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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Microsoft embraces PS3 hacker Geohot

CVG

Apple suffered at the hands of George Hotz (aka Geohot) last year, and Sony has this month been engaged in battle with the hacker - since he exposed the PlayStation 3's core codes and blew it wide open for homebrew development.

Microsoft, on the other hand, doesn't appear to be working up much of a sweat over him, considering that it could well be next.

In fact, when Geohot announced on Twitter that he was going out to buy a Windows Phone 7 (and we all know what he likes to do with phones) Brandon Watson - listed on Twitter as an "Entrepreneur on loan to Microsoft focused on getting our developer mojo back" - put out a message that basically said, 'put your money away, son':

"#geohot if you want to build cool stuff on #wp7, send me email and the team will give you a phone - let dev creativity flourish #wp7dev"

It's the kind of attitude that flies in the face of Apple's contrasting commitment to closed systems and shows a cool approach while other rival Sony seems to be getting hot under the collar with court cases.

This isn't the only example of Microsoft welcoming friendly tampering with its key hardware. Tech heads everywhere have been doing all kinds of crazy and unofficial things with Kinect but Microsoft says it won't pursuit legal action against home developers.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=284421?



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wow MS wow, I just gained a whole new respect for them. Don't fight the hackers, give them tools to play with.



 

Bet with Conegamer and Doobie_wop 

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=3879752

MS is pretty cool in that case.. nice.



I'm a Foreigner, and as such, i am grateful for everyone pointing out any mistakes in my english posted above - only this way i'll be able to improve. thank you!

Microsoft did not get to where they are at without good cause.

If an individual can hack into your systems that your Ivy league educated, $90k/year software engineers created, then they deserve a job at your company.

What is that old saying in politics from Sun-tzu? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.



In my opinion, thats just for PR. Since Kinect was hacked and MS's first _bad_ reactions they figured out that changing their official strategy would bring respect and new "coolness". In case of Kinect it's totally true to signal "we support an open dev-community." just because that makes Kinect more interesting.

But: Microsoft will change their attitude once they lose money 'causeof hacks. That's for sure.



must-have-list for platforms i don't own yet:

WiiU: Donkey Kong

XBone: Dead Rising 3, Ryse

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It's two pretty different cases though.

On the one hand, hacking Kinect won't allow piracy of games, therefore, MS are fine with it. In fact, it may actually improve Kinect sales. With Win Phone 7 they're effectively trying to prevent any potential for piracy by bringing hackers (or just GeoHot in this case) on board.

On the other hand you have Sony and Apple where the hacks actively allow for piracy to occur, even if the original intention is for homebrew applications.

If anything happens that allows software piracy instead of just homebrew apps, then you can bet MS would do a full 180.



Killiana1a said:

What is that old saying in politics from Sun-tzu? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

I don't remember seeing that in The Art of War.



Zkuq said:
Killiana1a said:

What is that old saying in politics from Sun-tzu? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

I don't remember seeing that in The Art of War.


http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/36994.html&rct=j&q=keep your friends close and your enemies closer&ei=UiQ4TfiAO4KgvgOj-uGLCg&usg=AFQjCNFRDxXzpJsYj6VQTM_5-Wg6BWGbFA&cad=rja

 

It was somewhere if not in the Art of War, but according to that Sun-Tzu definitely said that



 

Bet with Conegamer and Doobie_wop 

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=3879752

IMO that's just PR talk. I think the reason why MS doesn't take actions against is because they know it's doesn't change anything. Consoles and phones get hacked anyway. Lawsuits and anti-piracy measures just slow down the process and are ultimately just a waste of money. look at the lawsuit against geohot from Sony now. They have zero chance to win that thing, I don't want to know how much it will cost Sony.



updated: 14.01.2012

playing right now: Xenoblade Chronicles

Hype-o-meter, from least to most hyped:  the Last Story, Twisted Metal, Mass Effect 3, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Playstation ViTA

bet with Mordred11 that Rage will look better on Xbox 360.

AussieGecko said:
Zkuq said:
Killiana1a said:

What is that old saying in politics from Sun-tzu? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

I don't remember seeing that in The Art of War.


http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/36994.html&rct=j&q=keep your friends close and your enemies closer&ei=UiQ4TfiAO4KgvgOj-uGLCg&usg=AFQjCNFRDxXzpJsYj6VQTM_5-Wg6BWGbFA&cad=rja

 

It was somewhere if not in the Art of War, but according to that Sun-Tzu definitely said that


Mario Puzzo wrote that for The Godfather II (Michael Corleone said that his father taught him that) but the original source (if not Puzzo) is not known... Sun-Tzu definately said "Know your enemy and know yourself" (he said a larger phrase but this is the message)...