That PS3 thing

[SinbadEV]

Noting that this forum has a generally held "don't ask don't tell" policy when it comes to piracy and hacking I am really anxious to do some good discussing on the subject of the whole "PS3 Rootkey" etc. stuff.

Keeps this to hypothetical discussion and no direct linking to haX etc.

Basic run-down of what I understand to have happened with lot's of guesswork:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story so far

Sony releases PS3 with "other OS" capability which allowed the system to load custom software into a "Hypervisor" (essentially a virtual machine with limited access to hardware etc.).

Somebody figures out a way to break out of the Hypervisor and run custom code and somebody else (probably using the above mentioned break-out technique) developed a USB dongle that lets the PS3 run homebrew and "pirated" games.

Sony removed the option of "other OS" in a "required" network update (required to play any new games etc.)

Linux geeks get pissed off and, using complex maths, discover that Sony was dumb and forgot to include a random number generator in their encryption algorithm which meant that one could reverse engineer their algorithm by comparing the encrypted data (or something like that)... released this information to the wild claiming that they only did it so they could run Linux again.

Some other guy releases the root-key for the PS3 which, theoretically, will allow people to install custom firmware by signing it as a legitimate Sony update. Also finds out the PSP and Sony Blu-Ray root-key embedded somewhere in the Sony firmware and releases that too.

Sony says that they will fix the exploit in a forthcoming PS3 software update... hackers say that that's not possible.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, let's discuss... what I'm wondering is, there are dreamcast games released for the PS3 which, presumably, run on a dreamcast emulator... does this mean that someone will be able to decrypt and reverse engineer this emulator and let me run all my old dreamcast games on my PS3?

at one point you could play PS2 games on the PS3, and there are functional PS2 emulators for PCs that are significantly less powerful (CPU-wise) then the PS3... does this mean some benevolent hacker will release a functional method by which I could play my old PS2 games on my PS3?


How long until we see viruses and "brickers" coming out for the PS3?

[Caydr]

Miss the last episode of House, download it instead, you're a pirate.

Download a TV show you can't get on TV for any price or even buy it on DVD since it's region-locked, you're a pirate.

Bypass region locking, now you're circumventing. You're still going to jail, bitch.

Download a game with no demo, play it for 10 minutes, it sucks ass so you uninstall it, you're a pirate.

Download BA, you're illegally transferring copyrighted materials, ie, piracy.

