Geohot releases First Signed Homebrew on FW 3.55

first piece of homebrew you can run
put in service mode, put on usb stick, boot

It basically is a SELF that shows a “Hello World” and serves as a proof of concept on signing of PS3 FW 3.55!

[deadreckoning666]

Cool

@below- Don't you think your overreacting a bit? When a big piece of news comes to N4G, about 20-30 different news articles about the SAME topic are submitted on N4G within a 24 hour period. The day after the VGAs, there was an Uncharted 3 overload on N4G. I didn't see many people complaining then...why the complaints now?

[thebudgetgamer]

maybe because that news wasn't about theft and hurting the industry. while i love the other aspects of hacking it all leads to theft. i think this guy has the most punchable face i have seen in a long time.

[MintBerryCrunch]

idk about you guys, but if Sony went and embraced these guys it would show that they are willing to work with those who condone piracy and are only looking to push the limits of what the PS3 can do...on top of that, they can help and make the system more secure along with doing the same for the next gen of systems that will come out...hacking is one thing, but the guys who found this exploit also work on system security

i dont understand why this is such a taboo subject....its like when people villianize the hell out of marijuana calling it an evil/addicitive drug....homebrew should be embraced....and with the help of Sony they can get around some of the publishing rights that they might deal with by bringing classic games to the ps3

[nycredude]

Dude easy for you to say. You aren't the one who is spending millions upon million of dollars to provide a services and awesome games only to get it hacked and stolen by scums who can't make their own machine but get their kicks of taking apart and stealing others inventions. It's theft period.

BTW wtf cares about homebrew seriously. What can they possibly bring to the table that a PC, 360, Wii, Psp or a combination of them already has?

It's not like you will see anything of serious quality like some of the games available or even on PSN.

[ThanatosDMC]

Well, if you like the idea so much. Could you give me your bank account, pin, and social security?

[MintBerryCrunch]

from an Arstechnica interview

"A lot of interesting data came out of Ars Technica's interview with Matt Lee, a Microsoft software developer in the Xbox division. The nice thing about Matt Lee was that when the interview was over, he answered some questions in the discussion. A lot of it was clarifying points he made in the main article, but then he shared this story with us.

...allow me to share a related story. A little over a year ago, one of the people in my group modded an Xbox, installed Avalaunch, and put all sorts of Xbox mod scene apps on the box, like XBMC, RSS readers, etc, along with some "backup" games. He brought this box along to a meeting with Bill Gates. Bill saw a demo of this, was quite impressed, and asked something along the lines of "How can we engage this community?" - instead of saying something like "How can we squash this?" It's long been on the back of everyone's minds in the Xbox group - how can we get students and hobbyists involved without disrupting the console business model? The good news is that it's still on the radar, we'll see what happens in the future.

This was the response to a question about simpler development tools for the 360 being released, and it's an interesting picture. If you've ever seen a modded XBox, you know that the feature-set and usability is better in many ways than even then newest version of LIVE for the 360. It's easier to share files, use the system as a media box, and of course backup games. While mods have a bad reputation, the vast majority of people I know with modded Xbox's use them as a cheap and powerful HTPC—not as a way to pirate games. It's revealing that Bill Gates was interested in what the modders were doing to improve the system, and hopefully this points to a more open dialogue between the end users, modders, and the software developers working with the consoles."

If Bill Gates can be intrigued by modding a console, then why can't Sony have the same view....why the hell is everyone being so damn close minded....here you all talk about piracy yet on N4G people also go after companies when they install draconian DRM within their games to combat it

and i understand that it would take time to accept something like this from a company like Sony and/or Microsoft...but at least being open minded and giving it at least a look at what it does and how it could bring some benefit would be a step in the right direction, instead of Sony clamping down and introducing firmware that could close the system off even more....remember that this probably would have never happened if OtherOS wasn't removed.....since these hackers turned their attention to GameOS after the removal

double standards

[Bloodraid]

I'm sorry; but everyone who seems to be getting their panties up in a bunch about this is an idiot.

They're simply allowing for custom software to be run on the system, the goal is not to allow piracy. That's simply a side effect.

By the logic you lot are using, we should ban automobiles because there's a possibility that someone will die. We should also ban medicine because there's a possibility someone will overdose.

We own the hardware. We have the right to do with it what we wish. Seriously; how would you feel if you could only run Microsoft-certified applications on your PC?

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@MintBerryCrunch

You talk like if Sony was blind to mod, homebrew or hacker community before. There were once a time when PS3 was capable of running Other OSes than just XMB. Any PPC based OS could run, some were even optimized like Yellow Dog Linux.

In this days, anyone with the will to do so could develop it's own code and run it on PS3 hardware under a third party PPC OS. People could had been openly developing for PS3 since it's release, they could have been doing new games, media players, apps, features... They could even develop their own OS with it's own FWs to run all this.

But instead of jumping on this chance, the so called homebrew scene was abscent. They never showed interest in do anything beyond complaim they weren't able to emulate (pirated) Windows games in a PPC with such power and memory restrictions. Instead of support Sony's decision to make homebrew a legal option and use the freedom, maybe even someday get Sony to friendly get rid of restrictions, they choosed to spend their time stealing code from Sony and doing the only thing they weren't supposed to do: tinkering with the main OS' Firmware and try to run pirated games... When Sony took away the Other OS feature than they cried over it, after 3 year ignoring the damn thing.

Just like Bill Gates wanted it's product to appeal to this modders, Sony was doing the same and actually taking a bigger risk with Other OS, as it's a way to run unsigned code directly on PS3 hardware, while Microsoft only developed the idea up to XNA, which is completelly separated from Xbox 360. But just like Sony were more open, they will now get their system more and more close as hackers keep pushing it.

And, quite frankly, I don't care if Sony's tookin away openess, I'm a console gamer, I'm used to closed systems, I just want to play games... If anything, getting to laugh at pirates crying over mean Sony taking away their precious exploit is a fun bonus.

This people are no Robin Hood. They aren't fighting against some opressive industry were only some few favored that can buy a development SKU get the fun. They are just common thieves who want to play for free.

[MintBerryCrunch]

i agree with you bishop br....i actually didnt know the magnitude of the situation...i felt as tho it was similar to the situation i presented...i know that there are people who will use this just for homebrew and modding, but a lot more will probably use it for piracy since its so easy to do....i went into a programming forum to get more info and people are saying that this is a SERIOUS BLOW to Sony...the master key is compromised...the only console it has happened to

"You still don't fully understand what this means. The master key, the one used to sign ALL PS3 software to verify to the console that it's genuine, the key that is hardcoded (as in etched, unchangeable) into the master processor itself has been COMPROMISED, leaked, released in the wild. This means you can code anything you like and use the key to sign it and the console will accept it as if it came from God (Sony) himself. There's no way to patch that hole, because technically it's not hacking, it's using Sony's own master key to sign your code, making it indistinguishable from the original. There's is literally no way they can fix this."

"Since you have complete control over the console you could just make those games not show up in any statistic that Sony collects. You now have the exact same power as Sony, and whatever measure they try to implement you can very easily circumvent. Even worse, you could mod legit games to give yourself things like immortality, wallhacks & other unfair advantages in multiplayer games, so Sony will have an uphill battle with cheaters from now on, which diminishes player & publishers trust in the PSN network immensely. If you ever played a game of Counter Strike with a cheater you know how incredibly annoying this can get, it completely destroys the fun for everyone involved (except the cheater). It's horrible news for PS3 multiplayer fans, and even worse for Sony."

that showed me that Sony has a large uphill battle to deal with...and there is no way to change the key without alienating 40+ million customers and locking them out of all released games on the system

i take back my statement....SHIT JUST GOT REAL.....for Sony

[Dee_91]

what does it do

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Not only people can mod games but they can also desguise harmful code as games, so they can steal data or spread virus and what not (although probably only those who went after pirated stuff will fall for this, serves then right).

That's what this hackers do, ruin it for everyone else. Maybe now people stop thinking that just because they buy a mchine they are entitled to do any shit they want with it.

[chainer3000]

@ MintBerryCrunch

Is your first post a suggestion that they "hire" Geohot? Even if they see him as a valuable dev and skilled hacker who can improve their security, why would they employ a person who is well-known for leaking industry information. They would likely conclude (for good reason) that any information he got his hands on would be on the net within hours... that alone is enough to block employment.

[RedDragan]

Its interesting, but still not productive for the masses which is a good thing. You still need to do alot of preliminary work to be able to get to system mode and use the USB.

So the extent to which this form of hack is used will be very small indeed.

[anh_duong]

need to embrace homebrew.. unfortunate side effects is piracy but if piracy is limited to offline consoles then homebrew could be the best thing that can happen to the ps3.. the ps3 community will live beyond the time sony stops manufacturing the ps3 if ps3 has a big homebrew community..

homebrew gave birth to the apple app store..

imagine what it can do to the ps3 - with all it's power..

the ps3 will go down in history as one of the greatest one stop shop mediacenter ever made..

