PS3 hacked for good?!

[Taustin Powers]

http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/03/report-hacker-publishes-ps3s-root-key/

While PSGroove reports that infamous iPhone hacker Geohot has published PS3’s root key, hacker team Fail0verflow has told the 27th Chaos Communication Conference that PS3 is now completely, and irrevocably, cracked.

Geohot has released what he claims is the Metldr key for the console, which can’t be updated, apparently meaning he’s exposed the Sony hardware for good.

“No donate link, just use this info wisely. I do not condone piracy,” he said in a message.

He continued: “If you want your next console to be secure, get in touch with me. Any of you three. It’d be fun to be on the other side.”

Last year, PS3 homebrew jailbreaks, such as PS Groove and PS Jailbreak broke cover, but several firmware updates killed them off at the time.

The addition of these Firmware updates were needed if you were to play games like Medal of Honor.

If true, this new release apparently means that users can now develop homebrew apps, bootloaders and more, and digitally sign them to the PS3 with no risk of a Firmware update to close the hole (thanks, Mike).

The move allows apps like XMBC, which plays old SNES games, to be used on PS3.

The publication of the codes could also have major implications for piracy. Assuming the release is legitimate, users can now circumvent any kind of restriction Sony may issue to stop downloaded games running on the machine.

Wow, that's some big news. And not good news IMO.

So what's next? Stricter DRM measures? Activation codes for games? Constant internet connection required to play Ubisoft games?

 

[416049]

http://www.vg247.com/2011/01/03/report-hacker-publishes-ps3s-root-key/




Wow, that's some big news. And not good news IMO.

So what's next? Stricter DRM measures? Activation codes for games? Constant internet connection required to play Ubisoft games?

yeah big news however i have a feeling there will be a firmware updated soon that will limit the functionality of this hack.

Lets be positive I really hope we will not need the constant internet connection as that would be horrible and less people would be ubisoft games or the ps3

 

[Cuddles]

yeah big news however i have a feeling there will be a firmware updated soon that will limit the functionality of this hack.

Lets be positive I really hope we will not need the constant internet connection as that would be horrible and less people would be ubisoft games or the ps3

But the whole point of that article was they found a way that the firmware could NOT be updated and close the hole in the hack. That's why it's promising. Too many other hacks have been worked around in updates, and that's why this one is really cool.

I'd be happy to play some SNES games...although, my droid does that just fine now. I need to see if the iPad has emulators...but for some reason, I doubt it.

 

[Nuttydev]

Well, fail0verflow are releasing a hacked firmware in the next month or so, so expect to see a lot more cheaters in online games. Yes there already are some (notably MW2 moded servers and now Black Ops XP lobbies) but there's going to be a lot more once the firmware is released.

 

[Taustin Powers]

Ah yes, the cheating, too...fun stuff.

I see very little good coming out of this. And potentially a whole lot of bad.

 

[rezenclowd3]

^^ Eh, I prefer the to have the ability to do what I want with something I own. Locking down the consoles only pisses me off. Running Xbox media center on my orig Xbox still, and I LOVE the darn thing.

 

[Hellhammer]

It might be bigger issue for X360 as it has DVD but since PS3 has Blu-Ray, it's much smaller issue. Almost all computers have a DVD burner, yet only very few have Blu-Ray burner, thus the amount of possible pirates is smaller. Also, Blu-Ray can hold up to 50GB so downloading a game would take a lot time, especially with slow and/or capped connection.

I don't see PS3 hacking to be much of an issue. Some people will do it, that is for sure but Sony won't hassle with the protection and cause issues to end users because few lads like to install their own stuff on PS3

 

[SevenInchScrew]

It might be bigger issue for X360 as it has DVD but since PS3 has Blu-Ray, it's much smaller issue. Almost all computers have a DVD burner, yet only very few have Blu-Ray burner, thus the amount of possible pirates is smaller. Also, Blu-Ray can hold up to 50GB so downloading a game would take a lot time, especially with slow and/or capped connection.

Burning and downloading are a wasted step at this point. Ripping the game (or movie) straight to the hard drive is what will be a much more likely, and easy, solution. With laptop drives at the sizes they are, even if all games were 50GB, which very few are, you could still easily get a dozen of them on a drive. And that is just using the internal storage with a larger 750GB drive installed. Using connected storage expands that endlessly.

So, yea, this is a big issue, and one that I'm not sure how Sony will correct.

