That's not what I meant.

If MS close off the 360 to 3rd party accessories (someting that has never in my knowledge been tried for a video game console) then they are giving themselves a monopoly of the market of 360 accesories. Monopolies lead to increased prices = bad for customer. I hope the EU fines them for this. MS already make enough on their accessories

Another reason to ditch the 360 and go for the slim... Christmas here i come!

I don't get the problem here. Microsoft does not allow unlicensed peripherals and some people cry about it?

The licensed 3rd party peripherals will not stop working.

In a truly free market every detachable component of a console could be produced by anyone without need of a licence. The market would then "decide" which brands of component survive based on how well they perofm. Of course a lot of people would get shafted with crappy products until the crapsters got totally exposed and people stopped buying.

Car companies don't make you buy licenced tyres, approved licenced wheels and all manner of parts have after market brands.

It's funny really. MS would probably say it's to protect the quality of the product to prevent people from getting ripped off by crappy third party hardware.

That's nanny capitalism for you. We know what's best for you so we aren't going to let you buy anything unless we approveit first.

well, that's Microsoft's business model for the 360

you get the console for a low price (probably under their full costs for producing, shipping and marketing the console - at least for '08) and in return they charge a bit more for their peripherals and services

 for some key peripherals (that are in high demand ) like the HDD and the wireless adapter they afaik didn't even license a 3rd party product to make sure the business model works out for them (and it seems it does)

as Euphoria pointed out it's still a bit unsettling they block the HDD mods now though, because a good amount of people already adopted that method to be able to make full use of all of MS' services

when people buy non-ms-memory or modify their memory units there is no guarantee that they will work in the first place or continue to work, if they do. they are not licensed and approved of by microsoft.

you take the risk when you do it...and now they wont work.

Wow do you have MS stock or something? The HDD cockblock is grimy, end of story. They are charging $100 fackin dollars for a 60 gig hardrive bro, and you applaud them for that? And I couldn't care less what Sony used to do with their cameras, 2 wrongs don't make a right. I've been gaming for 25 years now and I've never seen a console try and nicklel and dime its users the way the 360 does, from $100 wi-fi adapter to $50 yearly online gaming fees it's a rip-off and there's no way I would ever support it and I'll never understand people who do.

And yes I own a 360 but it looks like unfortunately, I'll be living on that internal memory tilll the end of this gen.

I always find these posts funny. Every average consumer out there has zero interest in purchasing a modded HDD. And MS wouldn't have a problem with the memory cards if they would pay MS a liscense agreement to have their product work on the 360. People act like MS is the only one out their doing the screwing (and yes their prices are high) but the truth is the unauthorized makers of the memory cards pay no royalties to MS and half of Europe just downloads the games for free and screws them out money on software.

Like they say those who live in glass houses should not throw rocks.

C'mon man. Don't paint everyone with the same brush.

I am seriously considering getting a x360 next year but stuff like this put me off.

I already have two 320GB drives that can physically be used in (or externally by USB) a x360 now I will have to shell out more $£ for a smaller drive.

*I am not one of those people that blindly follow a company even if they fleece me out of every penny and I smile while they do it.

That is going into the realms of religion and I am not religious.

I like pissing trolls of as much as anyone else but why should I have to pay for it indirectly by MS's actions.

If I hit skid row tomorrow MS/Sony/Nintendo or any other global company won't bail me out so I owe them jack.

All i want is the best deal - the biggest bang for my buck and not be treated like a mug.

You may agree or disagree but I have my opinions and you yours and ultimately we live and die by them.

*This is a general statement and not directed at any comapny in particular.

Insisting on stating the facts may become pestering, but it isn't spin. You see spin everywhere. Everibody's spinning. Too much booze?