The modern consoles are pretty close to perfect with how they use PKI and certificates. Even if you clone the cryptographic identity of a valid console, the vendor can quickly detect this impossible access scenario.
Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
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Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#12So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
Thanks for the comment.
No, it is not AI generated. It was based on my research.
I think there is a mix-up here between Atari home consoles and Atari home computers.
In that section I was talking about early console platforms such as the Atari 2600, where the cartridge interface itself had no lockout/authentication mechanism comparable to what Nintendo later did with the 10NES. That is why third-party cartridges could exist and Atari’s main response was legal rather than technical.
What you describe for the Atari 800 is real, but it belongs to a different context: the Atari 8-bit computer line, especially floppy-disk software, where copy-protection tricks such as intentional bad sectors and timing-based checks were indeed common.
So I agree that Atari computer software often used copy protection, but that does not contradict the point I was making about the early console era.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#13The modern consoles are pretty close to perfect with how they use PKI and certificates. Even if you clone the cryptographic identity of a valid console, the vendor can quickly detect this impossible access scenario.
Correct. And identity management is so important nowadays that most security-related certifications and regulations require it.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#14So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
I find it interesting that all the way back in 1985, in Atari vs NES, we had proof that consumers preferred walled gardens. The walled garden exploded from a completely dead market, while the already-existing open system killed itself. Apple proceeded to make a killing of their own on this reality, Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end, while FOSS communities are still in denial about how things shouldn't be that way rather than accepting reality and inventing their own curated experience with enforced rules.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#15So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
I find it interesting that all the way back in 1985, in Atari vs NES, we had proof that consumers preferred walled gardens. The walled garden exploded from a completely dead market, while the already-existing open system killed itself. Apple proceeded to make a killing of their own on this reality, Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end, while FOSS communities are still in deni…
> Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end
If you're referring to Windows, this is not very walled at all. You barely need a computer to write and release windows apps, let alone money.
Office, perhaps? Or a variety of other products.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it interesting that all the way back in 1985, in Atari vs NES, we had proof that consumers preferred walled gardens. The walled garden exploded from a completely dead market, while the already-existing open system killed itself. Apple proceeded to make a killing of their own on this reality, Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end, while FOSS communities are still in deni…
> Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end If you're referring to Windows, this is not very walled at all. You barely need a computer to write and release windows apps, let alone money. Office, perhaps? Or a variety of other products.
Windows is an open platform for developers... if you ignore all of the security checks and Windows Defender and the stagnant platform which is about 2 decades behind everyone else, across the board, in terms of native tooling (e.g. which UI framework should I use and is it good?).
However, Windows also has many, many, walled garden things bolted onto it. You aren't distributing your own drivers without Microsoft's approval. You aren't running Microsoft Office on Wine. You aren't connecting to Active Directory without Microsoft's blessing. You aren't making group policies that work on Linux for MDM. You aren't manufacturing Windows devices, at all, unless they meet Microsoft's system requirements and mandates (e.g. a Windows icon on the keyboard). Your BIOS must follow strict rules about where the activation key is fused. Etc.
In that respect, Windows is only open from an end user perspective. In all other respects, it is closed, and it is closed tightly.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#17So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
I find it interesting that all the way back in 1985, in Atari vs NES, we had proof that consumers preferred walled gardens. The walled garden exploded from a completely dead market, while the already-existing open system killed itself. Apple proceeded to make a killing of their own on this reality, Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end, while FOSS communities are still in deni…
I think consumers chose quality and convenience. It just so happens that the walled garden is the easiest way to accomplish this. Electronics, especially computers, were extremely expensive back then. I can't blame people for buying a console that just works. Compatibility was an issue well into the late 90s because so many people didn't know how computers worked.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#18So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
Also another incorrect factoid: "The original Xbox (2001) was built on familiar PC hardware (Pentium III derivative, Intel GPU, standard hard drive)"
(it was an NV GPU)
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#19After some time without posting on my blog, I decided to get back to it — and my first post after the break is about the history of video game security! There are also some great stories along the way, like Atari reverse-engineering Nintendo’s lockout system, or how simply changing the name of Link's horse became an attack vector on the Nintendo Wii. I had a lot of fun researching and writing this article, and I lear…
Thanks I did enjoy it! One thing is, I feel like the PS1 wobble disc protection, although bypassed with swaps and mod chips, it has never been possible (besides one historic example: Datel) for someone other than Sony to make a disc bootable on the console. I feel like most PS1's weren't modded so it was quite a well done lockout. But I understand that wasn't your main point - just that it was a surprisingly effective copy protection.
Re: Breaking the console: a brief history of video game security
#20So, I don't know if this is AI generated or whether the author is actually unaware, but Atari cartridges and floppies commonly had copy protections. My uncle was active in the scene at the time, and as an electrical engineer came up with a solution. When I inherited his Atari 800 in the 90s there was a physical button wired into the floppy drive which would force a bad sector onto the disk as it was being written. He…
I find it interesting that all the way back in 1985, in Atari vs NES, we had proof that consumers preferred walled gardens. The walled garden exploded from a completely dead market, while the already-existing open system killed itself. Apple proceeded to make a killing of their own on this reality, Microsoft invented a pseudo-walled garden that has become a technical dead end, while FOSS communities are still in deni…
I disagree, it wasn't about consumers, but rather other businesses. The walled garden approach Nintendo took in America was needed to convince retailers to stock video games on store shelves again. And of course the Famicom didn't have that same approach, and while Nintendo hated the fact third parties could easily make Famicom carts, the open nature of the system certainly didn't hurt it in Japan.