Microsoft bans "unauthorised" Mem Units

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 October, 2009

By which it presumably means "third-party".

Major Nelson has said that "unauthorised" Memory Units will no longer work with Xbox 360 once the next system update, currently undergoing testing, is applied.

Writing on his blog, the Major - Microsoft's Larry Hryb - advised 360 owners that they should buy an authorised storage device - either an official Memory Unit or hard disk - to store their profile or saved games instead.

"If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games," he explained.

This has not gone down fantastically well with the Xbox 360 faithful, who are currently arguing about it on the blog to the tune of 400 comments.

Although some point out that this is presumably an attempt to rein in hackers, others suspect it's more to do with squeezing third parties out of the lucrative accessories market.

Other others, meanwhile, argue that you could understand Microsoft protecting its bottom line, were the platform holder not charging extortionate fees for its own Memory Units and hard disks, and were it to provide units with as much storage as its unofficial - sorry, "unauthorised" - competitors.

Microsoft hasn't clarified the statement on Major Nelson's blog, but the man himself did pop up on the comments thread to say that he had read everyone's posts and had "echoed some of the concerns posted here w/ the accessories team".

The system update also adds Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm support, and we also recently learned that there's a "News and More" tab on the Inside Xbox channel. Hot.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • MeBrains #1 2 years ago

    tststs... this will not go down well with 360's main customers: "hardcore" gamers.

  • Earlyflash #2 2 years ago

    This is really poor form. They at the very least need to warn people (and no, I don't mean just posting it on a blog) who have them BEFORE the update. My mother would be furious if she suddenly lost access to her save games without warning.

  • wizlon #3 2 years ago

    Surely this is a case for the antitrust lawyers, how less competitive can you get when you ban everyone else from releasing hardware for your device.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 08:52

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #4 2 years ago

    Thing everyone forgets is that its MS's hardware, so to make hardware to work with it has to be officially licensed. Companies who reverse engineer things to get it to work and havent paid for the license are in breach of a law or 2.. yes they should drop the price if they going to do this, but i can understand why they not happy to have unlicensed hardware out in the market.

  • Malek86 #5 2 years ago

    Let's make some clarity here:

    1) HDDs are not interested. It's only about memory cards.

    2) It's not stopping all third party devices, just unauthorized ones. So if you buy your stuff from HK, you'll be in trouble. But then, you should know that buying stuff from HK could get you in trouble. It's like the Magic Gate for Sony, except that a Stick without MG might still work, depends.

    Of course, now it's also a matter of seeing which third party devices are authorized and which are not... there aren't many third party storage devices around. Do they even exist?

  • Retroid #6 2 years ago

    I think this is almost certainly targeted at Datel's memory-card-with-a-mini-SD-card-slot. A perfect way to get dodgy code onto the 360 and try to hack it in the right hands.

  • Malek86 #7 2 years ago

    @Retroid: yeah, I'd seen that around. Cool, but still quite expensive, if you ask me. Comes at 39€ with a 2Gb card preloaded, so if you want a 16Gb one, you'll need to spend another 30€. Not so hot. Well, still better than an official 512Mb, that's for sure. But you're probably better off buying a HDD 60Gb Starter Pack.

  • Malek86 #8 2 years ago

    Yeah, there's too much fuss around for this story.

    Antitrust case this is not. It doesn't speak about "third party", but about "unauthorized". You have to get a license in order to do an accessory for a closed platform, that's what has always happened. It would be like a company making a PS2 game without asking Sony for the license first. If Sony sues them afterwards, they can't complain. Also, Sony has been trying to do the same thing for ages with their Magic Gate, even though it didn't work nearly as well as expected. Notice that Sandisk and other authorized brands Duos still have MG, just the cheap chinese ones don't. It's only normal that a company will try and prevent knockoffs.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 09:10

  • MrNyarlathotep #9 2 years ago

    @jaywalker3010
    Thing everyone forgets is that its MS's hardware, so to make hardware to work with it has to be officially licensed. Companies who reverse engineer things to get it to work and havent paid for the license are in breach of a law or 2

    Actually in the US at least, reverse engineering a technology that is in place solely to restrict competition is entirely legal - see the Galoob vs Nintendo case from the 80s (the 'Game Genie' case) which came down in favour of Galoob. I believe there are even provisions made for this within the DMCA.

  • Xerx3s #10 2 years ago

    "This is really poor form. They at the very least need to warn people (and no, I don't mean just posting it on a blog) who have them BEFORE the update."

    They did, days ago.

