Xbox gamers left frustrated by Microsoft hack crackdown

Many game players have been left in the lurch as a result of Microsoft's efforts to shut down one of the leading sellers of Xbox hacking tools, which enable users to 'chip' their console.

Customers of Hong Kong-based web retailer Lik Sang report they've heard nothing regarding dozens of orders they placed with the site shortly before it went offline last month.

Lik Sang was one of the top worldwide retailers of 'mod chips' - devices that when soldered to a game console's main circuit board will disable security components. The chips typically allow a game machine to play legally and illegally copied discs, run unauthorised software, and play game discs intended for other geographic regions.

Lik Sang offered a variety of specialty and grey-market game gear, including mod chips for Xbox, Sony's PlayStation 2 and consoles with mod chips already installed by Lik Sang technicians. The company went into the manufacturing side of the mod chip business last August when it acquired OpenXbox, a mod chip design intended to allow upgrades.

A Microsoft representative at the company's Australian headquarters confirmed to News.com last week that the company had taken legal action against Lik Sang.

Lik Sang's website has been down since 20 September, replaced by a holding page which blames server problems. The company did not respond to repeated email requests for comment.

Though mod chips have bothered the video game business for years, Microsoft has been particularly zealous in fighting them. The company reconfigured the Xbox's innards partly to deter hackers and has sought to hire a mod chip expert.

David Becker writes for News.com