PS3 and hacking : doomed to fail?

[Kikujiro]

First, I'd like to state that I have nothing against Sony and the PS3. I probably have some misgivens about them, but I don't hate them or anything.

Next, to move on with the topic:

The PS3 was released yesterday and, oh surprise, it works exactly like a PSP.
Which means:
- possibility to swap HDD for a bigger one (juste like a Memory Stick, only bigger)
- a sony-made file format, PUP, which is used for releasing updates (like the 1.10 one) and such. It reminds me of the ELF on PS2 and the PBP on PSP...
- posibility to freely transfer files between a PC and the PS3.

Now, that's where it gets alarming for Sony. It is a wide-open door for hacking. With these cards in hands, I give only a few weeks to Sony before some hacker find a way to launch homebrew and iso from the HDD. Sony may try to securize its console with updates, but we all know how it has been going for two years with the PSP: hombrews, iso and poor software sales.

However, things have changed: Sony has put a lot of money in developping both the PS3 and the Blue-Ray, and they're staking everything (on this single blow) on the PS3 success. But sales of the system alone won't do them anything good, since they're selling it cheaper that it actually cost them to produce (A PS3 = ~900$) And a system which software sales are bad beause of easy hacking loses it's third-party support.

Soooooo... what do you guys think about all this? Is Sony doomed to fail with such a system? Will they remain OK, but not great due to that hack thing (like the PSP)? Or is it nothing to worry about?

[chronomaster5042]

you do know that the PS3 supports homebrew out of the box (though to what extent is uncertin yet)

[Kikujiro]

Of course I do.
But I don't see what it has to do with the current problem

[chronomaster5042]

Of course I do.
But I don't see what it has to do with the current problem

what it has to do with is the drive get homebrew running.  With legit homebrew, these been a lot of requests for higher FW's to be hacked (and subsequently ISO loaders to be run) on the psp, but with the PS3 already having legit homebrew, there won't be as many people to try and get ISO loaders working.

Plus the legitimacy of ISO loaders will be in question to.  I use Devhook on my psp to load ISOs I own because it decreases the load times dramatically.  With being able to install part of the game to the HD, that will (hopefully) curb that as well.

[Kogahazan]

Blargh, my friend and I were talking about this the other day, specifically the PSP. He was talking about how the PSP was expensive anyway, at least compared to the DS, plus it makes you buy an expensive memory stick that gets even more pricey if you want bigger ones to store more games on, so you still end up paying a lot even if you're loading up pirated ISOs. You could say that if you pirated more in games than the cost of the PSP and memory stick, it would be worth it, but he argues that the PSP doesn't have a whole lot of good games to begin with so your wallet still suffers.

Now the PS3, I don't know what to say about that... I don't really hate the PS3 (like, if someone offered to give me one for free, I'd take it) or Sony (well, sometimes like that whole Lik-Sang thing...), but it's just so goddamn expensive. I have a friend who plans to get the PS3 and he's banking on the possibility someone will hack it... All game systems will eventually have their hackers, historically Sony's systems being relatively easy compared to others (except maybe Dreamcast, RIP)... so I'm with you on giving them a few weeks for a hacker to try something. I would actually give them a little longer, just to be generous ; )

A lot of people have already labled the PS3 as Sony's swan song, not factoring in hackability. Hackers will just add to that, so I wouldn't be surprised if the PS3 is doomed. If it did manage to turn out okay, that'll surprise me, but hats off to them for pulling through the odds.

[Leroy]

All I'd really want is the ability to play legal PS1 and PS2 imports. It's region free for PS3 games only. A few years down the line.. I'd like to think that there might be some PS3 games worth getting and being able to pass my collection one would be grand. Sony hardware isn't exactly known for its staying power and I'd hate to have to buy another PS2 with a chip.

[Jose260]

Mmmm. Didn't know than Sony was lossing in the manufacturing of the PS3. Thats a really bad omen.
Any way, im sure the companions dont like the loss of sales by piracy, and if it so easy to do, they wont risk on it.
May be the companions keep making games some games for PS2???
Yes, i know, im dreaming.

[throughhim413]

I don't see the PS2 fading away right away.  Like with all new generations of gaming, there will be some time when development will be done on both the old and new systems.  In any case, I'm in no hurry to buy a PS3.  Between my Wii, PS2, and DS, I still have plenty of games to play.  I'm still more likely to buy a 360 than a PS3, even if they are selling them at a loss.  I'm not convinced that gaming is ready to shell out $600 for a system and $60-100 per game.  But maybe that's just me.  I think the PS3 is going to have a hard time getting a foothold right away.  I don't feel like there's as much of a 'high end' market in gaming like you might find in TVs or DVD players or those sorts of things.  But maybe that's just me.

By the way, Jose, I think what you meant to say was 'companies', not 'companions'.  I'm only trying to be helpful, so forgive me if you would rather not be corrected.

[bungiefan]

Mmmm. Didn't know than Sony was lossing in the manufacturing of the PS3. Thats a really bad omen.
Any way, im sure the companions dont like the loss of sales by piracy, and if it so easy to do, they wont risk on it.
May be the companions keep making games some games for PS2???
Yes, i know, im dreaming.

It is completely normal for consoles to be sold at launch, and for the first few years, at less than cost. Software licenses and accessories for the consoles make a lot more money at that time. Nintendo is the only console company I know of to consistently release their consoles for more than cost, and still have them be at a low price compared to the competition. Thus, they make profit off of hardware sales from the start, in addition to those from software licenses and accessories.

[throughhim413]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/748/748723p1.html

Perhaps I underestimated how badly people wanted to crack this system...