  • Nithron #11 2 years ago

    It's not MS's hardware though, is it. It's your hardware. You just went out and paid for it. If it still aint your hardware, what did you give MS all that money for?

    Anyway, the PS3 uses basically any storage you shove in there, does it not? Like random memory sticks? And any old harddrive? So why does MS insist of locking you in?

  • Darren #12 2 years ago

    Surely the only people likely to be affected by this are those that bought these "unathorised" devices in order to cheat or even pirate Xbox 360 games? I don't see what all the fuss is about myself... authorised third-party memory cards are still going to continue to work.

  • asphaltcowboy #13 2 years ago

    Hate the way he puts “back it up” in quotes as though no one could possibly actually be backing stuff, they're definitely always doing something dodgy!

  • Darren #14 2 years ago

    @Nithron - It's ironic really... Microsoft have all this security built into the Xbox 360 yet it still doesn't prevent hackers from downloading and using illegally pirated games on the system. Sony on the other hand have more open hardware that allows you to copy MP3s and movies onto your hard drive from external sources even via streaming from a PC (a wonderful feature IMO), things that you cannot do on the Xbox 360, and use third-party hard drives and USB memory sticks. You can even use user mods in games like Unreal Tournament III, again something not possible on the Xbox 360. The PS3's BD format also means that games piracy is far less of an issue on that platform (as far as I'm aware it isn't).

    What an odd world we live in!

  • mkreku #15 2 years ago

    @MilkybKid1985: Microsoft is selling their 512MB (!) memory unit for $30, but you think they're banning "unauthorized" memory units to protect their customers from dodgy products..?

    Honestly, you must be their most favourite customer ever. In your mind, they can do no wrong.

  • davisorle #16 2 years ago

    "If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games,"

    Tom according to the titles its banning and in the statement it only points out that the hard disk will be of no use and why the save games etc wont be accesible. Which exactly is the case? Ban or just dissabling of the third party HDs? It makes a huge difference. If you would let us know I'd apreciate it before i go googling all over :) ( it really doesnt clarify in the article what exactly this is about etc.. )

  • viper_h #17 2 years ago

    I bought a 120GB HDD from Hong Kong a few months back. It looks official, and has microsoft stickers on it. I can't remember if it has the silver shiny hologram on it though...

    Will I be OK?

  • el_pollo_diablo #18 2 years ago

    Microsoft have been in trubs with the Monopolies Commission before I seem to remember.

    The fucking bastards.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #19 2 years ago

    If your user profile is stored on an unauthorised device, then it won't be accessible. I don't think there's going to be any central-system banning, but unless you've got some way of moving data between memory cards without the use of an up-to-date 360, your profile will be effectively lost.

    Though if it's linked to Xbox Live, presumably you'll be able to retrieve it if you have another, legitimate storage device to put it on.


    I'm not sure what my thoughts are about this business. I think, though for myself, and the vast, vast majority of "360's main customers", as the first poster puts it, won't even notice, let alone care, since they're just using the hard drive that came with the console.

  • hbunny #20 2 years ago

    What a bunch of authoritarians on this topic. Microsoft says jump, you all answer "how high". And I love the presumption of guilt with the, "Ooh, you bought a non-authorised memory card, you copyright infringer!".

    All manufacturers try and play the, "we enforce the use of authorized accessories for the safety of the customer". It's a load of bollocks.

  • homerramone #21 2 years ago

    Maybe they should instead concentrate there anti piracy efforts on stopping people using flashed optical drives to play copied games ?

  • actionfitz #22 2 years ago

    "you could understand Microsoft protecting its bottom line, were the platform holder not charging extortionate fees for its own Memory Units and hard disks"

    quoted for truth.

  • TeaFiend #23 2 years ago

    Unauthorised means not paying MS to be officiallly branded. There are third party devices MS is happy with as they pay fees for a liscence.

  • kipper #24 2 years ago

    @ viper_h "I bought a 120GB HDD from Hong Kong a few months back. It looks official, and has microsoft stickers on it. I can't remember if it has the silver shiny hologram on it though...
    Will I be OK?"

    I think the simple answer is, if the price of it was very cheap compared to the official MS price for a HDD, then yes, its probably a fake. China is well-known as a major source of fake goods.
    As to whether it will be disabled somehow, I don't know.

  • Malek86 #25 2 years ago

    @viper: nope, MUs only. Or so they say. I don't know what will actually happen when the update comes out.

  • actionfitz #26 2 years ago

    @ viper_h
    "I bought a 120GB HDD from Hong Kong a few months back. It looks official, and has microsoft stickers on it. I can't remember if it has the silver shiny hologram on it though...

