Is it OK to have a Dev Kit in your possession?

It was my understanding that xdk hardware ownership was never transferred from Microsoft, only licensed to developers for use.

The kits are still legally owned by Microsoft, the developer selling them is akin to selling a leased car in this way.

Can vouch for this.

 

Many of them, yes, but not all of them, which is the point Im making and have been since my first reply. There are situations that result in that contract being void (and again, not a lawyer and can only repeat what Ive heard from talking to others), and situations where that license isn't a thing in the first place.

 

Can vouch for this, had MS round mine twice. They werent being hard arses about it, very genuine, but still, I think I should have fought harder and not just gave in. I was a different person back then though...

 

Nintendo Cops will not hesitate to throw you in the Gamecube

 

Were you selling Nitro kits on eBay Australia and Nintendo contacted you? Did they still have the 'property of nintendo' sticker on them?

 

I was living in Tokyo at the time selling on eBay US and here. eBay took down my listings under instruction from Nintendo, and then I received a cease-and-desist style email from Nintendo themselves. I don't think they had the "property of Nintendo" stickers on them, no.

Another time, I had just bought a set of Revolution/Wii prototype controllers for GameCube and the seller showed up at the front desk of my apartment frantically begging for the controllers back, as Nintendo had requested them be returned for destruction.

 

Oh that's interesting. I've never tried to sell one locally (Australia) but I've seen heaps on Yahoo Japan lately and a couple on eBay - all have had that labelling removed so I wondered if that somehow made it more acceptable.

 

This is absolutely fascinating. I always understood the fact that XDK's are property of Microsoft under contract but I was not aware that they would actually employ recovery teams to take back dev hardware from people. Well, the recovery teams make sense, I just always assumed it was meant for unreleased prototype hardware that could potentially hurt the company or a development studio by it being out in the wild. I don't mean to make entertainment out of a legally sticky situation, but does anyone else have any stories pertaining to run-ins with these recovery teams?

Had a strange hobby? Collecting clothes and moonshine? I can agree with you on this. It's amazing how some do not think of the potential risks associated with leaking not yet released game builds, then again majority who have been in that situation have most likely kept it quiet and enjoyed what they found privately.