October 25th 2009 11:34 pm PT

Major, an update on the Third-party memory card situation would be great!

Thanks for posting the show Major & E.

Downloading now. Sooo when does halo waypoint drop?

IconicSoulJA: people aren’t using third-party headsets to mess with their gamerscores and save files, you bonehead.
Rather, you should campaign against things like Nyko’s Intercooler which promotes hardware failure, instead of keeping consoles cooled.

Never mind, it’s up.

Oh BTW this has Microsoft’s Xbox section written all over it…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of “consumer protection” and the elimination and prevention of what regulators perceive to be harmfully “anti-competitive” business practices, such as coercive monopoly.

In economics and business ethics, a coercive monopoly is a business concern that prohibits competitors from entering the field, with the natural result being that the firm is able to make pricing and production decisions independent of competitive forces.[1] A coercive monopoly is not merely a sole supplier of a particular kind of good or service (a monopoly), but it is a monopoly where there is no opportunity to compete through means such as price competition, technological or product innovation, or marketing; entry into the field is closed. As a coercive monopoly is securely shielded from possibility of competition, it is able to make pricing and production decisions with the assurance that no competition will arise. It is a case of a non-contestable market. A coercive monopoly has very few incentives to keep prices low and may deliberately price gouge consumers by curtailing production.[2] Also, according to economist Murray Rothbard, “a coercive monopolist will tend to perform his service badly and inefficiently.”[3]

Source: Wikipedia.org

Sound familiar??

@IconicSoulJA

Locking down Xbox 360s to 1st party memory storage devices only ISN’T a monopoly in the sense of the wikipedia article you just copy pasted.

Microsoft would be a monopoly if they owned the entire console market, not for making proprietary hard drives required for proprietary systems connected to the proprietary Xbox Live network.

I wish some people would just grow a brain and think once in a while.

Now for some constructive posting.

@crankyvampy

Only 3rd party “storage devices” are becoming unusable because of the update.

How does MS feel about this?

Netflix is coming to the PS3
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/netflix-is-coming-to-the-ps3/

Discrete math or discrete structures, omg i have that now and it sucks! And it really is just to flunk students out -.-” i hate that

good show :}

@mchiefvs360 Official Microsoft memory units and hard drives can also be used for hacking and cheating, so your argument is null and void! Wake up and realise that this is all about corporate greed, let them get away with it this time and who knows what they will do in the future!!

It isn’t corporate greed, enough on that subject! Deal with it and adapt! This about games and the Xbox (or, to be more specific, Xbox Games), which, if you haven’t noticed, has a higher install base than the PS3 in every country (except Japan (understandable as Sony’s Japanese))and everyone said that Microsoft would fail, but look at them now, delievering one of the safest and best online console services available! Another example of computer companies trying to get into the console market: the Apple Pipppin: it’s only good games that I’d heard of were Bungie’s Marathon ported from the PC versions (which is still a good game, get it on PC), and it failed. Now, who even remebers it: answer = no one. Stop the Microsoft abuse and focus on the games that are the best out there! Go Microsoft! w00t!

Whilst you have Microsoft apologists like mchiefvs360, they will continue to dump on their customers.
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Microsoft haven’t listened to the huge numbers of people telling them how derisory they think this is and have gone ahead an included it in the update anyway, without any reasonable or credible explanation as to why. Microsoft’s own transfer cable can be used with the Xbox360 HDD and a PC to access gamesave data and hack it. Piracy and gamesave hacking is NOT a valid reason, it is greed and monopolistic.
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It’s a repugnant move from Microsoft, such that from now on I’ll be carefully considering which platform I’ll be purchasing multi-format releases on. I see no reason to continue to support a company at the level I have been when it treats its customer with such disrespect.
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This has begun with Operation Flashpoint, Tropico III, and Left4Dead 2 which I’ve ordered on PC and Borderlands which is a PS3 purchase. If you care to look at my user account on your database, you’ll also discover the massive amount of extra game content I fork out for, now nearing 50 GB odd and at substantial cost. I’d imagine all four of those titles listed above will have DLC at some point, so not only are you losing out on the initial purchase, but you’re also missing out on further money I’m likely to spend for extending those games.
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Well done at Redmond – give yourself a one handed round of applause.
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Oh, the Turtle Beach headsets – I emailed Turtle Beach Tech Support to clarify if they are indeed authorized 3rd party peripherals, this is the response I received from Rowan there:
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QUOTE “Our products are not officially licensed by Microsoft for use on the Xbox 360. However, they are specifically designed and tested to work on the Xbox 360, and are very popular among Xbox 360 gamers — including pro’s!”
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So not only are you poking loyal customers in the eye by banning “unauthorized” 3rd party memory cards, you’re also being a bunch of hypocrites for allowing the Xbox360 to continue to support the Turtle Beach products.
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You can’t stick your head in the sand and hope this issue will go away and people will forget – I will be around to remind you every time you lose a sale from me to another platform due to your actions.

