ModChat

Starting off this episode with another PS1 English translation patch, this one being released for the game Addie no Okurimono. Game Boy Advance lovers can rejoice knowing they can replicate some original PCBs thanks to the original boards being reverse engineered and released for free on GitHub! The PS5 gets some big updates, one being for bd-jb now updated to work up to firmware 7.61 for disc based consoles. We also have a big proof of concept teased showing PS5 game backups running for the first time on a modified PS5! We highlight an interesting addition to Insignia Live, with that being the Xbox Video Chat application being revived. Even better, if you can't get an original Xbox webcam, would you believe that with a couple modifications you can use a PS2 EyeToy camera on the Xbox? If that's not enough off the wall modifications to add into this episode, we also check out a prototype proof of concept of what could have been if Metal Gear Solid 2 released on the Dreamcast.

An announcement, an explanation, and a release tie this ModChat episode together! First the latest Analogue offering teased is discussed, this being the Analogue 3D, an upcoming N64 based clone console. Switch owners who might have had their console modded at any point in time (whether they know it or not) might have been experiencing some unfortunate bricks updating to the latest 17.0.0 system firmware. Thankfully SciresM comes in with a fix AND an explanation to explain exactly how and why these bricks were happening. Finally, J-Runner with Extras gets a fork with the release of DirtyPico360. This is a firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico which allows anyone using a glitch chip to program it with the Raspberry Pi Pico, benefitting costs and accessibility for anyone looking to modify an Xbox 360.

A short episode of ModChat, but some cool projects to take a look at! One being the public release of GTA:OG, a project which aims to bring Grand Theft Auto: Online back online for the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. A couple of Dreamcast projects get some mentions here, one being Redump2CDI which allows for MIL-CD formatted discs to be converted to CDI format. The second being another English translations, this time for Under Defeat! Finally we get some big PS5 news in the form of a PS4 FPKG Enabler released for console owners on 4.03 firmware.

Some news going from the PSP all the way up to the PS5! The PSP Go gets some love thanks to some PCBs crafted up to help get the console into service mode for unbricking. A homebrew receiver for the GameCube Wavebird controllers gets teased. We also see a tease for 120FPS patches on PS5 for some PS4 games, blowing right past previous news of 60FPS patches! The Xbox family of consoles gets some love in the form of a privilege escalation that works within Developer Mode. Finally, for fun we talk about Rockstar Games selling cracked versions of their own games on Steam.

A bit of old and new for this episode of ModChat! The Original Xbox gets some love in the form of the LPC Mangler and accompanying LPC Recovery Tool released as new open source projects. A FlippyDrive update for GameCube comes about, now showing some amazing promise of being able to retain the DVD drive and have the ODE installed as a drop-in solderless addition! A lost Doom prototype developed on the Dreamcast in 2000 has been found and released. The 60FPS patches for PS4 and PS5 games shown in the last episode have been released, with some amazing ones so far including a much desired patch for Bloodborne! Baryon Sweeper also get additional progress shown, now confirmed to be working on the PSP Go. Finally, we talk about the sad news of the upcoming Xbox 360 marketplace closure coming up next year.

Starting with more Dreamcast news covering the iconic Daytona USA coming back for online play! Xbox-Scene makes a return in the form of a spiritual successor site. FlippyDrive, a new and super affordable ODE for GameCube, has been announced for an upcoming release! Some awesome PS5 news comes in the form of seeing the Secure Processor dumped, as well as improvements to existing tools allowing for some of the first game patches on both PS4 AND PS5 games running on the PS5! More news of Vita unbricking progress is now shown, Retail Homebrew on the Xbox is officially dead, Dolphin Foundation responds to claims about the Common Key, and a super awesome looking HDMI mod compatible with the PS2 was announced with much fanfare and controversy. Finally, Xbox 360 players rejoice over the Call of Duty games being fixed up online... And more?

A new episode for July 2023, but a whole lot of old console related news to talk about here! The Dreamcast ended up getting a big English fan translation patch, with this being the first fan translation for an officially released visual novel on the console! A couple years ago the PS Vita had the KyuHEN homebrew contest, but it looks like it returns in the form of FuHEN which I cover a bit of here. Although nothing has released on this, we take a look at a proof of concept showing full self-booting PS1 backups being possible. The oldest console covered seems to be some old 8-bit Atari computers, which I've never covered on here, but I'd say a homebrew DOOM port is worth covering for it! Insignia, the original Xbox Live replacement service, got a lovely article covering it from GameSpot which we briefly go over here. Finally, the talented Kaze Emanuar covers a place where you can get some of his work... Which is Walmart?

Transformations, homebrew games, and more in this episode of ModChat! Starting out with possibly the smallest iteration we've seen of real NES hardware, the TinyTendo has been teased with more details and instructions coming soon! If the Famicom is more your preference, the Famicom Disk System gets an awesome new development with the FDSKey. The Switch gets some great developments for both emulation and real hardware. First being Yuzu's release on Android, and as a reversal we now have Switchroot working on ALL models of the Switch. Super Mario World's decompilation project gets some attention here, as does a new kernel driver for the PS Vita more geared towards the PSTV called "tvikey" to allow for native keyboard and mouse support. Finally we cover not one, but TWO Game Boy homebrew games. The first being an upcoming game from Mega Cat Studios called Kudzu, and the second being a game released by... McDonald's of all companies?!

Back in March 2023 it was announced that Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator, would be getting an upcoming release on Steam. About two months later the impending Steam release was taken down from the Steam storefront, with news coming out of this being a Cease & Desist sent over to Valve from Nintendo themselves. Now a week removed from the initial takedown, we take a look at what's been going on, what the issue is, and possibly how Dolphin could fix the issue of keys being pointed out as the issue here.

Coming back for a second episode of ModChat this month, talking about everything from a new Steam Deck hardware mod, to an odd PS4 prototype! First up is the Deck HD for the Steam Deck, a whole new screen upgrade and replacement packing a great looking punch for $99. The PS3 gets an update some people have been waiting for in the form of CCAPI compatibility working up to firmware 4.90. In a world of 60 FPS patches the PS4 gets a Force 30 FPS plugin, which we talk about the benefits of having. PS5 game decryption is now possible on firmware 4.03 consoles thanks to a new release we also discuss! The Original Xbox gets some love in the form of the upcoming XBHD device, but for who is this device exactly aimed at? Finally, we see a pretty wild looking PS4 prototype in the form of the SYRUP-11.

