Xbox 360 Update Shuts Out Hackers, Fixes Issues

Gamasutra reports on the update to the Xbox 360's Live element, which fixes a number of bugs and smooths out certain elements of the system. It, allegedly, is also intended to shut out folks trying to hack Microsoft's new console by making the demo disc unusable on retail machines. From the article: "The demo disc in question was produced for Xbox 360 retail demo kiosks, and was found not to contain any copy-protection when hackers obtained their own unauthorized copy of the software in mid-December ... meaning it was possible to run demo versions of the Xbox 360 software on the disc on burned media. Several commenters on website Xbox-Scene seem to confirm that the disc is no longer functional."

Allegedly?

[inio]

allegedly, is also intended to shut out folks trying to hack Microsoft's new console by making the demo disc unusable on retail machines.

Allegedly? The article quotes Major Nelson (The Figurehead of Xbox Live) saying it does that. In what way does that qualify as "alleged" information?

Re:I can understand why . . . .

[mofomojo]

It is very important to Microsoft that people who buy the console also buy the games, with mods, they can add third-party software inciting them not to buy the games.

Microsoft doesn't make any profit at all from people who don't buy games. It's bad business, they don't make a dime from selling the 360s themselves.

This is also my theory behind the shortage in so that only those who really want the 360 buy the 360, and those who really want the console also really want the games.

This was M$'s strategy all along, sheesh, takes you a while to figure out that they only profit off of the software. I think this is what they were doing for the PSP as well : maximizing profits.

Since well, they own the console you paid for, right? I'm tired of this corporate manipulation.

Re:Pushing Updates

[rabiddeity]

If they've done their homework, which it seems they have, the updates are most likely signed. Unless you can get ahold of that private key, you won't be able to push updates.

Re:Allegedly?

[Reeltime]

Actually, it doesn't. The article does not quote Larry Hyrb (aka Major Nelson), it quotes a person who posted a comment to Larry's blog. This hack blocking code has not been officially announced, though it's pretty clear this was a reason for this quick fix. They did include some legitimate and necessary improvements, too, but probably rushed this out faster to block the demo disc.

Nintendo doesn't.

[Valdrax]

Nintendo has always sold it consoles for a profit perhaps only losing slight amounts of money right around when it cut prices on the GameCube to $99. Selling at a loss is a recent thing, done by companies that can survive off of other products until revenue from game licenses kicks up. Nintendo, as a company that lives and dies by video games and consoles alone, has always had to sell the system itself at a small profit to stay in business.

Re:Allegedly?

[InsaneLampshade]

Uhh, actually that's not true, from the article:

"mentioned by a pseudonymous commenter on the weblog of Xbox Live director of programming Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb"

It was mentioned in one of the comments on Major Nelson's blog...... and not by Major Nelson himself.

Re:Changelog?

[Funk_dat69]

Found this on xbox-scene.com

changelog:

This free update, is now available over Xbox Live. There are no new features in this release, but rather a series of fixes and enhancements. Some of the items the update addresses are:
* Improved logic around deciding if saved games should be deleted and offer the option to only delete the profile and to leave all save data.
* Users reporting blank Friends List on the Xbox 360 dash after muting a friend while playing a game in Backwards Compatibility mode.
* Improved synching of games played to Web and in console.
* Network settings: keyboard does now allow entry of - (dash) character in the keyboard.
* Improvements to the Xbox Guide.
* Increased accuracy of "last time played."
* Network configuration improvements for Xbox Live members in the Netherlands.
* More detailed messaging for unreadable disk or region errors.

Re:The Demo Disc

[erikharrison]

Because the demo disk contained unsigned, unencrypted code, which means that arbitrary code could potentially be run. Locking out the demo disk means that crackers can't find out how to run unsigned code on the machine, preventing softmodding

Re:Changelog?

[Professor_UNIX]

I thought Microsoft patches only fixed problems? To get new features, you have to buy the next version...

That's not true. Windows XP SP2 introduced a ton of new features including a firewall and the security center along with other security enhancements and a pop-up blocker in IE.

Re:I can understand why . . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, just like Microsoft probably loses money on OEM Windows licenses and doesn't make any if Dell users buy non-Microsoft software. So why aren't the PCs locked down? Oh wait, maybe allowing 3rd party software generates more interest in the platform and eventually results in more users getting MS software and OS upgrades.

That just doesn't make any sense. You can't lose money selling more copies of a software product unless you sell the software for less than the cost of burning it to a CD (OEM). There is a minor cost involved in bandwidth for updates, but let's be serious. An xbox 360 costs more to make than it sells for, so cost has to be recouped through games sales. That isn't the case for software. Once it is on the shelves, almost all the revenue related to that software comes from selling that software (you could argue that sales from Microsoft Office depends on people using Windows, but even then there is an OS X version of office).

The reasons PCs aren't locked down is because Microsoft doesn't make them. It just wants to get its software installed on them. It has no control over the hardware. The xbox 360 is a closed system. Microsoft has to give permission for a game to run on it. In the x86 market, that just couldn't work because Microsoft doesn't make the hardware.