Microsoft has banned a number of Xbox Live users whose 360s were modded, according to XBL front man Major Nelson:

In our our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games.

 

You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void your warranty and result in a ban... The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive, both from manufacturers and the local companies that support them.

Via: Amazon Game Room

In more banning news, Destructoid reports that Blizzard has said goodbye to some 350,000 Battle.net accounts for Starcraft and Diablo II.

At issue? 

Players using third-party hacks. The good news is that the cheaters were banned. The bad news is that Blizz might let them back in after 30 days.

In a just-released statement the parents of Brandon Crisp say that they plan to create a foundation to help unpriveleged children have the opportunity to play sports.

Although it was known that the Crisps would release a statement today, the focus of the proposed foundation is a bit of a surprise. Some believed that the family would target video game addiction, which was initially blamed for Brandon's disappearance by his parents. The oft-repeated game addiction theme gathered much traction in the Canadian media as well.

The 15-year-old gamer will be buried on Friday.

The full text of the Crisp family's statement follows:

The story of our son's disappearance and tragic outcome has touched the hearts of families throughout our community and across our Country.

 

We are so very proud to have parented such a wonderful, caring and beautiful son who has touched so many hearts.

We take great comfort in our time of grief, knowing that his story has and will continue to have a profound impact on parents and children alike, that more time will be made by families to share precious time together. Life and love should never be taken for granted.

 

To honor Brandon's name we will be creating a foundation to support under privileged children throughout our community and across Canada to play minor sports they may not otherwise be able to afford. An interim donation account has been set up with the CIBC as the Brandon Crisp Trust Account, Donations can be made at any CIBC branch across Canada.

 

The support we have had from so many has been completely overwhelming and has made an everlasting impression on our family. 

Time is running a feature on the Top 10 Microsoft Moments, and the Xbox made the list.

No, not the (fairly) sleek 360, but the extra-beefy original. From the article:

By the [2001] holiday shopping season, gamers all over America wanted them, launching a three-way battle for video-game dominance between the Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube... Microsoft had a $500 million marketing budget for the game platform, which also contained a hard drive and Internet connectivity. The Xbox was more powerful and more expensive — not to mention heavier — than the PlayStation 2, but lacked Sony’s stable of popular games — it didn’t take off as a platform until the stunning success of Halo, a mankind-vs-aliens space opera that helped redefine the first-person shooter genre.

Other high (or low) points include the release of MS-DOS, Windows, BOB and those quirky commercials featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld.

GP: The pic shows a working prototype that was on display at E3 in 2001.

Brandon Crisp, the gamer whose disappearance touched so many in Canada and in the video game community, died of injuries consistent with a fall from a tree, according to a coroner's report.

More details from Canada.com:

An autopsy performed Friday in Toronto confirmed that missing 15-year-old Brandon Crisp died from a fall from a tree. Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer said Saturday that the autopsy confirmed the boy's identity and cause of death, putting to end the faint hope the missing teen might still be alive.

Results from the autopsy indicated that Crisp died from chest wounds "consistent with a fall from a tree," a statement released by Barrie police said. Many media reports speculated that Crisp, whose body was found Wednesday near a popular hiking trail outside of the central Ontario city, had likely died from hypothermia.

Police said foul play isn't suspected.

Police are still attempting to piece together the last moments of Brandon's life. His funeral is planned for Friday, November 14th.

Toronto TV station CP-24 is reporting that missing gamer Brandon Crisp has been found dead.

From the report: 

Police have found the body of missing Barrie-area boy Brandon Crisp... He was found on Fifth Line in the Barrie area...

 

A massive search was underway for the teen in Shanty Bay on the Oro Medonte Rail Trail, just outside of Barrie, since his disappearance on Thanksgiving Day.

 

Last week, a second witness confirmed seeing Crisp on the trail the night he disappeared.

CTV spoke with Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie Police: 

At this point we believe it to be Brandon, and we're still obviously in the early stages of our investigation, It's not confirmed because nothing's confirmed until we have pathology, but we believe it to be Brandon... [Brandon's parents are] obviously distraught by the information.

On the Facebook group Where is Brandon Crisp? some posters are saying that Brandon's body was discovered by hunters, but that is unconfirmed by police at this point. The London Free Press also reports that Brandon was found by hunters.

UPDATE: The Facebook group has been removed by its moderator, apparently over hurtful remarks being posted.