Hell with that, I'm going out, buying a PS3, modding it, downloading lots of games illegally and playing them forever, and I'm in the same boat as all you.

~~~~~

Rather than reverse-engineering the proprietary DC emulator, they'll port NullDC to it. Same deal for anything else, within a year there'll be an emulator for everything that ever existed.

[knorke]

tl;dr:

a functional method by which I could play my old PS2 games on my PS3?

[Caydr]

tl;dr:

a functional method by which I could play my old PS2 games on my PS3?

That would be pretty nice.

Only reason I haven't bought a PS3 is I'm unwilling to buy one that won't do backwards compatibility. Can't believe Sony gimped their do-everything box by not allowing it to play literally the most popular games of all time.

[SinbadEV]

tl;dr:

a functional method by which I could play my old PS2 games on my PS3?

That would be pretty nice.

Only reason I haven't bought a PS3 is I'm unwilling to buy one that won't do backwards compatibility. Can't believe Sony gimped their do-everything box by not allowing it to play literally the most popular games of all time.

Yeah... I bought my PS3 thinking I COULD play PS2 games so I'm twice as allowed to be mad as you... but, as I said... there's really no reason why a "decent" emulator couldn't be concocted:

(SOURCE WIKIPEDIA)
system specs for PS2

CPU 64-bit[2][3] "Emotion Engine" clocked at 294.912 MHz (launch), 299 MHz (newer models)

Graphics "Graphics Synthesizer" clocked at 147.456 MHz

for the PS3:

CPU 3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine with 1 PPE & 7 SPEs

Graphics 550 MHz NVIDIA/SCEI RSX 'Reality Synthesizer'



now I'm no emulator programmer but it sure seems like that's enough power to emulate 2 PS2s... though admittedly the graphics would likely need to be heavily pre-processed on the CPU

[knorke]

i thought the Reality Synthesizer is that thing in Journeywars that allows you to summon cockroachs from lava?

[SinbadEV]

i thought the Reality Synthesizer is that thing in Journeywars that allows you to summon cockroachs from lava?

It can be both... just like my train that runs on the crushed souls of hobos is called the "Emotion Engine".

[KaiserJ]

why not just use one of those ps2 for pc emulators you mentioned?

and why not google and discover that what you're requesting actually exists?

edit: from what i understand you can use a DVD bootloader to run ps2 games saved on a usb drive

[Caydr]

why not just use one of those ps2 for pc emulators you mentioned?

and why not google and discover that what you're requesting actually exists?

edit: from what i understand you can use a DVD bootloader to run ps2 games saved on a usb drive

One, because console games are supposed to be played on a console with a console controller on a big TV. That's the whole point.

Bootloader = more effort than putting in a disc and it working.

[KaiserJ]

plug tv into your videocard nice and easy

edit: selecting a rom to run takes like 5 seconds :D

[Caydr]

5 seconds too long. Plus my computer's.... oh wait, I have a huge TV for my monitor. Huh. Interesting...

[KaiserJ]

i've a nice setup for couch gaming... 40" tv, 2x xbox 360 controllers. the real clincher i guess is having your computer next to a large screen

never played anything more current than PS1 in terms of emulators; its freaking awesome for PC releases of sports games though

[Wombat]

at one point you could play PS2 games on the PS3, and there are functional PS2 emulators for PCs that are significantly less powerful (CPU-wise) then the PS3... does this mean some benevolent hacker will release a functional method by which I could play my old PS2 games on my PS3?

same here, i also thought it will be possible to play ps2 games (btw, ive heard god of war 1 and 2 for ps3 is worth buying)

also, they say ps3 is already hacked, without this silly usb thingy.

anyway, cba, need new blue-ray lens, fuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Caydr]

Holy crap, lens issues AGAIN?! WTF SONY!

[Wombat]

dont even start baw baw talk about any 'issues'. this is popular problem but only promile compared to sales. microsoft made bigger poop.

also, my ps3 is 5y old, first 40gb model so dont tell me sony failed. got any problem with it since last xmass (fu)

[SinbadEV]

I was just thinking* that it would be really funny if this "jailbreak" suddenly causes a rush of new people to purchase PS3s and Move Controllers... making Sony a whole crap load of monies.


* (among the feverish dreams that plagued me over the past few days... things like wiping out the partition table on my brain and being stuck in an elevator on the 4th floor of a 3 story building and my deceased father strangling my infant son to make him stop crying...)

[lurker]

Huh, looks like PS3s count as federal interest computers and offering to work for someone is extortion. Who knew!

[Wombat]

I was just thinking* that it would be really funny if this "jailbreak" suddenly causes a rush of new people to purchase PS3s and Move Controllers... making Sony a whole crap load of monies.


* (among the feverish dreams that plagued me over the past few days... things like wiping out the partition table on my brain and being stuck in an elevator on the 4th floor of a 3 story building and my deceased father strangling my infant son to make him stop crying...)

sony lose cash on every ps3 they sell, they earn money on games. so...

[SinbadEV]

I was just thinking* that it would be really funny if this "jailbreak" suddenly causes a rush of new people to purchase PS3s and Move Controllers... making Sony a whole crap load of monies.


* (among the feverish dreams that plagued me over the past few days... things like wiping out the partition table on my brain and being stuck in an elevator on the 4th floor of a 3 story building and my deceased father strangling my infant son to make him stop crying...)

sony lose cash on every ps3 they sell, they earn money on games. so...

Sony has been selling PS3s for a profit since mid-2010. It took them 4 years to get to this point and meant cutting out PS2 playback, half the USB ports and stripping out the memory card readers and cutting costs on a number of other fronts... but they are now making money (and I think they are making money on controller sales too)

[SinbadEV]

Sony goes to court to get PS3 key crackers to shut up already

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011 ... lready.ars