Microsoft looking to ban unauthorised memcards on 360

[rekator]

This is why I didn't upgrade my HDD--which I still want to do. MS's storage policy is a joke.

Not really a joke…
THe HDD price is base on the difference of arcade than superior model…
Before September, in France we have Arcade 180€, Elite 300€ and env 120€ for the 120 Go. So the HDD price is base on SKU HDD price less Arcade price.

Actually, always in France, we have Arcade 180€ and Elite 250€, 120 Go HDD is at env 115€ but many retailer don't have in stock… may be a price cut to 80€, but a bundle with a 60Go, Three month xboxlive and a micro is listing for November at 80€…

They HDD price is coherent with their range, but not with the HDD market!

 

[AzBat]

I'm the last person to defend MS, but let me play Devil's Advocate for a sec: If Datel's MU is "unofficial", does that mean they reverse engineered a MS one to build their own? (I'm not familiar with MUs on the 360 so I don't know if they use a proprietary connector or whatever.)

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'm not saying I think it's a good move on MS's part, though.

Yeah, they had to reverse engineer it in order to make it work & it is using a non-standard connector & enclosure. I like the idea behind a more standard card like SD, etc, but I can understand why they don't(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.

Tommy McClain

 

[specwarGP2]

Why not go there ? If you want the offical wireless n adapter for the 360 its $100. how much is the offical wireless n adapter for the ps3 ? Oh right there isn't one.

Hardrive prices do suck though. I would be okay with a 250 gig drive for $125 and a 120 gig for $60 or $70

I'm sure that given the choice, the vast majority of people will choose a free wireless G adapter rather than paying for a $100 wireless N adapter.

 

[Blazkowicz]

This is why I stay away of consoles (or Lexmark and Epson printers)

 

[Jack_Tripper]

I'm sure that given the choice, the vast majority of people will choose a free wireless G adapter rather than paying for a $100 wireless N adapter.

Are the wireless-N adapters out yet - I can't seem to find one...are they gonig to be priced at $100? I know the current b/g adapters are priced at that much...thought the N's would be more.

On a side...side..note...knowing very little about networking...is there even a ponit to having a wireless-n 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 way off base here.

Jack

 

[Shifty Geezer]

USB is plenty fast enough to handle wireless network speeds!

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Yeah, they had to reverse engineer it in order to make it work & it is using a non-standard connector & enclosure. I like the idea behind a more standard card like SD, etc, but I can understand why they don't(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.

Tommy McClain

OH wait, I think I got confused about this whole thing since I've never used a memory unit for the X360.

I was assuming you could just use a standard USB thumbdrive as a memory unit and that's what we're talking about?

But in reality the Memory unit uses a specific interface/whatnot?

In that case, this would be a non-issue IMO. Unless the Datel was an official licenced MU that was later being blocked for some reason.

So this whole bruhaha is over a reverse engineered, unofficial, unlicensed memory unit being blocked? And people didn't see this coming?

Regards,
SB

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm sure that given the choice, the vast majority of people will choose a free wireless G adapter rather than paying for a $100 wireless N adapter.

Heck I'm sure given a choice, many people would choose a cheaper console without wireless-g rather than a more expensive console with wireless-g. We could go on all day with this.

Like. I'm sure vast majority of people would prefer a free infrared adapter rather than having to pay for an infrared adapter to use a universal remote control with their home entertainment media center (console). Which is far more common to find in your average household.

Regards,
SB

 

[AlNom]

USB is plenty fast enough to handle wireless network speeds!

Indeed.

On a side...side..note...knowing very little about networking...is there even a ponit to having a wireless-n 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 way off base here.

That would be related to the signal quality, namely how good the technology (frequency, power, transmission/reception protocols) and hardware (antenna) itself will be.

Generally, the longer the antenna, the better the signal to noise ratio On forums, it's the size of the banhammer.

 

[AzBat]

OH wait, I think I got confused about this whole thing since I've never used a memory unit for the X360.

I was assuming you could just use a standard USB thumbdrive as a memory unit and that's what we're talking about?

But in reality the Memory unit uses a specific interface/whatnot?

In that case, this would be a non-issue IMO. Unless the Datel was an official licenced MU that was later being blocked for some reason.

So this whole bruhaha is over a reverse engineered, unofficial, unlicensed memory unit being blocked? And people didn't see this coming?

Regards,
SB

Yes, facepalm indeed. The Xbox supports USB thumbdrives, but not for gamesaves. You can only read photos, music & video off them. The bruhaha is mainly over this device from Datel...