Baryon Sweeper for the PSP gets a big update allowing it to currently unbrick nearly every model of the PSP out there! In more PSP news, CheatDevice Remastered for the Grand Theft Auto games goes open source. Following last month's news of PS1 ODE devices, we get even more news with the successor of the xStation being announced, this time being a solderless solution called the mStation! In original Xbox news, we see the official Xbox Wireless Adapter get reversed as well the Xenium Black Ice being open sourced. Project Stellar also has a lovely enhancement for those special Xboxes out there with upgraded CPUs, with a small showcase of enhanced game compatibility looked at here. The Switch homebrew tool Lockpick has been taken down, so we look into that as well covering what happened and why? A preview of an upcoming GameCube jewel mod is teased from Laser Bear Industries, and finally we take a brief look at the homebrew port of Zelda's Adventure to the Game Boy!

A brief look at the Switch here with a new update for Atmosphere which adds in a USB file transfer module. We also go back to the Wii U to take a look at progress on the de_Fuse project. Paper Mario gets some appreciation here with the announcement of the US version of the game being decompiled to 100%! PS3HEN gets an update to 3.2.2 with some extra features we take a brief look at. PSIO owners sitting without a new update for years can hopefully celebrate with ps-iowned and upcoming progress on it. Some Xbox 360 hardware gets reverse engineered, with a new look at the Open Demon Project.

Unfortunately last month of ModChat was missed so... I figured I'd double up and pack two episodes worth of content into one for hitting the ONE HUNDREDTH episode milestone! Here we discuss an whole slew of PS3 news and updates related to the recently released 4.90 firmware update. Legendary PS1 game The Legend of Dragoon gets a playable PC port, and PS1 games get some more love with mouse support in DuckStation! OPL for PS2 also gets a BIG upgrade in the form of exFAT internal hard drive support. We also cover some sad news with CTurt deciding to retire, but we get a look at his mast1c0re part 2 write-up.  Modern day Xbox (One and Series) homebrew takes a hit where we discuss the recent outright block of retail side homebrew. We revisit the Picofly rumors showing a release and an upcoming piece of hardware teased by the name of McFly! Finally after this long, LONG episode I have a bit of an extended outro reflecting on the inception of ModChat, phases it went through, and the future.

The PS3 gets some love with a new CFW release from developer Evilnat, this being the debut of PEX/D-PEX variants! Bringing back the possibility of DEX CFW on a new firmware for the first time since 4.84! Castlevania: Symphony of the Night also gets some coverage in the form of a new decompilation project, currently in progress at the time of recording. Xbox 360 on the Xbox Series consoles is opened up even further thanks to the power of UWP and the Xenia emulator being ported over! The PSX (not the original PlayStation) gets some exciting news, seeing the possibility of replacing the hard drive with an upcoming IDE Emulator device. We also revisit the possibility of full CFW on all PS3 consoles, although it has come to a bit of a disappointing ending. Finally, we wrap up this episode with a new variant of the OpenTendo project: the OpenTendo TopLoader!

Here's to the first episode of 2023! We take a look at a whole slew of systems, first of all we cover ENLBufferPwn being disclosed impacting the 3DS, Wii U, and Switch! The DSi also gets some WebKit appreciation in the form of Stylehax, making access to homebrew easier than we've ever seen until now. PS4 gets some love with the PS4 CFW Toolkit release for reverse engineers. HENlo after being teased/announced years ago finally gets a release as well, which we see turned into a full jailbreak with HENlo-jb. The Vita gets even more love with NetStream, a new video player and streaming app for the console! RPCS3 gets a fantastic announcement, covering that ALL released PS3 games at minimum run on the emulator! L4T Ubuntu get an awesome release for ALL Switch models, allowing L4T Ubuntu to work on all models of the Switch for the first time. Sonic the Hedgehog gets a demo of all things working natively on the original PlayStation, and we shine a light on a relatively new English patch for the Japanese release of Aconcagua. Finally, we delve into an article from Eaton showing how Microsoft attempted to speed up the Xbox 360's Dashboard late into the console's lifecycle.

To finish off the year we've got some old hardware becoming new again, upcoming projects being announced, and a neat looking yet credible rumor to investigate! We take a look at the latest beta of GoldHEN together with SCANLINES being added in, perfect for retro titles! The RP2040-Zero makes an appearance possibly showing a new affordable hardmodding method for newer Switch models using an off the shelf component. The Raspberry Pi Pico makes an appearance with the announcement of Picostation, and open source ODE (Optical Drive Emulator) for the original PlayStation! Finally, we see what The Mod Shop has been up to with reversing and releasing open source boards of the original Xecuter 3 components!

A bit late this month, but we're back for another episode of ModChat! This time around discussing the recent announcement of SD2PSX, a brand new open source hardware and software solution for the PS1 and PS2 using the memory card port. Supporting FreeMCBoot, OpenTuna, FreePSXBoot, and more to be announced! We also take a look at Gran Turismo Sport's online only save access being liberated to work offline with an awesome patch, and the introduction of a new plugin based game patch loader for GoldHEN! Cemu is looked at briefly with it recently going open sourced. We also check out some awesome, long awaited Vita ports of mobile Dead Space and Mass Effect games!

More developments coming quickly in the PS5 scene! We've had a WebKit vulnerability released publicly in the past, but this time around we now have a kernel vulnerability out in the wild, released, and usable! Although this is still early on and similar to the early days of the PS4 on firmware 1.76, this is still a start which will help developers and reverse engineers. Don't expect anything such as GoldHEN so early on, there's still a lot of work to be done, but quite a bit has already been completed to get to this point! This episode will be more of a show & tell episode discussing the recent release, showing it in use, and even doing some testing with an updated BD-JB implementation. Although BD-JB has been released before, we now have our first public release with kernel level access baked into it!

A bit more of a focused episode this time around, but covering mostly PS4 and PS5 developments in the homebrew and modding scene! The first of which being a new (or old?) kernel vulnerability being reported for the PS5. Next up is an awesome and potentially unpatchable PS2 emulator escape for the PS4 & PS5! We take a look at it all here on this episode while throwing in some extra commentary, opinions, and more.

