Hacking a Sony PlayStation

by Flack  (flack@theshop.net)

If you're one of the millions of PlayStation (PSX) owners out there, good news - you can "hack" your PSX with the addition of a "mod" or "pic" chip, enabling you to play backed up (ahem) PSX games, and more importantly, import games.  And, at a fraction of the cost.

Background

If anyone is going to know how a CD-ROM drive works, it's going to be Sony, and so you shouldn't expect copying a PlayStation game to be easy.  Sony implemented the PSX with a heck of a copy protection scheme.

When you put a CD into your PSX, not only does it try to detect whether it's an original or not, but it tries to detect the country code on the CD as well.

Legitimately backed-up your PSX game, your original CD is now ruined, and you want to play the backup?  Tough.  Bought the latest new hit import from Japan and want to play it on your PSX?  Tough.  Tough, that is, until you've modified your PSX with what is referred to as a mod chip.

Mod Chips

Mod chips are add on chips that you can purchase off the Internet and install into your PSX to allow it to play both backed up and import games.  When you turn on the PSX, the chip tells the PSX to ignore whatever it finds during its protection/country checks, and go ahead and play the game.  Mod chips on the Internet can cost you anywhere from $5 to $20, depending on who you order from, how you order, and how many chips you order.  My past experience has been to always order more than one chip - there's always someone else who wants their PSX modded.

Installation

Now here's the fun part.

If you haven't taken Soldering 101, then probably a $150 PlayStation isn't the place to learn.  Dads, science teachers, and vo-tech graduates are great people to have help you.  Most mod chips come with instructions, but the basic gist is that you are going to open up your PSX, solder four wires from the chip to the motherboard, and then put the whole mess back together and hopefully have it still boot up.

Risks

Well first of all, the obvious risk is that of screwing your PSX up.

An extra drop of solder here or there will surely screw things up.  I have one friend who modded his PSX and now it won't see his memory card slot at all.

I had another friend who accidentally pulled and broke a wire inside the machine... trash.  You can think of your own scheme to be able to return your PSX back to Walmart and exchange it for a fresh one, but the obviously preferred method is to not FUBAR up your PSX in the first place.

What Does All This Mean?

In layman's terms, once your PSX is modded, you can play any PSX CD, copy, original, import, whatever.

With a PC, CD-R drive, a copy of CDRWIN, a Blockbuster card, and a stack of blank CDs, a guy could really increase his PSX collection in a hurry.

There are plenty of EFNet channels (#psx, #psxiso, #psxwarez, #psxceed, etc.) that trade copies of PSX games.

Be warned though, PSX games often hover around the 700 MB mark, so don't expect to be welcomed with open arms at 56k.  You can also get legal CD imports from overseas, which your PSX normally wouldn't play.  Many games like Bushido Blade II and Street Boarders are released six months in advance overseas.

Final Thoughts

Like console copiers, modding your PSX (although voiding your warranty) is technically legal, when used in the context of backing up your own personally owned games.

Chances are very few people use them inside those boundaries, but as long as there is that sliver of legality, you can still get mod chips without much hassle (about the same as getting a tone dialer these days).

So if you're a Crash Bandicoot fan and don't give a flip about that little red hat wearing Mario, you too can enjoy the fruits of hacking your console.