[JD_Shadow]

The main problem that will put things to MBC's POV is that Sony has been trying to kill the homebrew scene on their systems for a while now. This started with the PSP, where it was used to run game emulators that could do NES and SNES games (like, play Super Mario on your PSP). Sony seems to not like the scene, and they have been doing things to close it off for a while while giving new features to make the new FW's attractive to the unsuspecting people that like the homebrew games.

Thing is, whenever we talk about this whole concept of the hack, people immediately go into "kill pirates, get them Sony" and never think about anything else, acting like complete fanboys without seeing how this could be good for Sony (and I don't mean fanboys as an insult per se, since I think it's okay to be one as long as you don't blind yourself). Yes, piracy will be an issue, as it has been to just about every single console and PC machine that has ever been made. Yet, MBC is correct in that we bitch about piracy, but then we bitch when the DRM to combat what we bitch about comes in. Well then, what is it? You want to give companies blank checks to screw ALL of us over because you want to screw pirates over, or do you want the flood gates completely open? You can't pick both sides, and you're not leaving any middle ground to negotiate on.

Think about the GOOD that could come of this: a more open source community to the PS3, the ability to play imported games without the necessity to mod your console in any way, mod your game in the same way that Valve allows you to mod a game like Left 4 Dead (and let's not forget Portal 2 is looming).

And let's not even start on how many ways the piracy laws can be interpreted (which, in the US, the laws have been very strict in such a way that it clearly gives people like the RIAA and MPAA an unfair advantage over ANYTHING;just look at how hard it is to license a song to use with ANYTHING...it's harder to do that than it is to tell people to stop taking my bubbles for every little thing I say).

[frostypants]

"They're simply allowing for custom software to be run on the system, the goal is not to allow piracy. That's simply a side effect."

Uh huh. And I have some oceanfront property in Montana I'd like to sell you.

They know EXACTLY what they're doing, and the biggest effect WILL be piracy. C'mon, man.

[jmare]

@ Darkpower,

Are you fucking serious? Sony has been trying to kill "Homebrew" on PSP because of the rampant piracy that has destroyed game sales on the device. That's why there are 50 million PSPs in the wild and even big games sell horribly. This is why Sony doesn't want to allow any modification to their hardware, they've already had one platform ruined by hacking.

People bitch about piracy because it screws things up for everyone who doesn't pirate. Likewise, people complain about draconian DRM because they are being punished for someone else's crime. It's like you going to jail because someone you don't know stole someting. That is why people bitch about both.

And any good that comes from the homebrew scene is overwhelmed by piracy which makes it overall a bad proposition. Also, you can play imported games on your PS3 without modding already. The PS3 is region free, but that doesn't matter does it. What you don't seem to realize is that 1. Sony doesn't want just anything on their console, which is why there aren't sex games on consoles; and 2. There already is a platform for unlimited modding and homebrew which is called the PC.

Nobody paid any attention to homebrew on the PS3 when you could still use the OtherOS feature and actually create their own code that would work on the PS3. And maybe the argument that homebrew isn't just for piracy would have more weight if the first things shown weren't always ways to pirate games, or a hop, skip, and a jump towards piracy like the last hack with the usb dongle.

And the PS3 had mod support for Unreal Tournament and it wasn't really used at all.

While you can claim that this is good for the homebrew community, all this will really do is open up piracy on the PS3 unless Sony can kill this which looks unlikely. And if Sony can't stop this, don't be surprised if they drop the PS4 sooner than expected.

EDIT: So far this proof is only possible from a USB stick. If that's the only way things like this will work, then maybe Sony has a chance of killing this thing. Also, why is there no video showing this hack in action?

[Pyscho_Mantis]

i just went on a game of mw2 and there was a hacker who was unable to die had the no reload hack, and was able to shoot through all walls with his aimbot. When he got his ac130 it could shoot unlimited misiles. WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

[HappyGaming]

Geohot wrote:

"if you want your next console to be secure, get in touch with me. any of you 3."

Dear or dear...

[The Lazy One]

@"Are you fucking serious? Sony has been trying to kill "Homebrew" on PSP because of the rampant piracy that has destroyed game sales on the device. That's why there are 50 million PSPs in the wild and even big games sell horribly. This is why Sony doesn't want to allow any modification to their hardware, they've already had one platform ruined by hacking."

The PSP wasn't killed because of pirating and homebrew. Pirating and homebrew are the biggest reasons it's still selling. It would have been discontinued years ago without it because the DS is just so much better.

and good PSP games still sell better than a lot of games on any console.

[presto717]

Piracy sucks, but homebrew is not all evil. In my opinion, sony's official ps3 updates have been crap so far. Things I would like, and I have seen other ps3 owners ask for, such as pushing the home-button to instantly view a new trophy or message, or cross-game chat and voice messaging have all been ignored by Sony. Instead sony is giving us junk like facebook and some TV bla bla bla.... If some one came out with custom firmware with the features I want, I dont see what is wrong in getting it. I dont pirate games so I am stealing anything. Just tired of waiting on Sony to get sh*t done.

[jmare]

Did you ever stop to think that there's reason that those features aren't implemented yet, other than Sony not listening to its fans? The biggest hurdle is Live, if Sony isn't careful, Microsoft would be able to sue for patent infringement which is why features like game invites and custom soundtracks are handled by the individual developers versus a unified system which Microsoft has a patent on. Possibly if a custom firmware came out that had all the features that you want, Sony would still be liable for patent infringement.

[zag]

Sony own the factory that make the CELL so they can alter the chip if they want.

I see a new version coming out pretty soon one with no USB ports, no either net port but will have bluetooth and the WiFI and make all games download only or as with need for speed hot pursuit and GT5 make the games log all incoming game start ups online.

Don't have your new PS3 on the net no games will work for you.

So currently all the people who have been playing pirated GT5 etc games with a net connection will have been getting logged, it says that in the GT5 manual that these people don't have.

Sony can fix up the master code easy but the end result won't be nice for those with the old console.

the other problem is what will devs do currently? do you hold off on releasing games for the PS3 for the moment or forever?

Pirated games and home brew don't pay people's salary or companies bills sorry to say.

And Adults in the real world don't work for free, geohot doesn't understand that as he's only what 17 be a laugh when he gets told nar can't pay yer as all our stuff got flogged and sold for a fiver around the corner.

Sony and apple would be able to sue him for patent infringement even the failover people could be sued as well, it wouldn't be hard for these companies to find people.

Do PS3 custom firmware which break other companies patents will end up with these people in jail or paying millions or billions for dollars in royalties.

Just because you can hack something doesn't mean you can't be sued for it, The pirate bay thought the same thing for many a year till they got chopped down and it was helping people pirate stuff nothing to do with torrents and they don't understand that one bit, they screwed themselves over with their crap defence of showing how to make files to help people get the pirated stuff the dickheads.

Once they are in the real world expect to get chopped up and spat out.

I wouldn't be surprised Geohotz retirement was sony sending the lawyers around to have a little chat with him.

Just think these people will have pissed off a multi billion dollar company that is a content maker for the PS system, they'd have little question with losing a few million paying lawyers to screw these people over big time or have people go missing completely unknown why of course.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@Jmare

Ever heard of guilty by association?

edit:

Also patent infringement? Hasn't it been confirmed that Microsoft only has patents that are specific to live itself?

edit 2:

Zag, your idea is idiotic. Why would Sony alienate consumers like that? They're not idiots.

[The Lazy One]

@ZombieNinjaPanda:"Ever heard of guilty by association?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

@ Lazy One

Wikipedia or not, courts do not care whether you were directly or indirectly involved, or had any idea what you were doing. Either way you're screwed.

And now I don't even remember what it was I was responding to on his original post.

[jmare]

As I understand it, the patents Microsoft has are for an integrated service that provides certain features and functionality. Otherwise, why would Sony not implement the things that people have been asking for rather than leave it to the developers? Like you said, Sony isn't stupid. They know people want these things and it cannot be so hard to implement these things, even if they had to completely re-code PSN.

[The Lazy One]

@"Wikipedia or not, courts do not care whether you were directly or indirectly involved, or had any idea what you were doing. Either way you're screwed."

have you ever been in a court room? read a legal document? watched law and order even? They totally care whether you were directly or indirectly involved.

You may as well have said, "Wikipedia or not, courts don't care whether you are guilty or innocent. Either way you're screwed."

[wizzle52]

Unfortunately he is right,

while Blaze929 has stated that homebrew is separate to piracy, and creates wonderful things there will be those who always want to create certain homebrew for piracy. That is the sad truth

This news however, is not piracy. Its just showing how someone can run unsigned code on a non hacked console. Similar to how people use other programming languages to do the same thing on a pc.