Open source goodness returns for a couple of our topics: the BootMii Loader being open-sourced as well as Sonic Mania's decompilation project being released! The Xbox 360 gets yet another awesome patch this time for internal HDD and SSD users, letting hardmodded Xbox 360 owners utilize internal drives up to 16 TB compared to the previous 2 TB limitation! Finally, we take a look at proof of the first PS3 retail firmware existing thanks to recent discoveries!

The legendary PS3 Toolset has been updated, now officially supporting firmware 4.89 and having many more under-the-hood tweaks to improve the experience further for anyone using it. We also take a bit of a look at PicoBoot, a brand new development for the GameCube using the Raspberry Pi Pico, as I share my own experiences installing and using it. We even get political this episode, discussing Japan's task force dedicated towards video game preservation! TheFloW open sources his own bd-jb implementation, Apollo Save Tool gets a port on the Vita, and even the PS1 gets some love with Stealth Unlocker!

More of a show & tell episode of ModChat, this time around we take a look at a few reimplementations of the recently disclosed bd-jb development for PS4/PS5! This episode is a bit more laid back as we step through the process of getting all the files we need, burning a BD-RE disc for the first time, and testing this on a few consoles. PS4, PS5, and even a throwback to the PS3 are all included this time around!

A lot of excitement for the PS4 and PS5 (and possibly even PS3) with a new entry point showcased using BD-J! This being "bd-jb" showing the possibility of jailbreaking the PS4 and PS5 using a Blu-ray disc burned using the BD-J format. We also go back to the PS1 showing PicoMemcard which is a useful way of making a PS1 compatible memory card you can easily hook up to a PC using a Raspberry Pi Pico! The original Xbox gets an awesome development showing that RAM upgrades are now possible on 1.6 motherboards. The Wii U also gets a pretty awesome Recovery Menu option thanks to the release of UPDIH which can be launched using the oh so familiar Raspberry Pi Pico. We also highlight an awesome writeup covering the Xbox 360's architecture and an upcoming N64 emulator plugin called RT64.

A mostly PlayStation focused episode with a side of Xbox this time around! We first look at the release of Halo 3 Sunrise, a custom server revival of the Xbox 360 version of Halo 3 that's compatible with both modified AND non-modified consoles! PS3 gets a 4.89 system update, as well as PS Vita with the 3.74 system update, so we discuss that a bit as well. PlayStation Home gets a bit of a comeback with a breakthrough showing that it's possible to run it through the Destination Home project... On official firmware!? We also hopefully see the beginning of something awesome with some PS3 modchip related news, possibly leading us to full custom firmware on ALL PS3 consoles! The PS5 also has some announcements with a recent kernel heap overflow disclosed, as well as a method of showing a bit of the console's filesystem! Finally, we take a look at a lovely and flat out delicious looking modded original Xbox in the style of Mountain Dew Code Red. Tune in and enjoy!

This month sees a brief return to the PS1 right at the beginning with a look at MCTOOL, a TonyHax and FreePSXBoot installer! We also see some awesome advancement for the PS3 in the form of Project RSX Boost. Some more enhancement patches for PS4 games come out with ALL of the FromSoftware games getting homebrew patches to fix their framepacing issues! Many more homebrew ports for the Vita come down the pipeline with the release of YoYo Loader, a loader for virtually any game made with Game Maker Studio to run on the Vita. The long awaited 16 TB Xbox 360 kernel patches release to the public in BETA form, as well as some news of a native PC port of Ocarina of Time! Finally, we talk about a recent leak for the Switch, showcasing a Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulator! Maybe something to come down the pipeline in a future NSO update? Stay tuned!

Going from old to new this episode of ModChat, starting all the way back from the NES with MetalNES, a new transistor level emulator from emulation legend Icer Addis! Gran Turismo had a recent release, but we go back in time with a recently released patch which combined both discs from Gran Turismo 2 into one! The Original Xbox also gets some love with the Titan series of patches, allowing some major storage related data and speed increases! Another HDMI project has been open sourced, this one coming from Ryzee119. An Ikuruga demake gets a port for the Vita, and the Vita itself seems to now be playable on Switch with the vita2hos translation layer! We also perform a demonstration of GoldHEN's latest big feature: a cheat menu! Finally, we also see Uncharted 3's multiplayer beta come back online for the first time in over a decade. Stay tuned!

This month we've got some more PS4 developments, featuring a way of customizing the EMC (Southbridge) functionality as well as a hands on look at Icon Mask. The PS5 also gets a demo here on ModChat for the first time with a WebKit exploit released and working for firmware 04.03! We also have some more Xbox 360 developments with PicoFlasher, allowing users to utilize an affordable Raspberry Pi Pico as a NAND programmer! J-Runner gets a fork in the form of J-Runner Pro, and we even touch up on the PS2 with a piece of homebrew by the name of M-PS2Craft.

New year, same podcast! ModChat returns in 2022 with a new emulator on the PS4 scene, this time around for Sega Saturn games! We also see Apollo Save Tool make a bigger splash on PS4 thanks to firmware 9.00 compatibility. Some more PS5 news has come down the pipeline, looking at Znullptr's most recent tease in regards to gaining kernel level access to the PS5. The Wii U makes an appearance here in the form of Tiramisu, now becoming the new standard to modifying the Wii U and replacing Haxchi/CBHC completely! The impossible becomes possible seeing OpenLara, an open source reverse engineering effort of the original Tomb Raider, ported over to the Game Boy Advance of all consoles. Finally, we poke at Microsoft's mistake earlier this month where a Developer Mode "ban wave" might have been entirely accidental. Stay tuned!

The speculation of a Christmas release has come early: a new PS4 jailbreak working on firmware 9.00 from ChendoChap, laureeeeeee, Specter, and Znullptr! We discuss the release, some exciting bonuses alongside it, and demonstrate it here on this episode of ModChat. Along with discussing the recent jailbreak release, this episode also includes a buying guide of sorts to help people track down a low firmware PS4, similar to the previous episodes made for new firmware updates.

