Incoming PS3 Mod Chip Claims to Allow Game Backups

Earlier this year, a hacker was successful in breaking through the necessary walls that Sony had put in place on the PS3, and stated that it would be possible to play backups of your games, and do other fun things. While many were impressed with this feat, Sony clearly wasn’t. Merely two months later, the company decided to completely rid out the “Install Other OS” feature – one that allowed Linux to be installed.

On one hand, I can understand Sony’s beef with this hack, because if it becomes widespread, then people will undoubtedly be pirating PS3 titles like they’re going out of style. But on the other, I have a hard time respecting a company that ships a product with a particular feature (one I used off and on) and then takes it back later on. In essence, the company punished legit customers because of the shadier ones. That just seems wrong.

With its move to remove the “Install Other OS” option, Sony likely felt confident that its worry of PS3 piracy was over, at least for a while. Unfortunately for Sony, there’s a new mod chip on the horizon, and it does everything that the company has feared, including playing “backup” copies of games.

How this mod chip works is interesting, because it doesn’t require you to crack open your PS3 in any way. Rather, it’s simply a USB thumb drive that you plug in. You run the software found on it (it can be assumed that the thumb drive actually includes a special chip, and not just software – which itself could be easily pirated) and then go on your merry way. You’ll be able to back up your games, and then be able to copy them elsewhere if you choose to.

The interesting thing in all of this isn’t so much that a mod chip like this is soon to be released, because in truth, it’s not all too surprising. What does make me laugh is that Sony removed a useful feature from many consumer’s hands without so much as an option, and that this thing comes along… a product that enables piracy on the PS3 and has nothing to do with that feature.

The developers of this mod chip are so confident in their product, that they’ve even stated that it’s safeguarded against future PS3 firmware updates. Let’s see how Sony handles this one…

The device is said to be simple to use, with nothing to install and no warranties to break by opening your hardware. It is also supposed to work on both older systems and the newer Slims. Simply connect the USB stick, follow the onscreen instructions, and soon you’ll be able to dump PlayStation 3 games directly to your hard drive. These games are said to run faster than playing from the disc, and you no longer have to worry about placing the discs in the system to play. Convenient!