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[shuri]

According to reports of the news magazine Spiegel ten top-secret prototypes, so called development kits, of the new console Xbox 360 have been stolen from Microsoft. The console won't be released until december 2nd [in Europe], just in time for the christmas business.

The devices came to germany from Hongkong together with other Microsoft products on "Air Delivery pallets" in a neutral packaging. From a storehouse in Düren they were supposed to be shipped to game developers.

Just a few days after the theft pictures of the new console surfaced on the internet. Meanwhile the Austrian Bundeskriminalamt in Viena and the public prosecution authority Bonn are investigating the case.

So far (some) homes and offices in Niederösterreich (Austria) and in Troisdorf (Germany) have been raided (searched) and three consoles have been confiscated. The remaining seven devices remain lost.

Source: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/64710 and xbox-scene

 

[DarienA]

Sony is evil!

 

[Doube D]

top secret prototypes my ass...

What exactly is top secret about them when any bumm with the money and a title could purchase one??

 

[Kleegamefan]

Pirates!!!!

 

[Beezy]

Sony or Nintendo ninjas for teh win!

 

[Wollan]

Where can we find the pics?

Edit: Who's stupid enough to go in prison due to a X360?(2 months before release)

 

[sly]

Ouch.

 

[Gahiggidy]

I didn't do it.

 

[Aika'svyse]

They wont get away with that someone's going to catch them

 

[Liquid]

wtf sport IS that?

 

[masud]

wtf sport IS that?

Cricket I think.

 

[FiRez]

I'm going to :lol if the bios of the x360 is released before the console.

 

[Ryudo]

wtf sport IS that?

An awesome sport in the one day form. Its like baseball, only you keep batting and making runs till you get out.

 

[BobTheFork]

Let the hacking commence.

 

[ShowDog]

Go homebrew! That first step didn't take very long.

 

[BobTheFork]

Maybe they will have that thing cracked to bits before it ever hits shelves. All you x-box junkies could be in luck.

 

[mj1108]

Maybe they will have that thing cracked to bits before it ever hits shelves. All you x-box junkies could be in luck.

I think that would be a "for sure" bet.

 

[Aika'svyse]

Teh Cricket!!!

 

[Greenpanda]

Maybe I'm being dumb, but why would anyone (besides N/Sony-bots ) want to steal Xbox development kits? It'd be pretty obvious if you have a stolen one, since MS would know everyone who's supposed to have them -- it's not like you could just eBay it without getting caught .

 

[Raistlin]

NUKES ARE COMING!!11!!!

 

[Liquid]

:lol i was all why the hell is there a baseball helmet and a football helmet combined?

 

[Ecrofirt]

Maybe I'm being dumb, but why would anyone (besides N/Sony-bots ) want to steal Xbox development kits? It'd be pretty obvious if you have a stolen one, since MS would know everyone who's supposed to have them -- it's not like you could just eBay it without getting caught .

The devkits are probably in the hands of modchip makers now, who are feverishly working on making X360 modchips.

I wonder what kind of resistance they'll be up against after reading this, though:

"We've taken security to the hardware level and built it in from the ground up," said Chris Satchell from the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.

"One of the reasons we went with custom hardware design for all our silicon is that it allows us to build security at the silicon level," he told the BBC News website.

"There are going to be levels of security in this box that the hacker community has never seen before."

Part of the motivation behind this is to prevent people from using the 360 to watch pirated films or TV shows.

But Mr Satchell admitted no system was fool-proof and that, with enough time and dedication, the security on the Xbox 360 would be broken.

"There're some really bright people in the world with some really expensive hardware," he said.

"I'm sure sooner or later someone will work out how to circumvent security. But the way we have done the design doesn't mean that it will work on somebody else's machine."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4218670.stm

 

[Scrow]

lolers

 

[Varian]

So far (some) homes and offices in Niederösterreich (Austria) and in Troisdorf (Germany) have been raided (searched) and three consoles have been confiscated.

note to self: Austrians raid, Germans search

 

[Pimpwerx]

Hackers and modders are rejoicing right now. That's about all I can say about that. PEACE.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

THey are still having trouble with Starforce. I'm quite sure the levels of security can be upgrading with games for the 360

 

[boredJonathan]

Well.. they have balls of fucking steel.

Edit -

Wait are you telling me they are actually having success with this as well? Wow.. I thought they had just slapped on some 'Mod Chip Inside' stickers and called it good enough.

Day one mod chips, especially considering the comments MS has made about security on the 360... that's just a big slap in the face to MS.

*grabs popcorn*

 

[miyuru]

Modders have had 360's for quite some time now.

 

[capslock]

:lol i was all why the hell is there a baseball helmet and a football helmet combined?

The batters wear them while batting because they have wood-hard balls coming at them at up to 100 mph. The fielders take them off as it's too restrictive to field with them on.

 

[johnjohnson]

Didn't expect these assholes to go this far. But the saddest thing is that some still think these thieves are cool people.

 

[Daigoro]

Edit: Who's stupid enough to go in prison due to a X360?(2 months before release)

figure this one out yet?

Didn't expect these assholes to go this far. But the saddest thing is that some still think these thieves are cool people.

not the thieves, the modders/hackers man!

 

[J2 Cool]

That is AWESOME! What other chance would some kids ever have to do this again in their life? If I knew someone who found out about it and had the balls to steal them, they'd be idolized by me. I mean, who's it hurting? 1/1000000000000 of a penny of Bill Gates pocket?

 

[johnjohnson]

not the thieves, the modders/hackers man!

What's the difference? Appearently it's modders who stole the dev kits. If not, why do those s*theads at smartxx have 3 dev kits with their f-ing sticker on it?

 

[G4life98]

What's the difference? Appearently it's modders who stole the dev kits. If not, why do those s*theads at smartxx have 3 dev kits with their f-ing sticker on it?

smartxx has supposedly had kits for months prior to this recent theft.

 

[johnjohnson]

smartxx has supposedly had kits for months prior to this recent theft.

No, the news on the smartxx site was posted on Aug 27th and the theft occured in August too. They're nothing more than common thieves appearently.

 

[Daigoro]

What's the difference? Appearently it's modders who stole the dev kits. If not, why do those s*theads at smartxx have 3 dev kits with their f-ing sticker on it?

No, the news on the smartxx site was posted on Aug 27th and the theft occured in August too. They're nothing more than common thieves appearently.

this is all hearsay, obviously. i dont know anything about that company, or where they got their kits from, do you?

im not much for thievery or pirating, but im all for modding/hacking.

 

[Crag Dweller]

That is AWESOME! What other chance would some kids ever have to do this again in their life? If I knew someone who found out about it and had the balls to steal them, they'd be idolized by me. I mean, who's it hurting? 1/1000000000000 of a penny of Bill Gates pocket?

It's not Bill Gates, it's us they're hurting. When these companies fight people like this, we are the ones that have to pay the price, both monetary and convenience wise.

 

[Blimblim]

this is all hearsay, obviously. i dont know anything about that company, or where they got their kits from, do you?

im not much for thievery or pirating, but im all for modding/hacking.

Obviously they did not get their kits legally, since kits are on a (unlimited I guess) loan from MS and you sign a very nice and long contract that forbids you to open them, for example.
If they had received the kit legally, they would be in all sorts of troubles right now.