[cozmo195]

actually it is signed code not un signed code

[wizzle52]

@Cozmo, My bad! It is now i forgot. But still, he created something that can run on the console and on the latest FW. Before only Sony could do that, apparantly it was a proof of concept to show it can be done. (signing homebrew)

@rjdofu
How am i denying it? Dont reply to my comment if its not me who's denying it. :/

[rjdofu]

Deny all you want, it will still lead to piracy. Opening a door for homebrew means opening a door for pirate. You guys don't pirate, eventually someone will. Since someone starts, the other will follow. That's is the sad truth.

[Blaze929]

"there will be those who always want to create certain homebrew for piracy. That is the sad truth "

no doubt, and that's unfortunate it. My only issue is with people who only see this as a means to 100% piracy only benefit. Like come on, this DOES enable OTHER things.

[Vherostar]

Ah but homebrew is just a cover up for piracy everybody knows it. Nobody really only runs homebrew on there console we all know this and to deny this fact is denying the truth.

[JD_Shadow]

"Ah but homebrew is just a cover up for piracy everybody knows it."

Wow...that was an ignorant statement if I ever saw one!

Care to explain HOW that's true when we have awesome indie games like Amnesia: The Dark Decent on Steam that could be a PS3 game as well because of this type of thing? Hell, the people behind Super Meat Boy won't even HAVE to worry about Sony "approving it" (as ignorant as I think Team Meat's decision about the PS3 is) because they would be able to have it run by themselves without Sony's approval.

Yet, it's all about piracy to you?

[zag]

Well running emulators is patent infringement and then running the games without the cart is piracy.

But people claim that to be homebrew.

there's very little real home brew, because there's no real need for a video player already have that, music player already have that, picture viewer already have that web browser already have that etc etc.

So what would be worth while homebrew on the PS3 really?

[dragon82]

People weren't compaining then because it was about an actual game. This crap just promotes hacking which in turn just promotes piracy. You can argue all you want about how its for homebrew but the fact is it all leads back to piracy in the end.

[kaveti6616]

chewing gum leads to smoking heroin. you can argue all you want but the fact is it all leads back to hard drug use. /s

your slippery slope logic is pretty annoying.

why is it that when the 360 was hacked, some people in this site bashed Microsoft, but when the PS3 gets "hacked" those same people are crying foul and whining and moaning?

Deal with it.

[dragon82]

Well, I sure as hell never bashed Microsoft over getting hacked. The fact that you are trying to use this as fanboy fuel tells alot about your character.

[kaveti6616]

Oh yes, 5 lines I post on the internet must say a hell of a lot about my character. /s

You're accusing people of piracy before they've even committed it. I hope you're not a police officer.

Edit: I don't fucking care about Microsoft. My fatal error was pointing out the hypocrisy of you little d-bags and the rash you've developed on your bums as you cry incessantly about someone opening up your closed-box toys.

[nycredude]

Kaveti

Are you retarded? How the fuck is chewing gum in any way related to using heroin? Seriously think before you talk. Fact is it leads directy to fucking piracy!

Plus homebrew is ILLEGAL! Read the freaking terms of use readily available. Maybe if one day you guys grow a pair, got smart and started a multibillion dollar company that has to deal with this shit then you will understand the ramifications of "hombrew", IE piracy!

It's easy to sit at home on a computer on N4g and type away talking about crap when you don't have to deal with it. Trying living in the company's shoes for a day.

You know what IS really annoying? People like you who comes here whines all day about 360 this 360 that and whines all day about the PS3 that and Ps3 this, without ever contributing anything of real value to the conversation.

Why don't you pull up some articles and theads about people bashing MS when 360 got hacked. You won't find any recently do you know why cause that shit happened years ago!! We are talking about now now 4 years ago! You still butthurt over shit everyone else already swept under te rugs years ago.

Move on in life and just... DEAL WITH IT.

So I got a disagree this fool must think chewing gum leads to heroin.

Seriously if I were SOny I would hire the best hackers in the world (geohot is not the best) the best are the ones you NEVER hear about, ever! and just have them ruin his life. Fight fire with fire. Erase this fools record, make him decease, cancel his cards, seize his account, etc. Seriously that is the only way they will learn. When they find out there is ones way better than them.

[kaveti6616]

Nycredude, if you want to call me names, give me your address and we can talk in person. Until then, refrain from punching your keys on my account. I've read your history. I don't like having conversations with people who have de-oxygenated brains, so good day to you.

[jadenkorri]

i love the fact that people hacking systems hide behind homebrew. Homebrew does not lead to piracy, homebrew is piracy, its the whole point in having access to the ps3 or other system.

[bailoutbenny]

who cares if the console is hacked?

piracy != lost sales. pirated copies of games cannot be counted as lost sales, this remains one of the biggest fallacies perpetrated by game publishers/developers.

if you wish to avoid piracy as much as possible, make something people want on the most open platform at the cheapest price point with no drm.

STEAM, Direct2Drive, GOG are all successful because they follow this exact formula. Cheap, minimal to no DRM, convenience, desirable products. Even minecraft is a good demonstration of this formula.

Any publisher/developer that blames piracy for poor revenue is shifting the blame off of themselves for putting out a product that is not worth the time and money to potential customers. For example, Crytek tried to blame piracy concerning Crysis sales, ignoring the fact that people had to spend $3k on a top of the line PC that STILL couldn't run Crysis configured with max settings at playable framerates, not to mention the mediocre story and game mechanics. Even so, they sold over 2 million copies, a pretty good haul for a PC game. Ubisoft plays the piracy card with many of their recent releases, downplaying the average reviews and lackluster consumer interest. They used piracy to justify the highly draconian constant connection DRM, which led to more people not buying Ubi games, so much so that they had to reverse their stance recently and remove the always on DRM.

Who the hell wants to pay 60 dollars for a game that is only 4-5 hours long, has no replayability for the main campaign, whose online component gets repetitive and dull after the first week, which may not even be playable on release or in the future due to messy or purposely-built-that-way DRM implementations and/or bugs, and will almost certainly not have any online availability in the future (highly dependent on mods/servers being released by the developers and people using them, which doesn't happen for consoles at all, besides things like bandwith caps and traffic shaping by ISPs)? The game has to cost either much less than 60 dollars or have such a wealth of mod tools and servers that people will be able to create/distribute their own content and continue to play long after the "official" servers are taken down.

Just think about all the PSN, STEAM and Live games people have. If any of those networks fail or are taken down, say goodbye to your digital collection and online multiplayer. Anything requiring online authentication won't work either. I suppose as long as the games are cheap enough, which is quite often the case for STEAM, most users won't care, but games aren't cheap when purchased for consoles.

[dragon82]

I love how pirates use the "I wasn't going to buy it anyway so it's not hurting" argument. You can try and justify it to yourself all you want but it wont change the fact that it is illegal and wrong. Why don't you just get a Gamefly account (or similar) for the games you don't feel are worth $60.

[bailoutbenny]

@dragon

I don't think piracy is morally correct. I either buy games or I do not buy them and do not download them. I have a Steam account, a GOG account, a Direct2Drive account, Xbox Live account, etc. I am a firm believer in compensating someone for the fruits of their labor. I am also a firm believer in the price mechanism and the ability of consumer/producer to agree on a price. The current way in which the market works is that the producer sets a price and the consumer cannot negotiate, they either buy or don't buy. The price may drop after some time, but this delayed drop severely hinders saleability and I believe the delay has an effect on piracy rates as well. There needs to be more elasticity in the pricing mechanism for games if more copies are to be sold.

Using the piracy == lost sales argument is a logical fallacy, which is what I stated. I then went on to describe ways that I think piracy can be minimized. There is evidence to support the statement that piracy is in direct proportion to cost/availability of games. Therefore games that are expensive and not highly available (due to DRM or other access limitations) tend to be heavily pirated while games that are cheaper and more easily accessed are not. Again, a more immediate pricing mechanic as well as cheaper initial price point and higher availability will do much to taper off piracy.

[Darkfocus]

"Plus homebrew is ILLEGAL! Read the freaking terms of use readily available. Maybe if one day you guys grow a pair, got smart and started a multibillion dollar company that has to deal with this shit then you will understand the ramifications of "hombrew", IE piracy! "

LMAO

TOS and aren't legally binding

[dragon82]

While I was responding to your comment it was not directly directed at you. It was more of a statement about pirates in general.

[zag]

@bailoutbenny

Your a complete dickhead.

Crytek look at a site and see 500,000 people have grabbed crysis for free they times that by $60 and and then go that's 30 million dollars of lost sales.

Crytek don't make games for free and pay their employees nothing you know.

