Microsoft Fighting Back Against Xbox 360 Firmware Hacks

According to reports from the Xbox-Scene forums, Microsoft has started shipping Xbox 360 consoles in the UK and Australia regions with an updated Hitachi DVD-ROM drive. The new version of the drive has implemented changes to the hardware designed to make hacking the firmware much harder than before, including changing the firmware chip type, removing debug mode, and encasing the chip with black hard glue to make it harder to access the chip and controller pins.

[Phil Harrison]

They're still using the glue method!

[Deceased]

That is a cheap way of doing it, i would have done so myself. They will find some glue that will screw modders up. Why can't they just play the 360 the way it was meant to be played.

[richie007bond]

hackers spoil it for everyone,devs need to make thier money from the games they make otherwise there wont be any video games market

[Spunkmeyer43]

If the prices where fairer then hacking would be no where near the problem it is but they don't have the foresight!!!!

[Devilpup]

We pay up to 119$AUD (89.3USD) for games in Australia. When you buy five games you can nearly buy a whole new Xbox 360. Some are selling for $580 Premium.

I am buying all original this time, but its costing a fortune and im unable to buy the games I want. Also i have to trade in games and not keep them. It really sucks!

[Ravenator529]

HAXORS R TEH SUXORS!

Just play the damn machines! I wonder how many 360's some of these assholes went through before they were able to hack into one?

[The Snake]

If you want to drive a top of the line car, you pay more for insurance. Same with being on the cutting edge of the video game industry.
If you're going to be a next gen gamer, you're going to have to accept the fact that you'll be paying next gen prices for your games. Developers, and to a lesser extent publishers, do in fact need money to make games and they need to turn some kind of profit to motivate them to make more.
If you want cheap games, wait until they're a year and a half old. Either that or buy a PS2 or Xbox. Otherwise, you're just gonna have to pony up the cash just like the rest of us.
I don't want to sound like a jerk, but if you don't have the money to be a next gen gamer, you shouldn't be one.

[Devilpup]

I understand your point, what im saying though is us Australians are paying nearly double of what Americans are paying for, for the same game. I doubt the money is going to the makers, more so a huge markup from the stores or something?

It would be better if we could buy directly from the publisher or maker in the first place, that way more profit would go to them instead of shops, perhaps in turn lowering the prices a little as well.