Finishing out this year strong with a whole slew of updates going as far back as the original Xbox all the way up to the PS5! XeniumOS gets a much deserved update for the first time in over a decade, and we see another decompilation project come to completion with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being fully decompiled. The PlayStation consoles get a lot of love here as well, first off with the PS5 confirmed to have been jailbroken! We also address some rumors of a possible jailbreak for the PS4 coming to firmware 9.00. The Xbox 360 gets some major love in the form of RGH3: a reset glitch solution without a glitch chip?! Finally, the PSP get some awesome new Despertar del Cementerio updates and even has a feature in a new anime?!

Some exciting topics all over the place as old as the PSP to as new as the PS5 for this spooky episode of ModChat! We start things off with yet another PS Vita homebrew port, this being Final Fantasy V's Android build now ported to the Vita. We also get a two-for-one special with a new WebKit exploit released which covers both the PS4 AND PS5! A Sega Saturn emulator for the Switch was discovered and... This one is an official emulator?! And a good one at that?! However the Switch news doesn't stop there, since we've got the Switch OLED Model released, we also got to see that get modified day one! The Xbox 360 sees some love with an awesome homebrew game release of PADDLE MEYHEM! CheatDevice gets the remastered treatment for the PSP, and we finish off with some awesome interactive board layer scans of the Switch hardware now for all to enjoy.

The Vita gets a ton of love this month with a plethora of ports including Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy 4, and Doki Doki Literature Club! Like some kind of cruel joke, coming off the last episode of ModChat in which the Grand Theft Auto 3 reverse engineering project (re3) was restored on GitHub, it looks like several developers are now being sued due to work on the project. Finally, we also look at some awesome PS4 emulator progress on PC as well as news of older LittleBigPlanet games going offline.

The re3 project has returned to GitHub, and with that comes another awesome homebrew Switch port, this time around for reVC! We also take a brief look at a Friday Night Funkin' port for... The PS1?! A new Xbox 360 NAND programmer has released called the xFlasher 360, beating out the current competition in terms of speed. We also talk about some old Grand Theft Auto mods being taken down, Right to Repair being passed, as well as clearing up the story of thousands of PS4 consoles being used in a warehouse in Ukraine.

The original Xbox scene gets some more love with R3DUX, the open source reverse engineering effort of the Xecuter 3 chip! We also get yet another PS3 firmware update bringing us up to version 4.88 now, with a bit more under the hood than many would expect. Another awesome homebrew port to the PS Vita comes in the form of Bully. Super Mario World gets a native widescreen patch for use with bsnes-hd, and finally we take a look at a Smash character mod.

The Switch's newly implemented Bluetooth driver gets some love thanks to the release of nx-btred! Despertar del Cementerio makes a surprise and long awaited return thanks to balika011 taking the reigns on a new implementation of it. We also get to see an awesome announcement for the Xbox 360 in the form of an incoming patch to allow USB drives up to 16 TB! Finally, we take a look at burning games... On the Wii U?

The developments for the original PlayStation keep on coming, this time around with FreePSXBoot! Shortly after the release of the tonyhax, even better is it seems FreePSXBoot can be combined with tonyhax to provide a PS1 softmod using only a memory card to boot from! This episode also discusses the KyûHEN Homebrew Competition for the PS Vita, some awesome MechaCon related releases, discussion of the CBOMB scare related to the PS3/PS4/PS5, and a FULL Xbox 360 game port found in a couple of the Yakuza games!

Another episode, another release! This time around sleirsgoevy delivers with an updated and working jailbreak working on firmwares 7.50, 7.51, and 7.55 PS4 consoles! Along with discussing the recent jailbreak release, this episode also includes a buying guide of sorts to help people track down a low firmware PS4, similar to a separate video I made covering the 6.72 and 7.02 jailbreaks.

Just a couple of topic this time around for this episode of ModChat, right after the release of ModChat 074! However we got a couple of AWESOME surprises for this episode. The first of which being a new jailbreak release for the PS4, this one being for firmware 7.50. The next surprise release being a softmod thanks to a modified game save for... The original PlayStation?! An absolute shock here, but this is thanks to a savegame buffer overflow found in the tonyhax release!

RetroArch gets a couple of awesome new developments in both the hardware and software departments! First being an upcoming open source cartridge dumper called the Open Hardware Project, and next up being a newly released core allowing for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games to play in widescreen. We also have big news for the PS2 scene seeing the MechaCon being dumped as well as OpenTuna being released, the latter being an open source alternative to Fortuna achieved through reverse engineering. iOS even gets some love this episode with a new unc0ver jailbreak working up to iOS 14.3, and we finish off with some ports! Those ports being the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and ccleste ports to Vita.

Another episode full of games! This time around it seems the Bloodborne 60 FPS patch Lance McDonald has shown for a while now has finally been released for users to patch themselves. MemCard PRO was announced, without a doubt being the most powerful PS1 memory card anyone could imagine. We also look at the re3 project yet again because as of a few days ago, both Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City have been fully reverse engineered! Might as well go over some game ports as well, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the PS Vita and Super Mario 64 on the DSi!

Quite a heavy game centered episode of ModChat this time around, with the biggest topic without a doubt being the leak of the long lost GoldenEye 007 Xbox Live Arcade remaster for Xbox 360! Although we do get some non-game related topics in there with Atmosphere working on Mariko Switch consoles, as well as the recent switchroot Android 10 update. As for games, games, and more games? How about native ports of Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Max Payne for a few systems?

It looks like the start of 2021 in the homebrew scene seems to be full of ports, ports, and more ports! TheFloW teases a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas port to the PlayStation Vita, and we see Grand Theft Auto 3 show up on another console: The Wii U! Sonic CD's Android build got ported to Switch, and we even got a new map ported to the original Xbox's version of Star Wars Battlefront 2. One of the biggest developments here is the release of Baryon Sweeper for the PSP, a Pandora's Battery emulator which seems to unbrick PSP-3000 models for the first time ever! OPL finally reached the 1.0.0 milestone release. Oh, and a prototype game was not only finished but also released, because why not? Magic Castle for the PS1 through the Net Yaroze program is now unleashed upon the world!

