ModChat

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!