RROD, What RROD?

And who are you to troll the internet calling people scum? Oh right, you're from Nag so you must be allowed to, right :rolleyes:
 
I'm labelling questionable business practices and people who take stuff they've no right to take as scum. I'm a honest person, so I'm allowed to.
 
Azimuth said:
One of the reasons Microsoft has stalled on the local rollout of an official LIVE service is because we're flagged as a high piracy region - in other words, lots of the consoles sold are being modded, and would be precluded from using the service.
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Complete hogwash. That is like claiming high CD and DVD prices are a result of piracy. It makes no sense whatsoever. The reason we do not have a local LIVE service is due to the high cost of bandwidth in the country. :)
 
antowan said:
Complete hogwash. That is like claiming high CD and DVD prices are a result of piracy. It makes no sense whatsoever. The reason we do not have a local LIVE service is due to the high cost of bandwidth in the country. :)
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Also the lack of subscription base would be a major factor. If Africa as a whole had enough subscribers, we would see SA being the hub for Live & PSN service in the African region.
 
antowan said:
Complete hogwash. That is like claiming high CD and DVD prices are a result of piracy. It makes no sense whatsoever. The reason we do not have a local LIVE service is due to the high cost of bandwidth in the country. :)
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Kinda incomparable, though, really. CDs and DVDs have distribution costs, retail markups, and whatnot. I'm not sure how this relates to the installation of the LIVE service locally - these are two entirely different things.

Microsoft is faced with investing an enormous amount of money into a service here. One of the very real considerations is the number of users, and of that, the number of legitimate users. I read earlier today that 80000 Xbox units have been sold in SA - how many of those have since been modded? Considering the number of people I know who've modded theirs (a pretty average cross section of users), that's probably not an insignificant number.

As I said earlier, however, it's only one issue. The high cost of bandwidth - and perhaps more importantly, the pretty rotten bandwidth infrastructure in SA - is certainly another. Then there's the fact that only a small percentage of homes actually have broadband access in this country - it's almost funny, compared with the UK or US, where just about every house has a high speed internet line, while I know people don't even have dialup. :P

I guess ultimately it's coming down to a question of how many people are going to use the service. And I think we can agree - it's not unreasonable to assume that most modded consoles won't. If people aren't going to pay for games, why are they going to pay for LIVE subscriptions and MS Points?
 
My sister gave birth to her first child tonight so I'm an uncle :D

Azimuth is entitled to his opinion.

I work extremely hard to repair consoles with the best equipment I can afford.

That I make extra cash through console modification every month, uhm ... sue me?

The lack of Live in this country is not because of piracy, which people will do irrespective of it being a service I offer or not. Bandwidth and a general blase attitude towards the 3rd-world is the chief culprits.

Microsoft/Sony and it's distributor make tons of cash from the refurb console scheme in this country. Please ask them to set up an official repair centre while you at it -- or is ripping us off also justifiable. Pretty lousy ...

I'm not sure what you do for a living, but this is what I do. I service game consoles. Through trial and error, late nights on the Internet, reading electronic books and speaking to people that work with high level equipment -- I've taught myself a hell of allot. I feel that I offer a unique service and work extremely hard to make sure that when a client's console leaves my premises it is working to the best of its ability.

The services I offer also finance my part-time Communication degree through UNISA, the roof over my head, car I drive and taking out the GF when I have the time, etc.

Quite amusing reading the audaciousness of Azimuth above.

I will tell SARS to stop taxing my 'scum business' as well. Will see how long I stay out of jail :)
 
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I write for a number of gaming publications and develop games for a living. Perhaps you can appreciate my totally polarised position on this issue.

The money Sony and Microsoft might make from refurbished consoles in this country is entirely irrelevant. Modifying consoles to run pirated software screws over developers, not console manufacturers. And developers are just regular guys and girls trying to make an honest living.

I'm also a "she".

I've said everything else I wanted to say in my PM to you, so I'll take my leave of this discussion now.
 
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I just love that warm feeling that I get inside when I pay for my games, cracking open the box, giving it a sniff, and popping it into my PS3.

I value the games I buy, and will make sure that I finish them. Instead of manhandling pirate copies, and ending up giving up mid game to try one of the many copies out there.
 
Azimuth said:
I write for a number of gaming publications and develop games for a living. Perhaps you can appreciate my totally polarised position on this issue.

The money Sony and Microsoft might make from refurbished consoles in this country is entirely irrelevant. Modifying consoles to run pirated software screws over developers, not console manufacturers. And developers are just regular guys and girls trying to make an honest living.

I'm also a "she".

I've said everything else I wanted to say in my PM to you, so I'll take my leave of this discussion now.
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A she, my mistake.

The developer argument ... uhm ... then please e-mail and phone all the clients I've modified consoles of. They need to hear that by all means.

I play and buy legitimate copies in my personal capacity, and spend thousands per annum for the 'regular guys and girls trying to make a honest living'.

