Xbox Live Says Autistic Boy Cheated
Xbox LIVE has accused an autistic boy of cheating, and has ripped away all of his achievements.
Seattle’s Q13 FOX News reports that Microsoft is accusing an 11-year-old autistic boy of cheating on Xbox LIVE.
Jennifer Zdenek isn't happy, and for good reason. Last week her autistic son Julius Jackson booted up his Xbox 360 console, jumped onto Xbox LIVE and quickly discovered that the gaming network had labeled him as a "cheater." Even worse, the network revoked every achievement he had gained since signing up with the service, leaving him with nothing but false accusations.
According to Zdenek, Julius is extremely good at playing video games, "mastering" individual titles within three to four days. She said that Microsoft's gaming console serves as a means for Julius to interact with others outside the school environment, and all the work and long hours he put into earning his achievements was done honestly, not by cheating.
"It disgusts me that they did this to my child," Zdenek said. "It's pretty much his only outlet, his only friend because of the autism."
Her son devastated, Zdenek said the she allowed the boy to contact Microsoft to resolve the issue. Unsurprisingly, they reached a brick wall thanks to a statement issued by the legal department.
"The only actions that we take are to correct the player's current Gamerscore, and to label the player as a 'cheater,'" the statement said in an email. "This label can be observed on Xbox.com and through the player's view of their Gamercard on a console or computer that is connected to Xbox LIVE. The player can still legitimately gain future achievements. The player's experience does not change in any other way."
Essentially Microsoft has branded an autistic child with the "cheater" label for the entire Internet to see (both on and off Xbox LIVE) without providing his legal guardian with any proof of such actions. Q13 FOX said it made an attempt to contact Microsoft to discuss the issue and received no response.
Zdemek said that she will cancel the Xbox LIVE subscription at the beginning on next month if Microsoft continues to ignore her requests.
Did Julius cheat, or is he just that good at gaming?
- Sony Ericsson's 'PlayStation Phone' Previewed
- Deadmau5 Portable Speaker
- The Self-Warming Jacket that Charges via USB
- Knoxville High School Makes iPads Mandatory
- More Details on the HTC Android Tablet Leak Out
- Amazon Planning on Delivering Your Groceries Too
- T-Mobile to Launch 4G Dell Streak 7 in February
- Top 3 How-to Guides Winners from Computing.net
- This Game Will Help You Make Better Decisions
- This RoboSub is Your Newest Baywatch Bunny
- Google Releases Honeycomb SDK Preview
- Sikorsky's CH-53K Beta Tested in Virtual Reality
- Sahara Solar Breeder Project Underway
- Lose Your Facebook Page, Sue For $500,000
- Cheaper Touchscreens Made Of Carbon
- Firefox 5 announced for Q2 2011
- Court Rules D&D Promotes Gang Activity
- GameStop Taking Sony NGP Pre-orders for $999?
- The Smartest USB Connector, Ever
Ignoring the M rate games played by the child, there has yet to be any evidence on the kid's actual cheating.
If he did, then yes this should be the way things are. However, if not, I hope that Microsoft is able to see an error on their part and simply return it back to normal.
The kid is obviously the "Rain Man" of XBox Live gaming!!!...lol.
*facepalm*
Very low Microsoft! VERY LOW!
New tagline for M$ "Crushing one soul at a time"
I'm going to go with cheater, oddly enough. I don't think most people are really above that sort of thing, especially if they have a handicap to start out with.
spotty I-net connection and a few dropped packets prolly.
People can cheat on consoles? Like are we talking game exploits like 'roof boosts' or we talking hacked games?
People can cheat on consoles? Like are we talking game exploits like 'roof boosts' or we talking hacked games?
That concept is new to you somehow? Are you serious? lol But to answer your question, both are easily possible.
hmm maybe he did cheat? just because he has a disability doesn't mean that he can't... autistic people seem pretty intelligent so go figure.
How does the boy's autism relate to the actions taken by Microsoft? The boy's autism also shouldn't have an influence on Microsoft's decision as to whether or not they will reverse their actions. Why is this even an article?
I'm going to go with cheater, oddly enough. I don't think most people are really above that sort of thing, especially if they have a handicap to start out with.
Actually Autism does not always pose a handicap that would affect gaming, it can actually increase focus and determination leading to better gaming results.
quite possible his mom has no idea wtf shes talking about.
How does the boy's autism relate to the actions taken by Microsoft? The boy's autism also shouldn't have an influence on Microsoft's decision as to whether or not they will reverse their actions. Why is this even an article?
Because they felt like putting it up. No one is forcing you to read it!
That's like calling a boy who was born mentally retarded a cheater because he defeated a chess master in chess, in which he fairly defeated him (maybe with lots of extra time).