    Will I be OK? "

    yeah me too.
    Everything about it looks official to me though. it has the proper 120gb hd case thingy, nothing dodgy looking about it...
    bar the fact that I paid under £40 for it rather that £120+ Microsoft are asking - which is fucking shocking for a 120gb HD.
    I picked up a 1.5 TB external HD for my PC a couple of months ago for £120.
    :/

  • Malek86 #27 2 years ago

    @lord: well, MS HDD prices are already silly.

    Though 79€ for a 60Gb is probably a relatively decent price in comparison of what we had before (99€ for a 20Gb? Seriously?), it's still not enough. But MicroSDs too aren't quite convenient yet. Their cost per Gb is still too high. The PS3 got it right, by allowing you to using any HDD you wanted.

  • seasidebaz #28 2 years ago

    Microsoft is selling their 512MB (!) memory unit for $30, but you think they're banning "unauthorized" memory units to protect their customers from dodgy products..?

    My 360's got an authorised 512Mb memory unit built right onto the motherboard. As will most new 360s. Plus, last time I looked PC World / Currys were selling them for a tenner if anyone really doesn't have a HDD. Makes it cheaper than a knockoff.

  • penhalion #29 2 years ago

    Has anyone even seen an unauthorised 360 storage device? I can't even find one advertised so how the heck are there people complaining about it?

    Sounds more like some pirating loophole just got closed and a lot of hackers are suddenly angry.

  • kipper #30 2 years ago

    @ actionfitz re cheap xbox hd from hong kong.

    Does this ring any (alarm) bells?
    Fake xbox 360 HDD Hard Drive
    [link url=http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Fake- xbox-360-HDD-Hard-Drive_W0QQugidZ10000000004593532
    ]http://re views.ebay.co.uk/Fake-xbox-360-...[/link]

    have a look at
    120GB HARD DISK DRIVE HDD FOR MICROSOFT XBOX 360
    [link url=http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120 466340297&ih=002&category=112848&ssPageName=mem_guide:2&rd=1
    ]http://cg i.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...[/link]

    Any company that has a gmail or hotmail email address for contact purposes just screams out 'dodgy' to me.


  • MrNyarlathotep #31 2 years ago

    @penhalion:
    [link url=http://uk.codejunkies.com/Products/XB360-M AX-Memory-4GB__EF000778.aspx
    ]http://uk .codejunkies.com/Products/XB360...[/link]

    that's an unauthorised memory unit.

  • Giganticube #32 2 years ago

    The Datel Max Memory MU is far better and larger than the official one (which I had to replace when I ran out of room).

    It appears this is the real thing to be blocked out.

    Which means I WILL LOSE ALL MY IMMOVEABLE SAVES!

    This isnt right, and isnt fair. I will fight it all the way.

    A retroactice punishment to its own consumers is a bad PR move.

  • Machetazo #33 2 years ago

    The cost and capacity of the official solutions is poor, solutions are found to provide people with what they're looking for, where the platform holder cannot, and the PH then does all it can to disable these. Same opinion on it, as of Nintendo and its region locked stance. If they identify the demand is there (and it probably is, if they're taking action), and do not move to cater to it, then they deserve to lose out. The users are simply trying to get the best experience they can - isn't the 360 all about personalisation and customisation? - so sure, catch them out on LIVE, if you have to, as that affects, potentially, other player's experience, that's right...But where it simply comes to a user and their console, the PH should butt out!
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 11:46

  • Sunyavadin #34 2 years ago

    Oh, cock off, MS.
    Seriously, price your own hardware competitively and you won't have this problem of people undercutting you with unlicensed hardware.
    It's basic business.

    *edit*
    Also, having the cheapest knock-off third party stuff available honestly always worked out better in the past. The most successful ones were always the ones with the most cheap third party stuff available. I know a lot of people who went for a PS over a Saturn or N64 partly because of the cheap peripherals from hong kong saving them more cash to spend on GAMES...
    Edited by 2 at 20/10/09 @ 12:09

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #35 2 years ago

    @MrNyarlathotep

    Know a lot about the Game Genie case as i worked for Codemasters during the Megadrive/Snes days :)

  • 52pickup #36 2 years ago

    First they up the price of the Arcade model, then they take away the HDMI and now this?! It's amazing how they manage to cleverly conceal the profit made from this to account for the price cut on the elite model. Super market tactics, cut the price on the beans but up the price of bread.

  • seasidebaz #37 2 years ago

    First they up the price of the Arcade model, then they take away the HDMI and now this?!

