PS3 jailbreak seller hits back with firmware downgrade

Step back in time to re-apply console crack

PS Jailbreak, the USB dongle designed to crack open Sony's PlayStation 3, can now work with consoles that have been updated with firmware higher than version 3.41.

Well, kind of. The software tweak actually enables the dongle to downgrade the console's firmware to 3.41 - or, indeed, any previous firmware version, the maker claims.

PS3 firmware 3.42 was released in September specifically to combat PS Jailbreak. It blocks the method by which PS Jailbreak does its stuff.

The dongle tricks shop-sold consoles into operating as if they are developer-oriented boxes which, in turn, allows these machines to run games from external media.

The Asian company behind PS Jailbreak of course pitches the device not as a tool for ripping off games publishers but as a way of running homebrew software.

Presumably, the downgrade breaks a console's ability to use the online PlayStation Network service, but the downgrade doesn't prevent you from upgrading back to the latest firmware should you want to access PSN at a later time.

The PS Jailbreak lot reckon the tweak, called PS Downgrade, will work with any future firmware. The downgrade is only available from "authorised dealers", though the PS Downgrade website doesn't list any - or say what they'll charge for the software. ®

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