UPDATE 2: Police are now saying that they don't suspect foul play. CTV quotes Ontario Provincial Police Const. George Silvestri:

Our indication is, at this time, no foul play suspected, but of course we have to examine every possibility... There's absolutely no fear for any residents of Oro-Medonte. This is a safe community.

The official Xbox color may be green, but when it comes to politics, online gaming venue Xbox Live is clearly a blue state.

According to a Microsoft rep, a final pre-election poll taken over the weekend shows Democrat Barack Obama with a commanding lead over Republican John McCain among XBL gamers. Here are those numbers:

• Obama 53%
• McCain 33%
• Undecided 14%

In a late September XBL poll, Obama led 43-31%. The new data seems to suggest that some XBL users who were undecided or who supported other candidates in the earlier poll have largely shifted to Obama.

As Xbox Live project manager Ben Vaught recently pointed out to GamePolitics, with 14 million subscribers, if Xbox Live was a state, it would be the seventh largest in the U.S. with 20 electoral votes.

Video games have absorbed an enormous amount of bad press since Brandon Crisp (left) went missing on October 13th.

Nearly every day for the last three weeks, Canadian media accounts have named Call of Duty 4, Xbox Live and video game addiction as key factors in the 15-year-old's disappearance.

While it's generally agreed that Brandon left home following an argument with his parents over his Xbox 360, what happened after that remains unknown.

Today's edition of the Toronto Sun, however, draws comparisons between Brandon's disappearance and that of Alexandra Flannigan (right), a 33-year-old woman who was last seen in July, 2007:

Another mysterious disappearance was on the minds of many residents.Still fresh in many memories is the death of Alexandra Flannigan, 33, a petite, 100 pound, 5-foot-2 woman... Months later, police found her remains in two different areas of the city... Police suspect foul play but have been silent in the past months about the investigation. They have refused to comment when asked about a possible connection with Brandon's disappearance.

Meanwhile, the Sun quotes a local woman who found Brandon's abandoned bicycle:

I hate to think the worst. But you can't help but wonder.

GP: One thing that is fascinating about the earlier case is that the victim, Alexandra Flannigan, was almost exactly the same size and weight as Brandon Crisp. It's also very odd that the woman's remains were found in two separate locations and the police suspect foul play? The autopsy apparently indicated that one of Flannigan's bones had been sawed through. Foul play seems like a no-brainer.

Barrie police, the lead agency is the Brandon Crisp case, have been severly criticized by some who believe that they bungled the Flannigan investigation.

GamePolitics recently reviewed the possible scenarios in Brandon's disappearance.

As of tomorrow, Brandon Crisp will be missing for three weeks.

Police in his hometown of Barrie, Ontario have issued a video alert for the 15-year-old gamer after a search and a roadblock over the weekend apparently failed to locate Brandon.

CTV reports that the popular America's Most Wanted program may air a feature detailing the case of missing gamer Brandon Crisp. The popular show currently has a small report about Brandon on its website, but a reader would need to search to find the listing.

According to CTV, America's Most Wanted is more likely to cover the case if police believe that Brandon has entered the United States. Along that line, UPI reports the following comment by police spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand:

We don't know where he is, so there is that potential that he could have gone south of the border. That's a scenario we have to consider, whether he went across on his own will or against his will.

Interestingly, Goodbrand said that foul play is not suspected.

GP: Thanks to reader Ian Campbell for the tip!

UPDATE: Even though police called off their ground search on Monday, according to CityNews they now say that they will search one more time on Friday and conduct a day-long canvass on Saturday.

GameSpot has learned that Barack Obama's in-game ads on Xbox Live set the Democratic nominee's campaign back $44,465.78.

That amounts to pretty good bang for the buck, especially when factoring in the widespread mainstream publicity generated by the ads after GamePolitics broke the news of their existence on October 9th.

The Obama XBL ads were covered by, among others, the New York Times and Associated Press as well as most of the major news networks.

When Brandon Crisp stormed out of his house on October 13th following a family argument, he must have seemed like so many other teenagers. It's a simple fact of life: 15-year-olds occasionally have stormy relationships with their parents. But, upon leaving, Brandon's life took a uniquely disturbing turn.

Two weeks later the young man remains missing. No one has seen or heard from him - at least, no one who's talking about it. Intensive search efforts by police and local volunteers have failed to locate the slightly built gamer.