    1. New Arcade models have a built-in MU, and it's still the cheapest (and best) console you can buy this gen.
    2. Taking away the HDMI cable sliced a big chunk off the price of the Elite. You can get an HDMI cable for well under a tenner, so still save money.
    3. This is only really going to affect early Arcade model adopters who won't shell out for a HDD, or (for some bizarre reason) won't buy an official MU, or use hacked gamesaves to bump their gamerscore.

  • actionfitz #38 2 years ago

    @ kipper re: Xbox 360 Hard rives.
    :(
    hmm. Mine worked fine right away, never had to force it in or do anything extra to get it to work like the first link says.
    Everything came in the post looking like the genuine article, at least to my eyes.
    I borrowed a mates transfer cable and swapped all my stuff over from my pathetic little 20gb drive, all my arcade games etc and I have since installed loads of my disc based games to the 120gb drive for the faster loading etc.
    If it turns out that it was put together on the cheap by someone in hong kong... the fact that it works perfectly etc just goes to show how unjustified Microsofts' own price-points are.
    I'm not in the habbit of buying knock-off hardware/software and if it turns out that i've ben duped i'll be rather annoyed.
    But if Microsoft screw me and others over by banning us or making our hard drives cease to work... i'll be even more pissed at them.
    To put it simply, punishing your customer base because some Hong Kong outfit has profitted from the fact that you are unjustifiably wallet-raping xbox owners...
    bad PR is the least of their problems.
    I've already put up with allot from Microsoft - multiple RROD'd xbox's etc.
    They are fast running out of goodwill on my part.

    am I supposed to put my hands up and say 'its a fair cop', go buy another 120gb drive for over a hundred pounds and re-transfer everything to that new drive - losing saved progress in all my arcade titles again - and be happy about it?

  • barnard666 #39 2 years ago

    this is a fucking crime....it doesn't affect me...but if it did, I would kill someone. Hell who knows - living in asia, maybe the memory card I keep my profile on isn't official, and I just don't realise it.

    at least let people read and copy from those cards...just not write to them.

  • irve77 #40 2 years ago

    Hmmm ,

    2gb SD card £5
    512mb 360 memory card £30 .....

    Hmmm

    500gb 2.5in HDD (external) £60
    120gb 360 HDD £100

    if Microsoft want to charge stupid prices for their storage you would have thought they would at least have the common decency to make the fucking thinks sensible sizes !!

    i've only got a 20gb hard drive on my 360 .. and it will forever remand a 20gb hard drive until MS sort out their pricing and capacitiy

  • Bluetooth #41 2 years ago

    It's ironic for those complaining about a homemade HD made in Hong Kong, when the official ones are factory made in China :-)

    Truth is, if these "fake" (quotes because the HD itself is genuine) units could sell at a profit, then MS are making what must be a 400% profit on the bigger HDs. Check the wholesale price and compare and contrast.

  • kipper #42 2 years ago

    @ Bluetooth
    Yes the MS prices are too high, which is why I'm sticking with my 20GB unit for the forseeable future. The best way to complain about pricing is just not to buy one. Microsoft aren't silly, they know the sales figures. If they really want to sell more units eventually they will have to come up with a reasonable value for money product.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 19:59

  • SheffieldSteel #43 2 years ago

    Legal precedent within the US notwithstanding, I do think MS are entitled to be just as shitty and stupid as they want to be on this issue. It is their ball, it is their bat, and it is their playground.

    Usual disclaimers apply: I am not a lawyer, neither are you; we're all just digital voices on the breeze.

  • FortysixterUK #44 2 years ago

    Surely this will only affect people who don't already hack their 360s?
    If your 360 is already hacked then this will either not apply or the hackers will overcome the issue.
    Me? I only ever use official memory cards as i remmber the nightmare un-official cards caused on the Snes and Gamecube.

  • PenguinJim #45 2 years ago

    Maybe just memory units, not hard drives:
    [link url=http: //www.techflash.com/seattle/2009/10/microsoft_cracking_down_ on_unauthorized_xbox_360_memory_units.html
    ]http://ww w.techflash.com/seattle/2009/10...[/link]

    I certainly hope so! As my Gold expires in December anyways, I'd rather spend US$250 on a PS3 here in Taiwan than US$150 on a replacement 120GB drive and $50 on another year of Gold. I'd just keep my 360 offline and use my PS3 for online games. PS3's region free games is also a big benefit to me. :) Although I couldn't have even considered this before their price cut (and backwards compatibility would sweeten the deal for me, too ^^)