Halo 3: ODST perma-bans begin

By Robert Purchese Published 4 September, 2009

Illegitimate owners unmercifully culled.

Microsoft has begun permanently banning Xbox Live accounts and possibly the associated Xbox 360 console of people caught playing "illegitimate" copies of Halo 3: ODST.

"I spy with my little eye some illegitimate ODST players. No early play for you. Commencing perma-bans," Tweeted MS enforcer Stephen Toulouse.

He later added: "To be clear, legitimate players (those who bought it early, reviewers, etc.) are safe from my team's ban-hammer."

Phew. But how Microsoft determines the legitimacy of a game, Toulouse does not say.

Halo 3: ODST launches on 22nd September, exclusively for Xbox 360.

The Bungie squad-based spin-off is yet another of the games on show at the Eurogamer Expo, which takes place in both Leeds and London this year. Grab a ticket now; don't leave it too late!

Check out the ever-growing line-up over on the Eurogamer Expo mini-site.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    Normally I am against banning people but if MS can identify these guys. Fuck it. Ban away.

  • loveless #2 2 years ago

    You mean like my entirely legitimate Vista installation has/will never be deactivated?

  • schnide #3 2 years ago

    Although I'm entirely for banning pirates, why does something about this feel a little wrong to me?

    Edit: -10?! I don't care too much about the rating but wtf is there to disagree with? Aw, I love you guys!
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 12:01

  • matrim83 #4 2 years ago

    @Cpt_McOneball Did you even read the article?

  • Ace_McCloud #5 2 years ago

    No offence EG, I'm excited by the Expo and all. But by the time that rolls around I'll have played ODST countless times while sitting in my pants. Will I be able to play ODST at the expo while sitting in my pants?

    Unless you've got a big lan-party set up thing? That'd be cool.

    Edit: because you're allowed to sit in your pants at lan parties obviously:p
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 09:35

  • piopakk #6 2 years ago

    "To be clear, legitimate players (those who bought it early, reviewers, etc.) are safe from my team's ban-hammer."

    How can anyone buy this game early? And if it were possible in the local shop, how would MS tell it were bought? It can't be bought until perphaps a few days before 22.

    And how can MS tell whether a copy of ODST is being played by a reviewer or not. Of course they ship copies to reviewers, and thus can filter them out, but how do they tell from the xboxlive account name, whether it is an review copy or not. I mean if the account says eurogamer.net it probalby is ok, but what if eurogamer.net's live name says e.g. tobias or anything else?

  • swissorc #7 2 years ago

    Am I the only 360 owner on the planet who doesn't care about ODST at all?

  • miiiguel #8 2 years ago

    No, you're clearly not that one guy.

    pioppak: I think they're talking about hacked 360's and torrented games. About how they know, I have no idea. But they do. And it seems logical not to share the secret/knowledge.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 09:44

  • MaxHughes #9 2 years ago

    The top link just links to the EG homepage ;)


    On a more serious note, how can Micro$oft tell that people have bought ODST illegitimately? A lot of people have the chance to purchase it early and they MAY be banned for doing so....

  • VicViper #10 2 years ago

    @piopakk

    Well as the article says MS have some Arcane Magic that allows them to tell this, of course thier not going to say as that would give hackers some where to look to work around that.

    @EG your link to the twitter feed goes to the Eurogamer website not the twitter entry

  • RexRunti #11 2 years ago

    My guess is the torrent or ISO or however the game is obtained illegally is subtly different from the release version allowing MS to differentiate between versions. (If you're a conspiracy theorist you could suggest that MS uploaded the version themselves, though more likely it's just build 1.0137 as opposed to 1.0138.)

  • miiiguel #12 2 years ago

    What is even more impressive is that some ppl even tries to justify it, with "oh but I have no money"; "it should be cheaper" or the awesome "it's not that good anyway".

  • Tiger_Walts #13 2 years ago

    If XBL is build-checking then MS could offer to release their accounts earlier if they buy the release version, that's one way to turn those 'lost sales' into real sales. Of course they probably can't do that... until the XBL T&Cs get changed, that is :p

  • photoboy #14 2 years ago

    There's some sort of checksum or hash check for every Xbox 360 game. If you burn a copy of the game that isn't 100% identical to the retail release or your burner doesn't make an exact copy, then the hash check will fail. This was introduced fairly recently and is part of the Wave 3 update to Xbox 360 game disc structure.

    People using the hacked Xbox 360 DVD drive firmware to play pirated games have to patch the disc image to get around the Wave 3 check and Microsoft can detect this and ban them. People with the latest hacked firmware will be playing with impunity as MS haven't found a way to detect that yet.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 10:58

  • miiiguel #15 2 years ago

    eheh, that sounds like a lot of time which could be spent doing stuff like... *working* to pay for the games.

  • Tiger_Walts #16 2 years ago

    They're also banning people who play it in a region of the world thay discs shouldn't exist in yet.

  • JimmyT67 #17 2 years ago

    They detect the illegitamate copies by looking to see where you live. If you live in Toxteth, Liverpool then you get banned.

  • kevanko #18 2 years ago

    it would appear that MS is changing it`s process , rather than banning the modded box ( which i`ve never approved of anyway ) it is now suspending gamertags and cancelling xbox live subs ! .....but they are offering to resell you a sub .

    so to me , it makes great business sense , MS cannot afford to lose customers , so make the naughty ones pay £30-40 each time they download torrent .

  • des #19 2 years ago

    Pirate IQ test...

  • actionfitz #20 2 years ago

    STOP!...
    Ban Hammer Time!
    :D

  • sneetch #21 2 years ago

    @donnie080208
    it seems that it will be impossible for MSOFT not to make civilian casualties in their war on the pirates. up to what date will they enforce this? as i sometimes get games a day or two early when ordered online.(through post)

    I can see how it might seem that way when you don't know how they're detecting these illegitimate users.

