I’d hate to be a Sony employee and then find out that a new PSN-enabled custom firmware has been released to hacked consoles, and then finding out that there’s widespread publication of the console’s LV0 decryption keys, which apparently, “blows the system wide open.” Because that’s what happened to Sony. And it looks mighty tricky for the Japanese manufacturer.
The guys over at Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry have quite a lot to say on the matter, but most importantly, they say that “Options Sony has in battling this leak are limited.” That doesn’t sound too good.
“The release of the new custom firmware – and the LV0 decryption keys in particular – poses serious issues. While Sony will almost certainly change the PSN passphrase once again in the upcoming 4.30 update, the reveal of the LV0 key basically means that any system update released by Sony going forward can be decrypted with little or no effort whatsoever.”
While in the past Sony has been plugging the holes here and there with software updates, this time it looks like the company has a massive sinkhole that they won’t be able to patch up so easily. What implications this hack has for the PS3 can be quite startling for Sony, with piracy potentially being the worst thing on their minds.
However, much like iOS jailbreak software, some good could come out of this, but of course, Sony would want to stamp out anything that isn’t locked into their own walled garden. What’s next for the PlayStation is anyone’s guess, but it’s going to get a whole lot more interesting in the near future with a better possibility of homebrew apps and more custom fun. [Eurogamer via BBC, Cheers Lester_Bangs!]
Image credit: NME.













XBoX FTW !
Couldn’t agree more! My PS3 was long since relegated to blu-ray player only duties.
Both equally as shit. although PS3 gets better 1st party titles (Uncharted – that’s all folks)
Agreed, Uncharted is awesome. But still not very convincing
At being real life?
No. convincing argument for buying a PS3 instead of an XBoX
XBoX is backed by a successful software behemoth and not by a failing struggling company, so I feel secure.
I’ve got both, I understand, they both have their up’s and down’s.
The PS3 up until recently has always been my bedroom media device. With a flash browser I could watch new episode of Family Guy and stuff, and it’s had all the TV catchup services for a long time.
I also think the actual system (menu’s) is better and faster on the PS3, I agree the Xbox OS(?) looks cooler, but it is not as quick or efficient.
The new Halo looks good though, but Uncharted FTW..
There’s also The Last Of Us coming out before long. Lots of other exclusives on PSN and full release, as well.
I used to have a 360, and ultimately sold it because I hated the idea of having to pay to play online. The PSN used to be a bit ropey, but several years later it’s absolutely brilliant. PS+ is a massive bonus as well. I can’t stand the MS dashboard – gaming seems to have taken second place behind advertising and other clutter. The XMB in comparison feels lightweight, easy to use and attractive.
Add the fact that PS3s tend not to break after three months, and I reckon they’re superior.
True, the last of us looks awesome! Heavy Rain was also a PS3 masterpiece! and yea the xbox dash board if full of adverts, even though you pay for the online service!
PS3 needs more RAM, would like to play music and all games at the same time! But a game made specifically for the PS3 beats all efforts for specific Xbox games.
Yea, Im thinking of switching.
Fired up the PS3 last night for a quick bit of MW3, but noooo, I had to wait while it installed a system update to install Turkish as a new language before I could play the game, then PSN decided it didn’t want to connect, when it finally did it kicked me out straight away. 15-20mins of messing about.
Gave up and went to the pub.
Troll, troll, troll your boat…
Wasn’t 360 hacked in its first year? I seem to recall several people I knew could play ‘backups’ with a modded disc drive.
Pipe Down Kid!
Read my comment again and always think before you reply.
Yea, a few of my mates had 2 xboxs, 1 for online and 1 for Backups they downloaded of TPB. fkin geeks.
I don’t condemn piracy for games, but I wish they would lower their prices from the standard £40 to about £30, £40 is just way too much for a game.
Comments like these are what started Gizmodo US’s crazy comment reforms. For the sake of a healthy commenting community, if you must proclaim that product A is better than product B (usually as you chose to spend you £s on product A so you are trying to justify to an uncaring public), please give a more compelling argument than “FTW”.
Thank you very much for your input. I shall go home and seriously ponder over how foolish I’ve been.
No worries. Sorry if it is a bit rant-y. I’m very angry-rant-y today.
It was a vague comment and sigh of relief for owning an XBoX. Nothing more
Relieved why? This isn’t going to negatively affect ps3 users afaik. I also never liked having to pay to go online on my xbox, never bothered.
Just play PC games, much better than the 6/7 year old inferior consoles which are being caught up by mobiles lol.
Are you female?
lolmobiles.
Sony have managed to do pretty well regarding piracy this generation. Possibly the most secure console compared to the 360 and wii.
You forgot to mention that this exploit requires a PS3 on 3.55 firmware.
The people still on this firmware are likely pirating already
Hey it did well to last this long.
This generation was shit anyway, no wonder people want to pirate so badly.
Can I haz a star?
you console sux…
my console ftw…n00bs.
Sorry had a terrible flashback there…