Modded Xbox? You won't be playing Halo 2 online then.

What about us poor bums who moved from the states to australia and took our original games with us, only to find that only by modding our boxes would they work, I was going to go out and get live this weekend, sucks to be me.

Oh well, there is always http://teamxlink.co.uk =)

They're getting too fuckin greedy.

Over a million dollars in the first day?
WHO FUCKIN CARES IF A FEW PEOPLE DOWNLOADED IT ILLEGALLY?

One... million... dollars...

I was playing on-line today with several people who have modded xboxes. You just need to have the switched type. You switch off the mod before you connect to Live. Requires the purchase of Halo2, though...

Dominic Arenas:

How are they greedy if these people with modded boxes are taking peoples hard work from them for free? I'm a programmer it sucks to have your work stolen. And i'm glad they're putting an end to mod chipped xboxers.

You CAN'T play ANY Live! games online with an illegally downloaded (unlocked) game or a game saved to your harddrive. To play the game via Live!, you have to switch to non-mod mode. You have to use the original BIOS. So you can't play a cracked DVD--and you can't load the game from the harddrive.

In other words, by preventing modders from going online, Microsoft has eliminated the only impetus of many would-be hackers for actually buying games. Good thinking, Microsoft.

by preventing modders from going online, Microsoft has eliminated the only impetus of many would-be hackers for actually buying games. Good thinking, Microsoft.

Yep, and the Live experience is much better for the lack of cheating, aimbots, invulnerable players, superfast cars etc.

Why do you need to modded XBox? Leave it alone as standard. Learn and live with it.

I've modded my XBox not to steal games but to keep playing it. I got one of the earliest XBoxes released (1.0) with the crappy DVD drives. If I try to play off disk, 9 times out of 10 I'll get a dirty disk error. Now I can copy them to the HD and not have to worry about the crappy drive MS put in there. So, let's see here. $100 to replace the drive to make it usable or $30 to put in a mod chip and run everything off the drive? Easy decision, I'd say.

Uncle Sam,

Why do you download/buy software for your computer? Why not just 'leave it alone as standard. Learn and live with it.' If that is your position, why do you even care that people are being banned from Live!? Another note, anyone who is in the xbox mod scene for real will have already had a switchable modchip and this will not affect them. More than likely everyone who is being banned are the equivalent to so-called 'script-kiddies' in the hacker scene. They sent their box off to someone to have it modded and they are total idiots, kinda like the author of the post above mine.

XBConnect lets you play halo2 and many others online with no fee!!

works by using your pc to trick your xbox into thinking the internet games are on your systemlink.
You dont get the xbox live content (or the price), but you can use all the xbox features here.

I've been playing Halo2 online with no troubles with the full retail (legit) copy for 2 days now. Free

Blah blah blah... Enough already! Just go get a Playstation 2.

All you modders out there are stinking thieves. Downloading music rathing than buying it (like you buy drugs and dope) is wrong, whether you want to believe it or not. Microsoft could go out of business for all I care. The fact is taking something that does not belong to you is....what do you call it again....Stealing, yeh that's right. Live with it? I don't know. People have been stealing software and music for years and it won't stop now. Microsoft took the ethical path and forced people pay. Hey why not let me come to your home and steal you money from your family that you have worked hard to accumilate. Don't like that? Then pay for what you use. You buy weed and crack then buy games, it's a little better for you. Think of the programmers who work nights and weekend for a small pay to create the games for you. They have families to support jsut like you DA's.

Dark_underlord,

Your comments are, well, colorful. I modded my xbox to see if i could, basically, and now i enjoy it as a media player. The xbox media player software makes a great addition to my home theatre system. Yes, i could rip games and do illegal things, I chose the way of self-restraint and do not. I'm somewhat upset that I can't go online with that guy, but it did give me the impetus to go out and buy a new xbox that lets me play online, more money in their pocket i guess.

I'm geoff's boat. I modded my Xbox, and added a bigger HD, but I don't pirate. I'm a software guy, I know it hurts others to pirate, so I don't.

What's nice is now my xbox can play my music, my videos, and my pictures over my LAN off my PC. I can surf on my bigscreen TV and all of the games I own are on the harddrive. Plus, I have backups now of all my data, esp. my saved games, so when the hard drive does crap out, I don't lose my time invested in playing.

