
Gamers by the millions turned out this week to trade their shiny gold rocks for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in what The Associated Press is calling the biggest-selling launch in the history of entertainment. Activision stock rose Thursday morning on this enthusiasm. And a reported million or so gamers remain banned from Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE service for modifying their hardware to play illegally copied software.
Microsoft told BBC News today that the banning is permanent, and that affected users will have to buy a new Xbox 360 console to recover their profiles and resume Xbox LIVE membership.


“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” 






