A few days I ago made a post on another web site about the number of console bans of the Xbox 360 that I have seen in the last few months. For those who do not know, Microsoft runs a gaming service called Xbox Live. It is a cheap service and is considered the best one of the three major gaming consoles out now. I have been on it for six years. However, there are people who have quite a bit of software and electronic know-how that are able to open their 360 consoles and alter the software and/or hardware (a process termed “modding” in the gaming lingo) in order to cheat during online play. MS does have a “police force” that spends their time watching for this crowd. They are somehow able to detect any console that has been modded and they issue a “ban”; i.e., the console itself will not connect to Xbox Live, regardless of whether or not the owner has a Gold subscription.

Now, in principle, this is a good idea…keeps cheaters offline. But I have learned that there is a “dark side”; out of all of the posts I read about owners who have been banned, 70% bought their console used from Gamestop or another vendor. So, what happened is that the person bought a console used (because it is cheaper than a new one) plugged it in and logged on the Live network only to get the “console banned” message. In effect, the previous owner had modded or otherwise engaged in some similar activity and got his console banned. The only way around this is to buy another…so he took it to Gamestop and turned it in and bought a brand-new console, while not informing Gamestop that the console they had just bought had been banned from the Live network. They don’t test for this condition, so they just packaged it up and resold it.

My point is: since Christmas is rolling around, some parents will be tempted to buy a used console since it is cheaper…don’t do it. Buy a brand-new one. If your used console turns out to have been banned from the Live network, you cannot do nothing about. MS will not lift the ban for any reason. And Gamestop won’t refund your money.

Also, just for more info, if you do by a new one, resist the temptation to repair the console yourself. I don’t care if daddy has a phd in game console repair. MS can detect if you have opened the console and you will get the ban. I know a guy who’s 360 started the RROD (“red rings of death”) syndrome. He took the case off the console, blew it out with compressed air, and no more RROD! Thirty minutes later he logs on with Halo 3, only to get a message “your console has been banned.” No matter what happens, send in it to MS…don’t work on it yourself. The manual plainly states not to open the console for any reason…it ain’t no joke.