hacking it that way people were unlocking all the stuff in the avatar store and also unlocking achievements.
It seems like a perfectly valid reason if you ask me.
Unfortunately, it's the only realistic way of stopping these people from doing this sort of thing is to ban the use of this equipment. So yet again it's the cheating scum of this world that ruin it for those who want to use these products legitimately.
If you can't afford to buy a legitimate licenced product, then don't buy one at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.
That's not really a valid argument. Maybe smaller companies can't afford to get the MS license. Y'know, nobody's forcing anyone to buy games or anything either but when I see the price of MS-branded equipment compared to pretty much anything else (hard drives in particular) it's disgusting.
Maybe they'd see more sales if they lowered their own prices rather than k**bbling the competition.
according to moneysoft theres no such thing as the US constitution. i thought money gouging was illegal........... O yea, sorry i forgot, there M$ the law does not apply to them. i was watching the wedge today and found a perfect slogan for them. "moneysoft, helping you, make us rich!
The reason why Microsoft have blocked these memory cards is because it is way to hack into the 360 and your profile by moving your profile to the pc and hacking it that way people were unlocking all the stuff in the avatar store and also unlocking achievements.
This is a memory card product that has been in the shops about 6 months. You are refering to game save hacking that has been going on since the 360 came out - and that is mostly done on official memory cards and HDD's using adaptor hardware.
I really don't have much sympathy for Datel or the other moaners I'm afraid. If you can't afford to buy a legitimate licenced product, then don't buy one at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.
Imagine you bought a VW car and had to sign a licence to say you would only buy VW oil filters ever. And VW charged Ł100 for their oil filter. Then a "third party" "unlicenced" company came out with an oil filter for Ł15...... hmm????
The reason todays VW Oil filters arent Ł100 and the cheap brand Ł15 is because of fair market competition and consumer choice. Thats why you can buy the proper Ł25 VW oil filter and the "other brand"s Ł15 oil filter.
what else would you expect from greedy greedy microsoft. Cant wait for them to put the x-box live subscription prices up to. They just dont listen to their customers and only see pound signs. I for one hav just canceled my x-box live account and wen its run out will just switch to the awul ps3 lol at least its free online and allows third party stuff!!
Tell me about it. I'm still using the 20GB hard drive. It's almost full but there is no way I'm paying Ł90 for a 120GB version.
What's even worse is that today I saw a 1TB external hard drive going for Ł65 on the high street, paying Ł90 for a 120GB drive that can only be used for one thing doesn't compare favourably at all.
Indeed, I bought a Lacie 1TB external drive for Ł85 last weekend. There were cheaper ones for Ł65 but I need my backup drive to be very reliable and so I payed more as I trust the Lacie drives. 120GB for Ł90 is more than extortionate!
But then sony are doing a similar thing on the psp. I have to buy Memory sticks. They are however not as extortionate as MS's hard drives.
I really don't have much sympathy for Datel or the other moaners I'm afraid. If you can't afford to buy a legitimate licenced product, then don't buy one at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.
Imagine you bought a VW car and had to sign a licence to say you would only buy VW oil filters ever. And VW charged Ł100 for their oil filter. Then a "third party" "unlicenced" company came out with an oil filter for Ł15...... hmm????
The reason todays VW Oil filters arent Ł100 and the cheap brand Ł15 is because of fair market competition and consumer choice. Thats why you can buy the proper Ł25 VW oil filter and the "other brand"s Ł15 oil filter.
There are tonnes of bits that are "dealer-only" and are expensive. Depending on the car it can be certain sections of the exhaust, suspension arms, door catches... the list goes on. That's life.
I really don't have much sympathy for Datel or the other moaners I'm afraid. If you can't afford to buy a legitimate licenced product, then don't buy one at all. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything.
Imagine you bought a VW car and had to sign a licence to say you would only buy VW oil filters ever. And VW charged Ł100 for their oil filter. Then a "third party" "unlicenced" company came out with an oil filter for Ł15...... hmm????
The reason todays VW Oil filters arent Ł100 and the cheap brand Ł15 is because of fair market competition and consumer choice. Thats why you can buy the proper Ł25 VW oil filter and the "other brand"s Ł15 oil filter.
Have you ever had to do any work on a car? There are tonnes of bits that are "dealer-only" and are expensive. Depending on the car it can be certain sections of the exhaust, suspension arms, door catches... the list goes on. That's life.
No. There is nothing manufacturers can do to stop third parties making any part of their car. I used to work at the parts and pricing department at Jaguar Landrover (in fact they re-brand third party parts themselves ie alloy wheels etc). They can however specify that you void the warranty unless approved parts are used.
It might not be directly involved with the 360 but I wonder whether this will be picked up legally at all. What I mean by this is as to how they would be able to get away with something which stops freedom of choice.
