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May 18th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Kotaku have reported that the upcoming Xbox 360 firmware, that brings in compatibility for the new disk format, will prevent a small number of consoles from being able to play certain games. Don't fret though, as Microsoft will be handing out brand new Xbox 360 S consoles with 250gb hard drives to those affected.
The story goes that the new XGD3 disk format, that adds 1GB of storage to 360 DVDs, might not be compatible with certain Xbox 360 DVD drives. This is the first time that the firmware has been rewritten so this shouldn't really come as much of a surprise.
Microsoft stated with regards to affected consoles:
"Any Xbox 360 owners receiving this error are encouraged to contact us at www.xbox.com/support/contact so we can verify if the console has been impacted."Should the update be downloaded onto a hacked Xbox 360 it would instantly kill their ability to play pirated software. This would be due to the fact that the code that was originally hacked on the Xbox 360 disk drive will have been replaced entirely by the new code.
Along with this inconvenience to the pirate crowd, this new firmware will bring in a completely new anti-piracy mechanism to replace the current compromised system. On top of this new measures are being enacted with the help of developers that will scan the game DVD periodically during gameplay, as opposed to the scan at start-up, to ensure that a legal copy is being used. Microsoft are hoping that in-game checks will be much harder to work around and with control of these features in the developer's hands, pirate copies of games could become non-functional after being played for a short length of time.
It's clear that Microsoft are putting a lot into this change of disk format and are expecting a lot out of it in kind. With the recent events surrounding the PSN downtime, if it signifies a step up in console security it can only be a good thing.
