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[Busty]

It's actually from 8bitjoystick, the site referenced in comment 7.

Comment 7 still confuses me though.

That struck me as strange too. Especially as I've never even heard of this blog before.

It wouldn't surprise me if this 'insider' account was just some form of viral marketing from the kid who runs that site.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

What is the point of MGS4 on 360 anyways?

Would save me a ton of money instead of buying a console to play one game. Also might lead to a PC port

 

[test_account]

I dont know how likely that kill-swtich thingie in the Xbox 360 is. If Microsoft kills off a Xbox 360 console by remote, then the person who owns will most likely just send it in for repair and Microsoft will have to pay for it. Or maybe this kill-switch was implemented before Microsoft extended the Xbox 360 warranty to 3 years? But i still dont know if i belive it. For some reason it made me think alittle about this article:

http://usera.imagecave.com/e-jump/blog/hax_bom.jpg (i am not sure if this article is real though hehe).

Not exactly too related though, but it is still something to do with damage through remote

 

[guggnichso]

I heard a rumor from a guy who modded Xboxs about a year before the 360 came out that MS was installing a killswitch fuse that would trigger if you opened the console. This isn't too far off.

Yes it is too far off. It's not any better than all those "Hitler moved to the south pole and now lives inside the earth, which is actually hollow, and builds an army of UFOs"-conspiracy theories.

Not only that, but it would be completely illegal in the EU, which IS a big market. Don't know about the US, but I seriously can't imagine, something like that would be legal there. If it was then - lol, seriously.

 

[Doubledex]

wow :lol

 

[CoG]

There's no fucking fuses in the Xbox 360. Dumbest rumor ever.

 

[k79]

I'm guessing it's a "look kid, you fucked up pirating and all so your account/console is banned, but there's always a second chance! (aka buy a new 360 so we continue to get your money)".

More like your console is remote-killed. This just sounds too retarded to be legal (or for this article to be true for that matter). Imagine that this would be done on a PC. Yeah, we got your IP while you were downloading illegal software, we're gonna remote kill your PC now. Sounds perfectly legal :/

 

[CoG]

There's no fucking fuses in the Xbox 360. Dumbest rumor ever.

The rest of the BLOG is even worse.

Microsoft is currently software testing Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360. They might announce it at E3 but Konami likes to make money and Metal Gear Solid 4 was very expensive for them to make.

Can anyone makes sense of that paragraph?

Harmonix is having Microsoft's Xbox Test Labs run acceptance tests on the new Rock Band controller hardware. The Beetles: Rockband is coming along and is playable.

:lol

 

[lherre]

There's no fucking fuses in the Xbox 360. Dumbest rumor ever.

Well this ins't really true, in x360 there are fuses (to prevent kernel-firmware downgrade) in the CPU, but I think the "kill" rumor isn't true after all.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Wow, people will throw that MGS4 rumor anywhere they can fit it in, and will never give any kind of evidence like a leaked document, blurry picture, screen or anything. This rumor has so much traction with no evidence. It's crazy.

 

[SupahBlah]

That struck me as strange too. Especially as I've never even heard of this blog before.

It wouldn't surprise me if this 'insider' account was just some form of viral marketing from the kid who runs that site.

They broke Bungie leaving which would explain number 7.

 

[Shard]

Wow, people will throw that MGS4 rumor anywhere they can fit it in, and will never give any kind of evidence like a leaked document, blurry picture, screen or anything. This rumor has so much traction with no evidence. It's crazy.

Popular franchise exclusive game defecting to the competition, can't imagine why.

 

["God's Beard!"]

3rd. Interesting Thing:
Microsoft makes a lot of hardware prototypes and very few hardware projects actually make it to market. They probably did start to build a Blu-Ray player and a motion sensitive wand controller but they never got close enough to making it to market.

4th. Interesting Thing:
The software testing group is chronically understaffed, underpaid, underfunded and given impossible deadlines. This results in games and DLC getting to market with game killing faults.To makes things worse a lot of good testers got laid off recently. Cutting corners on testing during the development of the original Xbox 360 Xenon hardware led to the RROD failures. Things are going from bad to way worse.

these I have no reason NOT to believe.

 

[eznark]

Ah. Guess I should've read more closely.

Only very slightly more credible, though. After checking their site briefly (not to mention their grammar), they don't exactly seem like a bastion of journalistic integrity. And why would MS not only have a rule that they couldn't comment on a particular site, but one that gets like 0 traffic according to Alexa?

Maybe because of the Bungie story?

 

[mr_mcgregors]

That struck me as strange too. Especially as I've never even heard of this blog before.

It wouldn't surprise me if this 'insider' account was just some form of viral marketing from the kid who runs that site.

Yeah, it struck me as a grab for hits...

 

[MacBosse]

iphone also has a hidden water detector, that if the phone comes in slightest contact of any water (steamy bathroom is enough) turns red, and voids your warranty

That is because the warranty doesn't cover any water related damages.

