Console Modding

Leah Rowe

31 July 2025

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Article published by: Leah Rowe

Date of publication: 31 July 2025

Visual illustration as to the evolution of games console DRM and various circumvention methods.

In 2035, there will be no PlayStation. All gaming will be AI-generated, played entirely in VR on the cloud. In 2050, the Matrix will be real.

In the previous comic, I alluded to the fact that I’m mostly an oldschool gamer. I’m also an oldschool modder, when I have the time for it.

Modding was more fun in the 2000s and in the 80s/90s, because it required use of a soldering iron, and soldering is fun. I would even say it is a fine art. Therefore it was the domain of electrical engineers (and software developers); nowadays, almost all console hacking is entirely software-based, which is lame. Nothing beats the satisfaction of booting Katamari Damacy the first time, after you spent an hour perfectly wiring a Modbo5.

Computer security is much better these days, and because of that, consoles are much harder to break. Companies like to put DRM on everything, which in my opinion should be disallowed because it violates property rights; you are renting your playstation, not owning it.

I actually don’t have anything newer than a PS2 at the lab, though I did enjoy my PS3 in 2008/2009 until I sold it in early 2010.

If you haven’t heard it, you should consider supporting the Stop Killing Games initiatives. Nowadays, games are often tethered to the internet; offline play is often impossible nowadays, and vendors have the power to remotely destroy your games, making them unplayable, even bricking entire consoles. They do this to force you to buy a new console when it comes out.

I’m a supporter of the Right to Repair movement; this, the Stop Killing Games movement, and also the Free Software Movement (which I’m part of) all follow the same premise, namely that the user ought to have control over their technology. If you bought it, you should own it.

I fully support anyone who works on breaking the copy restrictions and other DRM in these games consoles, old and new; they don’t just merely enable you to play games without paying for them (which is also possible), but it basically gives you control over the computer that you purchased, or at least a measure of control.

Console hacking means your dumped games can still be played in 30 years, and the ability to run your own code also allows for debugging, which could aid in the development of emulators.

Also, here are some actual PS1 and PS2 mods that I did myself:

https://mas.to/@libreleah/109831675270535027

https://mas.to/@libreleah/113487437514396806

I don’t really have actual time these days to play games, but I do sometimes enjoy them. I don’t feel the need to invest in anything newer than basically PS2-era, because there are still thousands of games up to that point that I haven’t played yet, and the newer games are not that fundamentally different; they have better graphics, but the overall premise of them is the same, and they essentially feel the same.

Unless maybe VR tech gets a lot better in the future, coupled with general AI(which does not yet exist); a game that constantly changes and adapts to me and challenges me would be quite fun. Basically like the holodeck in star trek. Until we have that, my PS2 will suffice.

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