TheFloW returns yet again with a second PS4 related disclosure through HackerOne, this time being a limited disclosure as opposed to a full disclosure. Although details are a bit scarce this time around, I explain why I believe with an educated guess this disclosed kernel exploit looks to be present up to firmware 7.55! We also briefly discuss a new permanent UART solution released for the PS4, something awesome for developers and debuggers with jailbroken PS4 consoles!

The day has finally arrived! As of December 16, 2020 a full jailbreak for the PlayStation 4 working on firmware 7.02 has been released. This still utilizes TheFloW's kernel exploit we had discussed months ago, which was paired up with a WebKit exploit and utilized by sleirsgoevy to create the 6.72 jailbreak. Well sleirsgoevy has done it yet again, porting a recently released WebKit exploit to 7.02 and pairing it up a second time to publicly release a jailbreak for firmware 7.02! We also revisit the PS3 for this episode to look at the current landscape for firmware 4.87: PS3HEN, custom firmware progress, and more!

Following up quickly from last week's episode of ModChat, but I decided to cover some topics here I originally wanted to cover last time around. This time we're looking at the 35th anniversary Game & Watch being modded as well as some awesome, quietly released homebrewed game ports to the Switch! The Xbox family returns with SMC+ being released and we take a look at the awesome progress Insignia seems to be making. A new game launcher for the PlayStation Vita, and finally the PSX game Driver 2 being ported to... PC? Stay tuned.

This mostly focused Nintendo episode comes at a time where it seems the company has been on an absolute warpath of issuing takedowns or cease and desists. After seeing countless SX OS resellers being sued, as well as the Team Xecuter arrests, the public is now taking notice with a massive uptick in activity. Starting with The Big House's online tournament being stopped, to a Splatoon 2 tournament barred from being livestreamed, soundtracks being blocked, and even Joy-Con shells in memory of the late Etika being taken down.

Homebrew ports galore in this episode of ModChat! We take a look at some exciting ports of Grand Theft Auto 3 as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to the Switch and Vita. The Dreamcast gets some love as well with a breakthrough Atomiswave discovery, meaning arcade games running on Atomiswave hardware can now be ported to the Dreamcast! For a small bit of Switch news, the SX Core and SX Lite chips for newer revisions of the Switch have had their firmware dumped thanks to a recent bug disclosure.

A recently unsealed federal indictment has revealed two top members of Team Xecuter were arrested, also citing a third person affiliated with product manufacturing. We've seen Nintendo really ramp up going after resellers of SX OS related products, especially involving the SX Core/Lite chips, but here is a case unlike any we've seen until now. We take a look at this case as well as a settlement related to UberChips in this episode of ModChat.

Packing a punch this month with a slew of topics ranging from the PS4 to PS2, Vita, Switch, and... Pregnancy tests? The much anticipated 6.72 jailbreak for PS4 has released and is slowly becoming more stable with each update to the jailbreak itself. The PS2 also got some great updated support in the form of FunTuna, a fork of Fortuna which now truly allows for FreeMCBoot on EVERY PS2 Slim without the need for a hardmod! FreeDVDBoot also has been backported to more DVD Player versions, meaning phat PS2 consoles are slowly but surely gaining support for it. PS4 firmware downgrading isn't possible (yet) but we're getting close with a confirmed firmware reverting method now out in the wild! We also now have an awesome new plugin to clean up PSP games on the Vita like never before. Finally, some Switch news, some of it bad news, and some of it just... Weird and out of nowhere? Stay tuned.

TheFloW enters and exits the PS4 scene with a huge development: a public kernel exploit working up to firmware 7.02! Although the latest public WebKit exploit released works up to 6.72, this is still great to have as it allows for a jailbreak currently on 6.72 and again on 7.02 once a new WebKit exploit is released. In this episode I discuss my thoughts on this release, the PlayStation Bug Bounty program, another Vita announcement from TheFloW, and even welcome back a topic covered a few episodes ago.

Trying my hand at a "mini" episode of ModChat in which I only cover one topic, this time around being FreeDVDBoot from CTurt! This is the latest homebrew scene development and release for the PS2, and the biggest one at that. Now making unsigned code run on a PS2 easier and faster than we've ever seen, this utilizes a flaw in the PS2's DVD Player which allows the end-user in the end to simply burn a FreeDVDBoot disc, boot it on an unmodified PS2 like a regular DVD, and launch homebrew as easy as that! In this episode I go over a bit of how it works, why this is important, demo it out several times, and give some final thoughts over what we could look forward to.

Another Switch heavy episode this time around thanks to SX Core and SX Lite units now getting into the hands of testers! Although it isn't all positive news on this front for anyone awaiting a device. Two new lawsuits have targeted a total of 9 reseller sites, all due to selling SX OS and any hardware related to it. With several sites previously offering preorders now shutting down, it looks like this might be a difficult purchase in the near future. We also take a further look at the much talked about Gears of War 3 build for PS3 which surfaced in the form of a full playthrough! And yet another Xbox Live 1.0 revival project?! Yes, but this one is definitely worth paying closer attention to... Tune in for more!

The PS4 scene gets some awesome spotlight this month with the Mira Project now being released, allowing advanced users to compile and get to test out the framework for the future. We also get to see a bit of Lance McDonald's work on Bloodborne with an excellent example of vastly improving game performance thanks to modifications. This episode contains no spoilers any upcoming games, but leaks are discussed with the immense amount of Nintendo console data to leak out, Diddy Kong Racing Adventure, and explaining how exactly The Last of Us 2 had such a massive leak. Oh, and Super Mario 64 will be the new DOOM porting exercise at this rate.

Another PS3 update has come in the form of 4.86, following this all of the major PS3 homebrew tools got their own updates as well! The Switch scene is discussed yet again with a PSA of hacked accounts, shipping updates on the SX Core / SX Lite products, and possibly some all new Switch models?! Going back to the PS Vita scene, rapid progress has been made on a Vita native port of DaedalusX64, as well as some impossible sounding developments to be found in psp2hfw and VR games on PS Vita.

This episode brings some new developments teased in the PS4 scene! One being SpecterDev's progress on the PS4 Toolkit, as well as a new incoming jailbreak from TheFloW? The PS3 scene gets a new toolset as well in the form of PS3 Toolset, released by bguerville of the PS3Xploit team. We also take a look at a new original Xbox Live homebrew project in the form of Noble Live and its recently revealed progress.