At this point the best hope of tracing Brandon may lie with a forensic analysis of his Xbox 360 hard drive as well as server logs for Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service.

Brandon's distraught parents have largely focused on the role of online gaming in his life, a role which they say had become pervasive. His father, Steve Crisp, has at various points blamed game addiction, Call of Duty 4, and online game tournaments.

But let's put all of that aside for a moment and analyze the possibilities:

After failing to locate Brandon Crisp despite more than a week of intensive searching, police are reportedly focusing their investigation on the missing gamer's Xbox Live account.

This morning's Toronto Star reports that the cyber crimes unit of the Ontario Provincial Police will attempt to identify members of Brandon's Xbox Live Call of Duty 4 clan. Barrie P.D. spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand told the Sun that Microsoft has agreed to breach its normal privacy protocols in the hunt for the missing 15-year-old:

Brandon's dad made a plea to Microsoft. This is an exigent circumstance, where it's a kid you're searching for. This isn't the same as other criminal investigations, where you're looking for evidence... [Brandon] was getting good enough that there's a possibility he was expanding into other clans.

In related news, GamePolitics spoke with Sgt. Goodbrand last night and learned that police are not releasing Brandon's Xbox Live gamertag. While the gamertag would give concerned gamers a starting point from which they could explore online resources in the search for Brandon, law enforcement officials fear that the information may be misused. There could also be important investigative reasons. It is not unusual for certain pieces of information to be withheld from the public in major cases.

How might gamers help? Although the circumstances are much different - and infinitely more serious - in Brandon's case, here's one example: Crime File: Global Gamer Community Tracks Down Xbox Live Thieves.
 

The star of a Canadian reality TV show has joined in the search for missing Xbox Live gamer Brandon Crisp.

As reported by the Vancouver Sun, Terry Grant, who stars in Mantracker, arrived at the seach location on Friday evening. Barrie Police Dept. spokesman Sgt. Dave Goodbrand commented:

He has followed the story for a number of days and he has come to assist with the volunteer party.

Meanwhile, Simcoe.com has these remarks from Grant:

Search and rescue is what I’ve done for 12 years. I thought it’s a worthwhile cause to come out here and see if I can help organize some of the volunteers and give a little bit of guidance where necessary... This [search operation] is huge. The volunteers who are organizing this are doing an awesome job. They are going above and beyond here.

A Wikipedia entry for the Mantracker program summarizes its format:

Two people take off into the bush with a map, a compass and a head start. The tracker is on horseback, armed with a local guide and an arsenal of forensic skills. The prey have 36 hours to reach a finish line some 40 kilometers away without getting caught. How they escape is up to them.

Brandon is reportedly a fan of the show.

Despite yesterday's massive search effort, Brandon Crisp remains missing. The 15-year-old gamer disappeared after a family dispute on October 13th.

The Vancouver Sun reports that Microsoft Canada has chipped in $25,000, raising the reward fund total to $50,000. Brandon's parents told police that the young man left home after an argument over what they described as his obsessive play of Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live.

A Barrie P.D. spokesman said that Microsoft was cooperating fully with the investigation: 

Microsoft said they would do anything they can to expedite the process to find Brandon," said Sgt. Dave Goodbrand, spokesman for the Barrie police.

Brandon's parents say he was obsessed with playing an online game called Call of Duty 4 on his Xbox and police have been working with Microsoft to track down the Internet addresses of everyone who interacted with the 15-year-old before he disappeared. There are concerns he may have gone to meet someone he met online.

Barrie P.D. says that it has received more than a thousand tips that need follow-up. Psychics and even the newly-disbarred Jack Thompson have offered advice. From the Sun:

Miami lawyer Jack Thompson called Barrie police offering his help. Thompson, whose cases have included a youth who committed murder by re-enacting scenes from video games, said a young person addicted to video games can be traumatized if forced to go cold turkey.

"It's a psychological and physiological condition," said Thompson. "These are tough things to have the kid go cold turkey."

Barrie P.D. has established a tip line for information concerning Brandon's whereabouts: 705-725-7025 ext. 2160

For all GP coverage on the Brandon Crisp case click here.

