Microsoft has warned Xbox One owners about an internet prank claiming that the console could be made to play Xbox 360 games. This will actually render the console as absolutely useless; but does it serve the people who tried it right or should they have your sympathy for trying to stick it to Microsoft?
Pranksters at 4chan created an image designed to look like an official message containing details on how to make the Xbox One backwards-compatible. The instructions, if followed, could break your console and make it unplayable – but that didn’t prevent it from gaining some steam on Twitter. Now, Microsoft has responded via a tweet from mouthpiece Larry Hryb: “To be clear there is no way to make your Xbox One backwards compatible and performing steps to attempt this could make your console inoperable.”
The prank will send your brand-new Xbox One into an infinite boot loop that cannot be broken, so it’s either buy a new console or no more Xbox for you. When this problem genuinely happened for people who bought the hardware on day one Microsoft showered them with free games to say sorry for the faulty consoles, but I can’t see them offering anything to those who have intentionally tried to hack it – and rightly so. After all, it’s not their fault that some gamers fell for a hoax on a website which many would consider to be unreliable.
No more Xbox One for you, my son.
This isn’t the first destructive joke that the public have fallen for in recent times. When the new iOS 7 upgrade was released for Apple devices earlier this year, someone posted that the new software made your iPhone and iPad totally waterproof; they also said that if you microwaved it, the device would charge. It’s hard to believe that so many people fell for this, but unfortunately they did and they’re now out of pocket because someone wanted to have a cruel laugh.
On the flip-side of the coin, can the pranksters actually be blamed? After all, if you’re gullible enough to try these blatantly false things, the argument can be made that you deserve everything you get. To avoid getting stung yourself be cautious of anything you see posted on forums and untrustworthy websites; because there are so many trolls out there and the old saying is usually right – ‘If it’s to good to be true, then it probably isn’t’.