Recently a never before seen original Xbox was shown to the public in the form of an eBay auction, with this being an all-in-one console and projector alleged prototype! This episode of ModChat takes a look at the listing of this console, as well as some theories over what exactly this could be. I also take a look at the latest homebrew product to come out for the Sega Dreamcast, being the Dreamcase!

ModChat is alive! In this episode of ModChat I start with the open source release of xaio360, the previously unreleased Xbox 360 AIO glitch chip and SPI flasher from Team REBUG! The original Xbox gets some love in the form of a new announcement from FATXplorer getting original Xbox HDD support. With all the news of backporting games to work on jailbroken 5.05 PS4 consoles, I took some time to discuss this and how it has been happening. Team Xecuter's latest products were announced in the forms of SX Core and SX Lite, making EVERY Switch on the market capable of running homebrew! I also had to touch up on the recent news of a build of StarCraft: Ghost getting preserved for the original Xbox.

The drought is over: ModChat is back! This is just a quick announcement letting you know what to expect, when to expect it, and how often. Stay tuned!

switchroot's port of LineageOS to the Nintendo Switch is finally out in the wild! In this episode of ModChat we discuss our thoughts and experiences with Android on the Switch. We also discuss the long awaited Mariko revision of the Switch, which finally released this August. The 3DS also gets some free love in the form of the Bannerbomb3 release, which we take some time to discuss as well.

Now as the title says, and as we talked about on ModChat 054, this will be the final live episode of ModChat as well as Paranoid Coder's last episode as a permanent co-host. Due to this, we wanted to do a proper send off and go out on a positive note. After the topics we discuss are sorted through, we want to do a Christmas episode early... Which means we'll do a drunken Q&A with Modern Vintage Gamer as a guest! Oh yeah, that too. We wanted to go out by bringing on one of our all time favorite guests onto the show for the final live episode. Enjoy~

This episode of ModChat has us looking into quite a few emulation related topics. One of the first being the PPSSPP standalone port releasing for Switch! We also look into news of RetroArch coming to Steam, a Jet Set Radio Future game for PC being built from the ground up, and Super Mario 64 being decompiled. Stay tuned!

This episode of ModChat has us showcasing some awesome community efforts from the PS4 homebrew scene. Some of which include a brand new Linux emulator, a historical PS4 project, and several impressive homebrew titles which have released! We also give our takes on the MegaSD flashcart from Terraonion, more developments in RetroArch, and the major love the Switch has gotten from XDA-Developers!

On this episode of ModChat we're delving into a couple of huge releases which graced the PS3 and PS Vita scenes! First up is PS3HEN, a homebrew enabler for the PlayStation 3 compatible with ALL models running 4.84 HFW! Secondly, TheFloW released his third PS Vita jailbreak about a week ahead of the initial ETA, this being the Trinity exploit chain! Among this we also take a look at A Dark Room's hidden Ruby interpreter on the Switch as well as several more topics we've seen the past few weeks. Stay tuned!

On this episode of ModChat we go over a bit of everything from teaser announcements, to YouTube developments, and of course the latest releases in the modding scene! TheFloW has given the public an "eta wen" as well as more details for an upcoming PS Vita 3.69/3.70 exploit update. We also discuss Nintendo's new tactic of taking down Nintendo Switch related homebrew videos on YouTube. And due this releasing right after ModChat 050... We give PS3Xploit some love with their latest release of tools for firmware 4.84 on the PS3!

50 episodes into ModChat, crazy! We definitely plan to touch base on this milestone, but we of course have to have our modding topics as well. Some of this episode's topics include highlighting a few awesome Vita homebrew games from VitaHEX, a new GTA patch from TheFloW, Switch controller support in Chromium, and more! Stay tuned.

A slower news month this time around, but still some awesome releases and news to cover regardless! In this episode we discuss the teased progress of homebrew coming on PS Vita firmware 3.70, PSXITA releasing their own distribution of Linux for the PS4, a PS Vita downgrader released by TheFloW, and more! Stay tuned.

New year, new month, new episode! Over 4 years of ModChat going strong now! In this episode we discuss RetroArch being ported to 3 consoles, an amendment which could throw a wrench in the modding scene in Japan, and the release of reF00D for the PS Vita! Those are just a few of the highlighted topics we have for this month, stay tuned and listen for more.

A light month for topics this time around due to the third annual end of the year celebration of making this a big Q&A session! For the most part we normally start these with no topics in mind and focus everything on what the audience wants us to talk about, so be prepared for a laid back show. We are wanting to touch up on some big topics this time around though! Including the rapid progression of PlayStation Classic mods and Nintendo going after a few people selling pirated games, such as Soulja Boy! Aside from that, we'll be hanging with you all and answering what we can. Alcohol might or might not be involved, tune in to find out the answer to that.

More news coming out of the Fail0verflow camp with a new write-up detailing possible code execution on all current PS4 hardware models thanks to the console's HDMI-CEC features! We also discuss several new legal changes towards the way DRM can be broken at a federal level. We also get to revisit the PlayStation Classic we fanboyed over with MVG in a previous episode, as news has come out that it uses the open-source PCSX ReARMed emulator as opposed to what many expected to be an in-house, closed-source emulator written by Sony. Other topics include the troubles Fallout 76 could have once it retails, YouTube terminating channels focused on reverse engineering, and more! Stay tuned.

MVG returns for another episode of ModChat, this time with even more emulation! We look into the recent release of RetroArch 1.7.5, with this having an official port to Switch as opposed to RetroNX. We also discuss the initial tease of RetroArch coming out on... PS2?! And of course we can't forget Nintendo's official NES emulator on the Switch now getting cracked open to play your own choice of NES games. In terms of Jailbreak news we also look into the PS3 getting an update which patches PS3Xploit on the latest firmware, a PS4 reseller sued for preloading and selling PS4 consoles with pirated games, and even iOS gets some love! Pangu has announced that they've Jailbroken iOS 12 on the iPhone XS, so look forward to Paranoid Coder's thoughts on it with his recent switch from a Pixel 2 to the iPhone XS.

