Today, Microsoft released its Fall System Update for the Xbox 360. Not even one day later and bulletin boards around the net are already hot with user testimonies that the update had rendered them unable to play any games or even start up their consoles normally. Microsoft is staying quiet on the topic of the subject and as of press time, has yet to release a statement. However, speculation suggest that the intention of the update was to render modified Xbox 360 consoles unusable. The problem with this is that a considerable amount of users are reporting problems with unmodified consoles being bricked, and according to users at Xbox Scene, the update is not consistently bricking modded consoles as it supposedly should.
Additionally, Team Xecuter, maker of the famous Xecuter Mod Chip, has found that bricked 360′s can still be fixed with relative ease by an end-user with a modified console. They have also found that Microsoft is not restricting any GamerTags or specific consoles from Xbox Live. You would think this would be the case if they wished to actually take action against modders.
So where do we stand now? If Microsoft truly wished to render modified consoles useless, it did a poor job of it. If it is a bug in the update, it seems too strong of a coincidence that it is occuring primarily in modified consoles. But the fact that it is affecting unmodified systems is a problem. Of course it might be easy for those whom have already opened up their systems and voided their warranties to fix their consoles, however, the average person would not be able to do this.
Whether effectively rendering many 360′s useless was intentional or not on Microsoft’s part, they are none-the-less becoming dead weight as a result of the Fall Update. Coupled with varying reports on just who is and who is not being affected as well as Microsoft’s hush-hush activities since the release of the update, there is no way to say who will and who will not be affected.
