Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Power of Future Gaming Consoles

The phrase used to sum up little brother is “Taking back the world one hacked gaming console at a time.” Naturally the two words that I related to most were “gaming console”. There was a time when video game systems weren’t used for anything else other than playing games. This age started to end as it became possible to play CDs and DVDs on Sony platforms. Now days you can do any number of things with the current generation consoles. You can surf the Internet, chat with friends, watch streaming movies, download music, and much more. Generation by generation gaming systems are becoming more like computers with their multiple functions. Little Brother gives a glimpse of what’s to come with the future of gaming systems.

The story Marcus tells about the Xbox Universal is very hard for me to believe as a gamer. That Microsoft would give away a gaming system for free doesn’t sound like a good marketing plan. Of course today Sony is still selling the PS3 at a loss and relying on game sales for most of their sales. This prediction is some what accurate in that other than the Nintendo Wii most game companies sell their console at a loss. For the most part it is the games which make up the profit.
Putting illegal programs and operating systems on your game consoles is something that already exists. You can install Linux or Windows on the PSP or the Xbox 360. In fact hackers have found ways to install homebrew on systems that don’t even usually have storage space. Flash cards have been made for the Nintendo DS, which have a slot for micro SD cards with applications on it. Then you just place the flash card into the game slot on the DS. Though more limited than other systems the DS is still capable of running several useful programs, such as chat programs and emulators. My friend modded my PSP which allows me to install homebrew, which in my opinion makes the system much more useful, considering the PSP‘s game library is comprised of games I already own on other systems.

One might ask what the point of it all is. If you’re going to turn your gaming systems into computers than why not just use a computer. One of the reasons is that gaming systems are usually viewed as more innocent than computers. The DHS broke Marcus’ laptop open to spy on him, but they didn’t do anything to his Xbox. This may have been because they didn’t find it, but I believe even if they had they would have over looked it thinking it was just for games. Another reason is that making all your devices have the features of a computer gives you more options. A PSP is much easier to conceal and use without suspicion than a wide laptop is.

One of the clear messages of Little Brother is it is paramount that you learn to control technology instead of letting technology control you. Whenever my game systems or computers present minor annoyances I don’t let them continue with it, I’ll search online for the solution. With security so tight in the U.S. and the Patriot Act in existence it is becoming more and more necessary that we protect our right to privacy. I may not own a cell phone or a fancy PDA, but I do have two portable gaming systems and I use them both to their fullest. If the development of systems continues on this route the line between a computer and a gaming device will be very thin indeed.

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