It looks like the first major title for pirates has been claimed, the now infamous PS3 USB stick’s “Master Key” has been found and released into the wild.
You’ll remember the whole USB key / jailbreak thing earlier in the year, but what does this mean for the rest of us? Well, at the moment it’s unclear but it does look like it’s now possible to put any currently available PS3 into Service Mode, and – more alarmingly – allows any user with a firmware version of 3.50 or below to downgrade to an earlier version. Whilst 3.55 users can’t downgrade, they can still access service mode.
Current problems (apart from possibly invalidating your warranty) include loss of Blu-ray playback after performing a particular downgrade/upgrade path.
The actual PS3’s Master Key remains intact, thankfully, and will continue to be so, as even developers don’t get access to it.
TheSixthAxis does not condone piracy or unlawful hacking and modifications.
cc_star
As I understand it, all PS3’s can be jailbroken whilst in service mode, if this is the case it makes FW updates kinda pointless. Also, work has started on combating the temporary Blu-ray playback problem.
Perhaps Sony can combat the hacking community by embracing its positive aspects & bringing them to the official eco-system, in the same way Apple has done with the iPhone, where practically every useful feature that has been created for jalbroken units (except wireless sync) has been adopted by Apple in official FW.
By definition hackers will hack. You can only use the ‘stick’ for so long, but at some point the ‘carrot’ needs to make an appearance.
cc_star
I realise that could be construed as pro-hacking it’s 110% not meant to be at all. I personally abhor piracy even away from my semi-public face on TSA, but there are positives to homebrew that I believe if Sony were to embrace rather than combat it will prevent an increasing pool of people experimenting with the ‘dark side’ which opens the piracy door.
NotoriousGTT
As with jailbreaking phones etc it all comes down to this, if the company actually listened to customers and gave them what they wanted then there would be no need for people to jailbreak. While a small minority will still want to pirate games the majority just want some of the cool features that jailbreaking offers.
You are totally correct that Sony need to embrace this and start listening to the user base and actually acting on it.
bajere
i think thats correct. lots of features can be added, and they get added by people who want them, the users. if Sony listened to the users and actually did the things, then people wouldn’t need to hack. In an ideal world, we could hack and rewrite things to our PS3’s until our fingers bleed, but just have some form of bar that stops piracy. Maybe PS4 will give us that…
hazelam
also some kind of indie program like ms set up for the xbox and sony had with the net yaroze thing for ps1 would be a good move i think, let people make games and apps for the ps3 officially, remove the need for something like this for those who just want to make ps3 software.
because although there are those out there who would use something like this puraly for homebrew, many might be tempted to pirate once they’ve got it.
and with an official indie program the software could then be used by anybody, without any risk of piracy.
cc_star
Exactly… If there was an official area for people to tinker and then some sort of approval process that would mean people could play around, new things would come with no extra work for Sony & they could keep the piracy door closed, whereas now people who like to tinker have the piracy door open, tempting them like a massive free all-you-can-eat buffet.
I suppose it’s tricky to have one without the other, but its now a proven fact as far as the PS3 is concerned that FW updating just doesn’t work.
DJ-Katy
cc_star that is exactly why I installed Linux on my PS3 and exactly why I was so annoyed they got rid of OtherOS. I don’t want to pirate games, I want to tinker, make stuff.
I’m 110% pro-hacking: it’s freedom of expression, and when companies deliver products into our homes that are arbitrarily locked down to suit them, it should be a basic right for us to modify the device however we see fit – we paid for it after all.
I am of course, 110% anti-piracy as well, there’s an important distinction that is often lost in translation around these parts.
Grey_Ghost13
Unfortunetly I can’t see Sony embracing it. Little dig at them, but they don’t seem to listen to us that much. They do give us great things, but alot of what gets asked for doesn’t arrive. I see the PS3 as their little baby and they only want on it what they want.
Don’t you think it’s weird though that if you hack the 360 all I know that it can do is play pirate games, but with the PS3 so much more can be achieved.
cc_star
Just look at that http://share.blog.us.playstation.com/ thingymajig that launched ages ago to see how much (little) they listen.
