Craigslist brimming with banned, 'modded' Xboxes
There are literally hundreds of banned Xboxes for sale on Craigslist right now in the wake of a decision by Microsoft to kick as many as a million players off of Xbox Live for illegally modifying their consoles to play pirated games.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)Update (5:45 pm): This story now includes a statement from Microsoft.
Want an Xbox 360 but don't care about playing online or taking part in any of the Xbox Live services? Then this is your lucky day.
Thanks to a recent decision by Microsoft to ban as many as a million players from Xbox Live for illegally modifying their consoles to run pirated games, there is now an absolute glut of "modded" Xboxes for sale on Craigslist.
And while a brand-new Xbox Arcade--the lowest-price version of the console--sells for $200 with no free games, it is now possible to spend as little as $100 for a used, modded Xbox that comes with a slew of hit titles. You just have to be willing to give up using Xbox Live and be OK with your new game collection including mainly pirated titles.
Running a search for "modded Xbox" on Craigslist's Bay Area site returned 35 listings from the past three days. A similar search on New York Craigslist resulted in 87 listings. And dozens and dozens more are for sale on other local Craigslist sites.
One listing promised a "banned/modded" Xbox 360 with a 20 gigabyte hard drive; 20 HD movies; and 13 games including Madden 2010, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, NBA 2K10, and others.
"Everything works perfectly," the ad reads. "The 360 was treated better than I treat most people."
The ad also reminded potential buyers that, "since the console is banned, you will not be able to connect to the Xbox Live service. Therefore, this posting is for those of you who don't care if you can play online or not."
One Craigslist poster named Danny Cuccovia, a 22-year-old student from West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., was actually looking to buy a modded Xbox 360, and despite the incredible deals available right now, wasn't interested in one that couldn't get him onto Xbox Live.
A gamer looking to potentially go pro, Cuccovia suggested that modded Xboxes are great because there is no end to the supply of pirated games and that sellers of those games put very realistic-looking labels on them.
He also said he was sure that many of the people selling their banned Xboxes on Craigslist were doing so because they want to get a new one.
That was certainly the case with Kevin, a 29-year-old from Manhattan's East Village who logged into Xbox Live a few days ago only to discover the bad news about his console.
"I logged in, tried to play a game online, and it said I had been banned from the service for violating the terms of service," Kevin, who wouldn't give his last name, said. "I cursed, put my controller down, cursed Microsoft, and then bought another Xbox."
But even though he bought another used console that was advertised as being unmodified, Kevin said that when he tried to log on to Xbox Live, he quickly discovered he'd been cheated: the new device had been banned, too. So on Tuesday, he bought another one.
"If you're interested in a modded Xbox," he said, "I've got one for you."
Interestingly, Kevin and another New Yorker with a banned Xbox, 16-year-old Muhummad Sheikh, both said that the ban seemed to apply only to the console and not to their Xbox Live accounts.
Kevin said that his account still works, and that he was able to keep all his achievements, but he lost all the saved games. "They've done something funny," he said. "They call it a corrupted profile."
For sellers like Kevin, the rush to sell their banned Xboxes in order to buy a new one is pitting them against dozens, if not hundreds of people in the same boat. That means that getting the price they want is going to be near impossible. Kevin said that he had originally asked for $175--with an available legitimate copy of Rock Band for an additional $50--but has now dropped his price to $150. And still he has no bites.
"Someone (offered to) buy it for $100," Kevin said, "but I haven't capitulated yet."
In a statement issued late Wednesday to CNET News, Microsoft suggested that players who buy used Xboxes should beware that the company doesn't necessarily stand behind the consoles.
"If you purchase a modified console second-hand, the warranty is not transferable and the purchaser assumes the risk for any previous modifications," the Microsoft statement said. "If you purchase a console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to (Xbox) Live."
To Kevin, the fact that the consoles have been banned but players' accounts still work smells a little fishy since that means if someone buys a new Xbox, they'll be able to get right back into their Xbox Live account and pick up, more or less, where they left off. And that could well mean that for the Xbox Live obsessed, there's no choice but to buy a brand-new machine, especially since many of the other consoles for sale on Craigslist right now have also been banned.
