It seems that someone may have already devised a new method to hack the Sony PS3 to give the console the ability to run homebrew applications.
Reports have been surfacing the past couple of days that Sony’s Sixaxis or DualShock 3 controllers can be modified with a PIC component to run the PSGroove code directly from them. The hack was found in a forum and later a video surfaced on YouTube showing a modified controller in action.
This modification is only one for the very technically proficient, and even then only those with good soldering skills. In order to make the mod work, some special hardware needs to be purchased and installed into the PS3 controller with eight separate points to solder. The mod will also void any warranty that may cover the controller, of course, and there could be subsequent changes to the normal operation of the controller that have not yet been reported.
Once the installation is complete however, the modification reportedly allows the PS3 to be booted into debug mode without losing any of the system settings and the hack is apparently very convenient to use.
Not only does this particular hack method sound ridiculously complicated, it has also not yet been confirmed whether it will work on PS3 consoles that have been updated with the versions 3.41 or 3.50 firmware that Sony released in order to close the first PSGroove exploits. Since the PS3 controllers use a USB connection and the firmware update supposedly blocked the USB hole that allowed such exploits, this particular modification may have been done by someone who has not yet upgraded the firmware. Not worth the risks, in my opinion.
