The Zone

The inevitable has finally happened. In a move that has been a long time coming, any Xbox 360 that is detected to be modded while logged on to the Live service will be permanently banned. Microsoft did not reveal how the checks are made but there are reports of "innocent" owners being accidentally banned at this point in time (see here). Also, there are numerous reports by modded users across various forums that their 360s are unaffected... yet.

According to the infamous 360 community rep Major Nelson (see here & here), the reason of Microsoft wielded the banhammer was to stamp out the hackers and cheaters, but don't rule out software piracy as one of the driving reasons as well. Piracy on the Xbox 360 is still relatively a "minor" issue for Microsoft in these parts of the world but perhaps there is more to this story that it appears to be?  

Could this mean that a local Xbox 360 launch in Malaysia (or in countries heavily ravaged by software piracy) is on the cards? Although it's too premature to assume such a move will happen and since we don't have any solid evidence to back our theory up - our theory will remain a theory.  

Our little birds inside the big M in Singapore and Malaysia concur that Microsoft currently has no plans to launch the 360 locally, but at the same time, they also said that the company is constantly and closely monitoring the situation. Now with this online ban in effect, there should be some positives changes to Microsoft's current stand.    

As much as we like to speculate about the situation, it could be just wishful thinking really. The ban on modded consoles to deny access to the Live service is great, but it doesn't really stop consumers from getting one to play offline exclusively. And let's face it, a sizeable portion of local 360 owners (modded or otherwise) do not take their 360 online. In a way, the ban doesn't really affect them at all.

Nevertheless, the online ban is still great news for the local 360 and gaming scene. By denying gamers the key component of the entire Xbox 360 experience, it could spur potential buyers to opt for an original unit instead. But then again, this is just round one. We expect the hacker/modder community to retaliate with updated hacked firmware or improved stealth modchips. The question is would you want to be part of this cat and mouse game?  

Times are achanging all right but we sure do hope that it's for the better.