There is nothing illegal about modding the xbox. If you do illegal stuff afterwards, then you simply have no spine. But now, I don't need to be in the office to share my media with the family. Best $60 I've ever spent.

hey guys
I was a little hars yesterday after going to many different sites and see people complain that microsoft is greedy for not allowing them to pirate games. one user said out right "they make billions what is a few free games for the little guy". That may be true but ......that's life I guess. I did not acknowledge the modders out there that actually mod their xbox for wlolesome reasons and not illegal purposes. everyone at my job modd their xbox but so they can buy one copy of helo and share it among 30 guys. Some of these are programmers themselves and don't make much money so you would think they would understand. Either way I hate software companies who make product and restrict key features that do not make them ilegal to use but open up the possibilities to do so. TIVO, iTunes, MSN, Real just to name a few. The RIAA had demanded protection for content at the cost of the coolest features one can desire and that pisses me off. If it was not for pirating and dishonesty we would all be enjoying music the way we want, watching DVD's on any device we want, be able to record TV shows and move them to DVD's easily but..... no. The world is not perfect I guess and theft and dishonesty rules supreme in a world where it is cool to rip off someone at any cost. I enjoy my xbox as well as you guys. Play hard, Play Live, Play honest.
later dudes.

Are there any plans for companies to build an "open source" game system?

hey guys
I was a little hars yesterday after going to many different sites and see people complain that microsoft is greedy for not allowing them to pirate games. one user said out right "they make billions what is a few free games for the little guy". That may be true but ......that's life I guess. I did not acknowledge the modders out there that actually mod their xbox for wlolesome reasons and not illegal purposes. everyone at my job modd their xbox but so they can buy one copy of helo and share it among 30 guys. Some of these are programmers themselves and don't make much money so you would think they would understand. Either way I hate software companies who make product and restrict key features that do not make them ilegal to use but open up the possibilities to do so. TIVO, iTunes, MSN, Real just to name a few. The RIAA had demanded protection for content at the cost of the coolest features one can desire and that pisses me off. If it was not for pirating and dishonesty we would all be enjoying music the way we want, watching DVD's on any device we want, be able to record TV shows and move them to DVD's easily but..... no. The world is not perfect I guess and theft and dishonesty rules supreme in a world where it is cool to rip off someone at any cost. I enjoy my xbox as well as you guys. Play hard, Play Live, Play honest.
later dudes.

Seems that one of the posters had it right. If you have X-box live and a mod box then you will have to switch off the mod. THat can be done with certain chips. Found one here...

http://www.xbox-modchips.com/x2lite.htm

Same people that who put out some solderless chips you wrote about in another article. I don't own an
xbox but it makes me want to buy one just to crack it open and see what it can do with a mod chip. I don't want to do anything illegal. Just always loved electronics. An Xbox running Linux, its own harddrive, (I would replace the DVD drive also if possible) Multimedia capable. Thats makes it worth buying.

Some of the posters seem a little bent outta shape about mod's, but I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm just love modifying computers.

Peace!!!

Yeah, lots of questions around what will XBL detect. Turning off the modchip by itself is generally not enough, so you will still get banned.

But now MS has a decent alternative, the Media Center Extender...but of course, you need to have a Media Center PC. Oh well... back to the modchip goodness.

Similar to Dark Underlord, I deeply dislike software companies that force us to buy things without being able to return them. Thank goodness for Blockbuster, Gamefly, etc., but imagine if they weren't around.

I am indeed against piracy, but I do believe in try-before-you-buy, esp. if you can't return the product once you try it! Can you imagine buying a pair of pants without being able to see if they fit? And then you can't return them? To me, THAT sounds like piracy... in reverse.

Most folks, I'm sure, pirate with the modchips, because they're kids. And most parents don't see that as harmful. What a funny place we live in, eh? :)

Again, XBConnect is fully legal, you can play legit and pirated games online with no fees.
modded xbox or not, makes no difference.

