410°

PS3 Hacker Who Needed Legal Funds Gets Over $28,000 in Donations

A while ago, PS3 hacker Alexander Egorenkov asked his readers for donations to cover his court costs (he’s getting sued by Sony for working on getting Linux back to the system) and he consequently received $14,000 in just two days. Now, the hacker has received a truly incredible sum of money to continue his fight.

Shazz4770d ago

theres a lot of stupid people out there it seems , sorry but donating to a hacker /thief/pirate/cheapskate is madness imo . you feel like you have cash to throw away then why dont you donate to a friggin GOOD cause like a cancer charity .

Echo3074770d ago

Or to the Red Cross, or any other organization that is helping Japan right now.

MAJ0R4770d ago

maybe this guy can go on a cruise instead of just going to South America

AntoineDcoolette4770d ago

*walks into article expecting to see a zillion people complaining about how someone else chose to use their money*

*walks out unsurprised*

MintBerryCrunch4770d ago

that is still not a lot of money...if he even wants to employ a half decent attorney willing to take on Sony, he will burn through that money in less than a week just in court fees, attorney fees etc

MaxXAttaxX4770d ago

People are free to comment and give their opinion on the stupid ways some people waste their money.
It's on topic, after all.

MmaFan-Qc4770d ago

all that money donated to a douchebag instead of peoples who REALLY need it.

good job morons!

i just hope the douches will be humiliated in courts and see the morons who gave them money bitchin about how "crooked" the judges ares and how "unfair" life is..."whaaaaaa whaaaaaaaaa, why cant i leagally steal IP and legally fraud a corporation?"

AntoineDcoolette4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

I never once said no one had the right to say what they were saying. I'm just disheartened they wish to dictate others' finances and monetary decisions. If I tithe five dollars to my local church or go out to eat is someone going to call me an idiot and say I should have donated that money towards the Japanese relief effort instead?

jadenkorri4770d ago

@ AntoineDcoolette

I hope noone would ever call someone an idiot for donating to their local church or to Red Cross or to whom ever it is that's doing a good cause. However donating to a hacker who don't want to lose money in a court case cause he wants to hack the ps3 to pirate games and steal is idiotic. You might as well go find a rapist or a murderer and give him money to help defend himself.

AntoineDcoolette4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

I wouldn't compare someone who wants to modify a piece of equipment (s)he purchased to a person who took the life of or caused physical and or emotional harm to another. I'll openly admit I used homebrew on my PSP for things such as internet radio but I still purchased the games I played on it.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4770d ago
Blad3star4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

Donating to Japan would be a better choice.

I have an uncle that is doing some humanitarian work in Japan and the situation is much worst than what we see on TV.

Edit: Disagree all you want but Japan really needs our support.

nix4770d ago

"I was one of those persons that used Linux on my PS3 and would welcome it back with open arms."

that's why u got diagrees. nice editing.

Blad3star4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

@ Nix what are you talking about? Take your Sony vs MS goggles off for one minute and you will see that those people in Japan really need help.

I really hope that you find some kind of compassion in your heart.

@Hellrazir - I am voluntary member of the Red Cross here in the Cayman Islands and we have taken the unusual step of opening an appeal for the Japanese relief effort despite not having received a direct request from the Japanese branch of the charity. The response from our small island has been tremendous. I do not know where you are from but I advise you to do some research on you community and see what you can give to make it a better place. Something as simple as picking up trash or helping in your local soup kitchen makes a big difference in the world.

helrazor3434770d ago

Well good for your uncle, but are you doing anything for Japan? I agree they really do need help too, and those donations would better serve in aiding Japan, but what can you do (referring to the frivolous waste of money on these hackers "cause", lol)?

Quartx4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

Blade you did a stealth edit. >_>

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4770d ago
pixelsword4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

I stabded 20 jillion goat poopz and I needz 100,000 dollars or they will jal me for doing something I agreed not to do when I accepted their terms so thanks for bailing me out of the trouble I caused for myself by breeching teh contract.

ilikecookies4770d ago

You only agree to the contract when you make an online account. TANKZ FOR BEING TEH F@1LZ

pixelsword4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

"A while ago, PS3 hacker Alexander Egorenkov asked his readers for donations to cover his court costs (he’s getting sued by Sony for working on getting Linux back to the system)..."

