Ubisoft: Sony will not be able to stop PS3 pirates

Emil

Posts: 152   +0

Ubisoft believes that Sony will not be able to combat piracy on the PlayStation 3, which was recently hacked. Martin Walfisz, former CEO of Ubisoft subsidiary Ubisoft Massive, was a key player in developing Ubisoft's new DRM technologies. Since playing pirated games doesn't require a modchip, his argument is that Sony won't be able to easily detect hacked consoles.

"If that hack works as reported, I don't believe that Sony can regain any control," Walfisz told GamesIndustry. "And given that it seems that users won't even need a hardware mod-chip to play pirated games, I don't believe that Sony can even detect which users to lock out from PSN. They could try to employ a similar system to Xbox Live, so that people running hacked systems won't have access to PSN. But Sony won't be able to stop people from running pirated game copies as long as the machines are not hooked up online. I would assume that pirated copies can be stored on the HDD as well, making it so easy to use that PS3 piracy, given time, might even surpass the handhelds."

Sony's only possible solution is to revise the PS3 hardware itself, which would be a very costly process. Changing the hardware could possibly work for new console sales, though there would be the problem of backwards compatibility with the already-released games. Furthermore, current users would still be able to run pirated copies on current hardware.

Last week, hackers publicly posted the PlayStation 3 root key, which is used for code signing games. The root key lets the PS3 know that a piece of software is legitimate, meaning other hackers can use it to make custom software or use pirated games. So far, Sony's only response has been to file a legal complaint against the hackers.

Permalink to story.

 
hello ...

for sure it will be hard for SONY, so it's about time the developers lend a hand & start to protect their games more until a true solution is found & let us pray real gamers are mature & honest enough not to steal other people's work ...

cheers!
 
lol ps3 is doomed and i am happy chappy........i can't wait to try out the emulators on my PS3 lol.
 
Define real gamer??

and maturity? since when does maturity involve purchasing?
 
does anyone know if this root code leak will enable the use of other OS's again. If it means I can install XBMC on it - I'm all for it. I'll stick to PC gaming though - I hate console gaming :)
 
Guest said:
Define real gamer??

and maturity? since when does maturity involve purchasing?

Because I guess that Robot dude you were replying to believes that it is more mature to buy games than download them for free.

Which to a degree, I agree with. I think the thing I hate most is second hand games though, mainly because the developers don't get any of that money. Maybe Microsoft, Sony etc... should find some way to kill second hand sales?

Anyway i'll shut up.
 
The only way too stop this is for sony to issue CD-keys with all new software, Just like PC. Which has to be activated online or over the phone. That way the security is removed from the PS3 hardware and now is apart of each indiviual software app
 
I dont know whay you think, but as I live in a 3° world conuntry I can Assure you lots of people was waiting for this moment, due to the fact that they cannot afford pay for every game they want, now they will get the ps3 Hack it and done!..... This will make the PS3 the best selling console just like the PS2. 100 millions 80% hacked, THIS IS REALLY BAD FOR DEVELOPERS BUT NOT FOR SONY, IT WILL SELL MORE... Just my though...cheerrss!!
 
This is not good for Sony because game developers will now be concerned about mass pirating on the PS3. Depending on who's numbers you believe the install base for the PS3 as of last November was approximately 42 million consoles. Even if Sony modifies the hardware on new consoles this will only be a small percentage of the total install base for a long time to come. Complicating matters even further is the fact that the PS3 now has a lot of competition from increasingly affordable Blu-Ray players. While the PS3 is certainly a capable Blu-Ray player (I own the original) there are now plenty of viable alternatives that integrate better with most home theater systems.

Creating unique CD-keys is one possible stop gap, but this will also increase overhead for the developer which in turn could lead to higher game prices for the PS3. Hopefully, Sony can pull a rabbit out of the hat and find a way to resolve this that does not require a hardware modification.
 
Guest said:
Define real gamer??

and maturity? since when does maturity involve purchasing?

I think his point is that stealing is immature. Lots of other good reasons to want to unlock a PS3 though that are perfectly mature and legal.
 
Time to release a PS4? :p

I don't think pirating games is effective yet due to the size of the games. So Sony just need to stop big HDDs being made >.>
 
So now that piracy is now gonna be rampant on all 3 platforms (PC,Xbox360,PS3)

Does it mean you guys and start making PC games again to actual use our hardware and not hide behind the piracy Bullshit!

O wait I just woke up from a dream where the dev's actually gave a ****.
 
Those who were going to pirate it wouldn't have bought the game anyway. You prob won't be able to go online a hacked game so most games in which online are important will sell very well anyway. This just means now you can have emulators on your ps3. Also im sure a PS2 emulator wil be very popular. The biggest thing to understand is you can run 360 emulators and wii ones aswell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS3 is going to destroy in console sales, and software sales will prob just remain the same % wise. It truly will be able to do everything now lmao
 
hello ...

I LOLed at Robot dude ;) ! Thank you burty117

I meant that piracy is bad for developers & gamers alike, we may think like if someone wasn't going to buy a game in the first place then decide to steal it, makes no difference, well it does.

I'm talking about those who sell modded consoles with bunch of free games (i\m not talking about downloads anymore for games are 4, 10, 25 & up to 50 Gb NOW & i work for an ISP, i know what are being prepared to track the usage ... BEWARE!)

Only someone immature won't see the implication of piracy, to everyone i've talked only or offline, those supporting hacking have same thing in common: hiding behind the hypocrisy of homebrew & do whatever we want with our purchased material.

I just wish that someday those same become artists / developers / movie-makes in their future !

homebrew never brought killer apps to anything, what do we want 8-32 pixelated games on an HD console when it's far better on a mobile one. do we want fake scanners / fart generators & flashlight for the PS3 ... if the homebrewers bring me something as good as indie games or even bad movie-tie in like games i would say WOW!

the PC is great for homebrew, just stop hiding the true intentions of stealing ... it hurs the gaming industry, soon you will find out.

well i guess it's no use trying to convince some, i'll say good luck & wish SONY & developers do find a way to stop this & it's not a matter of whose platform is better ... it's all about the games !

cheers!
 
Buy out GeoHot ... let SONY hire him by giving him an offer he can't refuse and let GeoHot work in SONY's Anti Piracy Dept. LOL
 
Slightly offtopic. While devs accuse PC of piracy and they probably have good statistics behind it. I'm more pissed of devs like EA screwing their PC users with poor performance and poor quality titles. Battlefield bad company 2 was good example of sluggish performance on PC. Black ops was good example of impossible online play until 5 patches. So please tell me the PC end user, who would LIKE to BUY the overpriced 50 pound(because for them 1pound=1usd) game, I'm left with something unplayable/unenjoyable and throwing my money out of the window. To add insult to the injury there are usually no demos! So what are my options - piracy?

So as far as this topic is concerned, as every platform is hacked now, I am hopeful this will change the tune of developers hiding behind the piracy bullshit.
 
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not and i apologize ahead of time if you are but do you really want this digital only future they are pushing for where you own none of your games, can't recoup the cost of what you spent on them and can never get used games cheaper? I don't know about you but until i started making money i always subsidized new consoles by selling the old one and the games with it.
 
The OtherOS option is made redundant. You can sign ANYTHING on the system. Nothing to stop you signing another OS and booting it directly.
 
"source" for that sweeping statement?

think you may find pc's out number consoles by quite a wide margin
 
hello ...

@ Guest / on January 13, 2011 2:26 PM :

I never said the word 'purchasing' but insist on 'not to steal' ... for if it's free, well it's free !!!

cheers!
 
Back