To everyone who is pissed about ms locking you out of live, I say Ha-Ha. You shouldnt be using thier crappy p[ay per use service anyway

i have a modchip, and yes, i copy games to my hard drive, but only the games that i own...especially Halo (not 2 yet). i copy it so that i can make new maps...and before anyone says this is taboo, it isnt, you cant play a modded map with a non-modded box(ive tried and am still looking for the way around it). i do this for the sport...its fun, to see what new weapons you can make, new maps...etc. i got banned from xbox live, i dont know how, and i dont know when, all i kno is that im pissed off at M$ for doing this. what did i ever do to them? they just stole $50 from me in the use of my xbox live. hundreds of others feel the same way and have been banned as well

The theives get what they deserve. I know how to do it but I choose not to mainly because it is illegal and not allowed. It is like robbing you from your bank account. Quit complaining and pay for your games

I think its kinda stupid to assume that all modders are cheaters and pirates. Modding a XBOX can be usefull for legitimate things. Its basically a full fledged computer thats being wasted most of the time. Why not extend its functionality? And some modders just want to fix something when MS wants them to pay for service. And some people just do it for the challenge.

well if u want a full fledged comp, then buy 1, u bought ur xbox as a games console, nothing more, nothing less, and ps2 mod chips r illegal in the uk, so prob wont be long before all mod chips r

well you ¨told that modded x-box is stealing.. well anyway.. like halo2 online one of the modes has been stoled straight from the game called unreal2 expanded multiplayer... so they stole ideas.. so why cant we stole their games...

25. Posted Nov 15, 2004, 5:21 PM ET by ant
well if u want a full fledged comp, then buy 1, u bought ur xbox as a games console, nothing more, nothing less, and ps2 mod chips r illegal in the uk, so prob wont be long before all mod chips r

ahhaha... all i can say to that one.. do you really think that works.. allthought the drugs are illegal too and they still flow in your country.. so what you are saying is that everything that is illegal stop's in short time.. hahahah.. be real man and grow up..

Anyone who thinks that a modded Xbox is just for pirates and cheaters is just plain ignorant. Modded Boxes are simply BETTER! Try keeping track of 50 CD and DVD games worrying about your kids are scratching them, Not a prob with Modded xBox just save to the HD and play. Play MP3's with on-screen visualizers , view photos, avi's, mpeg's, home movies divx movies or just about any other media type. Use it to check the weather online. http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/ Drop one of these in your car and you almost don't even need a head unit. If more people would allow Technology to grow on it's own instead of stomping on it because it does not benefit there profits margin the world would be a much better place today.

Hey to all the people saying modding is stealing or that if you modd you should be banned. That is bullshit. Same with anything else you mod. People do it for different reasons. Most people dont mod to do illegal stuff. You mod a car to make more power/go faster/handle better. What ever you mod the xbox so you dont have to worry about scratching your game or losing it. Most people bought tha game and then loaded it. Not stole it. With all good things come a bad thing. This has theft and cheats were cars have street racers and death. welcome to life. MS should not ban all the mod boxes they should make it were you have to have a code or serial number for the game to play online or even just to play on the box. Make it like computers.

Hey to all the people saying modding is stealing or that if you modd you should be banned. That is bullshit. Same with anything else you mod. People do it for different reasons. Most people dont mod to do illegal stuff. You mod a car to make more power/go faster/handle better. What ever you mod the xbox so you dont have to worry about scratching your game or losing it. Most people bought tha game and then loaded it. Not stole it. With all good things come a bad thing. This has theft and cheats were cars have street racers and death. welcome to life. MS should not ban all the mod boxes they should make it were you have to have a code or serial number for the game to play online or even just to play on the box. Make it like computers.

Fact is once I buy it , it's mine and if i wish to use it as a toaster then that's my freakin buisness. The piracey issue continues because a cheap lazy industry ( who spends much of it's time ripping off artists and programers who work uder their labels) has done nothing to upgrade it's security in almost 25 years and now cries fowl and whine's to the world their losing money. They had all kinds of time to change players, cd encryps and DVD and VHS protections. They did not spend the money then and the Gennie is out of the bottle now and can't be put back. Well Boooooo Hoooooo Hooooo. RETRAIN RETHINK REDO RE-ENCRYP REDESIGN REBUILD like the rest of us have been doing again and again . I have no pitty for those who CHOOSE to do nothing (or in this case too little too late)while the rest of the planet re educates itself repetedly time and time again. Buisnesses go under for less. Trust me, when you are on the top crying fowl, yours are the only ears that hear. Get off your asses and do something about it. macrovision......ha ...cracked in 80's