I'm making a dishonest living in your opinion. I wonder why I can be registered, pay taxes, and everything else. Buy all means shut me down so that I may beg on the streets or heaven forbid steal cars and other crime activities.

The modifying of consoles as a service is not against the law in South Africa, and many other countries. So from that standpoint I won't apologise for it!

I've read all you had to say in the PMs ... which is a personal attack in no uncertain terms.

Is that cause for an infraction I wonder :confused:
 
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maestro_za said:
A she, my mistake.

The developer argument ... uhm ... then please e-mail and phone all the clients I've modified consoles of. They need to hear that by all means.

I play and buy legitimate copies in my personal capacity, and spend thousands per annum for the 'regular guys and girls trying to make a honest living'.

I'm making a dishonest living in your opinion. I wonder why I can be registered, pay taxes, and everything else. Buy all means shut me down so that I may beg on the streets or heaven forbid steal cars and other crime activities.

The modifying of consoles as a service is not against the law in South Africa, and many other countries. So from that standpoint I won't apologise for it!

I've read all you had to say in the PMs ... which is a personal attack in no uncertain terms.

Is that cause for an infraction I wonder :confused:
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Modding a console is not against the law. But buying pirated console games is. Some people assume that modding consoles will result in piracy. Thats up to the individual. The service you got maestro is welcomed because if my PS3 breaksdown, at least I know where to go. Thinking that XBL is not in SA due to piracy is incorrect. How would you explain that regarding PSN? PS3's cannot be modded ATM since the cost of bluray equipment & media makes it unfeasible.
 
Hmm, i'm not sure who to root for here. I'm also against piracy, but then i'm also against Azimuth...Hmmm, choices, choices....;)
 
Azimuth said:
It's an issue cited several times in articles about the lack of LIVE support in SA, a subject I've followed with some interest. I've been trawling Google for a relevant quote, but can't turn anything up now. It might've been attributed to Craig Nicholson at Microsoft SA, but I'm not 100% certain.

As a journalist, I've previously exchanged email on the topic with the head of the LIVE EMEA region, who did not deny this particular suggestion. He didn't confirm it either, to be fair.

Official quotes notwithstanding, it's an entirely legitimate concern. I know quite a few people with modded consoles, and despite Microsoft's efforts, they're still signing into LIVE. Why should Microsoft invest millions of dollars in installing and maintaining an infrastructure only some of its users are actually entitled to use? While there are illegitimate users of LIVE all over the world, I suspect that number is proportionally higher here in SA. After all, we're a country whose console history is made up almost entirely of a modded / knock-off market - the Reggies rip-off, modded PlayStation 1 and 2s, etc. There's a reason China has no official LIVE support either, and something tells me their reputation for piracy is a part of that.
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You can't possibly tell me out of a population of 48million compared to China who is 1.2billion. That we are grouped into the same category as them? :confused: We prob have 1million gamers in this country(1/3 of which you would classify as 'hardcore' gamers).

I don't see how this compares lumps us into the same group as China who has 300mill > gamers.
China has no piracy laws, that why it is allowed to flourish there.
Have you ever been to china? I doubt it. It's a place where you can buy knock-off's of everything in the world just down ur street.
 
Toxin said:
Just don't quote any PMs that you receive. :D If you feel the PM was going over the top you can forward it to a mod. Let him\her decide.
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Hi

All ramblings were over the top and un-called for but that is obviously how this person gets a kick out of life.

The fact that I have a business, while only 2 strong (have an assistant that helps out when work gets too much) at the moment, my biz has over 2 years repaired and modified 1000s of consoles successfully with a low return rate.

In the coming months I will launch a BGA reball service which will prove to be the permanent solution for YLOD and RROD.

I will also be moving into office/retail space depending on what the budget allows for so that I can handle much more consoles than I currently am able to. That should be during the course of 2010!

Through the proceeds of customers, I've had no need to seek financial assistance from an institution for equipment or parts and I make a profit most months.

I import parts from reputable international suppliers and no dodgy clone products.

Like I've said before, and will say again, offering mod-chip or custom firmware installation is legal. I, nor anyone else, can control the consumer for the use of illegitimate software on their consoles.

It's their personal choice to have there game console modified in which ever way they choose.

I don't only do modification of that ilk, but I also install customised cases and other aftermarket goodies so that you have a great looking machine compared to the standard one you originally bought.
 
Good for you :) It's not your business what other ppl do after they've had there product fixed by you. If I'd known earlier that u fix X360's, I wouldn't have gone through 3 replacements and then eventually give up on it :/
 
SlickNick said:
I just love that warm feeling that I get inside when I pay for my games, cracking open the box, giving it a sniff, and popping it into my PS3.
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...and then finishing it 5 hours later.

R700 for a couple of hours entertainment is not worth it. Obviously this isn't the case for all games, but a lot of them are a real ripoff.
 
Retro said:
...and then finishing it 5 hours later.

R700 for a couple of hours entertainment is not worth it. Obviously this isn't the case for all games, but a lot of them are a real ripoff.
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Are you suggesting we pirate them instead?
 
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