Hackers Already Close To Completing PS Vita Jailbreak

The Sony PS Vita has just released in Japan, and hackers are already closing in on a way to jailbreak the brand new next-gen Sony PS Vita handheld.

The infamous hacker SKFU is already hard at work trying to crack the Sony PS Vita, and you have to believe that it is only a matter of time before the job of done and homebrew applications are running on the handheld.

SKFU updated his blog on Friday, showcasing his attempt to try and break into the Sony PS Vita via the Twitter application.

He has been known to be a huge player in the PS3 hacking scene, and wrote in his blog that Sony changed the security on the PS Vita, making his old jailbreak method void.

He stated "The PKG's I used for my testings were pretty old and key update was expected. Nevertheless it's a disappointing but a new nice challenge. " ( SKFU Blog)

Sony has had a hard time over the years with hacking, as the Sony PSP was a haven for hackers running homebrew applications, game back-ups, etc. with great ease.

The Sony PS3 has proven to be equally vulnerable through a variety of hacks and exploits.

This is the first attempt at cracking the PS Vita, and it appears already that it won't be long before the security walls are broken down

Source: http://www.ps3hax.net/2011/12/ps-vita-pkg-aes-key-changed/


My personal opinion about this is that it doesn't really prove anything or that they are even getting close to a jailbreak, it just shows that a well known hacker is working on it.

What do you think?

HOW TO INSTALL AND RUN HBL ON EVERYBODY’S TENNIS

It is *strongly* recommended that you turn of all wireless connections on your PS Vita, and that you use OpenCMA on your PC instead of the regular CMA. 

This is recommended because otherwise your console has a way to force you to upgrade the firmware even before you get a chance to use the exploit.

Extract the HBL archive matching your version of the game in your CMA PSP Savedata folder. It is a folder on your PC named PSSAVEDATA/[lots of random characters here].

 If you don’t know where it is, check your settings in CMA
Connect your PS Vita to the PC through the CMA, it should give you the possibility to copy the savedata from your PC to the Vita. 

If not, you probably extracted it in the wrong folder. (Note: You will also want to install some homebrews with a similar technique, read the section below)

Important for owners of the European version of the game:Before running Everybody’s tennis, you need to change the language of your PS Vita/PSP to French. This is a limitation of the exploit for now, this might or might not change in future revisions. you can of course switch your console back to your own language once you are done playing with VHBL.

To run HBL, start the Tennis game, select “Continue” in the Main Menu. At this point, HBL should start

HOW TO INSTALL AND RUN HOMEBREWS

Installing homebrews on the PSP was an easy task. On the Vita, until better solutions are provided, it’s quite a pain in the ass.
The CMA will only let you copy savedata, and will not recursively browse folders.

To address this, HBL comes with a tool that can extract archives with a specific structure.Packaging the homebrew for installation on the Vita:
1) download PSP homebrews from your favorite website2) extract the homebrew somewhere on your hard drive, and with your favorite utility, zip it again with the *store* setting (no compression), in a file that you will name “install.zip”
3) take any PSP savedata (but not the one used for HBL!), and add the “install.zip” to that folder, in your PC CMA folder. so your PSP Savedata will look something like this:
in folder PSSAVEDATA/1a2b3c4def5678/UCUS12345000/ (or something like this) you will have the following files:
- ICON0.png
- PIC1.png
- DATA.bin
- PARAMS.SFO
- install.zip
Here you can download an example of packaged homebrew: DoomInstalling:
1) run OpenCMA on your PC, and CMA on your Vita
2) copy the previously packaged SAVEDATA (see above) with your homebrew in “install.zip” on your Vita
3) run HBL (how to run HBL is explained in the previous section)
4) navigate with the HBL menu to the SAVEDATA folder, then go to the folder you just downloaded (in my example, UCUS12345000), and clikc cross or circle on it
5) At this point, the HBL menu should ask you if you want to install the homebrew. select yes, and wait until HBL is done extracting your homebrew
6) The homebrew is now installed, and you can run it by going to the GAME folder, if everything went well, a new subfolder with your homebrew has been created here, and you can run the homebrew

OpenCMA is strongly recommended to install if you want to use VHBL. Open CMA is a tool by Virtuous Flame that allows you to copy files from and to your vita without being connected to the internet. This is useful, especially if you don’t want Sony to forcefully update your firmware.

Vita Half-Byte Loader - VHBL for Everybody's Tennis Released!

Following the announcement of the next exploitable game on the PS Vita, the Vita Half-Byte Loader (VHBL) for Everybody'a Tennis has been released. Currently, the exploit is only working for EU, US, and JP game versions, while there is currently no HK version fix available. For those of you looking to purchase this game, you are too late as Sony has already removed the game from the online store.

