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“Made for Xbox” branding for proprietary accessories approved by Microsoft incoming. Anything else won’t work.
How hypocritical of MS to pull this on their consumers after making it such a big deal that competitors like Apple do this same thing. Pot meet Kettle.
Anyone surprised? MS is one of the shadiest companies out there. Google gathering user data? "Don't get scroogled!" Microsoft account required for windows 11? That's completely different. Gamers in particular just fell for their self-imposed image as the good guys because of Game pass and constantly bashing their competitors.
If I remember correctly, it was them first charging for online services under Xbox Live Gold for functionality that was usually free on PC.
And free on PlayStation at the time, but sony thought it was so good they'd copy it
The optimist in me says “maybe this is just to prevent cheaters from using XIM and Cronus and it’ll be cheap and easy for other manufacturers to get authorized”
The pessimist in me says “so Microsoft is going to charge a shitton for authorization… great”
The realist in me says “I play on PC”
Can't wait for Windows 12 rolling out error code 0x35EF00DA - Unauthorized mouse detected
I’m relatively confident that Microsoft understands its only leg up on Apple is that its ecosystem isn’t a walled garden.
Just use a razer mouse, it doesn't need any help from windows to stop working
I abandoned Xbox back when they announced Xbox One and said it required a Kinect and would be always online for DRM purposes. The backlash was severe enough that I remember their stock price taking a hit and that Major Tom dude having to come out and backtrack.
I knew then and there that they'd always try to bring this DRM/hyper controlling nonsense back. Just didn't think it'd take them so long.
I've never owned any Xbox because even Windows is too hyper-controlling for me.
(I game on Linux, of course.)
That's when I stopped. I think the only things I missed were Halo 5 and 6, and I understand I missed very little.
I'm using game pass on PC now, and when they start fucking around with that, I'll turn them back off.
"it's all just for your protection!" I'm amazed that people actually believe this shit. That's the same argument as with various countries fighting against CSAM, seeing that as an excuse for total privacy invasion. Like come on...
No one believes it, but in the world of PR you just go with the thing people are least likely to argue against or most likely believe "for the children" or "because safety". PR doesn't really even matter when you're so enormous.
I never gamed on console because I like more control over my environment...and that started 25 years ago. Super glad they were just approved to buy Activision/Blizzard, "more choice" was what their grinning exec said in a consolidation purchase.
Ah yes the infamous and completely utterly useless 0x8 hex Microsoft errors.
If I had a nickel for every time I encountered one, I'd have paid Microsoft to properly document what they actually mean, instead of spending 2 years finding some ye olde ass archived help request where some ancient wizard sys admin gives the answer after the default and also equally useless MSFT Associate reply of "Did you try DISM or try to reinstall windows?"
sfc /scannow
oh it doesn't work? You definitely need to run
chkdsk c: /f
Wait this doesn't work either? Then download our utterly useless software that will only run chkdsk while showing you ads and has a paywall after you click "apply" because it's a fake "free" app that does nothing targeted to your grandma and step uncle
By the way the poor ms employee probably doesn't know what any of them mean they were just generated by ms devs in the other MS building 63 floors below ground where they use infrared light to grow new developers in the bill gates sacred soil
So goodbye custom-built accessibility controllers? Little Timmy, who was born with no arms and loves video games but has to play with his feet on a custom controller, is going to be told "Git good stumpy"?
Microsoft does make a special controller for people with disabilities. Still sucks for people with custom setups. The cheating in fps games is out of control though
On PC you can do whatever the hell you want with your hardware and people aren't asking to ban it to prevent cheating. This is such a dumb excuse. Build some good anti-cheat or stop complaining. This isn't the solution.
The array of different disabilities is so vast - a controller which works for one player may not work for another.
Does cheating in games justify downright deactivating custom accessories?
In my opinion absolutely not but the gaming community tends to give a lot of leeway towards companies rolling out so called "anti-cheat" solutions, even if they are downright scary i.e. asking users to install always on rootkits, or in this case, anti-consumer by forcing people to buy first or second party controllers.
I've even heard people in other situations suggest that anti-cheat systems should have surveillance systems like the ones done on remote exams, which would be downright dystopian and would be a privacy and security nightmare, all for a fucking video game WTF?
Another attack on ownership. The user is the only one who can authorize an accessory being used with their hardware.
Where was this outrage when Xbox blocked the ability to use third party headsets? This just seems like a continuation of their long-held policy and is likely only happening now that they have their accessibility controller on the market.
So we're back to the DRM machine dream of Xbox One.
There's still no official word or reports yet on whether XIM or Cronus controller-spoofing mouse and keyboard adapters will be banned as a result of these policy changes, but manufacturers like Brook Gaming who build unlicensed, but fair adapters for fighting game sticks seem to be caught in the dragnet. We'll be sure to update you on further changes.
I think XIM and Cronus are the reason they're doing this, especially since the main games on Xbox are shooters.
Cronus allows you to run scripts which give you an unfair competitive advantage, from using exploits and humanly impossible controller inputs to fire weapons ultra fast, to removing weapon recoil, to going auto-prone when you fire your weapon, to quickscoping, to other things.
XIM on the other hand lets you plug in a mouse and keyboard. While this allows you to play games on console that otherwise don't support M&K controls, it also gives you serious unfair competitive advantages by making the console think you're a gamepad player whilst giving you superior M&K controls and aim assist at the same time. With a XIM device you can go seal clubbing in console-only lobbies.
My other hypothesis is that they want to safeguard their console from firmware exploits that could bust the security of their console wide-open and allow for software piracy.
I don't have an Xbox but I love that mouse and keyboard are considered cheating devices.
Reminds me of FFXI, where the devs considered Alt-Tabbing on PC cheating thus made it deliberately crash to desktop.
The enshittification is getting worse
i feel like the EU will fight this, but it still might not matter for NA users
Nowadays Consoles are just locked down, consumer-hostile PCs with many unnecessary artificial limitations. Get an actual PC and install Linux on it, that way you have the freedom to do whatever the fuck you want with both your hardware and your software. Probably the only console that respects its users is the Steam Deck, which also runs Linux. Most games work really well on Linux, and it's constantly improving. Also check out [email protected]
Get a Steam Deck and use any Controller you want ;) (including the corresponding controller glyphs for many games)
This surely can't be legal? Right? Right?