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Console Hacking


marharth

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Main discussion topics numbered.

 

1. Does it greatly contribute to piracy?

 

I think it does, many people within the console modding group deny this but to me it seems quite clear it contributes to piracy.

 

2. Should it be illegal?

 

No opinion yet, would like to see what other people say.

 

3. What should game developers do about it?

 

Same as two.

 

 

 

Please do not discuss methods on how to install certain things on consoles since I think that violates the rules, this is just a debate on if its OK or not.

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Might wana rephrase the "debate on if it's OK or not" to "debate on a causal link between modding consoles and software piracy". Some people just can't help themselves: Give 'em an inch and they'll run a mile, something along those lines.

 

1) IMO: It allows piracy, therefore by definition it increases it considerably.

 

2) No comment. I would like to think that one day a hardware developer might actually have the balls to open up their console to cater to the more experimental groups, ie Universities made great use of the PS3 Linux capability before Sony got cold feet. But if they're too busy trying to oust the people who are coming up with new and productive uses for the hardware ie, US DOD's supercomputer anyone? They hardly gain a thing compared to the huge losses the research groups using them would experience. I know a large number of people/groups who use/used the Linux enabled consoles to do calculations which would be impractical to run on a desktop computer.

 

3) Honestly, I'd suggest overhauling the entire EULA system. Imagine if goods like TV's, DVD's or food had the license agreements games have: Only one person can watch this TV at any particular time. If more than one person is going to be using the TV at any specific time a second License (equal to the cost of the TV) must be bought. If you invite a neighbor over they must not observe the TV unless the Owner holds a suitable Public Broadcast License and a spare Observer's License for the neighbor observer.

 

Sure you can't "copy" TV's as easily as you can copy games so it's an extreeme example, but the point is still valid.

Edited by Skevitj
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1. Bethesda doesn't have a problem if you mod a game on your console. Microsoft does. Using mod chips and the like modifies the system itself, which violates the terms Microsoft put on the XBox-which is sold as a "gaming unit", not a computer. That said, technically, doing so has no impact whatever on "pirating" per se. If a mod can be legally obtained for one; it's legal (at least from the modders view) for all.

 

2. Technically, it is. Still has nothing to do with "piracy" per se. It would if these chips turned X-boxes into playstations. What they actually do is void your warranty and make it so you can't use that system to access live. In theory, you could be sued by microsoft for making unauthorized alterations-but you'd have to do something to attract their attention. Like say, post how to do it on a widely read site.

 

3. The game developers have nothing to do with this situation. In this case, it's the hardware manufacturer saying "you will not modify our equiptment in such a way to make it run non-manufacturer approved software".

 

3(b). To use the previous poster's example, actually, it "does" sort of work that way. If you record a show on TV, it *is* piracy if you give the disk to a neighbor. Also, no one says others can't *watch* you play, just if they *also* want to play, they need a license. So only one person on the remote, please!

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I'm not talking about recording TV. One of the common stipulations in a game EULA is that the game is only allowed to be run on one computer at a time (per license), even within a household. To me that is analogous to only one person being allowed to watch a TV while a show/movie is playing on it.

 

The aim of the point was that if games were released with "household" licenses: Where a "legally reasonable" number of instances of the game could be running at once within a single unit/house (I can't remember the proper definition) from the purchase of a single license, then that would remove a reason people use to justify pirating games, and hence would at least in part contribute to reducing piracy. I am fully aware that this is saying: If you give us more free stuff we won't steal as much, but the point is game licenses are already restricted to the point where it's ridiculous, and as time passes it only gets worse.

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Nope, this is not going to be allowed......discussion of console modding is not allowed here.

 

Do not start another.

 

Buddah

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