How do you pay your bills? do you tell the ISP that you have no cash but keep it going as they should know your good for it.

They'd disconnect you and send the debt collectors around.

As Gene simmons says "sure... you can run around with no money, but it doesn't put food on the table."

Steam, direct2drive etc are all DRM once you add a key to them you can't play them without having steam re-verify all those keys each time you start up steam, even when offline it verifies those keys so if the database is stuffed you won't be able to play those games because if can't tell if it should allow you to play them.

And steam etc are the same price as the stores you just don't get a disk and a box, the sales are just the same deal as the bargain bin you dope.

UBIsoft haven't gotten rid of the DRM it's still their they just stopped the downloading of 1-2kb of data for all the time you play the game with that DRM.

And the people who want you to pay $60 for a game are the people who made the damn game, generally because they want to get paid for it, dickhead.

Just like you probably want your pay at the end of the week when you work, or do you work for free living in some homeless shack that other people are paying for.

[DragonKnight]

Thing is, when you buy a PS3 you only own the actual hardware. That is, the device. Why do you think that Sony doesn't care about case mods or things like that? Sony still owns the software and firmware on the device, which you agree to every time you agree to a TOS. Therefore, any hack of the software on the system is an illegal act upon intellectual property created, and owned, by Sony.

Think of it as a store. Now a store is a business owned by an individual or individuals. Legally, you are being permitted to enter the store to purchase or use goods that said store provides, but the owners retain the legal right to deny you access to the store or the goods since it is their business and the law sees it as such. The law sees the software and firmware on the PS3 as the intellectual property of Sony, not of the end user. Sony has created stipulations by which that software and firmware can be used, free of charge. By hacking the console and tampering with said software and firmware, you are going against those stipulations and attempting to use property that ISN'T yours for your own gains, i.e. free games.

There is no nobility in this. Homebrew is illegal, so hacking the console for homebrew alone is still illegal. And let's not forget the idiots who will do something like this, then try to blame Sony when their consoles brick and look for millions in lawsuits, and you KNOW that that will happen.

The truth of the matter is that, no matter what excuses or justifications arise, these hackers did it for free stuff, not for any noble causes. The PC is a far better platform for any kind of modding, emulation, or homebrew, so why the need to do it on the PS3? Because you can see it on a tv screen? Newsflash, you can do that with PC's too.

[HolyOrangeCows]

Oh, cute. Geonotz can create a proof of concept thanks to other people's work.

[Christopher]

***The day after the VGAs, there was an Uncharted 3 overload on N4G. I didn't see many people complaining then...why the complaints now? ***

Not that I'm outright complaining, but I'd definitely rather see a plethora of news articles that support a great game compared to those that only help to further the ego of someone who thinks he can create a security system that can't be bypassed whereas hundreds of extremely talented engineers have been unable to do as such. I really hate arrogance, and this kid latches onto accomplishing something based on the work of others because he craves the attention.

[socomnick]

Give it a rest drama queens.

This hurts nobody but a giant corporation seriously.

Do you guys seriously think this will take off like wild fire, most people will not even know this exists much less install it and use it to its fullest extent.

I however have my jailbreak USB on the way, stupid dealsextreme takes too long to deliver.

I can't wait to see the homebrew that comes out of this, perhaps now I might finally use the ps3 more often.

[nycredude]

Socomnick

Yeah it won't hurt you cause you don't buy games. For all of us people who have jobs, work hard and pay for our games it WILL hurt us in the long run. SO while you are sticking overpriced usb dongle in and getting your kicks off waiting for hackers to provide crap content equivalent to android apps, we will enjoy what awesome games will be available until Sony decides it isn't profitable enough to keep providing awesome games and go the way of the 360, either completely casual or releasing a new console way too soon.

And I bet you $100 if they did either of the above you would be on the frontlines bashing SOny every step of the way, while I play awesome games on the PS4.

[bailoutbenny]

These people are cheering on some of the most anti-consumer behavior ever witnessed in the past 20 years.

What Sony, Microsoft, Apple, etc. do with firmware is equivalent to owning a car, modifying it with non-OEM parts, then taking it to a dealer for service, only to have the dealer break the car so it won't function and not give you your money back. Who here would not break that dealer's arms and legs? Likewise, why are people willing to forgive any of the aformentioned companies for doing exactly the same thing with their consoles and devices?

A modded car could be used to kill people just like a modded console can be used for piracy. It doesn't mean it will happen, only that it could be used that way. People take it for granted that it is ridiculous and unexpected for a dealer to act in said manner for a modded car, but there is absolutely no conceptual difference between that modded car and a modded console, so why the double standard?

[Trroy]

@benny

Your comparison is horribly flawed. Car manufacturers get exclusive sales and manufacturing rights to parts for a period of time after the car is put on the market... much like the movie industry puts movies in theatres, and doesn't release the DVD for many months after.

Games bypass this grace period, and therein lies the rub. Piracy hurts games much more than it hurts movies, etc. I sincerely doubt you can name another industry that doesn't have an alterate mechanism to produce a significant amount of cash flow before they make themselves vulnerable to what is effectively consumer abuse (i.e. piracy).

Used game retailers shouldn't be allowed to sell used games less than 6 months old, IMO. Rentals should have to wait at least 2 months, IMO. Piracy should be steamrolled, when it comes to games. The games industry is stuck in a "straight to DVD" rut, that consumers and used retailers take advantage of.

That cannot, and won't last forever -- the "golden age" of video games is gone, and the games market is moving into a fiercely competitive, more mature model -- as its currently doing.

Your comparison conveniently forgets the differences between the two business models to make its point -- and thus the comparison is completely invalidated.

[FragMnTagM]

@bailoutbenny

I said the near exact same thing in another thread about this, but our comments are the equivalent of pissing in the wind around here. Some people are so wrapped up in teh console warz that they forget to think sometimes.

If I buy a toaster and I want it cook toast faster or put smilies on my toast in the morning, should I not be allowed to do that? I could theoretically sell my toast with smilies on it and even make a little profit. Is that wrong? Should I go to jail for that?

It really is the same thing. Modding device you BOUGHT and PAID for should be legal.

It is a slippery slope, what is next banning radio stations and car radios because your ears are stealing the music?

[bailoutbenny]

@trroy
My comparison is fairly accurate, I believe.

In the car industry, the manufacturer can only prevent licensed OEM parts from being distributed immediately after product release. Therefore, I can take the brand new Civic, disassemble the motor and fabricate cams, crank, header, intake manifold, etc. and sell anything I make as unlicensed, non OEM parts without worry about Honda telling me I cannot do that. Likewise, I can turn around and sell that Civic the day I buy it without Honda telling me otherwise. How is this different than modding a console or selling a game you purchased?

For movies, you can see it in theaters, you can see it on DVD or you can do both. The game industry has similar concepts, digital downloads and physical copies. Digital downloads are usually what I like to call "burned forever" purchases, just like watching a movie in a theater. If it sucks, you paid and you can't get the money back. Digital downloads are usually non-transferrable license purchases if the game implements DRM such as activation codes. Steam doesn't allow "gifting" of licenses, for instance. DVD/Bluray and physical copies of games are very similar. The price "new" starts high and then comes down over time. Both can be sold used, with games having the additional capacity to be laden with one time use activation codes or other DRM that prevents transfer of license.

The problem with games, just like movies, is that they are created for entertainment. The initial costs can be quite high and the outcome is not guaranteed. This is why we see sequel after sequel to initially successful franchises instead of new IP. No amount of DRM and other invasive and obtrusive piracy tackling tactics can make a game not suck, in fact these things usually make a game suck more. No amount of blaming hackers and homebrewers will change the fact that your game sucks. If you price your sucky game too high, and make it difficult to use to boot, then don't be surprised that people are not buying copies of your game. I don't condone piracy, nor am I saying that it is ok to pirate just because a game costs a lot and sucks, I'm just saying that so many publishers are shocked that they spend a lot of money on games that don't sell well and then try to blame piracy. It wasn't piracy that killed game sales, the game sucking (DRM is a part of sucking) and costing so much are what killed sales.

EDIT:
If the game industry really wanted to take a stab at the 2nd hand market, they could always offer trade in incentives to people who purchased new. "Buy back" used games for credit towards their next new purchase and/or exclusive DLC and offer the used games for sale themselves at a deep discount. Forget this one time activation code crap, they can make money on both ends by doing exactly what Gamestop does with the additional benefit of being able to incentivize the whole process.

[Trroy]

@benny

I'd saddened that you don't understand the issues I presented in my post.

As a side point, your "DRM and high prices ruined games" argument doesn't hold water, either.

In the 90s, when the games industry was rich and growing at a rapid pace, games cost $40 new. Now they cost $60 new (on consoles... its still $50 for PC). Now adjust for inflation, and honestly tell me that you believe that the reason the games industry has economic trouble is due to "high prices".