 

[Nuttydev]

It might be bigger issue for X360 as it has DVD but since PS3 has Blu-Ray, it's much smaller issue. Almost all computers have a DVD burner, yet only very few have Blu-Ray burner, thus the amount of possible pirates is smaller. Also, Blu-Ray can hold up to 50GB so downloading a game would take a lot time, especially with slow and/or capped connection.

I don't see PS3 hacking to be much of an issue. Some people will do it, that is for sure but Sony won't hassle with the protection and cause issues to end users because few lads like to install their own stuff on PS3

Actually the games will be playable off the hard drive (people do it on jailbroken PS3s already) so they'll simply be able to download it, put it on an external HDD and copy it across to the PS3s hard drive, letting them play whenever they want. Much like the PSP.

Also about the sizes of games, I saw a while ago that people had ripped some games from the bluray disks, and they actually only come out to around 7GB with the exception of games such as Metal Gear Solid 4, FFXIII etc and probably some exclusives.

 

[apolloa]

But the whole point of that article was they found a way that the firmware could NOT be updated and close the hole in the hack. That's why it's promising. Too many other hacks have been worked around in updates, and that's why this one is really cool.

I'd be happy to play some SNES games...although, my droid does that just fine now. I need to see if the iPad has emulators...but for some reason, I doubt it.

You are one of these extremely short sighted people who just love these idiot hackers. They only did this to wave there willy's in other hackers faces, no other reason, it's done just to gloat!

But this I am afraid has the potential to kill the PS3 and also this will kill the PSP for goo because the root keys for that were also uncovered in this hack...
It's a utter real shame, Sony won't be able to fix it and whilst PS3 sales may sky rocket due to this, it will only be cause people will easily be able to pay stolen games and cheat very easily in online play, so watch the developers drop the PS3 in droves....

But I guess people will just love for Microsoft to have the only HD console with online play on the market and charge a fortune for it.
Here's a good quote from the CVG article that pretty much sums this despicable act up:

This new development basically means that the homebrew and piracy scene will now essentially be able to create anything they like, from homebrew apps and games, to PSP-style custom firmware and, unfortunately, pirate games, without restriction.

So if you support this in anyway then by default I find you a despicable person because I happen to love my PS3 and can buy games cheaply enough to not have to turn to crime and stealing.

 

[macfan881]

Geo hot can kiss my a$$

 

[Sdashiki]

You are one of these extremely short sighted people who just love these idiot hackers. They only did this to wave there willy's in other hackers faces, no other reason, it's done just to gloat!

But this I am afraid has the potential to kill the PS3 and also this will kill the PSP for goo because the root keys for that were also uncovered in this hack...
It's a utter real shame, Sony won't be able to fix it and whilst PS3 sales may sky rocket due to this, it will only be cause people will easily be able to pay stolen games and cheat very easily in online play, so watch the developers drop the PS3 in droves....

But I guess people will just love for Microsoft to have the only HD console with online play on the market and charge a fortune for it.
Here's a good quote from the CVG article that pretty much sums this despicable act up:

This new development basically means that the homebrew and piracy scene will now essentially be able to create anything they like, from homebrew apps and games, to PSP-style custom firmware and, unfortunately, pirate games, without restriction.

So if you support this in anyway then by default I find you a despicable person because I happen to love my PS3 and can buy games cheaply enough to not have to turn to crime and stealing.

The overwhelming majority of any console purchase is done by people who have no idea about hacking, dont want to know about hacking, and if they did, couldnt or wouldnt anyway.

So this "death knell" for console gaming "stop the hackers" cry is moot.

 

[apolloa]

The overwhelming majority of any console purchase is done by people who have no idea about hacking, dont want to know about hacking, and if they did, couldnt or wouldnt anyway.

So this "death knell" for console gaming "stop the hackers" cry is moot.

Well it did a pretty good job killing the PSP and people used the same argument for that! People brought it then found about the hacking and the magic words 'free games' and that was it.. But I do guess that as these day's what you download is tracked and monitored hopefully games company's will follow the music industry and sue pirates.

 

[rezenclowd3]

This new development basically means that the homebrew and piracy scene will now essentially be able to create anything they like, from homebrew apps and games, to PSP-style custom firmware and, unfortunately, pirate games, without restriction.

So if you support this in anyway then by default I find you a despicable person because I happen to love my PS3 and can buy games cheaply enough to not have to turn to crime and stealing.

