A Lesson In Contracts and Whining

"Microsoft: Gamers Gave Us The Right To Disable Unauthorized Xbox 360 Devices"

Read more here.

So for this rant I have a fun little article from g4tv.com. It would probably be best to read this before going any further (I know, I know...reading).

Okay, so basically Microsoft is having to deal with a lawsuit from third party accessory manufacturer Datel because they have supposedly monopolized the Xbox 360 accessory market. In their defense, Microsoft released a statement saying that the gamers themselves allow Microsoft to limit use of non-Microsoft products because they enter an agreement when they purchase an Xbox 360. They can get away with that because technically you are leasing the system's services from Microsoft, therefore you must adhere to a terms of use (TOU) agreement.

Now before everyone starts complaining about how much the WiFi add-on costs, let's look at this argument logically. You, as a gamer, agreed to certain terms with Microsoft. Done. You can't say you didn't know about them, that's like telling a police officer "I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a law stating you couldn't drink and drive." No matter your excuse, you're going to jail and no matter how much you complain about not knowing the terms of use, they're there and you agreed to them. That completely destroys Datel's ignorance argument (personally, I can't believe a professional business would even attempt to make that a viable justification).

Now for the accusation that Microsoft has cornered the market. Yes, you can find accessories that are cheaper than the official Microsoft ones, but you're taking a risk because if you use a non-Microsoft accessory on your system, your warranty is null and void. That's right, if you have a third party cooling fan attached to your 360 Elite and it breaks, there's nothing you can do. As sad as that sounds, those are the rules and you should've known that before you bought it. I'm pretty sure that's a good enough reason to pay a little extra (I'm all about warranties). Also, Microsoft made an excellent point, if they were to drive their prices too high, then the price to switch to a Wii or PlayStation 3 would become the better buy. Meaning, they'll shoot themselves in the foot if they try to charge outrageous amounts for their products because people will just buy a PS3 and be done with it. So, because of competitive systems, it's pretty much impossible for there to be a monopoly in the gaming world.

So there you have it folks, this whole thing is nothing more than a third party company whining about the ignorance of gamers. And while they do make an excellent point about gamers unknowingly agreeing to the Microsoft TOU, there's nothing they can do about it.

Bring on the comments!

Thanks for reading and game on!