Now, on top of that, adjust for investment/return, since modern HD quality games take a titanic amount of effort to create, relative to the low-tech titles of the past.

Do you think a business model where no game cost more than $1M to make could survive in such a competitive environment? Outside of making mediocore DS or downloadable games, that is, where the quality bar is not very high?

The used games industry, and piracy, are demolishing the games industry. Something *will* be done about it, because the current model has "FAIL" written all over it, just like a game pirate's forehead does.

[zag]

@FragMnTagM

There's already a product that doe smiley faces on toast but it's patented so copied could lead to you being sued for copying it.

Life sure is hard, when you can't even come up with a brand new product.

Well radio stations pay for a licence to RIAA to play music and then pay royalties to the band that made the music just so you can listen to music on the radio and the bands can be paid something for their music to be played on the radio.

Thats partly how the band can make some cash from the songs they made.

But if you read the T&C on the CD cover you'll see that you aren't allowed to play the songs on the CD unless your in an enclosed sound proof room with head phones etc.

other you could be sued for broadcasting music to people.

so yeah be careful about what your doing you could be breaking the law by simply playing music on your car stereo system.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

All these years I've been dying to display exactly those words ("Hello, world") on my TV. I don't know whether to mod my PS3 now, or I should wait another 4 years for custom message.

[CoLD FiRE]

What a noob!

[cozmo195]

Actually,
it generates a text file called "Hello, world" on your USB, so you enjoy it from the comfort of your own PC.

I'm waiting for some good home-brew so i can do even more cool stuff on my PS3 :P.

[TBM]

meh this means nothing to me. id rather not mess with my expensive costing system lol.

[TBM]

so someone is telling me i should mess with my expensive system($500+)? ill tell you this whoever you are how about you mod your system while ill leave mine the way i bought it.

[FinalSpartan]

The dark side is unleashed. Welcome to the true power of the PS3. The potential now is endless.

[Scary69]

Lame as Homebrew to be honest I wish these so call hackers would get arrested and then hanged. It is people like these that hurt the industries and the one reason game prices go up. F you hackers and F you people who support this BS.

[theroadtoruin]

@Bloodraid that's really a dumb analogy. the majority of the people in the world don't die in car accidents or overdose, that's just a small percentage and not everyone.

they know what the main purpose of hacking a PS3 is going to be.

do you really think the people that use this for things other than piracy like homebrew or whatever are going to out weigh the people that are going to use it for bad things like stealing games? lol

i really hope you're joking.

[FailOverHero]

Floodgates = open

[SLAYMANIO_ULTIMATE_1]

OMG....

[AKA]

Nice i hope in th end we get great stuff for free.
Like a new webbrowser will be perfect.
Cross game chat and more cool features
from the atari emu To the ps2 emulators.

[Arup02]

keep dreaming.

[Darth_Bane79]

Who are you gonna chat with if you are not gonna be able to go online once you install this?

[ashcroft]

You do know what the ability to sign code means right? It means this can't be patched any security firmware sony throws from now on is a waste of time. As they can sign custom firmware to the latest and go on PSN.

The ps3 right now is worse than the Wii in terms of blown wide open.

[FragMnTagM]

@ashcroft,

I wouldn't bother with trying to explain that. Most people don't take the time to read and COMPREHEND the articles. Most of them have no idea what you are talking about.

I got way more disagrees for stating a fact in another article. That fact was that this can only be fixed with a hardware revision and even then it may not fully be fixed. All the PS3's currently on the market are able to run signed code from any source now, not just Sony.

Doesn't matter though as most of the people here are still in denial about it.

[rjdofu]

"in th end we get great stuff for free."
LOLOLOL

[Christopher]

I _really_ hope someone develops a X-game chat app. Would love to see how quickly people stop using such an application when it results in taking away a ton of memory from the video games that need it, resulting in crashes and major graphical issues.

[FragMnTagM]

Hmmmm that's funny doesn't do it on my PC or my 360, why would it do it on the PS3? Power of the cell remember?

[Christopher]

Because, FagMnTagM, games on the console are designed to utilize the memory in specific manners and typically use it to its fullest at each moment.

Your PC is designed to run more than a few applications at once and to share the memory between them as well as being capable of expanding upon said memory.

Honestly, if you don't understand programming and memory management, you shouldn't try to act like it's as simple as running an app on a PC.

Look at it this way, a game like Uncharted 2 or God of War 3 utilizes all of the SPUs at most times during gameplay and uses the SPUs for handling graphical processing as well. The _only_ other thing running at those times are the background OS elements, which is secured on a single SPU. If you start running a new application on top of these games, which takes up another SPU, you're taking away at least 15% of the processing capabilities. The problem? The program isn't designed to account for only having one less SPU, it's designed to only use all of them for what it can, and if it can't do that, it's going to fail in various ways. PS3 games don't come with settings for altering graphical quality or video features, they come with the expectation that you will only play this game and nothing else and are coded with that in mind.

Even the crappy looking games are programmed in this manner, they just use the memory of the system very poorly compared to other games.

[MajestieBeast]

I wouldnt mind if they shot this dbag in the face. Justin Beiber of hackers.

[Xfanboy]

you guys take ps3 way to serious!! imho..

google chrome or firefox on ps3 would be nice!! Geohot make it happen!!!

[Darth_Bane79]

Yeah but what if they block you from accessing psn? Then what good is it?

[Blaze929]

"they", Sony, can't really DO anything to you or anyone who hacks their console because they literally have no method of finding out. With these keys we’re able to “sign” anything, and as far as the PSP/PS3 is concerned, it’s official — officially signed as if Sony themselves signed off on it.

And it isn't something they can just change or patch, it literally IS the PS3's foundation.

[Xfanboy]

when you have the power to digital sign everything will be fine!!

[Bolts]

Geohot rocks. But work on the iphone 4 4.2 unteathered jailbreak first!

[zag]

But those are freeware, you want pirated stuff.

So you'd be wanting IE9 instead.

but overall who's gonna want a web browser when there's games to be pirated don't you know web browsers take a back seat.

[THC CELL]

Sony should sue n4g for promoting hacks

[Darth_Bane79]

WORD!

[xino]

does it work on any USB stick or trash jailbreak?

hurry up and load XBMC already:)

[Megaton]

So much ass pain around here whenever PS3 hacking is brought up.

Geohot didn't take away your features, Sony did. They have a responsibility to secure their console. If they fail, they can either take another crack at it or give up and steal features from their loyal, paying customers. I've never seen a group so willing to stand up for faceless corporations in my life. You guys rival lobbied politicians.

[Apotheosize]

Im not sure why people are disagreeing you are right to an extent.

how does this even affect people who DONT want to hack their console. no more games will be released? hardly, its not the hackers fault for finding the crack in the armor, its Sonys fault for putting it there. they are the ones who allowed this to happen and they will be the one who has to deal with it, not you. how they ultimately deal with the problem is Sonys own fault and not the hackers, if they take away features again who caused it? the hackers? or the fact the security was already compromised form the beginning and that shouldnt have been there?

[shadow2797]

It wasn't the murderer's fault he died from the poison, it was his damn immune system's! /s

Granted, Sony has a responsibility to provide a product that is safe for their users and their shareholders. The unfortunate truth is that hackers and pirates exist, and while many have good intentions, the ones who don't ruin it for everyone. Sony needs to protect against them, and they failed (though they did succeed for almost 4 years).

But saying that it's not the hackers' faults that the PS3 got hacked is completely and thoroughly absurd. If Geohot hadn't been a dick in the first place, the PS3 would still be unhacked and we'd still have OtherOS. No one cared before that feature was removed.

[GigaGaia]

Even though this runs on 3.55, no progress has been made at all since you need the PS3jailbreak to go in service mode.

[Dark360]

You are correct but in some forums they are testing various way to run the Lv2diag.self with any usb drives.

[wissam]

Still you will need a usb to run it. a similar concept to JB.but it runs on the newest FW.

[Led-Zeppelin]

What a little loser that Geohot guy is...

[CoLD FiRE]

So if someone is smarter than you they are losers? What kind of logic is this?

[rezzah]

Someone can be smarter than you, still doesn't excuse them from being a complete ass.

[Led-Zeppelin]

Sitting in your basement for years trying to hack a piece of metal so they can commit a crime instead of actually enjoying games and hanging out with friends, or doing something more productive that actually helps the world doesn't make you smarter. It makes you a loser. But whatever you want man, I mean you only have a limited time on this earth why not waste your young years trying to hack a gaming system, right? Jeez give it a break Geohot and get some fiends or something.

[AKissFromDaddy]

if cool features or games comes from this Homebrew, I. will. love. it.