As good as Zune Video is, it is light years away from the quality of Blu-ray. Zune Video is missing DTS Master Audio and Dobly HD, lacks 24p, is compressed, and has a low bit rate and can look stuttery(my connection is 22Mbps-33Mbps fast).

Yes, for many people Zune Video is an excellent option for high quality movie content over DVD, but if you want the best you are gonna have to get a blu-ray(and a kick ass tv and receiver). And at least I can sell or loan my blu-rays if I want.

@martypg13 I should have emailed Turtle Beach them as well. Nice find and good solid argument.
@goodbye84 Why do you see the Turtle Beach as authorized? Marty confirmed through an email that they are not. You really just assimilate to Microsoft policy. Face the fact that the Turtle Beach product is more expensive and therefore not a threat to MS bottom line. It’s just Microsoft being monopolistic.

I wonder what spin MS is going to come up with now that the PS3 is getting Netflix.

PS3 has been “getting” Netflix for quite some time…when it actually shows up is when it might become an issue, and really, what is the issue? If you own both, you authorize both devices (360 and PS3), then can watch on two TVs. Netflix streaming isn’t a major selling point for either console, it’s just a perk for having Gold (which might be an issue if Sony doesn’t tack on some fee). About the 3rd party stuff…there is a HUGE difference between “all unauthorized” and “unauthorized storage”…”all” includes headsets, controllers, routers, sound systems, etc…MS has a list of “approved” (i.e. authorized) gear that has been tested and works optimally with XBL. Using a non-approved router might have NAT issues, using a non-approved controller might have layout issues, and using Turtle Beach headsets, which are awesome (I have the X1 and X4), is more complicated than simply plugging the headset into the controller, especially if using HDMI. If they were “approved” they would probably include the Audio adapter that is only available through MS in the $60 HDMI cord bundle. Unauthorized storage brings up LOTS of issues, not just hacking. Nothing says you can’t use them anymore, you just can’t use them on MS’s console while using MS’s XBL SERVICE and getting MS’s console update. If you want to keep your cheaper storage option, play offline…and that is why it’s NOT a monopoly, because it’s not them saying you have to have ours, it’s them saying you have to use official products in order to get the new features and use XBox Live (where it states in the terms of service that use of UNAUTHORIZED DEVICES that affect gameplay are prohibited).

IconicSoulJA: I agree they should be consistent with the headsets also and not be hawking them on the show. Come on MajorNelson & Stepto quit hawking the illegitimate headsets, they should be banned because it gives people an unfair advantage as they can hear better!! LOL

No seriously, banning one set of unauthorized accessories while giving away another set of unauthorized accessories as Xbox Live representatives sends a confused message.

I’ve seen the same places that sell the unauthorized memory units also sell cables that let you transfer data off official Hard Drives and Memory Units, so it’s not like it’s any impediment for the cheaters. Like all such measures it’s more of a headache for people that are just want a “better” memory unity than the 512MB one that you can’t even find in stores any longer.

Well I guess the $100 for a 60GB drive is not as bad as what I paid for my first hard drive of $350 for 20MB drive and a MFM controller, I remember upgrading to a RLL controller and getting a “free” 10MB of additional storage out. Those where the days when Men were Men and PCs were ummm wimpy.

good show major why no aftershow?????????

i dont think its Third part devises that are MS authorised like Madcats, or Tutrle beach etc.. But its more people useing hackded HDDs or MUs to copy profiles then up them to a pc then re-write the date to boost their gamerscore or unlock arcade games for free etc. etc.
But MS are still gits with the price of memory, a 512mb card is a joke.. you cant even by cards this size for digital cameras in shope these days.. its crazy small, i have 2 just so i can back up all my save games..Also the HDD needs to be pushing 500gb for around £80-£100 not 120GB cos thats a clear rip-off, considering its just a cheap HDD not even a good one..
ALSO I WANT A BLU RAY DRIVE!!!! No wonder PS3 are starting to out sell..

For one, I’m there with E and Stepto in that I like having books, though I have a more tangle reason for doing so. I am not comfortable with reading a pixelated projection from a rectangular electronic display. For me, it’s awkward, and far more tiring than simply picking up a neatly bounded stack of soft, inviting, papers and reading from the natural curvatures of the printed page.

And for those looking for a blu-ray drive, BUY YOUR PLAYER! Microsoft doesn’t need to invest in a lengthy, and frankly ill-concieved, hardware launch just so you can have an xbox branded attachment instead of a stand alone device with someone else’s logo on it.