Father: MS makes it unneccesarily difficult to upgrade from 360 to Elite

[Zeus]

A father has told the BBC that MS make it too difficult to upgrade from an original Xbox 360 to the Elite SKU. He's been an Xbox fan since 2002 and decided it was a good idea to upgrade to the Elite SKU recently when MS offered full game and video downloads from Live. But he has now encountered problems of transfering save game file and the need for a special capable amongst other issues which has him indicating that the whole upgrading process could have been a lot easier. The Xbox 360 is computer and MS could have created software to let two consoles (Elite and older SKU) communicate with each other and simply copy files across.


They could have written a tool to let you de-authorise one Xbox from playing your content and authorising your new console, but that would have created a possibility of abuse and they would rather not bother and leave it to their customers to sort out the ensuing mess.

A console is a locked-down system, and the price of playing is to cede all control to the manufacturer, to accept the limitations they have put in place and to put up with the inconvenience and irritation of having to wait a week before you let your son play with his birthday present.

Microsoft aren't alone, of course. Sony and Nintendo make strenuous efforts to keep their games systems closed, Apple has put a vast amount of effort into locking and relocking the iPhone, and we recently heard how Western Digital hard drives will refuse to share video or audio files over a network just in case doing so would breach copyright.

But the confusion, complication, waste and simple stupidity that Microsoft have introduced into what should be a straightforward upgrade process is the clearest possible demonstration of just what we lose when we cede control to the content owners.

I don't think Max will be moving up to the next generation of Microsoft consoles when they emerge. I don't need the hassle.


News Source: <A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7147753.stm" target="_blank">BBC</a>

[0 morgan 0]

The picture is great:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44305000/jpg/_44305288_xbox203.jpg

Who lets their kids draw and colour on a £300+ item.

[DEDDOA]

I have to agree, the whole transfer of a profile and files to another HDD is far from pain free. It's bad enough that you have to order a cable and wait a few weeks for it to arrive, but you would think that in this day and age you would be able to apply for the cable online. But no you have to print out an application and do it by post. Way to go MS, is the internet now outdated and snail mail is back to being the way of the future :rolleyes:.

[bhetrick]

I picked up an Elite 2 months ago. I saw the .pdf on Xbox.com but instead I called 18004XBOX. It took less than 5 minutes to get my Elite registered and a transfer cable sent out. The cable was shipped USPS Priority and I had it in 3 days. Transfering the info from the 20 to 120 was as easy, the directions were straight-forward, and took about 20 minutes total.

The only way it could be any easier is if MS would include a transfer cable with every Elite right in the box. But that's just plain wasteful and wouldn't be cost effective.

I guess the people who are bitching about having to print out a form are just too ignorant to pick up the phone.

[whackawookie]

i was ahead of the game because i got a 120gig for 100$ months before i decided to get an elite so i had the cable already. nonetheless the transfer was very much a breeze, just connect the hdd to a front usb slot insert the disc and let it do its job. its a little odd ms didnt include the cable on the elite but i guess they figured people were buying an elite without an older xbox. maybe this will change there tune and they will start including the cable, hell its free anyway when you call

[Rotmm]

I guess the people who are bitching about having to print out a form are just too ignorant to pick up the phone.

You may have noticed that the story was on a UK website about a UK individual, and that in the UK your 18004XBOX number does not only not exist, but that there's no comparable number to call.

However, it's clear that you noticed none of the above. I guess you were just too ignorant to click on the link.

[poisonousjuice]

father's an idiot. using his 360 ontop of the cable box. why not just play the 360 ontop of the stove. that's just as smart. no wonder he can't figure out how to transfer data but is able to whine about it.

[cypher21]

I'm in the Netherlands and bought an elite, i had the transfercable within 5 workdays. I didn;t fill in the form though, i just called them (normal support number)

[Boco]

No problems here, I had cable in about 5 day, and transfer was really easy.

[mbomb]

another lovely edited and double checked post by malloc.

seriously,
... the need for a special capable amongst other issues...

...The Xbox 360 is computer

wow.

i really appreciate what you do for this site, especially for what they pay (or dont pay) you.

i've just noticed a few more mistakes than normal lately. it's just something that you should maybe triple check before posting?

at least the double-posted stories hav'nt come up in a while =)

but in all honestly, just looking out for ya.

[WeSiDe]

another lovely edited and double checked post by malloc.

seriously,
... the need for a special capable amongst other issues...

...The Xbox 360 is computer

wow.

i really appreciate what you do for this site, especially for what they pay (or dont pay) you.

i've just noticed a few more mistakes than normal lately. it's just something that you should maybe triple check before posting?

at least the double-posted stories hav'nt come up in a while =)

but in all honestly, just looking out for ya.