BrendanCalls
WOW! Ive just visited that link and its made me realise that Sony, really don’t give a monkeys what they want from their PS3.
Not that just because its asked for they should get it but at least some sort of acknowledgement that they are aware.
Awayze
My PS3 3.41 is hacked. Serves Sony right for not owning up to the YLOD issue. I used to be against hacking but when my PS3 60GB got YLOD on Xmas day last year and Sony charged me £128 to replace it my opinion changed. I’m all for hacking. But I won’t pirate good games like GT5 but I will crappy games like Black Ops.
Grey_Ghost13
Thats a bit harsh! I don’t think sony need to own up to the YLOD issue. Yeah there is a fault in a percentage of PS3 units, but no where near the level of that other console, or other manufactured products. And there’s a warranty and they provide a repair service, a hell of alot steeper than most places if you shop around, but I don’t think Sony deserve to have the PS3 hacked as it has a negative nock on affect on the rest of us honest PS3 owners and users!
BrendanCalls
They do need to own up to it and they should also be replacing the systems for a lot lower price than they currently are.
However, that in no way justifies piracy. Essentially Sony don’t directly lose out via piracy, its the developers and publishers who build games for the system that lose initially. They than pass on that loss to the consumer, so basically piracy costs less today, but it costs us all a lot more tomorrow.
Awayze
My PS3 3.41 is hacked. Serves Sony right for not owning up to the YLOD issue. I used to be against hacking but when my PS3 60GB got YLOD on Xmas day last year and Sony charged me £128 to replace it my opinion changed. I’m all for hacking. But I won’t pirate good games like GT5 but I will crappy games like Black Ops.
Grey_Ghost13
You do realise that:
“TheSixthAxis does not condone piracy or unlawful hacking and modifications.”
solidsteven
You know that Nofi or CB could report your PSN id to Sony?
Hacking is never right. Just because your console broke does not mean that you have the right to hack into it.
cc_star
Hacking isn’t piracy.
Juelz345
@CC,
No it isn’t, but he does clearly state that he’ll pirate “crappy” games like Black Ops.
@ DoucheBa…i mean, Awayze,
If the game is crappy then why pirate it?
How bout you take the responsibility for your actions instead of blaming Sony. Piracy is illegal, immoral, and inexcusable. People like you are the problem, and will eventually be the leading factor in the death of the industry, just like what’s happening with the music industry.
Nauraph
I do think that ps3 should be more ‘open’ to allow more homebrew software and such. But making it more open, makes it easier to break it open even further to allow ‘free’ games.
The only reason I can think of why somebody would be allowed to hack a ps3, is as a sport, a personal project. And I’m sure that’s why it was hacked in the first place.
But all these idiots (pardon me) who think they can justify hacking a ps3 “because Sony messes up”, or any other non-logical reason, should be severely punished. Same goes for the people that bring out these hacks to the public.
Severn2j
I totally disagree with those who say hacking is wrong. Piracy is wrong, granted, and that does harm Sony as (AIUI), they make a loss on each console and make their money back through people buying games (as in razors and blades), but as far as hacking goes, I paid for the product, therefore its mine to do with as I please. There seems to be a lot of confusion between piracy and hacking, but they are not the same thing, not even close..
.
I haven’t hacked mine as I enjoy using the online features and it does what I want, so there’s no need for me to hack it, but I’ll defend to the death the right of others to use their property as they wish, not as some corporate dictate..
.
Well, not to the death, but you get my point.. Too many liberties are being eroded because of corporate lobbying and this is just one of many issues.
gazzagb
Does this mean we’re gonna get another FW Update within the next few days?
PriceKitty
I hate hackers.
DJ-Katy
“The actual PS3′s Master Key remains intact, thankfully, and will continue to be so, as even developers don’t get access to it.”
Wow, how naive was that sentence.
DJ-Katy
I guess I should clarify: if a piece of data is on a piece of silicon, it can be obtained.