UPDATE: Steve Crisp, Brandon's father, is urging Microsoft to expedite the process of extracting contact information from the hard drive of the missing boy's Xbox 360, reports CTV. Mr. Crisp made this plea:

The key to finding my son lies in this XBox hard drive. Please, if you can speed up the process of handing this information over to our police, it could mean a big difference in our son's safe return. There are a lot of red tape and legal issues I know that Microsoft probably has, and the police probably have.

CTV has posted video interviews with Steve Crisp as well as with Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie P.D.

After 11 days, 15-year-old Canadian gamer Brandon Crisp remains missing.

Rewards in the case have increased to $20,000, while a message on the Facebook group Where is Brandon Crisp? outlines a major volunteer search effort that will begin today and last through the weekend:

The public search for Brandon will take place Friday - Sunday October 24 - 26. The command centre for the search each day will be located at Burl's Creek in Oro, and teams will be organised there to search throughout Oro and Orillia.

In addition to ground-searching, volunteers may be asked to perform support-related duties for the search, canvass neighbourhoods and post flyers in high-traffic locations.

The Command centre will operate Friday Saturday and Sunday from 10 am through 5 pm. As we expect many volunteers, we ask for patience while we organise each volunteer into proper roles; we need to make sure we execute the search to the best of our ability.

Canada's cnews reports that Brandon's distraught mother, Angelika Crisp, clings to the idea that he was taken by a fellow gamer:

She insists her son was taken by some misfit teammate who may be participating in a bizarre video game that has somehow crossed over into reality.

Crisp said her son was "addicted" to the terrorist war game, Call of Duty, and might have met up with team players online.

"I think someone has him," Crisp said.

In addition to the Facebook group (which now has over 9,200 members), a website has been established at FindBrandonCrisp.com

Canada's National Post reports that a $10,000 reward has been offered in the Brandon Crisp case. The teen went missing 10 days ago following a family dispute.

As GamePolitics has reported, Brandon's parents maintain that he was addicted to Call of Duty 4 and they have linked his game play to his disappearance. The local police department seems to be adopting that theory as well. The Ottowa Citizen today quotes Barrie P.D. Sgt. Dave Goodbrand:

Every day gets more and more concerning for his safety, especially with no contact. We're not getting any contact from his (computer) user accounts and his video-game accounts. And that's concerning because he was so addicted and he left home because of that.

Probably correctly, the police doubt that Brandon would log in under a new account:

From my understanding, he has worked so hard to build his [in-game] credibility, and if you start a new profile, you have to start at the bottom.

GP: Anyone with information concerning Brandon Crisp's whereabouts is requested to contact the Barrie P.D.

All week, GamePolitics has been tracking the search for Brandon Crisp. The 15-year-old Canadian gamer disappeared on October 13th after a dispute with his family which led to the confiscation of his Xbox 360 by his father, Steve.

Mr. Crisp has expressed fears that Brandon's "addiction" to Call of Duty 4 may be somehow connected to the boy's disappearance.

GamePolitics put that question to Dr. Jerald Block, an Oregon psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of Internet porn and online gaming addicts. While Dr. Block would not comment directly about the case, he offered his view on how the removal of a game system or PC might affect a hardcore gamer:

I caution against abruptly "cutting off" people from their compulsive computer use without much thought and preparation.  I often see extreme anger results, directed at oneself or the surrounding world.  When you think about it, it makes sense:  The computer (or gaming console) helps a person who is struggling with emotions (1) metabolize those emotions virtually without acting on them in the Real, (2) chew up time so they do not have the hours to act out in Real life, and (3) provides companionship...even if it is simulated or via Virtual relationships. 

 

When you cut the cord, you destroy the way someone is dealing with their emotions, you give them 30+ more hours [per week] to occupy, and you kill off their major source of relationships.  Is it any surprise anger often results?
 
Often the anger is directed at oneself with statements like, "What a waste I have made of my life" or "What do I have to show for the hours I spent in WoW, Civ, etc."  It can lead to suicide attempts or other pathology, like drug use.  Or, the anger can turn external:  "We all live in fantasy worlds, brutal places fabricated and controlled by others.  I'll be damned if I'll let them take away my world, where I am powerful, without first stripping away their fantasies and illusions."  This is what I believe happened at Columbine.

Last month GamePolitics tracked Xbox Live's inaugural use of political polling among its members. In that survey, XBL users overwhelmingly gave the nod to Barack Obama as their choice for president - and that was before anyone knew about those now famous in-game Obama ads.