Sorry, just had too...

[ZildjianKX]

What I don't think is mentioned is that downloadable content is never truly transfered over to the new Xbox 360, you need a constant internet connection to use it.

My #1 gripe about the 360 is that you can't change which Xbox 360 the content is licensed to. I'm never buying another item from XBL until they fix this.

[Y2Bogus]

What I think a lot of people are missing when they say that moving files over is easy, is that there is some nasty DRM involved.

When I had to switch boxes as a result of a stolen unit, it was a huge mess for me to be able to get my downloaded content to be tied to my new box.

The rep, first of all, was reluctant to help me because she said I could just redownload them and I would be able to play them when I was signed into LVIE.

Well, I can't always be on live and I paid for the content so I should be able to use it offline. She seemed to give me a "not my problem" attitude, but I was finally able to get someone who helped me.

He refunded every MS point I ever spent, then instructed me to create a fake Live ID for the new box.

Using my new fake Live ID, I had to redownload everything. Now that I redownloaded everything on my new box it's tied to the new box and I can use it offline. In addition, since I already downloaded that stuff on my real ID, the DLC will still work with my real ID. Once I was sure I had everything, I was able to go back to my real ID and then everything was normal again.

I think that's the problem the guy in the story has. It's not redownloading that's the problem, it's getting around that poorly executed DRM.

[three15]

Well i just transfered the saves i still use to a memory card and redownloaded my Acarde games and content, took about 3 hours but it was quicker than waiting for a cable.


There's no advantage to using the cable because as stated, you still can't access the content unless your online.Crazy to make cable to transfer stuff and not fix that :confused:

[felixm477]

The Xbox 360 is computer and MS could have created software to let two consoles (Elite and older SKU) communicate with each other and simply copy files across.


um im pretty sure thats the cables function. the gamesaves are locked to a certain xbox you cant blaim MS for having security measures in check shesh. When i got my 360 i was full aware that not all my game saves would move over to another console so easily.

[felixm477]

You may have noticed that the story was on a UK website about a UK individual, and that in the UK your 18004XBOX number does not only not exist, but that there's no comparable number to call.

However, it's clear that you noticed none of the above. I guess you were just too ignorant to click on the link.

that would make you equally as ignorant, you are aware you can call ANY xbox service number in your region and they will transfer you to someone that can have the cable sent out to you even in the UK as mentioned by another poster. Its common sense if you dont see a number for a specific area you call the main number and ask for a transfer simple as that. MS was considerate with the transfer cable im sure anyone else would have charged for it. If you want a cable sent out right away then pay for it, if its free then quite whining about the delays.

[theindiearmy]

"The Xbox 360 is computer and MS could have created software to let two consoles (Elite and older SKU) communicate with each other and simply copy files across."

They did, it comes with the migration cable

[theindiearmy]

another lovely edited and double checked post by malloc.

seriously,
... the need for a special capable amongst other issues...

...The Xbox 360 is computer

wow.

i really appreciate what you do for this site, especially for what they pay (or dont pay) you.

i've just noticed a few more mistakes than normal lately. it's just something that you should maybe triple check before posting?

at least the double-posted stories hav'nt come up in a while =)

but in all honestly, just looking out for ya.

I'm pretty sure malloc pays himself just fine.

Ever stop and think that maybe English isn't everyone's first language?

[mbomb]

Sorry, just had too...

damn apostrophe! i should of paid attention during english and comp class! :mad: lol

I'm pretty sure malloc pays himself just fine.

Ever stop and think that maybe English isn't everyone's first language?
oh i've thought about it. but this is primarily an english speaking / reading site though ...correct?

[whackawookie]

oh i've thought about it. but this is primarily an english speaking / reading site though ...correct?

it is but there are plenty of people whos first language isnt english and they are all welcome

[bhetrick]

You may have noticed that the story was on a UK website about a UK individual, and that in the UK your 18004XBOX number does not only not exist, but that there's no comparable number to call.

However, it's clear that you noticed none of the above. I guess you were just too ignorant to click on the link.

Ya... no number to call. Not even this one: 0800 587 1102

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/support/contact/

It only took me 10 seconds to find the info to correct my mistake. I guess you were just too ignorant to bother at all.


Anyhow... the fact remains that MS couldn't have made it any easier to transfer the data without leaving any security holes. I do agree, though, that's a pain having any downloaded content locked to the original console. You'd think that if they give you the software to transfer the data, they could've made it able to lock it to the new console. After all, once the transfer is complete, the old hard drive is wiped clean.

I have read posts where people have called and complained, then were issued credit to redownload the content to the new console.