There are not that many modders in the world compare to umodded xboxs. So how much are these people really losing. The programmers are not losing money microsoft is. So if someone steals the game the programmers are not liek shit. They still get their pay for how ever long they work. And most people rent games and burn them so they are still playing 5$ lol which can go a long way lol. I've modded my xbox, but I only put my games on it ;)

Modding is not illegal and never will be. Once you buy a product you own it, it is your to do with as you please. With all the DVD burners and CD-rippers sold at the store why is it such a big deal to have a modded Xbox? If its illegal to copy a movie then why make it possible buy supplying the world with the means to do it? I have a modded xbox and to be honest I play it more now than ever. Not because I can steal games, but so I can get the bang for my buck. Those that don't have a modded xbox should get one it's well worth it, just as many have stated above. You can make it a virtual media server for your home, but not only that it also allows you to play all regions of movies and games. What I find really funny is how the new Xbox 360 has the same exact qualities as a modded xbox. Thats ok since MS did it, but not for the person with a mind of their own and know what they want out of something.

BTW I bought Halo2 the day it came out and have been playing it online with my modded xbox ever since. You just gotta know how to shut it off..;) How did Bill get the foundation for Windows again...? If you don't know then you should find out. Can you say Apple...

Personally mods are good and bad (mods giving you the power to save stuff to the hard drive is good or giving you the easy media center setup) mods giving you the power to fly around in a super tank on Halo 2 and blow crap to smithereens with the super chain gun is crap. Xbox live has the right to ban you (you dont own their service you use it just like your drivers license) Xbox live is their to start an online community and make it fun and enjoyable to the majority not to some punk trying to win with mods/hacks. Also mods have the chance to crash/damage a server causing harm to the owners.

It is illegal in the UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4650225.stm

Modding is not illegal in the US, yet. Will it be? probably not, because the mod can be used for different reasons, that are legal, spare copy of your own games etc.
1. Borrowing a game from a friend and copying it is.
2. Renting a game from blockbuster and copying it to your hd is.
3. Downloading a game is.
I play a LOT of online pc games, Microsoft has ways of telling if your game is legit (mainly cd-keys(but then there are always keygens out there)) They just choose to ban all mods to make it a lot easier on themselves. Otherwise it would require a team of programmers working 9-5 to keep up with the hackers trying to outsmart them. Take punkbuster for example (anticheat for online games), they do updates at least once a week for all the games that use their software to prevent cheating. Microsoft doesn't want to pay a lot of programmers to keep up with it so they ban everyone. If you want to play online, there is a way around it, Buy the game and disable the mod while you're playing online. Don't want to buy the game? oh well.

Whoever said the programmers are poorly paid is wrong, period. Unless they work for an upstart, the people that worked on halo 2 (the game that started all the controversy) ALL made more than most of us will see in our lifetimes.
If you are a programmer with mid-level talent/creativity/artistic ability and you don't make 100k a year, you aren't marketing yourself very well.

Programmers pfffffttt...outta work low pay pfffttt. Software writers....These people make top dollar no matter what and if they aint writing games their writing accounting software REMEMBER people games aren't the only software in the world. moddding is good so is ripping games my intent isnt to steal but to save money.....and all that jazz. I bought a modded one...I copy games from friends/blockbuster etc... I copy DVD's and music. I buy my share of games Dvd's and music but I also rip and download my share. so I dont care to b e on either side of this fence just right in the middle. My modded Xbox serves me well and I like it so far the world hasn't suffered because of my deeds Bill Gates is still rich, Movie companies ar STILL selling DVD's Musicians and artists are still making music, AND PROGRAMMERS/SOFWAREWRITERS/SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS are still writing programs and games..... So yeah pardon me for not giving a ...@#$%!!!
But everyone is still fine!

How many Xbox game dvd's do you own that seem to be scratched and or unplayable after the first week of play no matter how careful you are? You should be able to back up your investment as long as you own a legal copy. If that means saving it to your hard drive, so be it. If MS would do an exchange for the cost of media and shipping, about $6.00 I would change my position. Mod away....