Is there a possibility he cheated? Maybe. Personally, I think the kid has just got very good at playing games. Especially if thats all he does. But MS is hellbent on branding him a cheater. Bad publicity for them, I guess.
Title should read "Xbox Live Says Boy Cheated; Coincidentally Boy is Autistic"
I would hazard a guess that his scores tripped some sort of bot filter. Mastering a game in 3-4 days could easily lead to suspect scores in games. Then again...it's a console, who cares
he could have been hacked. My little brother had his XBox Live account hacked and his gamer score jumped up to like 80,000 from 16,000 overnight. he received the same treatment this kid did. Microsoft labeled him a cheater and reset his score to zero. And when we call to complain we get no where. they simply would not buged on it. I have been hacked on XBox Live before as well had 5000 microsoft points disapear overnight with a lot of DLC downloads for games I did not even own. Microsoft basically told me tough break and said they could do nothing about it. but back to what happened to my little brother we had to basically start him a new XBox Live account so he could start from scratch again and re-earn the lost achievements. Microsoft really needs to work on their security issues becase I believe this kid must have been hacked too.
Microsoft probably doesn't act without any justification. If this child is a cheater then this is the consequence. If not then the cheater label may be damaging.
"Achievements" however should be irrelevant. Sure it'd be a downer if all my "trophies" were to go missing but they along with the gamerscore are only numbers. It has no impact on gameplay whatsoever. If they are important factors in your quality of life and fufillment then there is a unhealthy problem that needs to be addressed.
If Microsquishy is unable (OR unwilling) to provide definitive evidence of cheating (not explainable by unusually skilled play), they should be required to restore all achievements, issue a public apology, and otherwise make amends. If they can prove cheating, however, further public humiliation should include Mom for not having a clue what her son was doing.
Why do you ask me Kevin? I don't know the kid! Autism or not, Microsoft (and other companies for that matter) shouldbring proofs to their accusations before labeling someone as a cheater. Several years ago, I got kicked out of Utopia because I supposedly cheated. I tried to get explanations, without results of course. I was really mad so I just quit the game. It's been like 10 years, and I still wake up screaming and sweating at night. Well, no. But still, it sucks when you're wrongfully accused without proof and you can't even prove your innocence.
Only the boy really knows if he cheated or not. I think Microsoft should be careful with labeling people though. If they label him as a cheater they should have concrete proof of his actions.
I
At first glance from media spin, this sounds like Microsoft has really done someone wrong, but honestly, how is this newsworthy? Gamerscore doesn't mean anything, in fact, this is giving the kid the opportunity to go through his old games and get all the achievements again. Microsoft has given him replayability!
Now, I didn't see anything about this in the article, but if they banned his Xbox Live Gold account, that could be a problem.
he had modified achievements http://twitter.com/Stepto/status/30451173655838720
There has been updates to this story on other sites I read. He HAS in fact been proven to have cheated to obtain some acheivements. Microsoft HAS provided his mother with proof of his actions and they stand by their ruling. I get he is Autistic and many of you want to sympathize with the kid, but he did cheat so why is it OK to cheat just because you are Autistic? How is it low of Microsoft to put him in the same plane as anyone else caught cheating? Microsoft is holding him to the same level of equality as anyone else on their service. I see no wrong here other than that perpetrated by the cheating offender.
Provide a link
Wow, That's just as bad as Microsoft banning someone for Gay in there legitimate name.
Imagine that, he really did cheat, and his mother tried to take advantage of the fact that he is autistic to get her and his faces in the news, this is just as bad as the Balloon Boy incident. I say Microsoft should sue his mother for slander or ban him from XBOX Live for life so he will actually have to interact with people.
The kid was cheating... They've already had a field day with this on other sites.
Citation Not Neeeded
insane. everyone at microsoft who chose to handle this issue this way after being made aware of it should be fired. i expect things like this from the gov't, not the private sector. in fact, she should get a lawyer and sue. it is incredibly difficult to raise an autistic child, i'd love to see her burn them down.
The reactions here are incredible. First off who cares if he is autistic. Not to be heartless but that doesn't matter one bit here,if he is high functioning autistic then he is almost normal in almost every way except for interpersonal interactions. If he is low autistic then likely he wouldn't be playing with a game. THe fact that autistic is used to bring about sympathy is a red herring.
The thing about their cheat detections is that it is blind. Doesn't care if you are a nun or autistic. It has a simple task and that is to determine if you have cheated. There are ways to determine very easily and with out question if you have earned an achievement or not. Likely this kid did a save hack and added achievements that he in no possible way could have achieved with the amount of time played allowed. Beyond that MS Xbox Live doesn't owe anybody crap except to assure that everybody has a good experience free from cheaters. Simply don't cheat and don't cry about it.