In partnership with nonprofit Rock the Vote, XBL has just completed a new round of polling. This time users were asked to name which issues were most on their mind.

So what's the answer? In the words of Deomocratic campaign strategist James Carville, it's the economy, stupid. Here are the numbers:

• 35%        Jobs and the Economy
• 19%        Environment
• 18%        Foreign Policy
• 14%        Health Care
• 14%        Education
   

At this point it's fair to say that XBL has jumped into the election season with both feet. In addition to user polling and a voter registration drive, the online service is offering election 2008 gamerpics and themes, as well as a music video from The Presidents of the United States of America's new album.

On Monday, GamePolitics spoke to project manager Ben Vaught about the injection of politics into the XBL user experience. Vaught hadn't seen the results of the new poll at that point:

The reason we do these polls is that Xbox Live is more and more becoming a bellwether of where youth voting trends are going… This [new] poll is really a chance for Xbox Live members to tell the presidential candidates... this is why were voting, this is why this election matters to us…

 

I thought [the Obama ads were] amazing. This is a community of over 14 million members. They’re active and engaged, they’re vocal. And it's not just about games and entertainment. They're also active and engaged and feel very stongly about the direction of their country… If Xbox Live was a state, it would be the seventh largest with 20 electoral votes.

[Rock the Vote] is very happy with how everthing is turning out. For Rock the Vote, they’re going to where younger voters are this election and this year they’re on Xbox Live. With Microdoft and Xbox, we know that the presidential election is important and we’re really trying to do our part to encourage turnout and for people to vote.

As GamePolitics reported on Monday, Brandon Crisp, a 15-year-old Canadian gamer, went missing more than a week ago and has not been located.

According to this morning's Toronto Star, Brandon's parents have expressed to police that they believe his disappearance may be related to what they term an "addiction" to the popular, online-playable FPS Call of Duty 4. Brandon's father, Steve Crisp is quoted as saying:

I'm worried he has met someone online through this game. It could be organized crime or someone involved in Internet gambling. Pedophiles can stalk kids through these games.

While it is certainly true that there are documented cases of sexual predators using online video games to locate young victims, Steve Crisp's speculation regarding organized crime or Internet gambling seems a bit far-fetched. Perhaps understandable, though, given the stress which he is under. Certainly, one would expect that the local police are working with Xbox Live to examine any messages between Brandon and other players. They are probably examining his PC as well.

Also unclear is the exact CoD game that Brandon was supposedly addicted to. The Star report includes these passages:

[Brandon] left home following a dispute with his parents over the Xbox online war game, Call of Duty 4, which he spent countless hours and days playing over the last 18 months...

 

"He has a good heart," Steve said of his son, who was a straight-A student until his obsession with gaming started in 2006. The boy purchased Call of Duty with Christmas money and Steve subscribed to Xbox online at his son's urging.

Call of Duty 4, however, was not released until November 5 of last year. Previous games in the series were released for Xbox 360, so, given the stressful circumstances, it's an understandable mistatement.

Anyone with information on Brandon's whereabouts is urged to contact the Barrie Police Department. A Facebook group, Where is Brandon Crisp? has over 5,600 members so far.

GP: A reporter from the Globe and Mail asked me yesterday whether the gaming community, using online resources, might be helping in the search for Brandon. It's very possible.

What do you think, GP readers? How would you look for Brandon?

Have you ever had your Xbox Live experience ruined by a potty-mouthed opponent?

As reported by Ars Technica, the U.S. Patent Office has granted Microsoft a patent for real-time censoring of audio streams. Presumably, this is intended to help shoot down unwanted F-bombs before they detonate in the ears of innocent Xbox Live gamers.

If the technology is implemented, one wonders whether MS would permit a free-fire zone on XBL for players who enjoy an uncensored, trash-talking game experience.

Ars Technica' Jonathan Gitlin, however, worries about non-gaming deployment of the new tech:

I can also envisage a more sinister role, however... Imagine the same system applied to digital telephony, then think how valuable such a system might be to an authoritarian regime. As we've seen to good effect in Burma and elsewhere, the ubiquity of cell phones has been a good thing for dissidents who need to get their message out or organize themselves. The Great Firewall of China already blocks objectionable web content from reaching Chinese computers; what's to stop cell phones from censoring anti-government conversations too?