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View Full Version : Australians may lose XBOX.



Discretion
10-21-2002, 11:54 PM
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2895274,00.html


It states there was a ruling that mod chips are legal still in australia and for this Microsoft is thinking of pulling the XBOX off the Australian market. They tried but according to them, Sony tried and well... Nothing breaks copyright so it is all legal there. Bad news for you Australians!

Highlite23
10-22-2002, 12:04 AM
Well, I feel sorry for our Australian XBOX Compadres, but i'm glad to see MS take a stand. Basicaly a stand against piracy.;)

BCan
10-22-2002, 04:39 AM
Is it a stand against pircay? Doubtful.........

It is a stand for the regioning of hardware and software by Sony and MS. The ACCC - consumer competition watchdog took Sony to court, where they believed the mod chips allowed for consumer freedom of choice to buy games from where they liked in the entire world.

To show you how much the region codes for DVD's are prevalent, they were banned about 2-3 years ago for any player to be sold multi-zoned. I think that lasted about 6 months before all units can be sold multizoned if they want to be.

Our consumer watchdog is trying to give the somsumer a fair chance of not being ripped off by Sony, MS, Paramount, etc that have enforced regions on us so that we have to buy DVD's from only certain places, or only get our consoles from certain places.
Aside from the technical differences in TV hardware, there is no real reason for the restriction of where we, as consumers can purchase things.

I don't think mod chips are good in what they can do in their entirety, but if they can remove the imposed region coding, which is only a way for companies to make money, then I am all for them. If I wanted to buy a game from the US, I should be able to, not be told my machine cannot play it. I don't think it is asking too much for the console to allow users to chose their TV format, so they can play any game they like....

kachingtensor
10-22-2002, 02:00 PM
Piracy of intellectual property is a bigger problem than you might think.


If you want to play a North American version of a game, or a Japnese market game, buy the machine with the corresponding chipset BUILT IN. Don't go about supporting the pirates with your universal mod chip purchases. That way lies ruin for game-makers and game-players alike....

something your "consumer watchdog" group and anti-Microsoft judge either cannot see or do not care to see for themselves.:o

BCan
10-23-2002, 05:30 AM
Personally, how legal do you really think it is to have enforced regions in DVD's and consoles?

I think that the fake zoning of equipment is illegal, since it robs the customer of chosing where they can buy something.....

We wouldn't need mod chips if there was no zoning.....

As I said, I do not support piracy, but I support the ability to chose any zone I like on my DVD player, and to be able to chose to buy a game from anywhere in the world...

After all, living in Australia, we get the Asian supply of TV's and VCR's. Since they have two zones, PAL and NTSC, all VCR's and TV's sold here support both standards, with PAL only for recording of VHS.....

So why are we robbed when it comes to PS2 and XBOX?

Evil_Dr_Beefy
10-23-2002, 06:49 AM
Dude!!! There is no way in hell that microsoft will ever pull the xbox from such an important market!!! The media and public fallout would be too great!!!...even for the all powerful microsoft....

Afro Aura
10-23-2002, 07:33 AM
Originally posted by kachingtensor
Piracy of intellectual property is a bigger problem than you might think.


If you want to play a North American version of a game, or a Japnese market game, buy the machine with the corresponding chipset BUILT IN. Don't go about supporting the pirates with your universal mod chip purchases. That way lies ruin for game-makers and game-players alike....

something your "consumer watchdog" group and anti-Microsoft judge either cannot see or do not care to see for themselves.:o
I agree
I have a US and a PAL XBOXes so if I want to play a game from which ever country the game is made I can

so yeah I belive what you say if you want to play imports go on buy the machine for the games

Brevity
10-23-2002, 07:37 AM
Microsoft Still Committed to Australia
Aramo | 3:55 | Industry Buzz

Microsoft will not be pulling Xbox out of the Australian market. Only last Friday Australian newspaper The Age reported that Microsoft CEO Ballmer stated his company was seriously reconsidering selling its console in the country where mod-chips are legalized by court ruling. A Microsoft spokeswoman explained it was a misinterpretation on your end if you believed Ballmer's remarks referred to Xbox. The company is still committed to selling in Australia she went on, but she fail to point out what Ballmer really meant to say and to what he was referring.

smack119
10-23-2002, 02:48 PM
Originally posted by Brevity
Microsoft Still Committed to Australia
Aramo | 3:55 | Industry Buzz

