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360 Hacked To Play Backups
xorkid writes "Microsoft Corps '
unhackable' Xbox 360 console has been hacked. It is now possible to play copied games from recordable DVD DL discs without any soldering or hardware modification. The ingenious hack involves replacing the original 360 DVD firmware with a modified version that authenticates recorded DVD DL discs as original game discs. The hack does not require any modification devices but it requires a 1:1 copy of an original signed disc from the same region as the console. So it does not allow booting of unsigned code, yet. No Linux on the 360 for now, but its a start. There are rumours that there is an as-of-yet unreleased version that allows booting of unsigned code."
As E3 just gets over and the next-gen console wars start to heat up, a hack for the 360 comes out allowing for 'backup' games to be run. Now, I realize that MS loses money with each console sold, but how many people wait to buy a console till a way comes out to play 'backup' games?
I know many people that didn't own an original Xbox till they found out how easy it was to hack it, then ran out to get one. I am sure that MS will shut down Live for any systems that are running this hack just as they did for the Xbox running the softmod hack, but could this be something that MS planned on to sell more systems?
The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel...
It sounds like this hack is a procedure that has to be performed for each 360, not a universal key that can be mass-produced like an Xbox 1 chip. And of course expect a new rev of the 360 that breaks this to hit pretty soon (or, as a stopgap, all 360s start using the Hitachi drive).
It looks like it's just another "hack the DVD drive to run copies of games", right? Geez. So it's just a way to run pirated copies, not even a way to build a homebrew system -- and it involves opening up the box and reflashing the firmware? And, of course, it's easy to mitigate; bets on whether the next rev of the 360 checks the DVD firmware signature on boot up?
Nobody but Slashdot said the 360 was "unhackable.' The quote in the BBC article linked from the summary says: "Microsoft plans to make its next generation games console, the Xbox 360, as difficult as possible to hack." (emphasis added)
... and when they start checking they will probably act like with the Xbox1, ban your Xbox 360 console serial for life from the LIVE servers ... or maybe even more, who knows what they are planning. You've been warned!"
I attended a Microsoft presentation last year before the 360's release. The engineers there said that the console wouldn't be totally immune to hacking, they just want (a) to make sure that it's very hard/costly/complex to hack it and (b) to keep hacked 360s off of Live. From the linked article about the hack:
"Can Microsoft detect it via Xbox LIVE? They probably can
For more information, click here.
Of course, I realize it is cool to take things Microsoft says out of context the company is not made up by idiots (again, despite what many want to believe). They know it is going to be hacked. They're going to make every effort to make it as difficult as possible. But they aren't going to claim the ship is unsinkable.
Although, if I simply missed that article where the "unhackable" claim was made I look forward to a chuckle at Microsoft's expense. Perhaps someone could link that article though, since it isn't in the article summary.