 

[acm2000]

That is because the warranty doesn't cover any water related damages.

no it voids the warranty completely, even if the damage isnt related to water what so ever, broken menu button? tough, hot pixels? tough, broken mic? tough

 

[Walshicus]

Not arguing either way here, but I don't think there's anything there that couldn't be known by a someone involved in testing.

 

[TheGreatDave]

Man, those were such interesting things!

 

[JoJo13]

While it wouldn't surprise me if MGS4 came to the 360, this part is just bullshit.

2nd. Interesting Thing:
Microsoft is currently software testing Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360. They might announce it at E3 but Konami likes to make money and Metal Gear Solid 4 was very expensive for them to make. Microsoft and Konami will not admit it before they are ready to but secretly builds of Metal Gear Solid 4 for Xbox 360 started being tested late last year. Konami want to make back their software development costs and they need to get it on the Xbox 360 to do it.

No, they don't. The game has been incredibly profitable for Konami already. Just look at their financial reports, FFS.

 

[Guled]

if the 360 kill switch is true, wouldn't it be illegal?

 

[bengraven]

I don't know, a lot of this screams false to me, as if someone is just digging for attention.

 

[gofreak]

I don't know, a lot of this screams false to me, as if someone is just digging for attention.

But why would he publish something that said his own blog was banned at Microsoft? Who would want to read something banned at Microsoft? No doubt this revelation would only harm his blog's traffic, no one would be at all curious about it after reading this!

 

[Kogepan]

Why would a game tester be privy to hardware engineering details (kill switch??). Why would an MS employee be play testing KONAMI games? More retarded rumors...if ur making shit up at least make it believable...

 

[chubigans]

7th. Interesting thing: 8bitjoystick.com was considered a forbidden site at VMC and the Xbox testing labs. They were discouraged from reading it or contributing comments.

Oh come on. :lol :lol :lol

I'm going through previous posts by this guy and there's nothing that would make MS ban the site for any reason. This post, aside from MGS4, is so full of BS.

Cmon Shard, you should have known better.

 

[TheGreatDave]

So is this all just a load of shit to get me to go to 8bitjoystick.com?

 

[hirokazu]

MGS4 rumour I'm even willing to believe.

killswitch...?! :lol They'd have nothing to gain from using one except lawsuits.

 

[Dr Zhivago]

MS test every game that comes out on the 360, Sony & Nintendo do the same for their machines.

 

[Blueblur1]

Some of the points made in the article sound like they probably are true. Oh boy, I love this time of the year.

 

[untoldhero]

LMAO at people who think this is true. He's got no idea "pop a fuse" LMAO bullshit.

 

[GitarooMan]

Yeah.....that first one pretty much invalidates the rest.

 

[Burai]

What is the point of MGS4 on 360 anyways? It's already a day late and a dollar short; it will only sell a fraction of the PS3 version. I guess just another game crossed off on MS' checklist eh?

You really think this game couldn't sell a hell of a lot more if it were on a system that cost less than $499?

 

[bigGIRLSblouse]

The testing part is BS if you ask me. I have a very good friend who is a contract worker for MS and tests games all day long. They love their job and have never complained. Yes they often have to work long hours but so what, many industries require more than 40 hours a week.

This mostly sounds like someone who is upset by being let go (and I understand that) and felt the need to be important for a day.

 

[Shard]

Oh come on. :lol :lol :lol

I'm going through previous posts by this guy and there's nothing that would make MS ban the site for any reason. This post, aside from MGS4, is so full of BS.

Cmon Shard, you should have known better.

Never said I believed it myself.

 

[krazen]

About the iphone water damage strip: lots of phones have this feature. My first generation blackberry curve has a similar strip, and I wouldn't be surprised that they've been in popular higher tier phones for the past few years. Blame people making phonecalls in bathroom stalls

 

[RSTEIN]

I can believe any of those being true. Hell, just looking at the majority of the games I play I think it's obvious that the testing/cert/bug detection process has gone horribly wrong :lol I understand the need to hit release windows but as a gamer it sucks.

 

[Pachael]

I'll just believe the parts that make Microsoft look bad - #1, #4, #6.

 

[Yazus]

I'm wondering why all this shit is always for the 360, why I dont hear shit rumors for PS3 or the Wii. I think it's just the fad

 

[Mama Robotnik]

1st. Interesting Thing:
There is a super secret kill-switch remote suicide self-destruct command that if Microsoft really wanted to they can remotely trigger and tell an Xbox 360 to fry itself and die. This was intended to be a last resort option if a fight against Xbox Live cheaters or major league professional game piracy ever got big. To their knowledge it has only been done in test situation in the lab but if they wanted to they could have the regular system security sweeps over Xbox Live activate a kill command when it found a compromised hacked Xbox 360 system. It works by having the Xbox overload a fuse and "pop" the fuse. The Xbox 360 will then crash and then will get an "Red Ring of Death Core Digital" error when the boot-up test comes back with a major component hardware failure. This is not the same as bricking or crashing a system since this will actually do physical damage to the motherboard.

