I want to buy an Xbox, but don't want MS to get money
 

If I buy one second hand at an EB games. Will MS profit from it? I want a few racing games.


EB games is geeeerate! I bought a SEGA GENESIS for 5 bucks :D

No. They only profit from whoever bought it brand new.

I feel your pain man. I went ahead and bit the bullet though, the xbox is a decent piece of hardware, and I've gotten alot of enjoyment out of it (in spite of the flaky dvd drives they put in the things). I looked at it this way, M$ actually loses money on the xbox, and attempts to make it back in games, so I don't worry about the hardware and most of the time buy used games hehe. I also get the benefit of playing current games without supporting a pc os to play them on.

And if I don't buy brand new Microsoft games, they receive no profit?

Again, they only profit from the new purchase

Alright, I'm going to buy one in a little... Used Xboxs go for pretty cheap.

If you really feel like screwing MS over, what you do is:

1. get a used Xbox. Don't get a refurbished one though because they do profit from those.
2. buy a used copy of the original Mechassault (non-platinum version) because it has a bug that makes it so you can legally do #3 which is
3. Install Linux. There are a couple distros out there that work well from what I here. I think you can still plat X-box games on it, but you won't be able to use live (which supports MS anyway).

What you could also do is install linux by using a MOD chip but those are mostly illegal.

Pretty sure MS loses a ton of money on the actual xboxes, those are pretty nice machines to be selling for $150usd. They're probably worth more like 3-400... MS makes all their money off of the games.

Goodness, just buy a new Xbox. It's worth the money, and it's not as if you'll make MS bankrupt by it...

not that i care if MS makes any money or not.. i know thats all companies are about anyways..

however, microsoft loses money on every xbox.. so feel free to buy one new ;)

re:
 

well all contribute to the profits of corporations and capitalism in one way or another so it doesnt matter.

Nothing wrong to spend money on something you think is worth it.

No sense in hating Microsoft only because they are called Microsoft. I own a Microsoft mouse and tracball. They both work great under Linux. I don't have a problem sending money to Microsoft for tangible goods like hardware. Afterall, it's paid for.

What I won't do is pay the M$ tax on things like a buggy, unsecure, viral operating system that is designed for the sole purpose of keeping other software vendors from being able to write stable software for their crappy operating system. You can pay all the money in the world for a Windows OS but you'll never own it.

Well said Harlin its pointless not to buy from them out of principle. Buy whatever serves you best. If you think its worth it then all it means is you are putting your money into a successful section of the company, it might mean more resources are diverted away from windows into the XBOX.

what are u talking about man
 

to my knolage mod chips are not ileigle due to the fact thay are suposed to let u legally allow u to balk up games u ALREADY OWN which there is no way to leagally keep u from dpoing AS LONG AS u own the origional copy though we do know most ppl do not use them 4 these reasons but rather a rent and rip routine

I had meant to make sure the text below was reported to a moderator but the forum wouldn't allow me to do for some reason (kept getting 'request timed out.') So, please read this with an open mind and heart.

These guys are mentioning illegal activity, though it's on a very small scale. It's important that we be blameless (Linux Users and LinuxQuestions.org as well) because a Microsoft-biased person can see things like this and say, "Look I knew it, these Linux punks are about being thieves all along." Though we all know it's not true, why add fuel to the fire? Personally, I would remind these guys in a kind way that most Linux users are really not "cheap" and looking for a way around the system illegaly. In fact, this is one of the reasons for coming up with the Open Source licensing framework, so we can benefit from software that isn't "owned" by a corporate entity and do it legally.

Thanks,

Harlin Seritt