RoQuEr

Get real people. Are the people who use their prescription medicine "as directed" the rare exception as well? If you want to use your $300 box just for playing kiddie games, fine. I have no problem with that. However, if this miniature computer complete with hard drive is YOUR personal property and you want to extend its numerous capabilities, then it should be in your right, since you did buy it.

PixyJunket

*shakes your hand*

Damn. You said it better than I did in about 1/5 of the space.

Sloth911

removed to reflect pixyboi comment, and some copright research.

Is this really true? The original playstation is very, very easy to mod, and pirate games for. Yet, that didn’t hurt play stations market position at all. Again, look at the music industries; they are still making huge profits despite mp3’s and rampant music piracy.

The few who are willing to go to the effort of pirating video games are not going to have an adverse affect. In fact, I would argue that pirating CAUSES many people to by hardware (consoles, controllers) that they would not normally buy because of the cost associated with buying additional games.

For example, I was an avid Nintendo fan, and have many, many n64 games. I grew up disliking Playstation games because of loading times, memory cards, and the actual CD’s, which because of crappy, digital media is accepted as the current norm. I was loyal to Nintendo because of the durable cartridges, no loading time, and certain games. After the PS2 was released I purchased an original Playstation (and spare controller) because my friend was into modding and had a bunch of CD-r games. I managed to copy a few “fun” but aged games and enjoyed them. I would have NEVER bought a psx if I had to purchase these games outright.

I do agree that if pirating games becomes as easy as mp3's, it may become a problem to some industries wanting 1-3% more in profits. This would ONLY happen if it became as easy, and as readily accessible as mp3's. The reality is that the majority of consumers don’t, cannot, and won’t have the time, money, knowledge, and resources to become rampant piraters of video games.

Even if I had games backed up on my xBox HD, and it failed, I could easily reload them with my MINT, barely touched originals.

neale

Looks like a faked photo to me.

The type on the X-Deck is larger than it is on the Xbox. Plus, There is a hyphen in the name X-Deck. There is none in Xbox. Seems like Microsoft would be consistant in that regard. And that USB logo is HUGE.

I say it's fake.

Groucho

Not true. This is one reason why Nintendo only put NES games it has rights to in Animal Crossing.

And the argument that "Piracy sells more consoles" doesn't work too well when Microsoft is losing money on every console it sells. They could sell a billion consoles and still not be ahead. Software sales is very important in the console market.

PixyJunket

Just to clarify it is NOT different. These games may be old but thier copyrights are still strong. One could argue that the games are no longer produced and there's no profit loss at this point (since the games aren't for sale anymore), which for the most part is true, but still illgeal. To think that it's okay is a horrible misconception.

sdcrym

You are right in that the X-Deck text is different than that of the XBox, but that doesn't mean it's a fake. From what you wrote it sounds like you think that the X-Deck is a Microsoft product, which nobody has mentioned anywhere (to my knowledge). Microsoft would never create an XBox add-on or mod like this, since it would make pirating their software easier. If the X-Deck exists, it would just be another 3rd party mod, but with a better design to match that of the XBox.

edstein

This is in fact a "Project In-Work". You can't expect a working prototype right away. The shows what the final product should look like. Here is the web site of the organization putting it together. It looks like the site is down or overloaded right now. But check back later if your interested.

Here is a similar mod that is complete which looks very similar.



Go here to see the full project. 411 Gb Maximum.

Although these mods may violate the warranty, they are by no means illegal. Just for the MP3 storage alone could justify such a setup. And is anyone really going to prosecute you for copying roms of games from the early to mid 80's. Let get real here. Most of the modded setups are being used as Mame machines or Linux boxes. Those that are backing up games are in the minority.

Sloth911

Pixyboi is correct; NES games do not fall under copyright expiration laws.
Well, as argued many times on this board, all gaming comes have a narrow, if any at all, profit margins after the initial release of their consoles. MS is not an exception; rather this is the expected norm.

A pirater needs something to pirate for. The limited number of people that do pirate current generation video games would probably not purchase the console at all.

If you look into what PS2 and xBox modding and playing back-up or downloaded games requires, it is not a mere walk in the park. You need mod chips, you need to connect and interface the xBox with your computer, you need to upgrade the OS on the xBox, and you need to wait for the alignments of the moon, sun, and earth to make it all work.

I again stress that if the piracy of video games was as accessible as mp3's are, I would be wrong. However, with new consoles coming out every 5 years, the change in technology is to fast, for rampant piracy to take hold and grow systemic roots like mp3’s. The technology of a CD is 20 years old, while the xBox has cutting edge 2056 bit encryption! By the time pirating tapes (or VHS) was as easy as could be, the CD (DVD) took hold, pushing the limits of what a consumer could get out of their $$.

So if copying an xBox games was easy as copying a floppy disc, then and ONLY then would MS have a large problem on their hands.

jw2299

Why can't the three letters M-O-D ever be mentioned here without a big philosophical/legal debate starting?

Sloth911

project 411GB = OMG

i wonder if this is also being done to the PS2?

joltaddict

Id want to try running MCE on it.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1766&p=3

leemik

well, you could run XBMP 2.0.. which has similar functions to MCE(sort of)..

XBox Media Player link

--mike

bluntman72

It looks fake to me, but I would not be suprised if something similar came out.

The biggest complaint about the Xbox is the huge design, so the last thing you should do is put out a version which is twice the size of the current one.


I believe this is just a nice concept photo created by someone and not an actual product.

joltaddict

Id want it for the TiVo scheduled recording functions combined with the HDs.

MasterofDVD

It's a nice concept but I can't see how or why I personally would ever need it.

411GB is just plain amazing and more space than I could use.
I'm pretty sure that the XBOX will be around some time and will go strong but I really try to watch the amount of money I sink into each system. This would be a cool add on but I don't think I'd make good enough of it before XBOXNext to justify the money.

Plus there are a number of other extras that I want out of the XBOX and I'm waiting on them to be developed and hit the market.

It just blows my mind how far gaming, consoles and technology have come.