Unit 13 - Could have been better

Unit 13 is a tactical shooter for the PlayStation Vita from Zipper Interactive, the makers of the SOCOM series. It’s the closest PS Vita owners will get to a Rainbow Series game – that is until Ubisoft actually put out a Rainbow Six game for Sony’s latest handheld console. Unlike most story-based games, Unit 13 is divided into a bunch of stand-alone missions and the only thing explained to you from the get go is that you’re a new recruit with an elite task force called Unit 13 whose sole aim is to kill a lot of terrorists. I’m not a huge fan of this kind of a mission structure as it makes the game feel very disjointed, since there is no real story arc that’s persistent through all the missions.

On the plus side, it makes for a good pick-up-and-play kind of game where you don’t have to sit around investing multiple hours into the game. In Unit 13, there are around 35 missions to choose from. You have your stealthy infiltration kind where ideally you should dispatch your enemies silently without alerting anyone. Doing so gets you higher points that you can later on upload on to the game’s leaderboards. And then you have the kill everything that moves variant where you’re essentially running and gunning through the entire level like a man on fire. The other two types are essentially timed missions or missions with a very strict penalty where the mission ends once you die. Checkpoints are for wusses apparently.

Gameplay in Unit 13 revolves around a cover mechanic that seems pretty responsive. You press a key to snap to cover from where you can dispatch your foes or hide and eventually sneak past them. Shooting in this game is also your standard third person shooter fare where you can pop out and fire from cover. Zooming in on any weapon shifts the action to a first person perspective making it easier to take someone’s head off.

While I enjoyed the game’s stealth as well as its run-and-gun mechanics, the whole mission structure was a major buzzkill for me. For one, I never forged any sort of connection with any of the protagonists or their cause, because I could choose a new one for every mission. Also the stealth mechanics could have a bit stronger allowing me to hide dead bodies or even distract enemies a la Splinter Cell. Things also tend to get a bit repetitive and boring when you’re killing the same looking dudes in same-ish looking environments. After the environmental diversity packed into Rayman Origins, Unit 13 actually felt suffocating.

Still, if you’re a fan of tactical shooters, Unit 13 may be worth considering as its combat mechanics are rather solid. It also allows players to team up and tackle missions co-operatively online, which is always a plus point for action games. If only the game had been structured better and offered more variety, it would have joined Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Rayman origins as must-buy titles for the PlayStation Vita.

FIFA Football (PS Vita)

EA Sports’ FIFA games have gone from strength to strength with each home console iteration, building upon its rock solid brand of simulation football a little, each year. However, the PC and handheld versions haven’t always been as impressive, receiving step-motherly treatment as the developers focused primarily on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But, with the announcement of FIFA Football for the PlayStation Vita, it seemed like the tide was turning, and it gave handheld owners hope of a FIFA game that is at par with its home console counterparts.

For most part, EA has lived up to those expectations. FIFA Football is a solid handheld port of FIFA 12, minus a few bells and whistles. From the start screen, to the now-familiar Arena, to the menus, your first impressions lead you to believe that this is exactly the game you’ve been playing on your HD console. But start up your first match, and the differences start to show themselves. The visuals are an obvious step down, but still remarkable for a handheld console and miles ahead of what we’ve seen on the PSP and mobile devices. The animations are fluid, as you would expect and the sound effects and comments from Martin Tyler and Alan Smith are just as they are in FIFA 12. The biggest disappointment, however, reveals itself once a match gets underway. Intermittent frame rate drops often ruin the experience, causing you to lose concentration. The issue is compounded, if you’re playing using the touch controls.

Other big changes in the Vita version are the absence of features, such as the player impact engine, tactical defending and EA Sports Football Club, which debuted in FIFA 12. While the omission of Football Club is disappointing, the removal of the other features is actually for the better. The overly technical physics and defending systems of FIFA 12 would have been a little too daunting on a handheld device. Having said that, even without them, FIFA Football is challenging and fun as you would expect.

The most interesting aspect of FIFA Football is how it implements the Vita’s touch controls. The game uses the touchscreen for passing, where you can simply tap a player or an area of the pitch and the player in possession will pass the ball there. You can also string passes together. However, there are two problems with touch controls. Firstly, the Vita’s screen is too big to allow you to use it effectively for passing, while at the same time using the analog sticks to move. Secondly, you can’t use the touchscreen controls while defending, so you’ll constantly have to switch between the screen and the buttons.

For shooting on goal, you can use the Vita’s rear trackpad. Here, the four corners of the trackpad represent the four corners of the goal post. So tapping on a particular area of the pad will aim the shot in the corresponding spot in the goal. Shot power can be regulated by how long you hold your tap. This system, too has its flaws. Firstly, you will very often end up shooting when you don’t intend to, simply because your fingers rest and move around on the trackpad. Moreover, while shooting, only one finger must be in contact with the pad, without which the gesture won’t be registered as a shot on goal. All in all, the implementation of touch is a good effort, and it’s even fun from time to time, but you’ll soon find that the game is best played with the more reliable and comfortable traditional controls.

