Let the PS3 ripping begin!

Ok, the PS3 wasn't 'hacked' per se, but it has been instrumental in the ripping and playback of blu-ray movies through Linux.

There aren't any security measures on blu-ray playback on the PS3 Linux. As a result, it's naturally possible to rip the blu-ray media straight to iso and play it back using linux media player software.

Follow the jump for deets
Link

More interestingly, piracy groups seem to have found a way to rip the blu-ray games to ISO.

From the nfo file that's floating around:

| cOMPANY : Activision | rELEASE DATE : 02 Dec 2006 |
| sYSTEM : PlayStation 3 ! | sIZE : 68 x 100mb |
| tYPE : Action/Role Play | vIDEO MODE : NTSC/USA |
| sUPPLIER : Huey Lewis | cRACKER : G0d |
| mEDIA : BLU-RAY | pLAYABLE : Soon ;)

The disks were more than likely ripped using the PS3 + one of the linux distros available. Playback is as yet impossible since there isn't a way to 1) burn them, and 2) convince the console that they're the real deal.

We here at 3dgamer don't condone piracy in any way, shape, or form, but I see this as the potential beginning for a future homebrew gaming scene. The PSP has one that is/was booming (I sold my PSP several months ago), and it will be interesting to see homebrew stuff making its way to the PS3 as well. I know that it is more than possible to create homebrew games for Linux on the PS3, but frankly, that lacks the '1337 factor' of having a h4x0r3d PS3 that plays homebrew games.

360 to benefit from console shortages?

You can't help but wonder how long before people become totally fed up with waiting to get their hands on PS3's and Wii's and opt for picking up a 360. Sometimes companies ship fewer systems in order to increase hype around the release, however, I'd question the intelligence behind the decision (especially by Sony) to ship so few. It seems Microsoft may have been prepared for this and are quite happy with the console shortage in North America. Recently Microsoft executives let it be known that they intend to try and have 10 million Xbox 360s sold wordwide by the end of the holiday season.

As if losing potential sales isn't bad enough, if quantities remain low, it is most likely that potential PS3'ers will pick up a 360 this holiday season (simply because they target the same audience). This is even worse news for Sony, as Microsoft's Xbox HD-DVD add on for $200 is definitely a much easier alternative to purchasing a bluray player- especially for those who have already picked up an Xbox for the holidays.

Though this sounds like bad news for Sony, Nintendo caters to a different audience, and from the looks of their sales, they seem to have everything under control (outselling the PS3 2-1). It remains to be seen however how both Sony and Nintendo put up with the upcoming holiday demand. If you want to make sure you get your hands on a console this holiday season, the 360 will definitely be your best bet - which may have been Microsoft's strategy all along.

Is Sony mired by their own inventiveness?

Do you remember the Betamax format? It's okay if you're not familiar with it; I wasn't even born when Sony released this videocassette format back in 1975. Technically superior to the VHS, Beta just never caught on, and that's why VHS became the choice medium for videotaping your most embarrassing childhood memories, and subsequently, playing them back in front of your present-day boy/girlfriend.

How about the MiniDisc? Another Sony-pioneered format launched in 1992 with ambitions to take over the portable music player market. That didn't happen either. Portable CD players won that game, and the introduction of the MP3 player made the MD a thing of the past--now only used by reporters trying to catch the next big soundbite.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that Sony has trouble with winning format wars.

An article in the UK's Independent caught my attention. Heading into the holiday season, Sony is really pushing to get their new PlayStation 3 under as many trees as possible. But once again, Sony is being held back by the technology they've developed. The Independent reports that the Blu-ray is in part, responsible for the PS3 shortages, citing problems with the Blu-ray laser diodes as restricting production of the scarce black boxes.

Microsoft has recently released an HD DVD player add-on for their Xbox 360 console. The bigwigs at MS are also insisting that HD DVD-games are not in the works--a good thing for Xbox 360 owners who don't see the need to tack on a superfluous HD DVD player to their console. What this also means is that Microsoft isn't throwing the 360 headfirst into this format war--this may be a good decision.

This brings up another question. Are we ready for Blu-ray, or even HD DVD for that matter? Blu-ray boasts its higher data capacity, but HD DVD players are ostensibly cheaper than Blu-ray players. But we might be getting ahead of ourselves--I know I still haven't chucked my DVD player out yet.

The High-Definition medium format war has yet to play out, but will HD DVD's victory mark the downfall of the Blu-ray format, and subsequently, the Blu-ray-equipped PS3? Conversely, will Blu-ray, championed by the PlayStation 3, lead Sony out of the format war-doghouse and into millions, or perhaps billions of homes worldwide? Only time will tell.

What we do know now is that Blu-ray technology is holding Sony back from bursting out of the gates in this generation of the Console Wars. And that can't be good news.