[duplissi]

this

[Fatal Blow]

Whats the point of this jailbreak if i cant play games online sony will soon come out with a patch am sure of it for me i like collecting real games limited edition ones

[GrandTheftZamboni]

But, you can display "Hello, world" on your TV.

[Mc Fadge]

Didn't he claim to be leaving the PS3 alone after he got Linux locked out? I believe he said that he'd make custom firmware for people, and not to worry, then walked away. Now that somebody's done the work he's back on the bandwagon, eh?

[AKissFromDaddy]

He's using Treyarch's approach to game design and applying it to hacking. In the end, it works.

[LOOK_AT_THIS_I]

Lmao+bubs for the treyarch shot....

[sak500]

Jeez you guys are defending ps3 as it's your fkng life. This news is on most tech sites and you sad n00bs think the whole world reads news only on n4g. The way you are overeacting it's like Geohot has casterated the ps3fanboys.

It's a machine and will not save your @ss if you're broke due to being a delinquent who just played games their whole life and praying to a corporation.

Edit: @fanboi yep you are so right. Most of them would have had modified ps2 had they not born in 2000.

[altimako02]

I told you that sony should not have taken away otheros. and despite what any of you fanboys say , the ps3 is not that secure , the only thing they had going for them (in terms of hacking) was the otheros.

[Gitaroo]

this guy should check out 3ds.........

[led1090]

wow GEOHOT is a god

[Burning_Finger]

No, He's an idiot. He loves screwing up the "legit PS3 owners" making Sony wants removes perfectly fine features in the PS3 to begin with.

[led1090]

To all those ppl who are abusing this guy....hes doing this just as a challenge....when you're into programming you need such challenges to be good at it...just making a software isn't going to improve you're skills...the best programmers out there are easily the hackers

[inStereo]

Yeah, GeoHot must be one of the best programmers in the world if he can write a "Hello World" program.

[blackburn5]

I love how people people get so upset whenever a person or Sony says they are against this. What is YOUR problem? You complain that PS3 owners are going on about it but here you are every time going on about us protesting.So what if we are against it? Why does it bother you so much? I especially don't understand the anger and ignorance when Sony says they are going to try to fight it. Does everyone want them to sit on their hands and let the hackers do what they want so you can get what you want while letting the lowlifes in? So because Microsoft and Nintendo had crappy security on their systems and sat by and let people tear into their systems, Sony should do the same. They will sell more systems but what about all of their first party studios who will lose out on sales when the pirates move in?

The level of ignorance of gamers has gotten a lot higher these days.You go on about us cheering for Sony but it's strange that it's okay that you cheer on the lowlife hackers who probably give less of a $hit about you then Sony does. Yeah, that is much better.With the kind of logic people use around here I am surprised you aren't off teaching a college somewhere instead of on this site.

[Tru_Ray]

You bring up a good point. A point that has fallen on many deaf ears. As PS3 fans, we have every right to be offended by the morally ambiguous (if nothing else) actions of these hackers seeking fame and recognition.

Personally, I couldn't care less about running some amateurish homebrew firmware on my hacked (not to mention exposed) console. Whatever features Sony provides with their official updates will be fine for me given that my main concern is the core gaming experience.

Regardless of what their motivations were for hacking the console, it will ultimately have a negative impact on sales. With production costs for video games rising exponentially, if is difficult for smaller development houses to turn a profit. Have you guys not been reading about all of the studio closures this generation? It is only going to get worse.

If consumers have the option to obtain a pirated product for free versus spending $60, then he/she may very well be to obtain said product for free (especially if there is no consequence for breaking the law). I having a hard time understanding how this is a positive for Sony or the industry.

With high production costs, rampant piracy, a debilitating used-game market, you can rest assured that developers will take LESS risks with their content going forward.

I hope you cheap bastards enjoy generic military shooters, dance games, and space marine odysseys because we will be getting a steady diet of them going forward.

Tru

[Mahr]

"Regardless of what their motivations were for hacking the console, it will ultimately have a negative impact on sales."

Cause and effect. If you would rather ignore *why* things happen, that is of course your right. You can choose to go on at length about how you think hackers are jerks or whatever, but that is not going to have any sort of bearing on the modding or piracy situations, current or future.

[DanteKnightsTemplar]

Sony, I suggest 'erasing' Geohot now.

[Neko_Mega]

Little problem, didn't Sony already fix it were you can't really use the USB port like that? I mean PSJailbreak was USB an now it doesn't work, at the cost of 3rd party controllers not working.

All hackers do is screw up things for other people and hackers today only hack to tell the world about how they did it. Next thing we going to see is a hacker telling every he hack the US nukes.

[darkequitus]

"The key cannot be changed without hardware modifications (firmware updates are not enough), and even doing so would render current software inoperable. In short, Sony will have a hard time fighting hacks developed with this key."

http://www.techspot.com/new...

[joeorc]

this is from the same people that said this hack gives them unrestricted access to the inards of the PS3.

but yet have not opened up the Cell processor's Secure SPE processing vult.

IE: an entire processing core that was designed for Security!

the FailOverFlow hacker's claimed that Sony's PS3 security contained no Random Key sequence for Security..but yet in the SPE secure Processing Vult it does indeed have it and also other functions but the big problem these Hacker's have yet to crack it!

IF that Metldr can be changed from Sony on the Fly the Hacker's Hack will b all for naught.

I doubt very much we have heard the last of this.

for instanc- say these hacker's do change their firmware an change the signed code..what happens when that signed code that they alter or make get's changed more than once and goes through the Secure Processing vult. and meet's this problem!

example:

"The hardware random number generator protects against replay attacks (see Resources) by marking the current communication with a time stamp. A replay attack is where an adversary takes an old communication message and sends it again through the unsecured communication channel. Because the authentication protocol will verify that the message is authentic, a robust time stamping feature is the only way for the communication partners to realize that there is a man-in-the-middle attack happening."

remember the Hacker's stated there is no random Key in the security:

but yet: explain this:

The hardware random number generator protects against replay attacks (see Resources) by marking the current communication with a time stamp.

notice Time stamp!

if your alter your code too many times that Secure processing Vult can revoke it! it will know it's been altered because you have no idea what the authentacation is because the Metldr may have been changed on the Fly!

the very fact these Hacker's have not broke inside that SPE secure processing Vult may be a very glareing problem with their claim of it cannot be fixed..how would they know if the largest security system in the PS3 is still intact!

an unhacked! at that

[darkequitus]

@Joeorc

You have probably watched their keynote. The point is the chain of trust is broken in so many places, they do not have to.

[ChronoJoe]

Sweet, and it only took him Sony's stolen 'jailbreak' devices, and failoverflow to release the keys.

[Asuka]

the PSP.....a perfect example as to why homebrew is not a good idea.

As for the comments about "where was all the rage about piracy concerning the PSP, DS, windows, etc." Maybe people are just now starting to get sick of piracy. If you dont show concern and rage at some point, then when? The PS3 has provide a genuine experience for its gamers. Why shouldn't they want support their console or the company that produces them? Fanboy wars right?

in all honesty i dont give shit about fanboy wars. i just know i like my product. i like the service i am getting, and i want to continue receiving the same services. Therefore i will support the company. its that simple. regards of what console/computer/OS/ or whatever. somebody somewhere is working their ass off day-in and day-out to provide me a service. You better believe i am willing to pay them for their services. I am not some cheap bastard that takes things for granted

[FragMnTagM]

The problem with the PSP was that games were too crappy and too expensive and took forever to load. The features of the device were abysmal for the price of it. PSP could have been a really good device had Sony released features people wanted on it, like a good web browser.

It is the hackers that made my PSP awesome, not Sony.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

"It is the hackers that made my PSP awesome, not Sony."

Sure, that's why it's written "Hackers" on the PSP, not "Sony".

[bailoutbenny]

LOL dude this is so true. The hackers DID make the PSP awesome. Sony released a crippled as all hell product just to advance another format, UMD, much like the PS3 uses Bluray to advance that format, whereas Microsoft and the PC have already proven that the "next generation" works fine with DVD. The PSP, non GO version, has only recently become semi-decent for people using official firmware since the quality of games has improved some. Load times are still abysmal though and the games are still too expensive IMO.

[swinesucker]

Shut the fuck up. Bluray has done more for film than any other format in regards to you actually seeing something kind of like actual film looks. It's a format that makes you appreciate the detail in film. It can also be used for games in a dozen different ways that benefit the format. So shut the fuck up with your regressive fanboy bullshit.

[FragMnTagM]

You guys are a trip. I don't have any pirated games other than what I have bought and paid for already on my PSP. I simply made a backup of my games that loads faster. There are a ton of things that the PSP is capable of, but Sony chose to keep the features as minimal as possible and force people adopt UMD, which sucks ass as a format.

