Microsoft told IGN this week that it has banned a number of modded Xbox 360 consoles from the Xbox Live service.

Microsoft’s spokesperson also provided a reminder to Xbox Live users thinking of modding their own consoles:

All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE.

Although Microsoft has been especially active in banning consoles in the past week, the company also points out that its policy is ongoing, and Xbox 360 consoles found to be modded or playing pirated games may be banned at any time.

It’s 2009, and with the normal 5-year cycle of video game consoles, we should be getting hints about the Xbox 720, the PlayStation 4 and, well, whatever Nintendo’s going to do next.  But we’re not, which begins to confirm what analysts have suspected about this generation: the life span of game consoles is on the rise.

In an interview with G4TV, Microsoft’s Aaron Greeberg indicated that he expects the Xbox 360 to stick around for quite some time.

I think we absolutely have a very long life ahead of us. I think what we’re seeing this generation is that we have a console that is no longer limited by hardware. … We see a very, very long future ahead of us as we think about the platform and we’re not even thinking about the next generation at this point.

Greenberg indicates that the power of connectivity through its Xbox Live system is partially responsible for the lifespan of the Xbox 360.

I think that what we did with the New Xbox Experience, and many people said that it was essentially like launching a new console and we did that through the power of software.

Sony had made similar remarks about its PlayStation 3, but theirs seemed, in part, a defense of the console’s slow adoption compared to its competition.  Apparently the company didn’t expect its leading-edge console to really catch on until 2009-2010 anyways.

Microsoft has promised that it’s “just getting started” with the New Xbox Experience, and that more updates and goodies are on the way for the Xbox 360.

After the success of its lowered price, Microsoft saw its highest month of the year in September, selling 347,200 in the U.S.  The console is also making grounds in Japan and increasing quickly worldwide.

Aaron Greenberg, product manager at Microsoft, tells Kotaku, “we feel confident that we’ll outsell the PS3 this holiday season in North America and in Europe. We’ll do it on a global scale.”

The Xbox 360 is now the cheapest console on the market.  Microsoft also points out that its console sees a higher number of games sold per console than the others.

According to Greenberg, the company is also taking measures to ensure the stability of the Xbox Live service, which suffered downtime last holiday season after an “unexpected” surge of new users joined.

Microsoft has gone on record denying rumors this week that a Blu-ray player is in the works for the Xbox 360.

Microsoft says that it doesn’t need.  As told to Edge Online, “games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available.”

This may seem odd when Microsoft is also gearing up to release the new Xbox Live Experience in November, which will add all sorts of new features to the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live service beyond the scope of games.

During his keynote speech at the Tokyo Game Show, Xbox Live boss John Schappert announced that the company’s planned Xbox Live Experience update will go live on November 19.

The new Live Experience system will offer a change to the Xbox 360’s interface, as well as new customizable avatars similar to the Mii characters on the Nintendo Wii.

The Xbox Live Experience will also introduce a new party system, where Xbox Live Gold members can join together to more easily communicate online, as well as join games and stream Netflix movies.

Microsoft has previously stated that some of the design and interface changes will be optional.

Schappert said in his speech that Xbox Live now has 14 million members.

The new Blu-ray player will likely be similar to the obsolete Xbox 360 HD-DVD player.

According to a report by Xbit Labs, Microsoft will be releasing an external Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360 console.

The report claims that Microsoft will sell the device within the $100-150 U.S. range in order to compete with the Sony PlayStation 3, which has a built-in Blu-ray player.

Rumours of a Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360 have been around ever since the demise of the Microsft-backed HD-DVD format, and the consequent Blu-ray victory in the format wars.  The Blu-ray device would replace the external HD-DVD player that Microsoft pulled in February 2008.

[UPDATE: Microsoft has since denied this claim.]

Sony released an update to the PlayStation 3 firmware today.  The PS3 has been upgraded to version 2.40, and a number of updates come with it.

Most notably among them is the addition of Trophies, a new system that basically imitates the Xbox 360’s Achievement system.  Players can earn permanent awards for completing in-game challenges that are linked to their profiles.

A handful of publishers have stepped up to confirm that they’ll be incorporating trophies into their games.  Burnout Paradise and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune will both get trophies added to them in future updates.

The Xbox 360 achievement and gamerscore system has proven a great success for Microsoft.  Some players have gone to great lengths to improve their Xbox gamertag’s status, even playing games they wouldn’t have otherwise played.  King Kong is a classic example of this — the game received low reviews but has been played by an unusually high number of gamers because of the ease of earning achievements.  [See more ways to earn easy achievements and gamerscore.]

Although not all PS3 games will support Trophies, at least at first, this is the next step in the PS3’s gradual attempt to match the Xbox 360’s success in its online network.

Microsoft has announced that it will give away Undertow for free to Xbox Live gamers who download the game between Wednesday, January 23, 2008 and Sunday, January 27, 2008. The game will be available to all Xbox Live gamers, including both the paid Gold and unpaid Silver subscribers.

Undertow is a 3D underwater shooter game available on the Xbox Live Arcade. The game carries 3D graphics beyond that of most of the arcade titles available on Live, which consists of casual games available in the $10-15 price range.

The free game offering is officially a thank you to Xbox Live’s subscribers, but the game was originally promised as compensation for network troubles experienced by the Xbox Live service during the 2007 holiday season. Despite the offering, a small group of gamers has sued Microsoft for $5 million U.S. Because of this litigation, Microsoft has announced that it is unable to comment further on the downtime issue, or on the status of the Xbox Live network.