"Well, the holidays are around the corner," Kevin said. "They know what they're doing when it comes to making money."
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel. 
Watching the dumber among that population buying multiple used xboxes in an attempt to find one that isn't banned is even funnier.
There is one thing that's going to suck, though...
...I can see a lot of unscrupulous people trying to pass off their xboxes as unmodded just to try and make a buck. Caveat Emptor, folks.
Bingo on that one. How can you spot a modded vs unmodded unit without opening the case? And will that seller let you open it? It might be a good time to walk away at that point.
Personally, I wouldn't buy any game console used. Just too many problems associated with it. Warranties are a good thing.
- the majority of them cropped up in just the last three days (in the latter search term, 15 of them referred to "repair" services).
Most of those 1 million people... are probably in china - the pirate-of-everything-western capital of the world!
It's pretty obvious if you ask me:
1. If the console has been modded, then the console being banned from xbox-live is the fix. Console modding doesn't just allow pirated games -- it also allows cheats etc. To keep gameplay on xbox-live fair, the only solution is to ban that console from live.
2. The account can remain active becaue the account is not tied to the xbox. If you get another un-modded xbox, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to use your console.
3. The gamer score and game saves were attained using cheats. So they must also be reset in the interest of fairness.
All quite simple and logical really. People might be surprised that cheating in videogames is actually taken so seriously (yes - I know piracy is the main driver here, but cheating is a large component as well). But that's the thing about online gameplay -- cheaters can really ruin the experience for everyone. And it's obviously important in a paid-service like xbox live that if cheaters are ruining the experience, then something be done to fix it, for the paying customers that haven't done anything wrong but are getting killed in games left and right by the cheaters.
Indeed - you can't continue to charge a credit card if the account it's attached to is dead. ;)
By banning one million XBox360s - the machines - from Live - they have a pipeline of 1,000,000 new sales they can bank on.
The market for used XBoxes is dead - they are worthless - good for maybe - a boat anchor.
Very clever.
also - dhavleak, you can't "cheat" with a modded xbox, a modded xbox allows you to play burned copies of games nothing else. if you are saying a modded controller is cheating, then thats right, but having a modded xbox console is not cheating. you can have a modded controller on a legit xbox.
there are ways to mod your account and get achievements without even playing the game, hardly a cheat, just an exploit.
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/consoleban
...and yes, they've been rather busy in XBox town:
http://forums.xbox.com/1386/ShowForum.aspx
I never contested you on that point. I contested your point that this would make all those affected go out and buy PS3's instead, which was ludicrous.
no its not Ludicrous! most of those ppl are selling all their games anyways...
so why not go to ps3?
>> mose0 nailed it - if you look at the sample of craigslist ads up there, the games seem to be included in a huge chunk of them.
They include them because they are pirated ISOs that were burned on recordable DVDs -- they no longer have any value to those dumping their modded XBox consoles.
...does it really matter? No xbox, no games = 'hello new console brand'.
>> ...does it really matter? No xbox, no games = 'hello new console brand'.
You're assuming that these people only own pirated games. While one of the most logical reasons for modding an Xbox is the ability to play pirated games, I would think that most owners of modded Xboxes also own a couple of games they are very fond of and which they play on Xbox Live -- if they didn't, there'd be no reason to dump the Xbox. Few of those people are going to switch to a different system, give up their favorite games and start from scratch.
Actually, I'm working on the assumption that they have a couple of legit games, and a mountain of ripped ones. Not as much investment there, and folks are smart enough to demand the legit ones before handing over the cash. ;)
shut down their internet like the 3 or maybe 4 countries who have started doing that.
or
the best thing yet. Stop selling CD's
The record industry is gone, lets evolve and get over it.
I feel bad for the record industry that ripped everyone off for decades when they charged more for a cheaper made DVD.
Now they actually are forced to only charge for the songs we like... and the other stuff ( lets just call it poetic justice for about 20 years)
I have no sympathy for Lempirates, they need to get a job and buy games like everyone else.
Actually, the Dreamcast was destroyed by crap marketing more than anything else...