That's what a memory card looks like. It's similar to the Xbox memory cards. Though the 360 doesn't use a USB interface on a different connector. What's so cool about it though is that it allows you to use very large microSD cards to store your gamesaves. And yes, it's totally unofficial & unlicensed just like the rest of Datel's memory unit accessories(cards & hard drive adapters).

Tommy McClain

 

[specwarGP2]

Heck I'm sure given a choice, many people would choose a cheaper console without wireless-g rather than a more expensive console with wireless-g. We could go on all day with this.

I'm sure we could. But 360 wireless adapter is still a ripoff. Is the more expensive fully featured console a ripoff compared to the cheaper alternatives? I don't think so.

Like. I'm sure vast majority of people would prefer a free infrared adapter rather than having to pay for an infrared adapter to use a universal remote control with their home entertainment media center (console). Which is far more common to find in your average household.

Regards,
SB

What does that have to do with anything? Sony never sold an overpriced infrared adapter for PS3.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Are the wireless-N adapters out yet - I can't seem to find one...are they gonig to be priced at $100? I know the current b/g adapters are priced at that much...thought the N's would be more.

On a side...side..note...knowing very little about networking...is there even a ponit to having a wireless-n 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 way off base here.

Jack

USB does a sustained 30MB/s, which is the throughput of a half-decent, not great gigabit network. a wifi G interface will have a very varying quality, to the point I like a 100% stable 10 megabit ethernet better.
USB is not a bottleneck here, the bottleneck is in the physical propagation of radio waves (concrete wall, weird stuff etc.), spectrum contention if there are many devices or neighbours, or issues like a microwave oven.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm sure we could. But 360 wireless adapter is still a ripoff. Is the more expensive fully featured console a ripoff compared to the cheaper alternatives? I don't think so.

If you don't need the features why should you have to pay for them in the first place?

And you don't have to buy the "official" wireless-g adapter to get wireless on the X360. Just like you don't have to use the "official" infrared adapter for the PS3. Oh wait, Sony doesn't even offer one to a user...

Regards,
SB

 

[grandmaster]

Well, USB max bandwidth is 480mbps while Wireless N is 600mbps. Both are theoretical maximums. Real life performance... who knows?

 

[specwarGP2]

If you don't need the features why should you have to pay for them in the first place?

The post I responded to implied that even at $100 the wireless N adapter for 360 isn't a ripoff since PS3 doesnt offer a wireless N solution. For console gaming, wireless G is perfectly adequate for the vast majority of people, even moreso if it's free. Do you not agree with that? Why you're bringing up feature sets on the different consoles is beyond me.

And you don't have to buy the "official" wireless-g adapter to get wireless on the X360. Just like you don't have to use the "official" infrared adapter for the PS3. Oh wait, Sony doesn't even offer one to a user...

Regards,
SB

Stop being obtuse. PS3 was never meant to use IR, therefore Sony never offered an IR adapter. Are you really trying to say that buying an expensive 3rd party IR adapter for PS3 is analagous to buying MS's overpriced N adapter?

 

[Rangers]

I looked up the price on that Datel 2GB card..$39. A little more than I expected but not bad. Also you can put whatever MicroSD card you want in there later.

MS should do something like that. I mean I know why they wont, but it's a far superior solution.

Although for $40, I'm sure you can pick up a 20GB HDD somewhere.

 

[obonicus]

What's the actual damage of a hacked savegame, besides cheating on achievements?

 

[infinity4]

What's the actual damage of a hacked savegame, besides cheating on achievements?

That's the thing. MS are using achievements to sell DLC etc. eg screwing your completion percentage if you don't have DLC...

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Stop being obtuse. PS3 was never meant to use IR, therefore Sony never offered an IR adapter. Are you really trying to say that buying an expensive 3rd party IR adapter for PS3 is analagous to buying MS's overpriced N adapter?

Considering an IR port is of far more use for a Home Entertainment Media Control portal, yes, I think that's a fairly important feature for a deviced targetted as a Home Entertainment Media Control portal. It absolutely boggles the mind that Sony not only didn't include one but didn't even offer the option to buy one.

Anyway, this is going far enough off-top that I'm going to stop now. We'll just have to agree to disagree about the relative importance of included wireless-g versus included IR port.

Regards,
SB

 

[Jack_Tripper]

Hell...I didn't know that you didn't have to use an official MS Wireless Adapter for the 360 - thought they had other usb options disallowed by design. Good news considering I've been through three broken wireless-G adapters (or wonky ones anyway) - nice to know you don't have to use their garbage hardware

Jack