I still support it, though I would not pirate. On my chipped Xbox, I have over 80 games on the HD, however I own them all. I would do the same with my PS3 if given the chance. Faster load times across the board possibly, without the need to scratch or locate my discs in the drawer, I would be stoked to try it out.

 

[rezenclowd3]

Well it did a pretty good job killing the PSP and people used the same argument for that! People brought it then found about the hacking and the magic words 'free games' and that was it.. But I do guess that as these day's what you download is tracked and monitored hopefully games company's will follow the music industry and sue pirates.

The PSP "died" because the UMDs are a hassle, along with generally poor games. Not due to piracy, as was the same statement made for the Dreamcast. I much preferred my custom FW PSP due to the quicker load times there as well, and the ability to have all my games on 1-2 sticks vs carrying a UMD wallet.

BTW, the big 3 console makers HAVE gone after pirates and modchip makers/installers. I am just glad I bought a small batch of 10 X3 and SmartXX chips before the huge crackdown in the US about 3 years ago ;-)

 

[macfan881]

But the whole point of that article was they found a way that the firmware could NOT be updated and close the hole in the hack. That's why it's promising. Too many other hacks have been worked around in updates, and that's why this one is really cool.

I'd be happy to play some SNES games...although, my droid does that just fine now. I need to see if the iPad has emulators...but for some reason, I doubt it.

If you wanna go play snes games get a pc emulator or something like that I personally dont want something that will hurt the ps3 in sales with the moron pirates and make it a rehash of the psp the PS3 is finally starting to get ahead in the console market in sales and the last thing i want to kill it is people stealing games.

 

[Taustin Powers]

>unreadable mess<

Holy christ, can you PLEASE start using some punctuation in your posts already? It's like a puzzle challenge, trying to identify sentences in there...surely the extra key stroke to insert a comma or a period here and there wouldn't kill you?

 

[apolloa]

The PSP "died" because the UMDs are a hassle, along with generally poor games. Not due to piracy, as was the same statement made for the Dreamcast. I much preferred my custom FW PSP due to the quicker load times there as well, and the ability to have all my games on 1-2 sticks vs carrying a UMD wallet.

BTW, the big 3 console makers HAVE gone after pirates and modchip makers/installers. I am just glad I bought a small batch of 10 X3 and SmartXX chips before the huge crackdown in the US about 3 years ago ;-)

Oh dear God, why is it EVERYTIME you read a comment stating it was Sony's fault the PSP failed it's made by someone who has installed the said illegal software on a PSP....... Go on, tell me you NEVER once installed a ripped game onto your PSP, I'll believe you
No, piracy killed the PSP, ask the developers, ask Sony ask the games industry. PSP's were only selling because it was made to be so easy to steal games and run them and no body can argue that because it's a fact.

And to answer your second point, I think you'll find that the Developers will not just ditch the PS3 because they will loose too many sales. So they will either drastically cut back on development costs and we will all get lower quality games as they won't make as much money back.
Or they will simply follow in the footsteps of the music and film biz and request IP's from internet providers and take you to court for downloading their games illegally, their is nothing to stop them doing this and I hope they do do this, if you can't afford it then don't have it, it's pretty easy to understand.

It's also a fact that with cracked firmware comes piracy.

 

[Taustin Powers]

One thing I WOULD consider using this for (if it is made possible) is unlocking my PS3 to all region's PS2 games. I have a large collection of US PS2 games (cause I lived there for awhile) that I can't play on my backwards-compatible PS3 cause it's the wrong region.

 

[apolloa]

One thing I WOULD consider using this for (if it is made possible) is unlocking my PS3 to all region's PS2 games. I have a large collection of US PS2 games (cause I lived there for awhile) that I can't play on my backwards-compatible PS3 cause it's the wrong region.

Well that's going to be ALL you will be able to use your PS3 for. People just don't seem to actually get how serious this actually is. You may never get banned from PSN, you can install custom firmware, run game hacks galore cheating in every game and never get detected or banned, if you get banned, change your PSN and carry on. ALL this and much much much more is now possible thanks to low life scum hackers. Make no bones about this cause this DOES have the potential to kill the PS3 stone dead.

