Curmudgeon Gamer
13 January 2008
Hacking the PS3 (or: Sony is clever, for once)
A thread came up on NeoGAF about when it might be possible to play copied PlayStation 3 games, via modchip or hacked firmware or what have you. This reply pointed to this talk on YouTube, which is terribly interesting. Watch the introduction, which takes about five minutes.
I remember when it was announced that GNU/Linux would be permitted on the PlayStation 3 out-of-the-box and how this was a move to prevent piracy. These folks, who at least give the impression of being in touch with the hardware hacking scene, believe that making the PlayStation 3 open to other operating systems has kept it safe from the pirates. In a nutshell, the "smart" hackers open a system up and the "dumb" pirates then exploit the opening. By inviting the former group to play within some boundaries (certain PS3 hardware is still off limits from within PS3 Linux distributions) the latter group doesn't have a chance.
Now, that doesn't mean that the PS3 will never be hacked. All systems are hacked, eventually, I believe. But 14 months after the launch Sony is still secure. Every other system they've launched has been hacked to pieces, and they've lost out on at least some software licensing fees as a result. (I won't try to figure out how much, given how people argue that pirates would never have bought the games in the first place, that Sony might benefit from having more people playing software on its platforms, etc. etc. Perhaps we can all agree that it's at least greater than thr-- four dollars.)
Of course, the irony is that Sony finally had the right idea on the platform whose software fewer people actually want to play, much less pirate.
I remember when it was announced that GNU/Linux would be permitted on the PlayStation 3 out-of-the-box and how this was a move to prevent piracy. These folks, who at least give the impression of being in touch with the hardware hacking scene, believe that making the PlayStation 3 open to other operating systems has kept it safe from the pirates. In a nutshell, the "smart" hackers open a system up and the "dumb" pirates then exploit the opening. By inviting the former group to play within some boundaries (certain PS3 hardware is still off limits from within PS3 Linux distributions) the latter group doesn't have a chance.
Now, that doesn't mean that the PS3 will never be hacked. All systems are hacked, eventually, I believe. But 14 months after the launch Sony is still secure. Every other system they've launched has been hacked to pieces, and they've lost out on at least some software licensing fees as a result. (I won't try to figure out how much, given how people argue that pirates would never have bought the games in the first place, that Sony might benefit from having more people playing software on its platforms, etc. etc. Perhaps we can all agree that it's at least greater than thr-- four dollars.)
Of course, the irony is that Sony finally had the right idea on the platform whose software fewer people actually want to play, much less pirate.
--jvm at 18:00
Comment
[ 4 ]
03 August 2007
Stay out of the virtual rare book room. Buy DOOM on CD.
So now id Software has their games on Valve's virtual rare book roomSteam service. Yuck.
The prices of individual games are pretty bad. I'd rather track down a physical CD that I can keep forever and, where applicable, use one of the enhanced clients made from the GPLed source code. The big package of all of id Software's games is a deal, however, if you're cozy with Steam's tentacles.
Which brings me to my big concern: no more GPLed id Software games. Now that DOOM 3 is on Steam and theoretically available for sale forever, perpetually priced at $20, we probably won't see any source release as we've seen for everything since DOOM.
My naive understanding of Steam is that the General Cache Files (GCFs) encapsulate game data and present an extra layer between the user and the data. So Steam users might have to do some extra work to use a GPLed client with the data they've bought through Steam. Moreover, it's possible that id Software has now, or will someday, make it impossible for GPLed clients to play against the client distributed through Steam. I'm still unclear on how mods like Counter-strike and Red Orchestra work through Steam, but I'm guessing that they are close enough to commercial to get special status. (How do lesser mods integrate with Steam?)
Oh well. It was a nice run. Thanks for the games, John Carmack and id Software. Hope this venture works out for you.
Update: From Dustin over at LinuxGames:
Update 2: Be sure to check out Ryan's comments here and here which suggest I'm even more wrong.
The prices of individual games are pretty bad. I'd rather track down a physical CD that I can keep forever and, where applicable, use one of the enhanced clients made from the GPLed source code. The big package of all of id Software's games is a deal, however, if you're cozy with Steam's tentacles.
Which brings me to my big concern: no more GPLed id Software games. Now that DOOM 3 is on Steam and theoretically available for sale forever, perpetually priced at $20, we probably won't see any source release as we've seen for everything since DOOM.
My naive understanding of Steam is that the General Cache Files (GCFs) encapsulate game data and present an extra layer between the user and the data. So Steam users might have to do some extra work to use a GPLed client with the data they've bought through Steam. Moreover, it's possible that id Software has now, or will someday, make it impossible for GPLed clients to play against the client distributed through Steam. I'm still unclear on how mods like Counter-strike and Red Orchestra work through Steam, but I'm guessing that they are close enough to commercial to get special status. (How do lesser mods integrate with Steam?)
Oh well. It was a nice run. Thanks for the games, John Carmack and id Software. Hope this venture works out for you.
