Is 360 piracy a big thing now?

[smokedog]

Just noticed on another forum, GoW talk is banned. Due to a number of people will pirate versions.

Didn't the new dashboard update stop the hack from working?

[Mad Gear]

No

[Yoshimax]

Apparently not - I think it was a misnomer that it had solved it.

I see it going one of two way :

i) MS will let this slide as they can only play direct copies of discs (they can't modify code which would lead to live being ****ed by idiots a-la Halo2) - They leave this and hope people don't look for alternative methods (i.e modchips).

ii) They will add something further down the line to kill it off.

For me the hacked code would be the worst thing that could happen - It almost completely ruined Halo2 matchmaking for a while. I'm amazed there isn't a modchip in existence yet - They must've done some job on the hardware security side.

[importaku]

My friend was on about a shop in leeds that sells 360 copies but i thought he was just talking his usual **** as he usually comes out with some right blinders, Is piracy possible on 360?

[Crimson Day]

No its not a big thing really, there will always be piracy but with the 360 unless your very skilled very few people will be takign there 360 apart to use the hack, when other hacks come out it might be a bigger deal but i for one will not be hacking my 360 as i like jsut having 1 or 2 games at a time and really getting my moneys worth rather than 20 i wont really enjoy that much.

[Yoshimax]

You can hack the DVD firmware - tricky process you need to dismantle the 360, flash the firmware, put it back together and then you can only run direct copies of the actual discs. They are very easily found to download if you know where to look.

[bignige]

Very easy process, even easier if you have a certain Hitachi drive (I have) - and one I actually considered doing just to play Gears of War. If M$ released games simultanously it'd cut out the desire to do this. It's getting bigger:

Xbox 360 Firmware Hack Brings Good news for DL DVD Manufacturers

Digitimes are reporting that the 360 firmware hack had resulted in an ever growing demand for Dual Layer DVD discs. Before the hack, sales of the respective media were slow due to a limited need and expensive price.

quote:

Before the hack became widely available, sales for DVD+R/-R discs had been sluggish due to its relative high retail price and limited applications. Demand is also driven from the extending penetration rate of DL-support recorders, the sources added.

Global DVD+R/-R DL disc shipments are expected to reach 100 million in 2006 and should double in 2007, according to Japan-based Fujiwara research. Taiwan players are more optimistic about shipment trends, projecting sales of more than 100 million DVD+R/-R discs for this year.

Current DVD+R/-R DL disc shipments are dominated by Taiwan makers including CMC Magnetics and Ritek, with CMC taking about a 20-30% share of the market while Ritek has 60-70%. With Japanese vendors placing more emphasis on Blu-ray Disc (BD)-R/-RW and HD DVD-R deployment, Taiwan vendors should see stronger side benefits accordingly.


News Source: Digitimes

[importaku]

Wow thats quite shocking to me, i didnt expect the 360 to be cracked that fast. I heard people were finding exploits & stuff but i didnt think they were playing copied games kind of exploits. I thought microsoft would have protected it better.

Hope it dosent damage the 360 games sales too much as it would be a shame. Yeah i know they can be kind of pricy but playing copies is no excuse. Although im nintendo's bitch i have a lot of admiration for microsoft & how they have treat the uk market & if i get a 360 it would be a PAL version which coming from my mouth is probably the highest compliment i could give them.

Wonder how long sonys new monster will resists the pirates & the wii too.

[Crimson Day]

Wow thats quite shocking to me, i didnt expect the 360 to be cracked that fast. I heard people were finding exploits & stuff but i didnt think they were playing copied games kind of exploits. I thought microsoft would have protected it better.

Hope it dosent damage the 360 games sales too much as it would be a shame. Yeah i know they can be kind of pricy but playing copies is no excuse. Although im nintendo's bitch i have a lot of admiration for microsoft & how they have treat the uk market & if i get a 360 it would be a PAL version which coming from my mouth is probably the highest compliment i could give them.

Wonder how long sonys new monster will resists the pirates & the wii too.

Its not damaging sales at all think it was march it was hacked so its not a new thing mate

[importaku]

Thats good to hear (^_^)

Although saying that people who pirate are going to do it regardless. Usually the chav types that hang out at the cross green carboot sale on sundays.

[Concept]

Firmware updates and the fact Live and the Dashboard on the 360 can easily be configured and had stringent security measures from the off, surely means that MS can at any time they like put in new measures to better protect the system from piracy.

You'd think so anyway.

[Mad Gear]

Not everyone has access to live so it'll be hard to force updates. If updates are put on the software surely the pirates would just remove any offending files?

[MattyD]

When I was shopping around for my 360 a couple of weeks ago I was stunned at the number of 360s being sold on Fleabay that had pirate games installed on the hard drive. They call it 'eXtreme' or something but I don't know if the games onboard were original Xbox titles (a practice that's long been widespread) or 360 titles, although the size of 360 titles ought to prevent people putting too many onto one HDD.

[Yoshimax]

As far as I'm aware it is not possible to install & execute retail games from the HDD. You sure they weren't just loaded with live arcade stuff ?

[Geezer]

Not everyone has access to live so it'll be hard to force updates. If updates are put on the software surely the pirates would just remove any offending files?

Nope, if they remove it the discs won't run thankfully