Even if he didn't make an online account, if he was working on someone's PS3 (which he wasn't) they would have an agreement and he would be an accomplice.

He can't work on getting it back on the system if he never had it removed from his PS3 himself.

He himself said he was reverse-engineering it which is against the ToS of the hardware, not the PSN.

Tanks for being teh logick.

Eamon4770d ago

I donated money to various charities. I've also volunteered on tubes and trains with charity buckets asking for people to donate change.

So that means I can donate money to this hacker's legal fund, right?

Exactly. That excuse is rubbish. Just because you don't think it's noble, it doesn't mean others don't.

Takoulya4770d ago

What you do with your money is your choice, but hackers running rampant on the video gaming community affects everyone.

Eamon4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

Firstly, people keep repeating this phrase of "Hackers effect everyone." There are many reasons why this is nonsense.

Firstly, each hacker or developer works on their own project. If someone made a cheat program then only that single person is responsible for making it. Not the entire hacking scene.

There are many differing opinions among hackers and developers out there. Some think piracy is wrong while others do not.
A message to you guys; Reading N4G articles is hardly what you call informed. Go and speak to them on IRC channels or forums. Go check out their websites.

As for piracy. The theory that piracy stops game developers making games is very weak as every console still has tons of games released on them. The real threat to the developers is used games as there is significant number of purchases in that market. That is why EA and Ubisoft have tried to implement different ways to prevent people from purchasing used games.

The guy is a single person who is up against an international mega rich corporation. If you believe in fair courts then technically he should have the as much legal funding as Sony does.

Sarevok4770d ago

Well, someone sure is pro hacker lol...

Eamon4770d ago

Technically, I'm not pro-hacker. I'm just annoyed at the amount of mindless hate I see for these individuals and the mindless love for corporations.

I haven't donated a single penny to geohot or this guy but that doesn't mean I think what they are doing is wrong.

gamingdroid4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

... and I bet you that the vast majority of pirates aren't hackers! Just like the vast majority of internet users are music/movie pirates!

I think we should shut down the internet, because it enables piracy on the scale never seen before. However, I'm sure all you lying son of a b's here think otherwise?

Also every gamer is a violent individual and games should be banned. Period!

Fact is, when the tables are turned people tend to change their tune pretty quick!!!

I think I just about insulted the entire community on n4g.com. That's ok, I only say what I see. Don't like it, that is your issue!

DeadIIIRed4770d ago

@Eamon kind of agree, but really only the hackers that release sensitive info to the public get ostracized on here. Hackers don't typically stay silent or keep their findings to themselves. Also I'm not buying the whole corporations are evil thing. They're pigs and may have evil people working in them, but they still deliver the products and services you and I use everyday. Good or bad, it's just the way the world is and will be tomorrow.

Eamon4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

They're not evil in the general definition. But they can be immoral. Well, a lot of the business world is immoral. What matters to Sony is their market. They need a stable cycle of consumers who buy the console and carry on to buy the software. A cycle where nobody deviates and does anything they do not approve off such as developing a custom firmware or developing homebrew. All so they can maximise their profits.

Profit maximisation is the issue here.

They aren't bribing judges or have some sort of influence (or at least I hope so) but they are doing their best to enforce laws that do no benefit the consumer. They only aim to benefit themselves. Why? To simply make more money.

This is why it's important that these hackers getting sued get the sufficient legal funding. Because consumer rights are much more important than profit maximisation.

Takoulya4770d ago

That consumer's rights thing is absolute BS. As many people have stated before, if Geohot or all of these hackers had kept their works to their selves, it wouldn't affect anyone at all. But when they release information and Custom Firmware for everyone, a long battle ensues against hacking causing delayed updates that actually enhance your gaming experience. Also, I know the industry is still going strong after piracy, but that doesn't make it right. If everyone started pirating, it's not like it would still have a small impact. Please stop throwing the consumer's rights thing around like a little child saying "It's a free country, I can do what I want!"

Mahr4770d ago

"As many people have stated before, if Geohot or all of these hackers had kept their works to their selves, it wouldn't affect anyone at all."