Update: From Dustin over at LinuxGames:
Someone beat me to the question about Linux and open source gaming! Carmack is proud of the code he's released, and he will open source the DOOM III engine in the future, and years and years from now, id Tech 5. He also says that knowledge informs their decisions while developing new engine technology. This response got the biggest applause of the session so far, which kind of (pleasantly!) surprised me. :]There you go, Carmack's on record and I'm on track to be wrong. I hope he follows through.
Update 2: Be sure to check out Ryan's comments here and here which suggest I'm even more wrong.
Labels: gnu, id, online distribution, quake, steam
--jvm at 20:47
Comment
[ 6 ]
06 April 2007
Stallman's wrong about consoles
Richard "GNU" Stallman says that there is no Free Software for consoles, therefore using them is unethical. I disagree. The essential differences are:
(Aside: There is the issue that Sony provides the means to install GNU/Linux on part of the PlayStation 3 hard drive, but I don't think that completely negates the idea. It's essentially bi-modal: either a game machine, or a GNU/Linux device, and the two are cleanly separated.)
Consoles don't have general computing interfaces, don't run productivity software, and are intended for entertainment activity -- an area to which I've never felt necessarily compelled to apply the GNU principle of Freedom. A computer you buy in the PC area of a Best Buy, by contrast, portrays itself as a general computing device, capable of doing everything from word processing and taxes to movies and games. In those cases, data you create or depend on can be held hostage by a non-Free application.
In brief: consoles are appliances. (I suspect that when Bob and I had whatever previous discussion we had about this stuff, I said that. If I didn't, well, I should have.)
(Aside: How will Game 3.0 affect this? If I create a Little Big Planet level that Sony permits me to sell for real money on a Sony PlayStation 3 virtual marketplace...well, that might be a different situation. Of course, Game 3.0 isn't much more than a promise at this point, but it could present interesting differences.)
The other angle is that consoles are really platforms for perceiving creative works of entertainment. The software itself -- with sincere apologies to my friends who make games -- is kind of not the point. The point is the experience in which I take part. I don't really care how a video player decodes the video and puts it on a screen, but I do care about the creative work that is thereby displayed. I don't care whether a game is running the Unreal Engine 3 or the Quake 4 engine, but I do care how the game makes me feel.
Well, there you go. I fully expect everyone to disagree, possibly even myself at some indeterminate time from now. As Miguel de Icaza famously said: You can now flame me, I am full of love.
- They are not general computation devices
- They are platforms for perceiving creative works of entertainment. (Cue Ruffin telling me to get busy reading the literature on art and games. Sorry, I confess I haven't done it yet...)
(Aside: There is the issue that Sony provides the means to install GNU/Linux on part of the PlayStation 3 hard drive, but I don't think that completely negates the idea. It's essentially bi-modal: either a game machine, or a GNU/Linux device, and the two are cleanly separated.)
Consoles don't have general computing interfaces, don't run productivity software, and are intended for entertainment activity -- an area to which I've never felt necessarily compelled to apply the GNU principle of Freedom. A computer you buy in the PC area of a Best Buy, by contrast, portrays itself as a general computing device, capable of doing everything from word processing and taxes to movies and games. In those cases, data you create or depend on can be held hostage by a non-Free application.
In brief: consoles are appliances. (I suspect that when Bob and I had whatever previous discussion we had about this stuff, I said that. If I didn't, well, I should have.)
(Aside: How will Game 3.0 affect this? If I create a Little Big Planet level that Sony permits me to sell for real money on a Sony PlayStation 3 virtual marketplace...well, that might be a different situation. Of course, Game 3.0 isn't much more than a promise at this point, but it could present interesting differences.)
The other angle is that consoles are really platforms for perceiving creative works of entertainment. The software itself -- with sincere apologies to my friends who make games -- is kind of not the point. The point is the experience in which I take part. I don't really care how a video player decodes the video and puts it on a screen, but I do care about the creative work that is thereby displayed. I don't care whether a game is running the Unreal Engine 3 or the Quake 4 engine, but I do care how the game makes me feel.
Well, there you go. I fully expect everyone to disagree, possibly even myself at some indeterminate time from now. As Miguel de Icaza famously said: You can now flame me, I am full of love.
Labels: gnu
--jvm at 19:43
Comment
[ 15 ]
Richard Stallman speaks: no to consoles
Well, I'm going to have to have a long think about this one. RMS says don't use consoles -- it's unethical.
I saw the original quote at NeoGAF in this thread, but I had to find the original source on my own.
Q: One final question. We're seeing more and more devices, and I'm thinking specifically of games consoles -- I know that my kids have one in the house -- where there is no --Man, that stings.
Richard Stallman: I wouldn't. You have to learn how to say no to your kids.
Q: That's true, that's true, I wouldn't deny it. Now, there is no free software at all for devices like this [correction: Yellow Dog supports some console(s)].
Richard Stallman: That's why there is no possible ethical way you could use one, and so you shouldn't have it.
Q: All right, I think I'll take the kids out on the bike more often.
Richard Stallman: That would be much better for them.
I saw the original quote at NeoGAF in this thread, but I had to find the original source on my own.
--jvm at 13:37
Comment
[ 14 ]
Feedburner