FIFA Football has most of the game modes you’d find in FIFA 12, including the career mode, where you can take up the role of a player, manager, or player-manager, and play as either the entire team or just one player in the Be A Pro format. It’s just as deep and there’s no compromise in quality. If anything, player interactions and transfer processes have been improved over FIFA 12, so this definitely isn’t a straight port. That aside, you can also play through various tournaments or create your own custom tournament. Like all FIFA games, you can create a Virtua Pro (your custom player) and use across all game modes. Online matchmaking is quick and gameplay is mostly lag-free, and while EA Sports Football Club is missed, other features, such as 11 vs 11 matches are present.

If your expectations from FIFA Football are of a game that mimics FIFA 12 on the Vita, then this is just what you asked for. But, if you’re looking for something more and hoped that the touch controls will deliver a new and more enjoyable experience, then you may be disappointed. This is a great first effort on the Vita, but some impractical touch controls and wobbly framerates stop it from being a must-buy.

Rayman Origins (PS Vita)

I’m not too proud to admit this, but Rayman Origins is the first Rayman game I’ve played - ever. The only thing I knew about this franchise was that it was a child friendly universe that gave birth to a whacky spin off in the form of Raving Rabbids. I did not, however, anticipate the sheer amount of joy that can be derived from this title on the PlayStation Vita.

For my brethren who’ve never dabbled with this franchise in the past, Rayman Origins is an old-school 2D platformer that perfectly blends combat with platforming in a very vibrant world. Story, of course is not an integral part of this game, but it’s there all right. You see Rayman and his band of friends have through their obnoxious snoring awakened the dead who now inhabit their turf, the Glade of Dreams. And of course, it’s up to Rayman to evict the new tenants.

The game starts off in a jungle-based level, but soon expands to include multiple game worlds, each of which can only be accessed once you clear the previous one. Each world is thematically different, so in one you could be floating around the desert on mosquito shooting birds, while in the other, you could be sliding down frozen slopes avoiding tricky glaciers and what I presume are piranhas. The game packs in so much environmental variety that you’ll never get bored, even though you’re almost doing the same thing in every level. Also I recommend playing each level multiple times, because it looks real cool when you know the map by heart and (near) flawlessly breeze through it. Plus you get to upload your score online, so that’s always nice for the male ego.

Every few levels you’ll have to rescue a nymph in distress after which she’ll bestow a special ability upon you like the ability to glide mid-air, dropkick stuff or even shrink in size to access certain areas. The levels that follow suit very cleverly put your new found abilities to the test. For example, once I earned the hovering ability, I was thrust into a game world full of air vents that made sure I mastered this ability to progress.

While this game looks very innocent, it’s also fiendishly tough at times requiring near perfect timing, razor quick reflexes and of course, tons of patience. It is, in fact quite ironic that such a kid friendly game made me spew out quite a few expletives at my poor Vita multiple times during my playthrough. However, none of these moments felt cheap and can be passed after a few tries. If for some reason you just can’t pass a roadblock, the game allows you to skip that level, altogether. However, if you do that, (and no one will judge you if you do), you may lack the required amount of Electoons to progress to the next level. In that case you’ll have to man up and complete the level or replay older levels to earn more Electoons.

Rayman’s transition from consoles to the Vita is flawless and besides Uncharted, this has to be the most visually appealing game I’ve played on the Vita. Its art style is a unique blend of hand-drawn levels fused with fluid animation and gorgeous 3D design. It is a game largely meant for kids, so naturally levels are very vibrant and cheerful and truth be told, it was a nice change of pace from all the gritty/authentic games, I’ve played recently. The only thing I had to tone down was the in-game audio, since the constant gibberish and annoying music got to me after a few levels.

If you’ve picked up a Vita for yourself, Rayman Origins is the perfect addition to your library. It’s fun, insanely addictive and is capable of challenging the most hardened of gamers. It also offers players a surprising amount of replayability and is the perfect fix for gamers who don’t have a lot of time on their hands, since it can be enjoyed for five minutes or five hours. We most definitely recommend it.

Sony to announce new Vita games next week

In case you picked up a Vita when it launched locally last week, you may be a bit miffed at the its launch line-up. Sure Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the bomb but after that there really isn’t any game that may scream out to you. All that could change next Friday as Sony are all set to unveil a whole new bunch of Vita games via their "Welcome! PlayStation Vita Game Heaven" broadcast.

According to Adrianang, this broadcast will include information about new Vita games, services as well as "new information about in-release titles", whatever that means. For more on the broadcast, stay tuned to this site on the 9th of March 2012. In the meantime, do check out our rather extensive Vita coverage to determine if Sony’s latest handheld console is meant for you.