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/11/10/ms-banned-600000-from-xbox-live-aims-at-1000000/
re: the very first comment I made here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10395265-52.html
Vegaman Dan, CrashPad, ...anyone?
Guess my logic wasn't so, what was it again... "crackheaded" after all, now was it?
Heh.
I'm thinking that after folks get burned enough times like one of the folks in the article, they'll likely shy away from xboxes altogether.
Dunno about you, but I wouldn't buy a used XBox for at least the next year or so...
I think Penguinisto isn't reading his own comments anymore since they tend to contradict themselves.
The latter half (where up to 1m people decide that another XBox isn't worth it and shifts to another console)? Give it time. :)
Now the pirating OTOH... different bucket of fish.
But they did agree to the terms and conditions of using the device before they got it. No one put a gun to their heads and forced them to buy it.
Christmas revenue!
Hear ye, hear ye, all ye who still live in your mom's basement.
Stop modding.
Unless you really think you'll be saving money by having to buy. And buy. And buy. New consoles.
And I can't speak for others, but I've definitely gotten my moneys worth from the consoles I've modded.
2nd of all Im getting a PS3 for the online experience. why would I buy a new xbox when I have my modded one with practically free unlimited games?
lets be realistic, the only advantage of xbox live over free internet games from ps3 is talking to friends in the middle of different games. is that worth $50 a year? hell no!
I know Xbox left my gamertag intact so I could fall for the ("what about my acheivements? what about my gamerscore? i need to buy another xbox to retrieve them") trick, but lets be honest, what exactly were those doing for me? NOTHING. I like video games, not gimicks. And brand loyalty is 1 of the STUPIDEST trends of people in history.
lets face it with a modded xbox, the value was awesome, but without free games, the playstation 3 with wifi, free internet, browsers, facebook, Bluray, future-proof technology and a promise of a 10 year llife span, all at the same price as a xbox elite, seems pretty no-brainer to me
The way I see it is, I bought my xbox used a year and a half ago, and in that amount of time only ever paid for XBL games. I have saved far more money by modding my xbox and buying a new one once the banhammer inevitably falls vs. keeping it stock and buying the games legit. The low cost of the system plus the high cost of each game makes this a no-brainer.
And FWIW, I really don't care about the loss of playing multiplayer through Live, its the loss of new XBLA games and the ability to install games to the HDD I'll miss.
Instead of banning the CONSOLES, ban the pirated games!! Surely the great and all-powerful Microsoft can figure out a way to tag a disc as legit in a why that can't be replicated on regular blank media. It's the GAMES that are pirated, not the consoles.
Of course, some brilliant hacker out there is going to find a way to flag these boxes in short order so they work again. Hackers are always about 6 years ahead of Microsoft anyway.
But for the fools who rush out to buy another XBox, you know the saying ... a fool and his money are soon parted. And if anything, Microsoft knows how to milk money out of fools.
I guess Aaron Greenberg was right..
so many have been banned
Most of the cheaters from what I gather mod their controllers (basically to hold down the fire button and such).
I did get tricked into buying a modded XBOX by an unscrupulous seller, but again, I knew the inherent risks in dealing with craigslist. I took a gamble and lost, it happens. I'll end up selling it to someone like me who wants to have an extra console for modded games.
Look - I never claimed to have the moral high-ground here. The fact of the matter is, the seller was unscrupulous by lying about his listing. That is mutually exclusive from what I did. Anyways, there's no point in debating intellectual property rights and copyright infringement. That is a legal and philosophical debate that can run around in circles. What I will say is that many of those laws are archaic and do not account to the technological landscape we live in today. Rather than embrace technology, be proactive and try to figure out how to leverage it, companies have been so busy hiding and trying to enforce these laws. That's why the music industry is crumbling today. They're stuck in the past.
Anyways, check out the first few seconds of Mindy Kaling's routine which, although is a joke, puts things into perspective about how the youth look at copyright infringement today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcOdNc_seyM
Boy, they are not all that bright.
- by inachu1 November 12, 2009 3:31 AM PST
- I think its ok to buy a banned modded 360.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (86 Comments)at least the person knowing this can just use the xbox 360 on a xbm or hamachi multiplayer game network so all is not lost.