Hi everyone, my name is Kuma and I used to own modded systems. I know, I am giving off that impression of being in an AA meeting confessing my sin. I will not lie to you; I did partake in owning illegally modified systems since PlayStation One. It started when PSone and Sega Saturn emerged introducing me to import titles, but I needed a special chip/disc to play such titles from Japan. We in the gaming community know that most imports are better and uncensored at times. I have to state for the record that I USED to have modded systems, but after the Modern Warfare 3 dropped and Microsoft sent out a firmware bomb to catch those with “Special” systems. The problem I had was the many that were caught was trying to rally for a class action lawsuit. I guess I pissed off many because they felt betrayed since I didn’t agree with the lawsuit. It is simple why I didn’t go along with it, because we were wrong! We knew the risk involved and nothing truly last forever that form, especially when companies are losing money on pirates. It was too much of a hassle anyway, but I will get into that soon. You can consider this my confession, but my attention is to ask you, “is it worth it?”
The question I used to get asked a lot, “Why did you do it in the first place?” that is simple, games are expensive and saw an opportunity to save myself money. After I thought about for a full year, that was a poor excuse. We all know that once you get into gaming, it will be an expensive hobby. If you can’t afford to get into it, than you have no reason to try in the first place. Do not take that as a fact, which is just my general opinion. If price is a problem, you have the option to wait for price drops, which actually do happen often and come with special deals. There is also the option of buying used copies from many retailers. I usually plan ahead on new titles that I want and put money away or pre-order. It is not that hard actually.
It was too much of a hassle to go through all the trouble of getting a system modified internally. I honestly preferred the boot disc of Saturn and Dreamcast, because having a chip put into my PSone made is super fragile and caused minor glitches. I didn’t get back into mods until the 360, but since fall of each year Microsoft sent out bombs/trackers to detect modded systems. It became an expensive thing to do, even cause some diversions to obtain new systems. I learned how to acquire the software and obtained dual layer disc as a way of teaching a man how to fish way of living. The risk was still not worth it and being a fan of Xbox really made it a contradiction on my part. Can’t really call myself a fan when I am stealing money from a company I like.
This idea came about an article from Player [Attack]. They stated about the vita having hacked homebrew coming soon. A flashback of my time with my PlayStation Portable being hacked and dealing with all the updates started to return. I had to wait for the next homebrew hack to come out before updating; which kept me from playing newer titles. The first thing that came to my mind was, “Uh OH, here we go again!” I will tell you right now, I am not going to bother if the homebrew does come out, because it is too much of a hassle and I can wait for certain games to become a bargain. In that handhelds are a lot easier than modding a game console, but doesn’t mean it is right.
The next thing I want to touch base on is discretion…I would ask you all this, “do you believe if you kept it on the hush, you would stand a better chance of getting away with it?” I ask because when my crew did the deeds of homebrew and modding, we kept it on the down low, but many other pages or people shouted it out. Granted there is no real way to hide it, but you are pretty much selling yourself out and that used to confuse me a lot. It was a back and forth struggles with the companies always forcing updates and of course the modders always counter-attacking the updates. If users were to keep their mouth shut about it, probably would’ve delayed companies from finding out too soon. As my good friend and family stated:
I was mind boggled at those who just put it out there
And also like u mentioned modding was in the down low, like a secret between other gamers that it’s allowed but only amongst is bc of course we don’t wanna get in trouble . Like the brotherhood in Oblivion. ~ E. Pascual
I like how Ms. Pascual stated it as a “Brotherhood”, which it technically was. We would meet up, game together and talk about the latest enhancements or mods in many things outside of PC. We would even share tips on acquiring said material and when someone outside our circle would try to get in on it, we kind of got a tight lip. There were those select few that sought to make a profit from it and that’s where I think made the whole thing go downhill. Once you get money involved and if things glitch you cause angry customers, who then open up their angry mouths to the masses. That is one way it starts, but that cannot be controlled since no one will ever be satisfied and there will be those that want to get even.
In closing I say let’s leave it be or just keep it too yourself or with a trusted few. I am not going to tell any of you to stop, because I might as well ask you to stop breathing. I rather you just prepare for the consequences and hope you do not brick whatever you mod. As for me, I am retired from the whole “modding” fad. The hassle of configuring and obtaining the content, hoping in the end it works. I just rather buy my games, because even though many developers do half a** work, doesn’t mean all of them do bad work! I thank you for your time and hearing my thoughts on the subject. Stay frosty gamers!
