Friends disappearing from Xbox Live? Did they suddenly find other hobbies? Are they busy decorating for Thanksgiving? Most likely no to both of those. Microsoft has polished up their banhammer and are busy whacking hackers off Live left and right. The initial rumors said the goal was 1 million Xboxes banned before Christmas. Reports now state that Microsoft made their goal early and have already banned 1 million units.
Stepto (Xbox’s Director of Policy and Enforcement) reportedly received death threats after his phone number was put on an IRC channel. Stepto then went to the IRC channel to confront the idiots that were calling him. An amusing copy of that conversation is here. I say amusing because the conversation was amusing, death threats to a person and his family because you got caught pirating is not amusing.
On a side note, expect the holiday NPD’s to show Xbox winning the war. It will be false because these will be replacement Xboxes but I think they will crush PS3 this quarter.
Wonder how many of these folks will be buying a 360 this holiday season.
It would be unwise to assume a “winner” in Holiday NPDs…To paraphrase Darth Vader. There are a couple of reasons for this:
*Banned accounts (especially if they were banned unfairly–from the perspective of the banned) will push some towards the PS3.
*People are sick of the 360′s poor build quality. While its not the problem it once was with the newest chipset, 360s are still having issues–especially with the optical drive (I think its the reason why we have the option to load games to the hard drive–just my opinion). With some people on their 4th, 5th, or 6th system or more since launch, folks are getting frustrated. I have friends, and have run accross random people who have ditched the 360 for the PS3 for that reason–especially since Sony’s price drop. Not a scientific study by any stretch, but I’m sure they aren’t the only ones doing it.
*Finally, don’t assume that there won’t be additional price drops and bundles from all 3 players as Christmas Season moves into full swing. A bad economy has people looking to get the most from their disposable income dollars, and Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are very aware of that.
This Christmas season seems to have games that suit any taste regardless of which system(s) you own. Regardless of the NPDs, we all win as consumers.
I’m only here for a bit. a bit pissed about the threats to my wife and my dogs.
bahahah