The plastic casing around the UMD breaks easy, when it breaks, GO BUY A NEW ONE YAY! Or go buy a PSP GO and rebuy it as a digital download after spending way too much money on the GO! Yea that's the way to do it. OR, you can hack your PSP, redownload a game YOU ALREADY PAID FOR and play it the way it should have been to begin with?

I can also play every game I have ever owned from the past on it, did Sony allow me to do that? HELL NO! They would have put it in a bundle pack and charged me 40 dollars for games I already bought ages ago. That is even if they would go through the trouble of licensing and porting it to the PSP, instead of simply running an emulator.

http://www.psp-hacks.com/ca...

Most of the stuff on that page is stuff you can do with a hacked PSP that IS NOT PIRACY!

Audio/Video Apps
Shell Replacements
Web Apps
PSP Plug-ins / PRX Modules
Emulators
Misc. Apps & Tools

I use my PSP as I choose.

[Jezuz]

i hope a bunch of cool homebrews come out. Not back up runners but actual homebrews that are cool and fun.

[joeorc]

people want Home Brew channel on the PS3 , why have the refused to go to Sony?

they talk all big about Homebrew, the Wii has a Home Brew channel..and yet they try to make it out like sony would not be interested in Homebrew?

come on!

they themselves don't have to be pursuing it themselves, because they are releasing the Tool's to enable people to do it to the world wide web. for anyone to get their hands on it. what does it matter if they say their not doing it themselves at all they are releasing and giving everybody lockpicks that want them.

do you think the Pirates want those free lockpicks?

the point is their enabling the piracy no matter what, if they were to go to Sony an say we would like an official Home brew channel and all the Home brew has to go through a process of agreement from Sony just like every Developer that would be one thing..but that's not what their doing is it?

I mean what about the Wii channel these Hacker's are so proud of..why not a PS3 channel..or is it just not right for Sony to get one...?

Hypocrisy it seem's is they want open source but do not want to talk to Sony about it..if you have not guessed yet Sony is one of the best companies that do infact support Open source:

Linux
android
JavaME
OpenGL

Hell as a matter of fact without even going through Linux you could run Java applications off of the Blu-ray disc..an you could run java apps off of USB devices but once again, these hacker's it seems do not want to work with Sony!

if these guy's are so worried about open source an keeping Linux on the PS3 why not go to Sony..

OH that's right that would be too easy!

that Trite we did it for the Consumer's BS is very Transparent

Hey folding at home is open to all ps3's no gaming App. an yet these guy's think Sony would not be willing to work with esp for Indie developer's ...just like Sony went at Indiecade 2010 this year and is very willing to work with indie developer's who now make games for playstation Home.

Who are they trying to fool!

[DanteKnightsTemplar]

Personally, Im happy the article pic isnt one of Geohots hideous head again.

[Hozi89]

Arghh! I'm Captain Hozi the pirate. What are all you haters gonna do about it?...lol

I love the companies who give us these great machines with some great games, but honestly these machines are capable of so much more and if the Sony or MS don't wanna act on that. Well...There's no other choice but to go with the hackers way.

Sony, instead of fighting so hard to avoid this should of figured out a way to let hackers or the entire community have some tools to utilize the ps3 with custom stuff ie-Apps, mods and so on but in return, each hacker must sign a contract that restricts them from pirating games or violating copyright laws..etc.

Now, you may say that's a stupid idea, but the reality of it is it would've happened either way. I honestly think SONY would profit more if they embrace the this whole idea in the first place.

I'm 100% sure that most of you who are complaining and crying because the PS3 is hacked are gonna end up being the ones who use these homebrew stuff when you see how much fun it is. A bunch of whiny little hypocrites if you ask me.

If you're not, when you must be one of those loyalist/fanboys who have sold your souls to SONY.

[joeorc]

but i just pointed out Sony is open to indie developer's so how is it that these guy's do not want to work with Sony?

to be blunt..Sony is very open to Open Source they have pretty much always have been with the playstation ..but you have to look at this within reason...you would not expect Sony to allow any application to run on the machine without passing a Q&A and a Quality Review would you?

the point is but..but we could not afford the cost in licence fees, Hey great developer's like Media M. did their pitch and look where it got them, if you do not want to pay your dues that's one thing, but trying to pass off what your doing as were the good guy's.

when their Not is just plain

Transparent an on that side also full of hypocrisy.

Like i said Sony has supported Open standards pretty much with every Playstation not only in development but also with Linux.i mean look at this:

January 2002 - June 2010
After years of service, the server running playstation2-linux.com has been retired, and the original website along with it. In its place we will offer a downloadable archive of the forum posts and project downloads for the community to continue to enjoy.

We expect the archive to be posted here by the end of November 2010. Please check back then if you are interested in the archive.

Thank you to those members of the community that contributed so many helpful posts, builds, tutorials and projects to the site.

http://playstation2-linux.c...

I don't see how all this BS was Sony's fault to start with Sony's support for Linux past and the fact they allowed for it to be loaded by the end user for free off the bat was a good will support to those that wanted to explore , but some it was not enough no was it?

these hacker's are not fooling anyone!

[MysticStrummer]

People that cheer this crap on are really amazing. They're too stupid to understand that hackers hurt the industry they claim to love. Oxygen is being wasted on these morons. The guy above who thinks consumers don't already have a hand in setting prices is really... well... priceless.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Ducktails woohoo. Lmao!

[CrescentFang]

When the homebrew gets more advanced I hope I can play mkv files and watch all my movies. That's really all I'm looking forward to...

[aaronobst]

I support the industry which gives me joy... for what that's worth.

[El-Fenemeno1213]

I dislike this. PS3 sales may rise, but what if the developers don't give their all to the games? If shittier PS3 exclusives are made its thanks to fucks like him.

[ChickeyCantor]

If they end up running a linux distro with full hardware support that would be nice.

[Amiroo]

Great Article :D
i love geohot, he know what his doing

[artsaber]

If Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony teamed up some day and made all of their game discs come with one time use product keys. They are gonna try to kill of pirates and resellers all in one swoop.

And you know who the blame will be... GeoHot and his ilk. This has already been discussed and ill received, but I am sure new anti-pirating measures for next gen will again be a layered security system, but possibly more annoying. This is just my guess. What's next, consoles in the future will have keyfobs built in, you'll have a pin number, and individual games will each have an ID number and you will have to register your game with your console. So if your console fob, your pin, and your game registration number does not check out with the server - then the game won't play. Also, your consoles would need weekly updates because the id file you need to download to play your registered games would change weekly. So in the future that could mean no more game rentals either.

Thanks Geohot.

[hesido]

People modding their games and cheating online using homebrew methods is worse for me than piracy. I'll keep on buying games, but when a effing cheats using homebrew in a multiplayer match, it takes all the fun out of the game. Piracy has not been able to kill gaming industry until now, it hasn't killed Xbox360.. But rampant cheating will kill my online gaming. Will we have to use punkbuster like anti-cheat features?? All such preventions will take away valuable cpu resources, will create more bugs.

[gaffyh]

to think... it would have never happened if Sony just left Linux/OtherOS on the system. How Ironic.

Also, you know they will sell an ASS Ton of consoles over the next year for the piray alone, especially in China etc.

[xtremegamerage]

Woohoo, put in service mode, use usb stick, boot. STFU.

And geohot, does not condone piracy, yeah pull the other one.

And if you want your next console to be secure?, You cannot make a console secure, you cannot make a pc secure unless it is totally secure from the outside world.

[wissam]

Is that a good or a bad thing ?

[riksweeney]

Ultimately it's a bad thing. 1,000 or so people will think "great, I can run Linux again". The remainder will think "great, I don't have to pay for games anymore".

In the worst scenario, the number of bought games drops and developers stop releasing games because they don't see any return on their investment. But that's a massive exaggeration.

What is eventually going to happen (most likely the generation of gaming after the next one, i.e. PS5) is that games will only be available for download, much like what is happening to the PC which means you pay full whack for a game with no option to trade it in once you're done.

[Rival_31]

I'll still support Sony. I love buying games anyway.

[DelbertGrady]

GeoHot is such a PS3 fanboy.

[VaddixBell]

While some people are grossly exaggerating what this will result in, this will have some positive and negative effects.
Obviously, piracy, viruses and other nefarious software for PS3 is now possible to hackers and whoever wants to be an asshole(not about pirates - about those who'd make a virus to be an ass)

The positive effects include hackers being able to show Sony up on any bullshit claims they make about firmware, games with DLC locked on the disc which would be easily unlocked, new features, some great emulators and alot more...

PC gaming is still going well despite how simple it is to pirate games on it, I'm sure PS3 will be fine.

