red ring of death on a 360 :-(

[RoomTenONine]

When replacing a unit, there is no difference between the arcade unit and any other, with the exception of color.

It would be stupid to pay more for a different unit, when you already have all the extra stuff that comes with the them.

Yeah when I wrote that I was thinking initial system costs for some retarded reason (it was late...rather early this morning).  If you have the $300 system, I totally agree with you.  Although you won't have the "silver" tray face (but you probably could swap it).  However, if you have an elite...well you'd have to buy new again for very obvious reasons.  I guess that those of us with elites aren't so cash hungry that we'd copy games in the first place...just my guess.

Cost of the mod?

It is a firmware flash. As long as you have SATA in your PC, there is no cost for the mod.

Not if you don't have the correct DVD drive.  As far as I know this only works on the Hitachi and Samsing drives, not the Ben Q.  You may have to replace one of those too.  Plus, there are people out there who are afraid to swap an optical drive in a PC.  So there are people out there who will pay someone to do this too even if it is just a firmware update.  There are several sites out there that offer the service and it isn't free.

Blank media cost $2 a piece retail, and can be found cheaper.

Right, but it is a cost.  That's all I'm saying.  Don't forget rental costs to obtain the media.

If the argument is that you should support the developers, and not be playing copies than fair enough. That is not at all the same thing as not having value though.

I never said or implied they were the same thing.  I just wanted to cover all cost angles.  Something completely independent to my personal view on copying.

If you are going to be playing copies, than at worst the cost of a replacement system is going to set you back considerably less then you would have paid to buy the games you play.

Your math just showed a $10 difference.  I wouldn't call that considerable.  Although I'm sure you'll reply that most copiers have more than 5 games.

Chances are that you will be able to fix it yourself with the $10 x-clamp replacement though.

Gotcha.

Oh and sorry if I'm sounding like some nit-picking old fool that won't let up.  I just wanted to show the other sides of thought here.

[versapak]

Cost of the mod?

It is a firmware flash. As long as you have SATA in your PC, there is no cost for the mod.

Not if you don't have the correct DVD drive.  As far as I know this only works on the Hitachi and Samsing drives, not the Ben Q.  You may have to replace one of those too.  Plus, there are people out there who are afraid to swap an optical drive in a PC.  So there are people out there who will pay someone to do this too even if it is just a firmware update.  There are several sites out there that offer the service and it isn't free.

Blank media cost $2 a piece retail, and can be found cheaper.

Right, but it is a cost.  That's all I'm saying.  Don't forget rental costs to obtain the media.

If the argument is that you should support the developers, and not be playing copies than fair enough. That is not at all the same thing as not having value though.

I never said or implied they were the same thing.  I just wanted to cover all cost angles.  Something completely independent to my personal view on copying.

If you are going to be playing copies, than at worst the cost of a replacement system is going to set you back considerably less then you would have paid to buy the games you play.

Your math just showed a $10 difference.  I wouldn't call that considerable.  Although I'm sure you'll reply that most copiers have more than 5 games.

Chances are that you will be able to fix it yourself with the $10 x-clamp replacement though.

Gotcha.

Oh and sorry if I'm sounding like some nit-picking old fool that won't let up.  I just wanted to show the other sides of thought here.

I'm pretty sure all the DVD drives are currently flashable, but then both my 360's have sammys, so I am not entirely sure.

The media costs were never forgotten. They just aren't much.

There is no cost for rentals. There's this lil thing called the internet.

As for having more than 5 copies. I would indeed say that, and the only reason I mentioned 5 to begin with, is that with only 5 games you already have more than the cost of a new 360.


Nitpicking? Nah.


There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to not steal.


I personally have 2 360's, and about 20 legitimate games on disc + over 30 purchased in Live Arcade.

I buy games at full price when I feel they are worthy.

I buy others after a price drop makes them worthy.

Others...

Copies are somewhat of a rental system for me. Also, I don't ever buy 2 of a game. If my son and I want to play together, and the only way is over Live, then one of us has the original while the other plays a copy.

[RoomTenONine]

Right on.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm no angel when it comes to copyright.  I just don't do it on a system that is current.  I ahve friends who code in the industry, so when a game is good I support it.  That said, half of my library was purchased as used games through eBay or half.com.  I typically only spend $20-30 on a game...some only a week or two out of release.  This is of course excluding my must have at release games like Mass Effect, Halo 3.  I also get my EA games at emplyoee costs for new titles, which is uber cheap.