Microsoft will not be pulling Xbox out of the Australian market. Only last Friday Australian newspaper The Age reported that Microsoft CEO Ballmer stated his company was seriously reconsidering selling its console in the country where mod-chips are legalized by court ruling. A Microsoft spokeswoman explained it was a misinterpretation on your end if you believed Ballmer's remarks referred to Xbox. The company is still committed to selling in Australia she went on, but she fail to point out what Ballmer really meant to say and to what he was referring.


and you beleive that??what other console would they pull??

rio2012
10-23-2002, 09:17 PM
lol stupid Austrailians

evil xbox king
10-23-2002, 11:47 PM
Originally posted by rio2012
lol stupid Austrailians

Stupid Americans, they can't even spell AUSTRALIA properly:rolleyes:

E-Vader
10-24-2002, 07:22 AM
Originally posted by evil xbox king


Stupid Americans, they can't even spell AUSTRALIA properly:rolleyes:

Bwahahahahaha

Rancey
10-24-2002, 09:41 AM
Originally posted by rio2012
lol stupid Austrailians

Yes, it was the decision of the Australian public. :rolleyes:

Here's a solution, if MS didn't impose ridiculous region coding there would be no reason for a mod-chip. I can guarantee all TVs in the last 5 years sold in Australia can support PAL and NTSC, so if this is the case why should I be forced only to play PAL games? Forcing me to buy 2 systems to play 2 different regions is appaling. Some of you don't actually realise how long Australia has to wait on things, want to know what came out this week? Morrowind, now how long has that been out in America? Same goes for DVDs, I think Jay And Silent Bob came out over 6 months after the US. I'm glad to see the ACCC make a stand. In fact I threatened to contact the ACCC earlier in the year for an unrelated matter and MS sent me 3 free games. ;)

smack119
10-24-2002, 01:03 PM
Originally posted by Jason-XBA



Here's a solution, if MS didn't impose ridiculous region coding there would be no reason for a mod-chip.


people would stilll be making then so they can pirate games.... i think that is the main reason people want them.

RudedogX
10-24-2002, 01:08 PM
Originally posted by Jason-XBA
In fact I threatened to contact the ACCC earlier in the year for an unrelated matter and MS sent me 3 free games. ;)

Nice! Threaten again so you get more free games!:D

Evil_Dr_Beefy
10-24-2002, 03:46 PM
C'mon guys this isn't an american vs australia problem. (I'm not the worlds greatest speller myself) I sure in the hell don't want the xbox pulled from any market....there has to be some common ground. I think the whole pirate thing is overblown...i think that Steve Ballmer was just blowing off steam....:eek:

Casper
10-25-2002, 05:49 PM
To make you guys feel better:


Microsoft Corp. has no intention of withdrawing its Xbox video game console from Australia despite reports it was considering such a move in a dispute over a copyright law, the company said on Tuesday.
Australian newspaper The Age reported last Friday that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, angry over a court ruling that allowed an individual there to sell after-market chips that modify game consoles, had said the company would have to reconsider selling its console there.

A company spokeswoman told Reuters Ballmer's remarks were not specifically related to the Xbox, which she said Microsoft was committed to selling in Australia.

A company spokeswoman told Reuters Ballmer's remarks were not specifically related to the Xbox, which she said Microsoft was committed to selling in Australia.

After-market "mod" chips allow gamers to copy games and run games intended for other consoles on the Xbox as well as circumventing other built-in security features.

Microsoft's strategy has been to sell the Xbox game machine at a loss in order to make profits on the higher margin game software.

The console sells for A$399 ($220.65) in Australia. (A$1 = $0.55


Xbox2K.com (http://www.xbox2k.com/news.php?id=1073)

kachingtensor
10-26-2002, 10:29 AM
Ah, Jason, it's sharp little wonders such as you that make this world such a wonderful place for all the rest of us.

Now crawl back under your piracy-lovin' little pebble, please. :) And take your BeeGees burns with you.

Rancey
10-26-2002, 10:31 AM
Originally posted by smack119



people would stilll be making then so they can pirate games.... i think that is the main reason people want them.

I should have said there would be no reason to support the pirates if you only had the intention of playing games from other regions.

Caesar SYN
10-26-2002, 07:12 PM
Mod Chips=Piracy..plain and simple. I think companies should be able to react and protect a product THEY invested time and research into to see it used as they feel. If you want your own..build it..from scratch form your own formats and let it be open.. Seriously why do most people want mod chips? Too play games illegally..Seems like the same old story form PS/2