This episode has us taking a look at the latest news surrounding the 6.0.0 update for Nintendo Switch, as well as the preparation being done around this update for CFW and other applications in the homebrew community. We check out some new releases, such as SwitchME and a guide dedicated to ReiNX, as well as chime in on a new takedown Nintendo has put through for the RPG Maker toolkit called Pokémon Essentials. Also, PS2 support dropping in... 2018? More on that in the show.

Is a ROMsite still a ROMsite without the ROMs? We plan to tackle that in this episode of ModChat when we discuss several ROMsites taking down their collections of downloads with or without the intervention of another company coming into play. We also take a look at the upcoming news Al Azif, known for his awesome ps4-exploit-host program, assembling a blacklist of users the PS4 homebrew community can point newcomers towards and let people know who cannot be trusted in regards to anything newsworthy. Finally, a segment about a 3DS update? Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but it seems 11.8 made a ton of under the hood tweaks, as well as server-side tweaks which seem to backport some of the anti-piracy challenges from the Switch over to the 3DS!

We're joined once again by ModernVintageGamer to discuss even more modding news! Following the long running trend, we do have quite a bit of Nintendo Switch news to cover including bans for modified consoles being detailed, the troublesome battery desync fix people experienced with RCM, back and forth with SX developers and reverse engineers, and new Switches out in the wild which have fixed Fusée Gelée! However we also have a good amount of non-Switch related news as well including TheFloW's release of h-encore for the latest Vita firmware, a new Xbox 360 glitch chip, GDEMU being cloned, and a few other goodies uncovered in older games. Stay tuned!

Another episode, another massive delivery and recap of Switch homebrew scene news! Since the last episode we've discovered the Switch can be downgraded to any firmware, despite the eFuse technology we spoke about in previous episodes. We also look into a few teases we've seen such as LayeredFS, emuNAND, title installations, and more! On top of that we also plan to touch up on some good news for 3.68 Vita users, the latest 5.05 PS4 jailbreak being released, as well as discussing initial thoughts people have aired out about Team-Xecuter's SX.

With so much modding news dropping right after ModChat 039, we had to start this list almost immediately after finishing the last episode! Here we take a look at Fusée Gelée being released into the wild on the Switch, and in regards to that we also discuss our thoughts on the Team-Xecuter solution they've been hyping up for months: SX. Along with the news of ElDewrito being taken down, the upcoming PS4 Mira framework for the PS4 5.05 jailbreak, and the FTC now forcing companies to remove warranty stickers from game consoles... Well, this will be a packed episode. Oh, and we also have ModernVintageGamer on here as a guest, so that's cool.

Another month, another ModChat full of PS4 and Switch modding news! We try to cover whatever we can, but each episode recently has been absolutely full of Switch and PS4 topics simply because of their respective bustling homebrew scenes. One small script, which I myself am particularly excited for, is a game save backup script for the Switch which works with ReSwitched! Something regular listeners know I've been complaining about for months has been the lack of being able to properly backup our own saves on the Switch, but now with the power of homebrew that's possible! This episode also introduces the second PS4 chip we've ever discussed, which is an upcoming chip designed to work hand-in-hand with all of the webkit based exploits available right now. This is similar to the current ESP8266 self-hosting method, except internal to the PS4 and with more robust features planned. We also talk about emulators on here for a bit, one of which being the yazu emulator designed for Switch titles on PC and the fact that we're seeing retail games run on it this early on!

This seems to be yet another fruitful month of modding news for PlayStation consoles all around, and the Switch yet again! We touch up on a few custom firmwares now being worked on for the Switch, a new PS4 HEN to come out for firmwares up to 4.55, PS3Xploit being updated, and even come out with a bit of Vita news! Before you get too excited for that last one, be aware that you will still need a Vita on 3.60, still nothing yet for any stock consoles on a higher firmware.

More Switch and PS4 modding updates! We've jokingly thought of calling this NintendoChat with all of the Switch homebrew related news coming out, but that has to be good news for the Switch homebrew scene! Some of the topics we go over in this include: Team-Xecuter's Switch modchip being delayed, a Switch Homebrew Launcher being released, NVIDIA Shield TV getting emulated GameCube/Wii games, and some news for the 3.67 PS Vita firmware!

First episode of 2018! Join us as we speculate on the news of a modchip for the Switch by Team-Xecuter, discuss the back and forth announcements between free and paid Switch modification announcements,  as well as some exciting announcements in regards to emulation related to the Switch. Wait... It seems like this episode will mostly be Switch related news... Oops.

Last year, for our final episode of 2016 we decided to go into the show with no prepared topics and have it be focused on user questions. We all had quite a bit of fun with that episode and the viewers seemed to enjoy it as well, so we figured we could start making it a yearly tradition! This time with our new host. Join us live to have some fun, ask us questions (whether or not they're focused on modding is up to you), and celebrate one final ModChat stream for 2017!

On this episode of ModChat, we're joined by our guest kiwidog who has been a friend of the show for some time now! kiwidog has been spending a good amount of his free time reverse engineering the PlayStation 4 and can hopefully provide some more insight and clarification on some of the new updates coming out from the modding scene in regards to some of the modding news we tackle on this episode! On top of tackling some PS4 news, we also look into the new announcements and releases from team PS3Xploit in regards to new development on the 4.81 PS3 firmware. In short - there might soon be software only downgraders for the PS3, no longer requiring a hardmod to downgrade and modify the console! As a side topic as well, we also discuss the rise in websites using cryptominers in place of advertisements and what our thoughts are on the matter.

On this episode of ModChat, the hosts discuss a few new homebrew related releases for the Switch and PlayStation 4. We see Team ReSwitched release several tools for homebrew developers on the Switch, and talk about some new PS4 homebrew news as well. A big one being a Kexploit release for consoles on firmware 4.05, and discussing a demonstration of some upcoming PKG installations shown on firmware 4.55. Still in the realm of modding but a bit of a tangent, we also look into some recent licensing controversy with the upcoming Seedi game console, an emulation machine which plays games directly from a CD! Pair that with some Android OS talk, this sounds like it'll be a fun episode.