To be honest mate, I think they would just say they were "protecting their assets" and that they created the product and have the right to stop others cashing in on their invention. I don't like it, but it's what they will do
It might not be directly involved with the 360 but I wonder whether this will be picked up legally at all. What I mean by this is as to how they would be able to get away with something which stops freedom of choice.
To be honest mate, I think they would just say they were "protecting their assets" and that they created the product and have the right to stop others cashing in on their invention. I don't like it, but it's what they will do
Quite true but we as a consumer do still have a right to choose what we buy. Also will microsoft be re-einstating the money which was spent on products which will no longer work? I very much doubt it but people are going to p**sed off in a big way about losing money on products which could potentially no longer work. That said I bet some hacks will appear soon enough to enable these products.
What people aren't considering is that by ensuring that third parties adhere to Microsoft's licencing agreement you will be getting a guarantee that the device has had stringent testing and will not corrupt data or damage your system.
Some third parties are obviously pretty well-respected, but you can't expect MS to vary their rules based on the reputation of a couple of companies. I'd rather that Datel comply with their regulations than have the market flooded with potentially system-damaging equipment.
I mean, how big is the memory card market? They're just for kids / people too cheap to buy a console with a hard-drive. Give them a break!
Likewise how much MORE money would they make if they sold an EMPTY HD Caddy, which you could put an off the shelf HDD in? I for would have upgraded my HDD by now had this been the way it worked. But I will not pay through the nose for an MS branded upgrade.
MS don't seem to do "competitive". They do "wait until you've bought in, and remove all other options".
I love my 360, but I hate this mentality.
it has nothing to do with people being too cheap look at the prices microsoft are asking for a 120gb harddrive
What people aren't considering is that by ensuring that third parties adhere to Microsoft's licencing agreement you will be getting a guarantee that the device has had stringent testing and will not corrupt data or damage your system.
Some third parties are obviously pretty well-respected, but you can't expect MS to vary their rules based on the reputation of a couple of companies. I'd rather that Datel comply with their regulations than have the market flooded with potentially system-damaging equipment.
Precisely. Altitude, I salute you. Lots of people seem to have got it in their heads that Microsoft have banned all 3rd party accessory suppliers and made a monopoly of supply just for themselves. Nonsense. There are several licenced third party suppliers you can buy from if you don't want to buy a MS-made product.
MS just want to ban unlicenced 3rd party products, whether for quality reasons or other reasons, but that's up to them. MS have NOT got a monopoly in supply of Xbox accessories.
For those who don't know or realize that people can hack the console using M$ very own memory cards and HDDs. Before Xbox there have always been use of 3rd party products and no one has had a problem with it. I have 3rd Party PS2 Memory cards that have never steered me wrong and Gamecube MC as well that have a lot more space and are running just fine with the console. You can't blame people for trying to save a couple of bucks during recession.
I just registered to tell you people how retarded you are.
MS is probably just doing this to help them make money.
To prevent hacking meh, the system really isnt hacked by a memory card. YOU must take apart your xbox 360, remove the DVD drive and flash the firmware on your PC to hack the system. Sure there are people who "hack" gamer score, that's more like cheating.
What people do with these memory cards is take off their user profile. They then do some stuff which makes it so they can unlock achievements they did not earn for games. This is probably the only "hacking" they can do with memory cards.
So once again for all you retards out there, people cannot hack the system with memory cards. Even if MS makes it so these Datel memory cards do NOT work anymore, there is still ways to hack your gamer score. I can get my profile off my hard drive if I wanted to, I have an adapter that allows me to hook my hard drive to my PC. So this will not stop gamer score cheaters. All this memory card does is gives them faster access to their saves. In the end MS is just shooting themselves in the foot, they will have angry customers new and old, especially the old ones who spent money on a product that no longer works, I smell a lawsuit possibly.
Now, I'm the last person to defend Microsoft, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a second; if Datel's MU is "unofficial", does that mean they reverse engineered a Microsoft one to build their own? If they did there's not much they can do if MS decides to blacklist them as they don't have a license to make those MUs. I like the idea behind a more standard card like SD, etc, but I can understand why they don't - most probably security.
Had they provided a better way to protect the game saves from hacking while also providing some way to back the data up, then this wouldn't have been a problem; most likely they'll get it right on their 3rd try! Sometimes you do have to wonder if Microsoft has perhaps farmed out support/pricing of 360 storage peripherals to "Imbeciles Inc." As it seems like everything having to do with storage options is being handled by a someone who has had a failed lobotomy. I just don't understand how anyone can think that voiding little Susie's save games is a good idea!
