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UPDATE: Microsoft Labels Autistic Boy A Cheater On Xbox Live
UPDATE: The mother of the 11-year-old autistic boy who previously insisted her child did not cheat to get achievements has now admitted she was aware of foul play.
Mother Jennifer Zdenek knew that her child, Julius Jackson, gave his Xbox Live Gamertag information to a fellow player in another city, who then used forbidden methods to unlock Halo 3 Recon armor. The mother has now confessed to Q13 Fox News after receiving the following email from head of Xbox Live enforcement, Stephen Toulouse.
"The account Zombie Kill67 transferred from the Xbox it is normally seen on, to an Xbox in another city. The account earned several achievements for Halo 3 that can only be done online and in succession. It was clear they were unlocked out of order and offline. Earning successive online achievements out of order and offline is an impossible feat, not due to skill, but due to the technology of the system. It can only be done by modifying the account and faking the achievements."
Zdenek admits she knew her son gave his XBL info to another gamer, but doesn't think the child is to blame. "I did warn him about this but seeing it wasn't a bank password or anything big, it's just a game we didn't worry about it too much and the boy just offered to give him Recon Armor, which he did," she said. Her battle with Microsoft is over, and she's settling for a free month of XBL and fresh Gamertag.
Watch the video below to see how her perception of Xbox Live went from being her son's "only friend" while she had a news channel's attention, to "just a game" when the truth surfaced.
[via Escapist]
ORIGINAL STORY: There's a bit of a she-said, they-said situation going on near Seattle, with the mom of an 11-year-old boy saying Microsoft reset his gamerscore unfairly and the company saying it was done because he was cheating. Regardless of the truth, the boy has been branded a cheater on Xbox Live and has to earn whatever achievements he had before all over again.
Jennifer Zdenek told Q13 FOX News that her son Julius Jackson went online recently only to discover that his gamerscore had been reset and his account branded as belonging to a cheater. She contacted the company, only to be told that the boy was cheating – which he denies – and that the reset could not be reversed. That's when she took her story to the media.
Zdenek says her son is autistic and that playing games on Xbox Live is his only social outlet. Because of this, she says, he's been devastated by what's happened.
Thanks for the tip, Jeff.
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