And instead, when freed from the mighty chains of oppression, geohot and company chose to share their newfound liberty with their fellow man. Because that's what heroes do.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 4770d ago
AhnnQuirajj4770d ago

...Because hackers and cheapskates are the same thing.

ian724770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

I agree. There are better things to donate money to than these people.
I just can't see why anyone would give money to this kind of cause. Some people are really stupid, its like they have money to throw away.

Theonik4770d ago

To some people donating to a cause which they believe directly affects them, aka, donating against a corporation which they believe is infringing their consumer rights seems like a more relatable cause than helping strangers in some remote country. Not saying their viewpoint is correct in it's entirety but i think the overall logic is right even though they may be slightly naive.

tdogchristy904770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

I agree.

Everytime I hear the term hacker, thief, pot smoker, wiki leaks guy, or any other person using the term donations I find it an oxymoron. The term donation is ment for the red cross, salvation army, ect. Not these "illegals".

Eamon, how do you figure? To give money to someone who is doing something illegal is not a donation in my opinion.

Eamon4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

You, my good Sir, have rightly earned the award of Most Ignorant Retard of March 2011.

tdogchristy90, how do YOU figure? He hasn't been proven that he did something illegal. Same as the wikileaks guy.
That's why you've earned your award.

Kishin4770d ago

pls do me a favour and go fuck yourself Shazz, noob.

Scary694770d ago

What is funny about these morons who donated to this douche bag is that rumor has it he did not use it for legal fees but for a nice vacation spree. Heh

Blacksand14770d ago

People are stupid. U can say you need money to help beat Sony in court and people send it that will be a good scam if someone use it.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 4770d ago
Kamikaze1354770d ago

Maybe I should change careers and live off of donations, lol.

pixelsword4770d ago

The term you are looking for is "politician".

HolyOrangeCows4770d ago

I bow to the master of awesome comments.

"that might cover his lawyers lunch"
"Poor starving lawyer"
-
Like I said....awesome.

Octo14770d ago

Its fine and all but that $28,000 will be gone in no time.

Lou-Cipher4770d ago

That's one hell of a South American vaction right there ;)

DanSolo4770d ago

Don't be silly.... this one is off to Hawaii! ;)

dktxx24770d ago

Hell, he can just do both. What's the hurry?

Xfanboy4770d ago (Edited 4770d ago )

Wow!!! Thoughs ps3 owners are really supportive!! Great job!!

Im sure he took atleast $900 a built a high end pc for battlefield 3!

Show all comments (100)
280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies13d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken13d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga13d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken13d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6413d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long13d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197212d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic12d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 12d ago
DivineHand12513d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91313d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer13d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit13d ago (Edited 13d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91312d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit12d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 12d ago
Christopher13d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6912d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit12d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal13d ago (Edited 13d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher13d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken13d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197212d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic12d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2313d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218313d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder13d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts13d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

Show all comments (43)
80°

Sony May Soon Let You Decide How Much NPCs Talk In Games

Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.

blackblades19d ago

Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.

just_looken19d ago

Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.

blackblades19d ago

I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.

just_looken19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...

monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...

Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...

Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...

Oh all the above last 12 months

I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.

Kaii19d ago

Will we get dialogue options that won't spoil puzzles in a matter of seconds? :p

280°

Judge rules in PlayStation's favour in $500m patent infringement lawsuit

Genuine Enabling Technology was seeking damages, claiming the tech allowing PlayStation consoles and controllers to communicate infringes its rights.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
S2Killinit20d ago

Big victory for Sony. And a long time coming.

DarXyde20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Crazy to think the savings from this lawsuit allows them to develop one AAA game.

Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.

20d ago
Profchaos20d ago

Sounds like patent trolling they tried the same thing against Nintendo with the same pattern.

Motion and control input traversing over higher and lower frequencies seperate from each other allowing the controller to do both

Pyrofire9520d ago

Patents suck. Most of them are complete garbage.

Knightofelemia20d ago

So to recoup the money Genuine is going to take on Nintendo or Microsoft next. I hate patent lawyers they are some of the worst bottom feeders out there.

Show all comments (13)