[Heshton]

OH BABY! LET THE FREE GAMING BEGIN!!! Piracy has always been part of gaming and will always be, who cares. The industry is built around it and we are already paying for the costs of piracy (I think only laws can prevent this, so maybe in 10 years something chances) so why not make the best of it!!!

Personally I've purchased almost every console after they,ve come open to modding, except for ps3. My console gaming has always been more of a social experience, meaning I download sports or fps games and play them with my friends. I don't think I should pay 70 euros for games that I may play for couple hours per week or not at all. I support the companies by buying the consoles and maybe their stocks.

I also think that much of ps3 hacking has been for money, not for the scene, because they try to squeeze as much money as they can for every JB-USB-thing out there.

EVERYONE who has ever pirated anything (games,music,movies etc) CAN AGREE ON THIS. =) (my english might not be 100% correct)

[lugia 4000]

I have a PS3 and a 360. I also have a JTag. You don´t want free games? Then youre being an idiot. Keep spending 60dollars for a game that you might not even like. Piracy is illegal? Yes, but they won´t arrest me for it. So ill just do it. Less exclusives? I don´t really care. Next time make the PS3 more secure.
Everything is bypassed/cracked. Enjoy it. If you don´t want to, live with it.

[liveActionLeveler]

You should be deleted off this Earth.

[hiredhelp]

Its theift its piracy. oh no.!
lets all feed the tax man and pay the exesive vat prices.
dont worry about all the marketing forceing children to run to there poor dad's and moms to pay money they cant afford for every game that comes out.

he he beleave me brothers forget the stupid saying it harms the industry. it doesnt never has.
it does one major thing it sales consles. the devs still make a ton of money that many of us can only dream of
AA games still sell in the millions.
the tax man still gets his money so the majority of piracey hasnt really dented the gaming industry.

as for the haters of piracey i completly understand your reason i repsect that but you gota think about the other side of the coin. the people who cant afford every game. but preassured buy advertisement and great games at £40 pop or $60.

----------------------------- ------------------------------- ------
If anyone is getting hurt in our pockets its us look at the rise in prices. dont blame piracey cos thats BS.

[punkpop101]

Geohot you suck.Why did you have to make all those ps3 fanboys cry.Why??????Why did yoou prove that Sony has been lying about different things from the start of this gen.Why??????????????

[maverick40]

man Geohot needs get out from his moms basements and get a chick. There is only so much hentai porn that can satisfy a nerd/weeaboo like himself.

If he keeps doing this childish piracy that is a cry out for attention, he is going to get his ass handed to him by sony.

[alex3369]

he's studying neurology and is 10x more intelligent then you'll ever be. so please stfu.. oh and did i mention he was asked to work for google? what have you done with your life?

[maverick40]

oh you didnt. I am an astrophysicist that works for the ESA, I am researching a new design for a telescope being sent up to space in 2020 using terahertz wavelengths. So I think I am doing something with my life, more than he is without a doubt. What about you?

[Ryutamashiisan]

*sighs* lotta poop flinging in this article, but i have to side with the anti-hackers as for any console/handheld. People tend to go on about " this done was homebrew! piracy is just a side effect" first off that a load of crap,as someone pointed out earlier other OS had been out for a long time allowing people to legitimately run apps and such aside from what Sony had put in. Then this jerk off had to go an f*** it up, if u really wanted to make apps for the ps3 there was allready a system in place to do so.Then people get mad at Sony for taking out OS, even tho 90% never used the thing in the first place.

Geohot here turned into a security risk, and Sony as a company was protecting there investment as they should as ANY company should. If anyone is to blame for the removal of Other OS its Geo. That said even if it some people do want it for homebrew apps there are vastly outshined by people who just want to use if for piracy, which is bad for the industry we so love. Regardless I dont see myself caring one way or the other long as i can play online w/o massive amount of cheaters and can still enjoy my gaming experience.

However to fanboys that just wanna see Nintendo, Microsoft or in this case Sony take a shot. i would say take ur mom's booby out your mouth and grow up. Competition is a good thing, and Monopoly breeds stagnation and screwing of consumers I.E. Madden

[rezzah]

If this creates a an outcome where the PS3 is screwed over in any way I hope Sony go fully digital. That way the devs dont lose out any money for those who just wana get games for free.

[LiquifiedArt]

You do know what these hackers are doing right...? They will force the hands of manufacters into making Cloud-based consoles, where hacking will be completely blocked and in-which YOU (the decent consumer) will own NOTHING at all, besides the ability to access content that you 'unlocked' from their archive.

End result: Losing the ability to resell. Losing ownership. Losing consumer rights as a whole and become a simple consuming leech. Funny, because in the end the consumer is actually the one who gets hacked and it will be permanent and legal. LOL. Great job hackers your soooo amazing (yawn).

......

Only reason people like Hacks is for ... (lets just say it openly)

FREE GAMES.

My issue (besides the obvious stealing issue) is abit unique. I had an Xbox1 specifically for the Emulators and ability to rip games onto a harddrive and you know what happened...

Having ALL the games, I winded up not playing ANY of them!

It took the "Desire" factor out and it all became very placid.

Once you "GET IT ALL", You lose a certain amount of desire to even enjoy it.

[Belasco]

You have a really good point there, to a lesser degree Netflix feels kind of the same, because having everything right there when you want it somehow takes something away. I am ashamed to admit that in my younger years I was really bad with the Ps1 and Dreamcast, and now regret it because piracy was one of the factors that lead to the DC's failure.

[andron]

But only losers pirate games...

[PantherDST]

I wish people would quite hiding behind the "Homebrew" excuse and just admit that PIRACY is the main reason they crack systems. If homebrew were the main reason than how come torrent sites download 100 times more pirated games then they do homebrew apps? Because most homebrew apps suck. Why play a free game created by a novice, when you can play a free game created by professionals. TORRENTFREAK released an article claiming that 5.6 million copies of Black Ops were sold, and that 4.2 million copies of the game were downloaded for the PC, Xbox and Wii. Are you people really trying to say that HOMEBREW is even more popular and that is why it is ok to CRACK a systems security?

Grow up and be honest... if you support this type of activity your simply a petty thief who is trying to convience yourself that HOMEBREW is the reason just so you wont feel guilty for being thief that you are.

[Thoreau]

i say take the hackers to court and sue them into oblivion. touch their meager bank accounts for a million each. i would bring the full force of the law. the main problem is that these hacker dummies are broadcasting in silly azz ps3 hack conferences. in about 3 months there will be a legal sh?tstorm

[badkolo]

theres a 50 car companies, millions of pizza shops and so on, its not theft, its hacking, and while its illigal it aint all that bad, without people learning how things work or can be hacked there wont be any progress in this world, everyting everyone makes either gets copied or improved upon. thats how this world works, now the negative aspect of it is what sucks and causes everyone headaches.

[Belasco]

Sony should force him to fix this or else press charges against him.

[SephireX]

The PS3 is now the most hackable console on the market. Had we been told this a year ago, we wouldn't have believed it. For those who dislike the fact that the PS3 can be hacked, the worst is yet to come! I love the PS3 but I also love a good hack. If you think I'm the bad guy? Well then... Muwahahahahahahahaha victory will be mine!

[Xander756]

I thought this guy said he retired!?

[Redempteur]

i won't live ..the only reason i'm intrested in this is because of undub and translation ( tales of graces comes in mind )

Other than that i REALLY don't care since i buy lot of games and i don't have time to finish them ..i don't need this to play

[joeorc]

Monday, 25 January 2010
'Open curiosity'
Mr Hotz said that he had begun the hack last summer when he had spent three weeks analysing the hardware.
After a long break, he spent a further two weeks cracking the console, which he described as a "very secure system".

so yea 2009 well before the slim cam out an well before the PS3 "xmb" install other OS Linux removal" which by the way you coulsd still keep. but would not have had to if Geohotz would have gone to Sony in the first place. But Son does not work with HomeBrew..hey sparky Linux was already on the d@mn machine!

an

more important:

George Hotz said the hack, which could allow people to run pirated games or homemade software, took him five weeks.

"yes i do not condone Piracy" but here is your free lock pick set
to everyone on the internet!

"He admitted that it could also allow people to run pirated games."

so hacker's only looked at it after Sony removed Linux my @ss

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/...

So sony already Had linux there right from the start but yet Still was not good enough for Some people Gotcha!

we would not have done this if Sony would have left Linux on the PS3...ok yea just like this statement!

"In particular, he said, he would publish details of the console's "root key", a master code that once known would make it easier for others to decipher and hack other security features on the console."

yes lets all stick up for these hackers shall we! they are wearing the White hat remember..so because of this @ss we now will get less an less free features for future systems in future products..thanks a big one there sparky

an for people that disagree. go right Ahead but these hacker's have Black Hats!

[kagon01]

Yup, one of the reasons why they're releasing incomplete and unsatisfactory games with their Disc Locked Content...