Dont really get this they ban datel from making mus becuse of hacking when you can order a transfer cable off m$ or just take apart a hard drive.And when M$ restet gamerscore they most of the time dont have proof
Now, I'm the last person to defend Microsoft, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a second; if Datel's MU is "unofficial", does that mean they reverse engineered a Microsoft one to build their own? If they did there's not much they can do if MS decides to blacklist them as they don't have a license to make those MUs. I like the idea behind a more standard card like SD, etc, but I can understand why they don't - most probably security.
Had they provided a better way to protect the game saves from hacking while also providing some way to back the data up, then this wouldn't have been a problem; most likely they'll get it right on their 3rd try! Sometimes you do have to wonder if Microsoft has perhaps farmed out support/pricing of 360 storage peripherals to "Imbeciles Inc." As it seems like everything having to do with storage options is being handled by a someone who has had a failed lobotomy. I just don't understand how anyone can think that voiding little Susie's save games is a good idea!
Question is why wait for so long before doing this? They should of done this as soon as Datel released the product.
What people aren't considering is that by ensuring that third parties adhere to Microsoft's licencing agreement you will be getting a guarantee that the device has had stringent testing and will not corrupt data or damage your system.
Some third parties are obviously pretty well-respected, but you can't expect MS to vary their rules based on the reputation of a couple of companies. I'd rather that Datel comply with their regulations than have the market flooded with potentially system-damaging equipment.
I've been using Datel products since the 1980s (cart in the back of the C64!) and I trust them WAY more than I do Microsoft.
The most damage done to Xbox 360s has been done down to Microsoft design philosophy, greed and corner cutting - don't you forget that. Hell, I hadn't owned my 360 for a week before I wound up sending it back under warranty, and that's without using any 3rd party stuff.
^^ This would be a non-issue IMO; unless the Datel was an officially licenced Memory Unit that was later being blocked for some reason... still it's funny to see Microsoft being so conservative about accessories. Why the hell can't they allow free movement of files from PC's to 360? After all, you will never stop cheaters from cheating on anything including gamerscores and nothing they can do with piracy as well. Seriously, there are more downsides to users not being able to do this. Lack of 'user generated content' - big in many multi-platform games that became unpopular on 360. Cash is another problem; but not Microsoft problem, we all live in democratic world, yet the 360 world is still in communism.
Had they provided a better way to protect the game saves from hacking while also providing some way to back the data up, then this wouldn't have been a problem; most likely they'll get it right on their 3rd try! Sometimes you do have to wonder if Microsoft has perhaps farmed out support/pricing of 360 storage peripherals to "Imbeciles Inc." As it seems like everything having to do with storage options is being handled by a someone who has had a failed lobotomy. I just don't understand how anyone can think that voiding little Susie's save games is a good idea!
You don't understand with hacking its a game of cat and mouse.
People can mod their consoles DVD drive since around April-May of 2006. Since then its been a back and forth battle with MS. Hackers seem to be winning for the most part. Every time MS has tried to do something new with the drives, the hackers have found a work around. I really think its time for MS to quit trying to prevail, they always get beat in the end. They have tried things such as changing drives, putting epoxy(LOL) on the chips to block people from accessing the chips, but a little heat or special product can get it off, they have changed drive manufactures several times, the latest drive is a liteon and it was the hardest for hackers so far. They had to take off the TSOP(chip), decap it with acid then connect it to a programmer, then decrypt the firmware. Quite some work, but MS got owned!
Even if MS found a way to protect the gamesaves better, people will still find a way. What people do is take the game saves off the consoles memory unit or harddrive, then put it on their PC. So they can download other peoples save, and make it appear to be their own. They do something called resigning. It makes it so altering the saves doesn't affect the saves digital signature, therefore it appears to be a valid save to the xbox.
^ Yeah, I suppose there are flaws that still allow pirated content that Microsoft cannot get around any other way... I guess they wouldn't have scored such an own goal for the loss of a few HDD and memory card sales otherwise.
On a side note (knowing very little about networking), is there even a point to having a wireless adapter on the 360? Wouldn't you be severly bottlenecked by the USB interface it connects to? I always kind of half thought that was a contributing factor to my wirelessly connected 360 being slower than my wired connection - but, I could be waaay off base here.
^ Yeah, I suppose there are flaws that still allow pirated content that Microsoft cannot get around any other way... I guess they wouldn't have scored such an own goal for the loss of a few HDD and memory card sales otherwise.
On a side note (knowing very little about networking), is there even a point to having a wireless adapter on the 360? Wouldn't you be severly bottlenecked by the USB interface it connects to? I always kind of half thought that was a contributing factor to my wirelessly connected 360 being slower than my wired connection - but, I could be waaay off base here.
Wireless is slower than a hardwired connection at this point in time anyway.
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