Xbox Live update deletes files off your hard drive.

[sphere79]

and i rented wolfenstein the other night to try out on live... let's just say i'm glad i didn't pay full price for it new.

That's like my favorite Live title - I paid $39 for it at Best Buy and imo it was worth every penny. You do have some laggy servers every now and then, but just last night I was playing an 8 on 8 game that was silky smooth. There's been 3 or 4 new map downloads since it's been released, and I like how the voice chat is used for teamwork instead of just trash talking. It's obviously not pushing the system graphically, but there are some huge maps. Obviously it's not for everybody.

[Melf]

Some months ago, I played "MechAssault" on this Xbox, so the game updated the system software on my hard disk - without asking, I might add, but that's not my point right now. Since then, I have a fourth item in the Dashboard, the Xbox's main menu: "XBOX LIVE".

That's it right there. It seems this genius failed to take into acount that Mech Assault is an Xbox Live title. What did he expect? It says right on the box that it uses Live. If you place a Live enabled game in the system, it's going to check to see if you have Live.

I'm sure many people who legally want to use Live would bitch if MA didn't take the steps necessary to tell them what was required to play it online. Does he buy PC games without reading the specs and bitch when his PC won't run them?

[Mamoscott]

All I like so far is PSO and CvS2 <- *out of necessity*.

Everything else is better on the PC. But Live is a great service, and the update made it better. Just put some more good games up there, and I'll be even happier.

This is exactly how I feel. The Live concept and service is pretty good (integrated voice chat, buddy lists, broadband only, etc), but Microsoft just hasn't gotten enough high quality, exclusive Live titles. If they can get some high profile titles on there that I can't play on my online via my PC or PS2, I'd be much more inclined to subscribe (and buy an unmodded Xbox for online play). Also, MS desperately needs to provide some dedicated servers for a lot of games on their network, and they're not doing so, which makes me wonder what all these subscription fees are paying for.

Hopefully, Crimson Skies and Kingdom Under Fire will turn out to be big incentives for subscribing to Live. Otherwise, people are going to be really bored waiting for Halo 2.

Kirby games are awesome, especially the NES (and now GBA) Kirby's Adventure. I don't see what liking a well-made game has to do with not liking mediocre online offerings.

I really don't have any idea what Kirby has to do with this thread either or why he brought him up. Kirby games are obviously for five year olds though, right?

New sig material.

[Regus]

That's it right there. It seems this genius failed to take into acount that Mech Assault is an Xbox Live title. What did he expect? It says right on the box that it uses Live. If you place a Live enabled game in the system, it's going to check to see if you have Live.

I'm sure many people who legally want to use Live would bitch if MA didn't take the steps necessary to tell them what was required to play it online. Does he buy PC games without reading the specs and bitch when his PC won't run them?

I don't understand where you're going with this, especially with that PC analogy, since the guy doesn't have Live, nor is Live a requirement to play Mech Assault.

The guy bought Mech Assault, it put some stuff on his hard drive with out asking, which eventually lead to another unwanted sytem update and as a result he lost some stuff he put on the hard drive.

What does it matter if it's a Live enabled game or not? I could go out and buy Capcom vs SNK 2 or what ever right now, and never, ever go online with them, and therefore have no desire to update my sytem, since I like it just fine as it is. Just because the option to go online is there doesn't mean that it should be forced upon the user without their concent.

This is the underlying problem, not that some is hacked files are gone, but that they were removed through means which he never wanted on his system in the first place, which were secretly foisted upon him.

[Dyne]

He wasn't trying to gain access to Live with out paying.
Is that even possible?

you can use xboxconnect which is free and say stuufu to live. anyway i believe you have to press a button to update live. i recall it saying the console will now connect to the server to update and it didnt start until i pressed a button. so all this "he didnt have a choice" is bullshit unless it's me thats wrong.

[Melf]

I don't understand where you're going with this, especially with that PC analogy, since the guy doesn't have Live, nor is Live a requirement to play Mech Assault.

The guy bought Mech Assault, it put some stuff on his hard drive with out asking, which eventually lead to another unwanted sytem update and as a result he lost some stuff he put on the hard drive.

What I mean is that Mech Assault is going to put Live files on his HDD, being an online game. Live isn't required to play MA but should he have wanted to do so, his HDD would be updated for that purpose. Anyone who buys a Live enabled game for their Xbox shouldn't be surprised that said game places files on the HDD for online play.

