Summary: Bad developments for Xbox pile up

MICROSOFT goes to great lengths to hide the truth about XBox 360 being flawed, and it even fires employees who dare to speak out about it. This is a poor strategy and it does not prevent people from figuring out for themselves that by selling shoddy products Microsoft is profiteering and putting people's lives at risk. There is a new lawsuit:

Illinois man taking hardware maker to court, asks for sale of consoles to be halted, damages for self and fellow consumers.

Microsoft is back in court defending its oft-maligned Xbox 360 hardware. An Oak Forest, Illinois, man filed suit against Microsoft in the Northern District of Illinois - Eastern Division earlier this month, saying the console maker has been unjustly enriching itself by selling Xbox 360 systems that it knows contain a material design defect.

Since this subject of Xbox 360 was brought up, one might as well add the news about Microsoft banning teenagers from Xbox Live in New Zealand, just as it was banning lesbians and mistreating homosexuals in Xbox.

Microsoft is allowing teens to buy online credits, but stopping them from spending their points, leaving frustrated customers out of pocket.

From Microsoft's spinner blog: "Microsoft blocks kids in New Zealand from Xbox Live"

The aim was to restrict access to mature content. As a result, any gamer logged into Xbox Live with an under-18 account cannot buy Xbox 360 content from the online store.

There are other notable new rants about the Xbox 360, which is falsely assumed to be a success despite the fact that it has already lost billions of dollars. Microsoft also came under accusations of "bribery" and Team 17 denies it.

"Obviously we'd like everything on every platform day one," explains studio boss Martyn Brown.

The idea of "exclusives" is a very customer-hostile one. Maybe it is even worth banning "exclusives" for the benefit of the public.

Lastly, there are rumours about Halo demise, which would be a major blow to Xbox 360. See for example:

● Bungie 'probably' exiting Halo franchise, new IP deal 'close'

However, Bakken quickly cautioned that that doesn't mean the Halo franchise is going away. "I can't answer that question for Microsoft, though," continued the designer. "Whether they have something in the works or not, I don't know if they're actually ready to talk about it yet. But in terms of Bungie-produced Halo games, ODST and then Reach is probably all you're going to get."

● Halo Chronicles 'No longer happening' says Peter Jackson

Last Friday at Comic-Con, after showing off District 9 (a film he produced, and directed by Neill Blomkamp who was slated to direct the Halo movie), he told Joystiq,

"That Halo project is no longer happening, it sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening."

● Microsoft Finally Shoots Down Gearbox Halo 4 Rumor

“For the record, Gearbox is NOT working on a Halo title for Microsoft,” tweeted a company spokesperson for Halo Waypoint (which is a part of the newly formed 343 Industries).

Remember Halo the movie? Microsoft's budgetary constraints can't help it happen, can they? ⬆