It is not technically illegal for them to do this since attempting to hack an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Service EULA and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Microsoft's entire business model on the Xbox is based around them loosing money on the cost of the hardware and then to make it up from game publishing royalties. If game software ever got easy enough for mainstream consumers to try it would nuke all chances of the Xbox 360 business being profitable. Likewise the entire idea behind online gameplay on the Xbox Live network is that it is a secured walled garden that is impenetrable to hacking and cheating. If there was rampant cheating it would cause people to loose faith in the network service and not want to keep subscribing to it. This is Microsoft's "nuclear" option. Currently they have not had to show this trump card since they can ban consoles and users from the Xbox Live network but if it ever really got out of hand they have the option of pulling the trigger and causing and Xbox 360 to melt down and kill itself via software. A "popped" Xbox 360 is not really a fire hazard since the BIOS will shut down the CPU and GPU after the boot test fails and the only thing that remains powered is the Red Ring of Death after the hardware failure mode is triggered. Now if you send a "popped" Ex-Xbox to a RnR repair facility they will have no problem recognizing the "popped" fuse and they will not offer to repair your Xbox 360 since they know that you were an naughty boy and they had to kill your Xbox.

Besides considering the fault intolerant design of the Xbox 360 hardware it is not too hard to get them to break. They will never ever admit to this but if they wanted to they could kill and Xbox just by running a self-destruct command over Xbox Live. Think about that the next time you harass a woman and tell her to show you her boobs over Xbox Live. Again Microsoft will never admit this but the back door kill-switch was built into the Xbox 360 system.

This is utter bollocks of the highest order. This idiocy invalidates the post, the thread, the website it came from, and any good that GAF was going to this month.

I feel like a patronising bastard explaining this but I can't stop myself: The DMCA does not, and never has allowed companies to deliver corporate vigilante justice. It is designed to work with current legal bodies, not (and I repeat NOT) allow them to take matters into their own hands and destroy a person's property because it is not being used in accordance with whatever EULA they have. Doing so would be highly and unquestionably illegal. EULAs themselves have little-to-no legal status as is.

What absolute, absolute shite. I disappoint myself that I added to this thread's post-count.

 

[Syringe]

While I won't try to tell what is true and what is not (since I have no clue), it's not that unusal in high tech manufactoring of electronic products that you use capacitors as fuses. I'm absolutely not saying that it is what this is all about. But I belive it might be possible to kill of a fuse-capacitor as mentioned in the article. In theory, that could possibly be true.

 

[dreamcastmaster]

"super secret kill-switch remote suicide self-destruct command" is the most OTT attention grabbing descripition ever. :lol

 

[Cat in the Hat]

"Written by readers for the readers"

:lol

 

[NekoFever]

Kill switches aren't unheard of, but there's no way that one that physically damages the hardware would be legal. The software is the copyrighted property of Microsoft and you agreed to use it within certain boundaries when you agreed to the 360/Live EULAs so it would be legal for Microsoft to, say, stop a modded 360 from playing games or connecting to Live, but the physical hardware itself is the property of the owner.

It's like saying that you have the right to bulldoze someone's house because you have reason to believe that they have stolen property in there.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm wondering why all this shit is always for the 360, why I dont hear shit rumors for PS3 or the Wii. I think it's just the fad

You mean outside of the "every other day" PS3 hate threads? Or the lol worthy PR threads?

This stuff seems like too much, grain of salt is in order.

 

[Mamesj]

major league professional game piracy

 

[NinjaMouse]

"super secret kill-switch remote suicide self-destruct command" is the most OTT attention grabbing descripition ever. :lol

:lol and if it's sooooo "super secret", how does some toolbag minimum-wage tester know about it? I'm pretty sure that ANYONE who works/worked there are eaten up with NDAs and such regarding inside information.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

There's no way 1# point is actually or remotely true, it's not a thing on a grey area of legality, it's entirely illegal, only the European Comission could get so much money of that.

Just that invalidates all the article.

 

[Defuser]

I wish E3 would come soon so the media can stop MGS4 rumors regardless coming or not. It's been like 4 years....

 

[RSTEIN]

I'm wondering why all this shit is always for the 360, why I dont hear shit rumors for PS3 or the Wii. I think it's just the fad

PS3 and Wii get way more hate than the 360 on GAF. This unfortunately creates a vicious cycle. As a consequence of the PS3 bashing threads, extreme Sony console warriors create ridiculous hyperbole around exclusive games and refuse to accept the position of the console itself (being in last place and forever being in last place). These people then in turn look like idiots with a huge inferiority complex and more bashing ensues. Unfortunately, we cannot accept that both the 360 and PS3 are awesome in different ways.

 

[AndyMoogle]

WOW!!!

Sounds like Gears of War 2 applies to that...