What does it matter if it's a Live enabled game or not? I could go out and buy Capcom vs SNK 2 or what ever right now, and never, ever go online with them, and therefore have no desire to update my sytem, since I like it just fine as it is. Just because the option to go online is there doesn't mean that it should be forced upon the user without their concent.

This is the underlying problem, not that some is hacked files are gone, but that they were removed through means which he never wanted on his system in the first place, which were secretly foisted upon him.

Here's the difference:

You can buy Capcom vs. SNK 2 and never go online. That's cool. I bet that it also puts some files on your HDD (probably in your system file) just in case you should want to go online with it. If you never go online, nothing happens.

No Live game, however, updates your dashboard. The only way for that to happen is for you to go online. This guy wasn't innocently playing offline and then one day whoosh! His HDD got updated. He had to have gone online one way or another for that to have happened.

*Edit*

Ok, I read the article again and I'm sure this guy is full of shit. Check it out:

I live in the European Union and I never signed any End User License Agreement (EULA) or Terms Of Service (none come with the Xbox), thus I am not bound to any agreement or contract.

Did anyone here sign any contracts or user agreements when they purchased their Xbox, Live, or any games? I didn't. By purchasing and using the system, didn't he agree to the terms of service? I thought that was a given when you purchase the product.

The Xbox I am talking about has been bought in Germany in April 2002. It came with the three-item-Dashboard, because Xbox Live had not existed back then. Some months ago, I played "MechAssault" on this Xbox, so the game updated the system software on my hard disk - without asking, I might add, but that's not my point right now. Since then, I have a fourth item in the Dashboard, the Xbox's main menu: "XBOX LIVE".

Has anyone else had a Live-enabled game automatically install Live on their system without buying a kit or connecting to the net? I didn't know MA had a full version of Live on it.

As there was no documentation about the new menu entry, so I selected it. The item releaved a menu which allowed me to enter my internet connection details - I did so, and I was able to "ping" my Xbox. Sure I know what Xbox Live is, but I only entered my network settings, I never signed up to Xbox Live or even selected "yes" or "agree" when some EULA was shown - because none was ever shown.

So, after MA installed its full version of Live (must be a special PAL edition of MA), he went online.

Today, by mistake, I selected the menu item "XBOX LIVE" again, and I was surprised to see a screen that said "Xbox Live is updating your system. Please don't turn off your Xbox console." - I never asked Microsoft do do any update, as I was very content with my Xbox as it was, and there was no warning screen of any kind, it just started updating the second I selected "XBOX LIVE". Fearing that turning off my Xbox could harm my data stored on the hard drive, I followed the onscreen orders, waiting for the update to be finished.

So he connected to Live. Given that Live was on his machine, it's no surprise that it was going to update itself. The Online Updater Application (there are 2 so far) was installed because the system detected he had Live on his HDD.

I don't know. He says he got Xbox Live from playing MA. That means he got Live for free, unless it was a bundle pack or something.

[Sl1p]

He got what he deserved. He ran a shitty OS on a console made to play video games with a point of absolutely nothing besides being "1337".

Go cry me a river about it...and make sure you got some fat beats behind it.

[Mamoscott]

He got what he deserved. He ran a shitty OS on a console made to play video games with a point of absolutely nothing besides being "1337".

Go cry me a river about it...and make sure you got some fat beats behind it.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Someone named "Sl1p" making fun of someone for trying to be "1337"...the irony is delicious.

[Sl1p]

You have no idea what you're talking about.

I know exactly what I'm talking about. He got what he deserved.

Someone named "Sl1p" making fun of someone for trying to be "1337"...the irony is delicious.

I don't see the irony. Explain.

[Mamoscott]

I know exactly what I'm talking about. He got what he deserved.

No, you are clueless.

The point of running a "shitty OS" like Linux on a Xbox is that the emulators and programs written for Linux are legal and very easy to find online. Emulators and programs like the Xbox Media player that are created specifically for the Xbox are illegal, because people use Microsoft's SDK to write those programs. In addition to that, running Linux on the system gives you additional flexibility, and if you wanted, a compact, fairly powerful PC for under $300 after you factor in the cost of a mod chip.

For the record, I don't have Linux on any of my PCs or my Xbox, but I can see that there are reasons why people would want to put a different operating system on their Xbox consoles. It affords them more options and control, though I'm sure there are some people that just do it for the "l33t" factor or whatever.