[Update] Target Ships User’s Xbox One Early, Microsoft Bans The Console

Late yesterday Twitter user @Moonlightswami reported that he had received his Xbox One pre-order early due to a “screw up” with Target’s shipping service. Sadly, his enthusiasm for the next-gen system came to an abrupt end a few hours later when Microsoft banned the console.

Prior to the brick that Microsoft threw at his new system, @Moonlightswami was able to preform the required day one update, take a peek at the Xbox One Marketplace, and play a few games. The early next-gen party was going strong, until Microsoft issued a ban on his console and had his Youtube unboxing video taken down over a copyright claim.

Well here is the notice I see when I try to connect to the internet http://t.co/CXZKW1w2ze

— #1 Source 4 XBOX ONE (@Moonlightswami) November 9, 2013

The potential good news for @Moonlightswami is that Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb discovered the long series of tweets this morning and has reached out to see if he can get the issue “sorted out.”

As is often the case with any Microsoft PR misstep, the offer to correct the problem came several hours after Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida became aware of the ordeal and Tweeted that any PlayStation 4 shipped out before its release date would not be banned.

Looking beyond Microsoft’s despicable actions, @Moonlightswami was able to provide several bits of new information about the Xbox One before the console was banned. According to a series of tweets, the Xbox One took 17 seconds to boot up to the dashboard, and required a 500 MB patch as part of the initial setup. The good news here is that he was able to start playing games and let the update finish in the background “around [the] 50%” mark.

@Moonlightswami was also able to capture several alleged screenshots from the Xbox One Marketplace revealing file sizes for several titles. The sizes for the next-gen games ranged from 13GB for LocoCycle, up to a whooping 43GB for NBA2K14.

We will keep an eye on the situation with @Moonlightswami’s early Xbox One, and update this post with any new information that we receive.

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[Update 1] Microsoft’s Larry Hryb has issued the following statement on early shipments of Xbox One consoles on the Major Nelson blog:

“Due to a retail partner’s system issue, a very small number of Xbox One consoles were shipped to consumers before the 11/22 street date. We’re pleased to see the initial response to Xbox One has been so positive, but given we are still putting the finishing touches on our games, UI and online services, as well as confidential partner and media agreements, these consoles units will be restricted from connecting to Xbox Live until closer to our launch date.”

“We love that @Moaonlightswami is excited about Xbox One and we can’t wait for him to enjoy it closer to launch.”

[Update 2] According to Kotaku, Microsoft has changed the ban on @Moaonlightswami’s (André Weingarten) Xbox One, and it is no longer permanent. However, the console will remain disabled (offline only mode) until the system officially launches.

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