On this episode of ModChat, the regular duo of hosts discusses many new recent developments in the PS Vita scene! This includes some leaks related to the Cobra Blackfin device, the release of NoNpDRM, the standardization of the .psv format through the release of Virtual Game Cart, and some rumblings from the PS4 scene! It seemed like this was going to be a Vita/PS4 only episode but we also got some Nintendo related news as well in the form of the Flog NES emulator on Switch, as well as discussing Super Mario 64 Online being taken down.

In this episode of ModChat we seem to dedicate the entire thing to Nintendo related topics! With some Switch development brewing, it has been revealed that firmware 3.0.1 has patched "smhax" which could hold back many fully updated users from utilizing homebrew anytime soon. ntrboot aka ntrboothax aka Magnethax has finally been released, working on every iteration of the 3DS hardware family and now allowing anyone to easily modify their console! And hold on.... Fried GameCubes?! Stay tuned.

In this episode of ModChat we tackle several new developments witnessed recently! A big one being the PS4 MTX KEY, which serves as a method of tricking the PS4's account activation method to share games between a seemingly unlimited amount of consoles. We delve into the news of Switch kernel being hit by modders, the 5.5.2 Wii U update, and more! 

In this episode of ModChat we are joined by kiwidog, an experienced reverse engineer and homebrew/modding software developer, who agreed to come on for an interview in regards to the Homebrew Xbox Live project we discussed several episodes prior. At this point development has been handed off from him to another user, but we still get to obtain quite a bit of insight from this! We also discuss the recent takedown notices Take-Two has been sending to developers of GTA5 modding tools, boot9strap/sighax being released for the 3DS, and we take a brief look at Vantage Tool for the Xbox One!

In this episode of ModChat we're joined by Paranoid Coder as our guest and cover several topics related to the Vita, Switch, and some actual Xbox One developments! Nier: Automata is also discussed quite a bit as we look into a modification released for the PC version of the game which includes anti-piracy protection and even a Steam ID user blacklist!

In this episode of ModChat we are joined by kiwidog, an experienced reverse engineer and homebrew/modding software developer, who helps give us some more insight on a few of the topics we cover! We express our thoughts over the NES Classic being discontinued by Nintendo, vulnerabilities teased by qwertyoruiop on the PS4 going up to firmware 4.55, and a Microsoft Edge browser vulnerability confirmed to be working on Xbox One!

Since our previous episode we have a whole new console to play around with: the Nintendo Switch! While many have been busy playing the new Zelda quite a few 3DS, Wii U and even iOS devs have picked up the console and started to rip it apart. A hidden internet browser was found in the OS which led to us seeing some of the first vulnerabilities leftover in the system! We're also seeing some crazy development in the emulation scene, with two mentioned here being RPCS3 (PS3) and Cemu (Wii U). More and more games are playable on RPCS3 while we're also seeing games run in native 4K on Cemu!

With recent developments in the modding scene we've been seeing a nice mix of old and new this past month! Coming off last month in which we discussed rumblings of a homebrew version of the original Xbox Live being worked on it seems fitting that we now have the Sega Saturn online utilizing VoIP, being a nice improvement over what has already been out there! Among a few of the PS4 rumors going around we plan to talk a bit about the upcoming save editors coming out, as well as some rumors of development up to firmware 4.50 so far! News of a new system has been floating around as well with a prototype of the RetroBlox showing up at a recent expo, this one being quite an important emulation based console as it is the first one out there to handle CD based games!

ModChat+ is the spin-off series we occasionally do in conjunction with ModChat in which we talk about whatever we want to... Except modding. This has always been more of a "bonus content" podcast which we do here and there. We have designed ModChat+ to be a series in which people who want to hear more about the hosts personal interests and ramblings can listen to, however if you're only here for ModChat then you're still guaranteed to have that on a monthly basis!

This also ranks as the first live episode we've ever done of ModChat+ since all the other episodes were created when the series was in a pre-recorded format.

In this episode of ModChat we plan to talk about the rumblings of a homebrew revival of the original Xbox Live which is planned to work for original Xbox games on the Xbox AND Xbox 360, the recent discovery of the NES Classic being modded, and new exploits announced and released for the 3DS such as SoundHax and SigHax! The latter of which has been stated to be the end of the 3DS with it being something that Nintendo will not be able to fix. Crazy stuff, man!

For this episode we decided to finish off 2016 with a big viewer discussion! We're joined by our special guest, Jonny Guns, to talk about PS4/Xbox One modding statuses, tackling the RetroPie with an infinite variation of projects, and discussing a few fanboy topics such as Apple vs. Microsoft! We hope you enjoy this episode and return for more in 2017 :D

In this episode of ModChat we're joined by Chris aka PixelButts as we all discuss several new developments including the Brazilian Hack for the Wii U, the ease of installing Arm9LoaderHax for the 3DS, backup PS3 games being loaded onto official firmware, and several breakthroughs in the PS4 scene in terms of jailbreaks!

In this episode of ModChat - WE'RE LIVE!!!! At least we were live, if you're reading this then that means you're viewing and listening to the completed livestream. We attempted to finally take ModChat live and ended up knocking out two things with that - Livestreaming and facecams! As we have said in multiple episodes: We want your feedback and do take the time out to read and listen to it all, we're just a tad bit slow at implementing. Many people have wanted livestreams but perhaps the most requested addition has been facecams.

Unless there is an overwhelming objection to the decision being made, this will most likely be the new format of the show in which we do a livestream of it on YouTube. That livestream will consist of topics we already have but we will also be dedicating a portion of each episode to answering questions in the chat section.

Some of the topics we discuss in this one include: Cobra Blackfin for Vita, HENkaku for Vita (and perhaps PS4), Xbox 360 drive flashing, and much more!

Of course we're always looking for improvements and constructive criticisms, so if you all have any ideas or topics you would like us to tackle please let us know!

In this episode of ModChat we have our third guest (STiPO) on the show to discuss his knowledge and experience with modifying and reverse engineering retail games, with one specialty and major passion of his being Dead Rising! We give a somewhat quasi-interview and ask about what reverse engineering entails, how to get started, as well as tips and advice that novice listeners can take away from this.

To bring in the new year, the regular ModChat duo decides to bring in some recently announced and shown off exploits which happened within the past month! This includes the various 3DS downgrades and new developments for firmware 10.3, some more sneak peeks at the inside of the PS4, and a recently announced Wii U USERLAND exploit!