This shameless attack on competition by Microsoft doesn’t come as a great surprise, but it’s one more reason why they deserve to lose the console war.
Microsoft has announced that the coming update for the 360 will ensure that only authorized memory units function with the 360. This means that after your 360 is updated you won’t be able to access any saved games on any form of memory that is not officially authorized.
Unfortunately, Sony and Nintendo have also done incredibly dickish things to their customers, and they deserve to lose it, too.
Maybe we should be keeping score, drawing a line in the relevant column each time they behave like the aggressive and anti-consumer arseholes they are, and the company with the most check marks at the end of the generation officially loses. Of course, by then it’ll be by definition a bit late to refuse to buy their console, so I doubt they’d care. Dammit.
UPDATE: Datel responds:
“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,” a company spokesperson told CVG. “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.”
Duh. That’s why they’re arbitrarily sabotaging you, silly.
FURTHER: This is Microsoft’s pissweak excuse:
According to the rep, Microsoft is looking to “protect the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE service from cheating, which is the primary purpose and use of these unauthorized MUs.”
What utter bullshit. How do you cheat with a memory unit?
I dont understand your point.
Are you suggesting that a company who invests millions into r&d for the production of a next gen machine should take no action when a third party markets parallel peripherals to be used with M$’s units?
Well… yes. Particularly when said peripherals – memory cards – have been on the market and bought by paying consumers already. To suddenly, and arbitrarily, make them not work – well, that’s profoundly anti-competitive and anti-consumer.
Microsoft CAN do it, obviously. But consumers have a right to be pissed off about it.
So by your rationale M$ owe some sort of responsibility to people who knowingly purchased third party peripherals that in many cases invalidated their warranties.
It’s not anti- competitive or it would be illegal.
“So by your rationale M$ owe some sort of responsibility to people who knowingly purchased third party peripherals that in many cases invalidated their warranties.”
A memory card “invalidated their warranties”? That’s just ridiculous. And M$ does owe some sort of responsibility to THEIR CUSTOMERS. They may not have bought the ludicrously overpriced M$ memory card, but they bought the bloody console.
“It’s not anti- competitive or it would be illegal.”
What? There are plenty of anti-competitive acts that aren’t “illegal”.
If one of the other companies didn’t also regularly screw over their customers, this would be one reason to move your purchasing over to them. For example, instead of buying more cross-platform games on Xbox Live, I’ll be buying them on PS3 because I can upgrade that hard drive at a reasonable price. To upgrade my 20GB 360 drive Microsoft wants to seriously rip me off – and since I don’t enjoy being ripped off, I’ll do what I can to avoid it.
Hopefully that will ultimately cost M$ money they would’ve earnt by NOT treating their customers like scum.
I think if you have a look at your terms and conditions it is pretty clear that only “official” M$ peripherals are recommended for use with the console.
You took a gamble when you decided to be a tight arse, and now you’ve been burnt and want to cry about it. Man up an cop it sweet and stop being a little bitch.
If you want to complain about something, try the cost of the officially branded stuff. Now thats obscene.
What is it with you AG people and assuming everything’s personal? When I criticise Atkinson, it’s not because I’m desperate for L4D2. When I criticise some odd decisions in a game, it’s not because “I suck at it”. When I criticise Microsoft for ripping consumers off by massively overcharging for memory cards, and then screwing its customers by deliberately sabotaging those cards, it’s not because I have one of those memory cards. (In fact, I even said in my last comment I have a 20GB 360.)
And I *am* complaining about the ludicrously overpriced officially branded stuff.
Did you read my last comment?
My god you’re a victim. You should buy your own cross that you can nail yourself to.
1. When you put forward your plan to tackle Atkinson, it was discussed at length, and was shown(as many of your ideas are btw)to be flawed.
2. By your own comments you stated you are having difficulty finding a basic linear path in a platform game. No one else on the site that you raised it on had this problem. To quote a proverb “a poor workman blames his tools”, or as i put it, “your a spastic”.
3. Your final rant is nothing more than “waa waa, i tried to save some cash by buying cheap rip off shit and now im stuffed”. And to top it off, you try to reduce your culpability by invoking all the right things you have done. What are you, seven years old?
1. There was some discussion of the point I made, but it was buried in a much larger amount of personal abuse, culminating in Matt making a complete idiot of himself on the podcast, calling me names and claiming I had no idea what I was talking about before pretty much conceding the point a few sentences later.
2. I didn’t say I was stuck, I said it’s immersion-breaking for things that SHOULD by the logic of the game be handholds being impossible for Drake to grab. (PS I think you meant “you’re”, not “your”. Please ask your high school remedial English teacher to explain the difference.)