    As others have pointed out they can tell a legitimate copy from an illegal one through a number of methods (build numbers/release versions/disk checks) so if you have a legitimate copy then you won't be caught in the crossfire. If a copy fails their checks then the user is a fair target.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 12:04

  • BabyJesus #22 2 years ago

    @swissorc

    No, I don't care for Halo either.

  • Spekingur #23 2 years ago

    It's probably a promo version that's been flowing on the waves of the internets. These get identified quickly enough. I just find it silly that these "pirates" don't have sense enough to wait until at least release date. It just goes to show that pirating has become the norm these days and that people of every type in the social ladder are doing it.

  • Iain815 #24 2 years ago

    @ swissorc

    I have no interest in Halo at all. Wasn't tempted by Halo 3 and this won't make any bit of difference. Just looks like a typical FPS to me.

  • CARL05 #25 2 years ago

    Do we get a halo for our avatar if we don't get banned?

  • shotgun44 #26 2 years ago

    I can't remember the last time my gaming experience was 'ruined' by other people pirating software...

  • pinochet_cz #27 2 years ago

    Hammer on sinners. Oh wait...I just sometimes want to try a game before buy, u know...

  • DUFFKING #28 2 years ago

    I wonder how many times the words 'am I the only one who doesn't like Halo', or words to the effect of, have been written or spoken?

    :p

  • SleepyMagpie #29 2 years ago

    Can anyone enlighten me as to whether ODST will have co-op storymode like HALO 3? -Haven't been able to find out yet..

  • shotgun44 #30 2 years ago

    I'm guessing it will have co-op story mode? Halo games go from fairly standard to awesome when another player gets involved. Like sex.

  • Sir_TimAlot #31 2 years ago

    @ Shotgun44

    Agreed, but...........the invite and lobby system currently needs improving for co-op sex, plus i get disconnected far too often!

  • sanctusmortis #32 2 years ago

    They can tell from registered game sessions the copy's ID. If they detect multiple people on one copy (not just, say, a couple), they just blackball that ID - and all the gamers attached.

    It's how they ban pirates.

  • BadBoyBonner #33 2 years ago

    Sanctusmortis

    Hmm - think about this a little more and you will realise what you said is a load of rubbish.

    Indiviual I.D.'s are not pressed into discs (hence the term going gold - to produce a master) if they did have unique I.D.'s then obviously this would negate anyone with a PC having to type in crappy security codes with almost every release and we could do away with Starforce etc.

    Nice idea - but it is not what is currently happening.

    EDIT - of course you could be suggesting ODST requires you to manually input a code from the box?
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 15:16

  • BadBoyBonner #34 2 years ago

    I can't imagine co-op sex selling much to Japanese gamers ;-) http://en.wikipe dia.org/wiki/RapeLay

  • andywilkie35 #35 2 years ago

    Good news all round. Cheap cunts deserve to be banned.

  • Turambar #36 2 years ago

    I know there's a pirate copy doing the rounds that is the wrong size on disc. Deliberate plant perhaps?

  • Cataferal #37 2 years ago

    What's this Halo ODST all about anyway?

  • DaemonSpawn #38 2 years ago

    Ok, all people with hacked consoles had been warned about upcoming bans for playing ODST before release, so that's their call. Everyone has a choice - if somebody loves Halo SO much and still steals these games, than ban is truly deserved.

    As for detecting illegitimate copies, I think MS don't detect copies of Halo (which are not review copies, but rips of leaked retail ones), but rather simply have full database of IDs of hacked consoles. It's pretty evident that if some guy owns hacked Xbox 360 he isn't very likely to get legitimate copy of ODST almost a month before release date.
    All that "stealth", disc crc and data corruption is total crap - I don't believe Microsoft's engineers are so stupid they can't find a way to detect a console with custom-flashed DVD-drive. Every autumn and spring people get banned "without a reason" for modded 360s, but MS is really pissed now so some of them are dealt earlier than usual.

    Microsoft is pretty much in their right here, because console software modding is against Live EULA. As for those who like to "test" games - nobody makes you NOT to do it. Just know that you'll loose multiplayer, patches and online achievments' tracking for that. Simple as that=).

  • miiiguel #39 2 years ago

    ^ I can buy every single game I want. And even some which I don't realy want to. Regarding "all the ppl i hear from say they keep the 360 because its moddable", it really depends on the circle of friends one has. And age, probably.

  • miiiguel #40 2 years ago

    "Maybe just the websites I visit "
    That too, then again, I don't usually go to warez.chn; iamcheap.bah or piratebay.swe.

    "If a console cant be hacked you simply dont buy it and who loses out?"
    I'd rethink my whole life if I ever had to buy something checking ahead if I could steal content.

    Believe it or not legit gamers are way more than warez, "yo dudes". Yes, even in PS2 golden years, diference is, generally they don't spend their life on shady internetz sites trying to figure out how to get away with stealing. Just check "the internetz forums" before an upgrade, it's priceless... "oooh can I loggon on to LIVE? Is it safe?". Pathetic.

  • miiiguel #41 2 years ago

    I never had my car stolen, though I don't like them thiefs either way.

    Anyway..., I really don't know what bothers me more, having to wait that this backup ends in order to reconfigure my filesystems at work or having a conversation with a first grade troll. Yes, I'm having a lot of idle time and I came across your other posts - the one about the lag was brilliant; same as the other ones about RRODs or seliing 360s - like your another accounts who generally post right after you to say... they agree with you.
    I should be ashamed of myself, I'm old enough to know better.
    Edited by 1 at 06/09/09 @ 21:30

  • kongzi #42 2 years ago

    Stephen Toulouse has a shitty job...