Does anyone actually want Sony to ditch the Playstation? Because they will, what's the point in them investing massively putting the company at risk only for hackers to destroy it all? And whilst I appreciate people saying this is good because I can do this or that or the other, in a way you are actually supporting the hackers cause and therefore the death of Playstation.
Considering that Sony fired the godfather of Playstation most likely due to the massive costs endured then as a business, I would be seriously thinking of dropping the games biz and cutting my losses. But then again I would love to meet this Geohot hacker guy and take my friends pliers, stanley and baseball bat with me too.....

 

[e²Studios]

Well that's going to be ALL you will be able to use your PS3 for. People just don't seem to actually get how serious this actually is. You may never get banned from PSN, you can install custom firmware, run game hacks galore cheating in every game and never get detected or banned, if you get banned, change your PSN and carry on. ALL this and much much much more is now possible thanks to low life scum hackers. Make no bones about this cause this DOES have the potential to kill the PS3 stone dead.

Does anyone actually want Sony to ditch the Playstation? Because they will, what's the point in them investing massively putting the company at risk only for hackers to destroy it all? And whilst I appreciate people saying this is good because I can do this or that or the other, in a way you are actually supporting the hackers cause and therefore the death of Playstation.
Considering that Sony fired the godfather of Playstation most likely due to the massive costs endured then as a business, I would be seriously thinking of dropping the games biz and cutting my losses. But then again I would love to meet this Geohot hacker guy and take my friends pliers, stanley and baseball bat with me too.....

Sony can tell what version firmware you are running, its how they force you to update if you want to play online or not now. That is a PSN function that is completely independent of the PS3. Chances are Sony will start banning PSN accounts and/or consoles from logging in to PSN once people start to mess with firmware.

You are blowing this way out of proportion, this will not be the end of the PS3, nor will it cost Sony any undue financial stress.

 

[rezenclowd3]

apolloa: in my early years with the orig Xbox, yes I did pirate some. However I have gone back and purchased retail discs of all of them, including games I have already finished and will likely never play again.

For the PS3, PSP and 360, 3/4s of my purchases are used, so the developers never see my money. So to answer your question, yes all of my games are legally owned.

It really isnt piracy that kills these systems. Yes they loose a huge potential profit, but people that pirate if given the chance generally will not purchase the game anyway. If you take a look, the titles that are actuallly good, and released at a opportune time sell well regardless of piracy. It's the hundreds of crappy games churned out that hurts the console image, therefore its sales.

Regardless I have voiced my opion on the matter, and I am in favor of homebrew, and the possibilities it opens to LEGAL game owners.

 

[0098386]

I used to like the CFW on my PSP for emulation and PS1 games (before Sony released them on the store). But I switched to an OFW because it's less hassle. All I ended up missing was SNES emulation and a few homebrew games.

That said I really hope piracy and game modding doesn't come to the PS3. Or if it does I hope Sony cracks down on them. Hack/modded players in Wii, Xbox and PC games really does my nut in!

 

[pcypert]

It was WAY easier to pirate games on the DS and no one says that killed anything...

 

[MRU]

Predictions 2011.....

I actually suspect this will ironically increase PS3 hardware sales once games are copied and installable onto the HDD.

During this initial surge Sony will lambast Microsoft and Nintendo, declare how well it's doing and that it is closing the margin in hardware sales (of course leaving out the part about piracy altogether)...


This sadly and this is where it will truly come unstuck, software sales will falter dramatically. Publishers will be trying to force Sony to close the door.

Sony will spend 2011 trying to close the door - and probably fail. Sure a few peoples PSN accounts are disabled, but piracy thrives on regardless.

Sony of course now lose potential revenue from every one they just banned on PSN from downloads on the marketplace. So software truly is taking a hammering.

Amongst industry peer pressure from developers and publishers - I can see Sony accelerating it's next console, for which I envision a E3 2012 announcement of PS4 with release Dec 2012 Japan / Spring 2013 USA / Summer 2013 Europe...




Remember the attach rate of games to hardware has always been lower on the PS3. This has been a problem for Sony as the majority of profit as opposed to loss comes from software.....

A pirate friendly system is not going to improve that, and publishers will be frowning.

It was WAY easier to pirate games on the DS and no one says that killed anything...

Not hardware sales, but software sales outside of the big name titles and Japan, are piss poor throughout the rest of the world in comparative terms to other hardware on the market.

3DS will probably go that extra mile to prevent it. Will it succeed ? Yes - for a while anyway and that's pretty much the state of every console.