3. Shit, don’t any of you guys read? I already explained that *I HAVE A 360 HDD*. My objection to M$ sabotaging its customers is the principle, not how it affects me (ie, not at all.)
“What are you, seven years old?”
Didn’t you just try to insult Keri by calling her a girl?
““your a spastic”
It’s YOU’RE a spastic, wanker. If you’re suggesting someone’s mentally deficient, you might want to check you’ve not fucked up the grammar in the process. And let’s not even get into the fact that it’s 2009, and people don’t generally consider it acceptable to use disability as some kind of insult.
“You should buy your own cross that you can nail yourself to.”
How in the name of arse is it physically possible for someone to nail themselves to a cross?
As for the rest of it, how many times do you need to be told that Jeremy HAS A 360 HDD?
Fuck, Jeremy. You can’t buy good trolls anymore.
Third party memory cards work just fine. They do not invalidate your warranty. Why is there such a huge price difference between a USB thumb drive and a similar capacity memory card for a console? They’ve got the same chips in them.
The manual can ‘recommend’ all it wants, but it doesn’t *require* that you only use official MS products.
What about third party controllers? Wifi adapters? Card readers? Cooling solutions? (Whoops, MS did rule on the Intercooler, its a shame they didn’t bother to cool the console properly in the first place)
Seriously. The problem here is that there’s no reason for MS to be doing this. It doesn’t give the customer a better experience – quite the opposite in fact, it’s going to annoy the crap out of a lot of their customers. On the face of it, it appears to be happening solely out of greed.
@Keri….wow dumb and ugly, you’re the total package love. I bet there’s some guy in Sunbury who you make really happy.
I noticed the your/you’re thing and i would of edited my post, but i dont know how.
And “brutalgod”‘s moronic contributions come to an end. He’s got nothing more than “dumb and ugly” insults.
How embarrassing for him. Thank god no-one knows who he is behind that pseudonym!
PS It’s “would have” edited your post, bruty-boy. Seriously, listen to what your remedial English teacher tells you.
Dear, I know this probably disappoints you since your spank-bank is running low, but I have a partner.
And it’s “would have” not “would of”. Might be a good idea to check you’re not fucking the English language with a rough stake before you call people “dumb”
Jeremy, let his comments through. I’m just warming up.
Jason nails it. The only possible reason that Microsoft would charge the amount they do for the same hardware that’s available without Microsoft branding for a fraction of the price is because they are gouging us. End of story. There is no possible alternative.
Grammar snaps are the last vestige of the desperate. I’m done providing your shitty blog with traffic.
I really should of know better.
I’m sure, ill see you on AG, since you cant seem to stay away, or take a hint.
“Grammar snaps are the last vestige of the desperate.”
I think you’ll find “you’re dumb and ugly” comes after grammar snaps.
“I’m sure, ill see you on AG, since you cant seem to stay away, or take a hint.”
Because it was first, it’s unfortunately the largest game site in the country. A pity that its forums have been taken over by aggressive, bitchy, cliquey, childish gits like you – but you don’t own it.
It’s much more disturbing to discover how much Matt has fallen in with the mindset and approach of people like Joaby. If he’s going to keep that up, someone’s going to need to set up an alternative that doesn’t force people to endure the abuse of fifteen year old males and chronologically older people who still haven’t passed that level of maturity.
AG is not the biggest games site in the country. Nor was it the first.
I also like that I haven’t said anything aggressive or offensive about you in either of your last two blog posts and yet you still attack me in your comments. The best defence is a good offense I guess?
AG is the largest gaming site in Australia…….hahahha.
I also wonder if you will have the courage to stand by your remarks when we meet. Somehow, I doubt it.
Your mediocrity is something to behold
And the last bastion of the wanker, the off-topic trolling.
“AG is not the biggest games site in the country.”
What is?
“I also like that I haven’t said anything aggressive or offensive about you in either of your last two blog posts and yet you still attack me in your comments. The best defence is a good offense I guess?”
Wow! Two whole blog posts without resorting to abuse. I suppose I should be more encouraging.
Not sure right now. AG is ummm further down on the list however (not having a dig at them, it’s just how it is). Think GameSpot AU, IGN AU, PALGN for examples of specialist and enthusiast sites which are huge. I’m not going to go tooting my own horn.
As to your other comment – say what you will. I’m trying to be civil, and you continue to attack me.
I will be civil, too.
[...] hope, for Microsoft’s sake, their common sense will outweigh their legendary greed. We’ve all just seen what happens when it [...]