Changed XBox released - mod chip proof.

I ran across this at ZDNet and thought to myself, "How long before sometime finds a way around this?" ;)

Taken from: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-959084.html

Microsoft releases "mod-proof" Xbox

Microsoft has changed the internal configuration of its Xbox game console, a move intended to thwart hackers and lower manufacturing costs.
Word of the changes began spreading on sites devoted Xbox hacking, with some buyers of recently manufactured Xbox units complaining that mod chips designed for the original console won't work now.

Microsoft Xbox spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell confirmed that the company had made minor changes to the console's configuration as part of ongoing efforts to "increase security and reduce overall costs."

O'Donnell declined to specify the specific changes but said they include measures intended to boost security. "They (Microsoft's Xbox hardware team) know the hacker stuff that's out there, and they're always trying to increase security," she said.

Contract manufacturer Flextronics' Xbox assembly plant in China has switched to the new configuration, and the Guadalajara, Mexico, plant that supplies Xbox units for North American consumption will make the change soon, O'Donnell said.

The newly configured units were first spotted in Australia, where Xbox hackers spotted slight changes to the main circuit board that likely will make it impossible to use current "mod chips"--add-ons that bypass security measures built into the hardware.

Hackers have embraced mod chips as a vehicle for running custom software, legally and illegally copied game discs, and imported games. Microsoft has tried several tactics to discourage such hacks.

The new configuration reportedly also uses a different type of BIOS, the basic software that controls the console's operation, and eliminates the fan that had been used to cool the console's custom Nvidia graphics processor.

An Australian hobbyist posting on the Xbox Hacker site said he tried all currently available mod chips on the new Xbox configuration and none worked.

As far as I understand the technique, the XBox security depends on some sort of key that has been hidden in the hardware. Microsoft changed the key, thus making all mods that use that specific code useless. Changing the code from those mod-chips would do the trick ...

i heard that some of the external mod chips can get around it no problems :| but what made the ps so popular 1 huge range of games and 2 because u could burn that huge range of games and play it on a modded ps i dont think i know 1 friend who owns a ps that isnt modded.... and its just not for pirate games i love importing games from hong kong (uncle lives thier) ms is shooting them selves in the foot with this one
rioter

I bet in the long run this will be seen as sort of shooting themselves in the foot, they'll probably lose popularity with it. I guess we'll have to see if it pays off in the game sale area.

Heh, and terr, XBox/M$ isn't a position to lose money/popularity with the Xbox. As of now, the XBox has sold less than 10 million systems worldwide. PS2 (at this time when it came out, comparing against XBox) sold double what the XBox sold at this point in it's life. Microsoft has even gone on record saying that it IS losing money with the XBox and has since the getgo. Also, as ura said, Someone will probably find a way around this, just like everything else Microsoft makes.