Live in Your World, HAX in Ours!
Hello World! I've been reporting on Sony PlayStation hacking news since 2000 and started PSXHAX in 2014 to cover PlayStation (PSX), PlayStation 2 (PS2), PlayStation 3 (PS3), PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation Portable (PSP), PlayStation Vita (PS Vita), PlayStation TV (PS TV) and next-gen PlayStation 5 (PS5) platforms along with anything else of interest.
Click on my UserName author link above and you'll be able to view a curated list of all the articles I've contributed thus far to PSXHAX.COM!
Click on my UserName author link above and you'll be able to view a curated list of all the articles I've contributed thus far to PSXHAX.COM!
PlayStation Store Critics Choice Sale: PSN Game & Movie Discounts
With the Oscars this weekend, Sony's latest PlayStation Store sale offers PSN game and movie discounts on select Critics Choice titles with 60% savings up to 70% savings for PS Plus members. 
It runs through Tuesday, February 28 at 8 AM Pacific and here's what is included from the full listing courtesy of SIEA Digital Games Business Manager Brian Fujimoto:
Games
It runs through Tuesday, February 28 at 8 AM Pacific and here's what is included from the full listing courtesy of SIEA Digital Games Business Manager Brian Fujimoto:
Games
| Platform | Title | Sale Price | PS Plus Price | Original Price |
| PS4 | BATMAN: RETURN TO ARKHAM | $34.99 | $29.99 | $49.99 |
| PS4 | DARKEST DUNGEON (CROSS-BUY) | $12.49 | $9.99 | $24.99 |
| PS4 | DEAR ESTHER: LANDMARK EDITION | $5.99 | $4.99 | $9.99 |
| PS4 | DESTINY – THE COLLECTION | $44.39 | $39.59 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | DESTINY – THE COLLECTION UPGRADE | $34.79 | $31.99 | $39.99 |
| PS4 | DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED | $26.99 | $20.99 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED – DIGITAL DELUXE EDITION | $40.49 | $31.49 | $89.99 |
| PS4 | DIABLO III: REAPER OF SOULS – ULTIMATE EVIL EDITION | $29.39 | $19.79 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | DIRT RALLY | $29.99 | $23.99 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | DIRT RALLY PLUS PLAYSTATION VR BUNDLE | $43.39 | $37.09 | $69.99 |
| PS4 | DISHONORED 2 | $44.99 | $40.19 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | DOOM | $35.99 | $29.99 | $59.99 |
| PS4 | ... |
PS4 Pro Ultimate Retro Special Edition Mod by ColorWare Demo
Those who remember the original PlayStation entertainment system of 1994 will get a blast from the past by this PS4 Pro Ultimate Retro Special Edition Mod by ColorWare that boasts a custom paint job akin to the original PSX console! 
Check out the details, price and demonstration video below, and to quote from their page: "It was the year 1994, Sony came up with a system that managed to create its own market and beat all competitors.
The Sony PlayStation changed everything, it felt like something new after watching Sega and Nintendo dominate the market. Let’s celebrate that old grey box! Colorware has recreated the classic look of the first PlayStation by integrating those retro colors into the newest PlayStation 4 Pro gaming console.
With the PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony has introduced console gamers to the beautiful world of 4k and HDR. With this new system Sony is giving gamers whole new worlds to explore. With Greater Draw Distances, softer features, and advanced visual fx games look and feel more realistic than ever. Now your console can look as good as it does on your new 4K TV."
PlayStation 4 Pro Retro - $899
Check out the details, price and demonstration video below, and to quote from their page: "It was the year 1994, Sony came up with a system that managed to create its own market and beat all competitors.
The Sony PlayStation changed everything, it felt like something new after watching Sega and Nintendo dominate the market. Let’s celebrate that old grey box! Colorware has recreated the classic look of the first PlayStation by integrating those retro colors into the newest PlayStation 4 Pro gaming console.
With the PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony has introduced console gamers to the beautiful world of 4k and HDR. With this new system Sony is giving gamers whole new worlds to explore. With Greater Draw Distances, softer features, and advanced visual fx games look and feel more realistic than ever. Now your console can look as good as it does on your new 4K TV."
PlayStation 4 Pro Retro - $899
- ColorWare Limited PlayStation 4 Pro Retro
- Set includes custom PlayStation 4 Pro and DualShock 4
- North American model
- 1TB Hard Drive
- Compatible with every PS4 game
- Play online with other PS4 players with PlayStation Plus
- Includes console, power cord, HDMI cable, earbud microphone, DualShock 4 controller and its charging cable
- Comes in original packaging
- ColorWare Warranty
PSVIMG Tools VPK Updates to Decrypt PS Vita Game Backups!
Following PS Vita PKG Decryption, PS Vita Keys, the recent F00D Hack and F00D Processor Octopus Exploit today PlayStation Vita developer Yifan Lu updated the PSVIMG Tools GIT releases section with a dump_partials.vpk and more to decrypt PSVita game backups! 
Download: dump_partials.vpk / psvimgtools-0.1-linux64.zip / psvimgtools-0.1-osx.zip / psvimgtools-0.1-win64.zip / Source code (zip) / Source code (tar.gz) / Latest Release / GIT / PSVIMGTools Frontend / GIT / psvpfsparser-win32.zip by @SilicaAndPina / Psvimgtools.Easy.FrontEnd.1.8.7.zip / GIT via MRGhidini
Note: The Linux version requires libgcrypt to be installed. Also according to PlayStation Vita hacker Davee, to quote: "You no longer need a Vita to derive your AID for CMA backup decryption. Use this...
Download: dump_partials.vpk / psvimgtools-0.1-linux64.zip / psvimgtools-0.1-osx.zip / psvimgtools-0.1-win64.zip / Source code (zip) / Source code (tar.gz) / Latest Release / GIT / PSVIMGTools Frontend / GIT / psvpfsparser-win32.zip by @SilicaAndPina / Psvimgtools.Easy.FrontEnd.1.8.7.zip / GIT via MRGhidini
Note: The Linux version requires libgcrypt to be installed. Also according to PlayStation Vita hacker Davee, to quote: "You no longer need a Vita to derive your AID for CMA backup decryption. Use this...
PS2 Emulation / Directory Structure on PS4 Exploited Firmware by Flat_z
Last year we reported on the open-source Nucleus PS3 / PS4 PC Emulator with another PS4 Emulator Project underway, and this weekend PlayStation 4 developer @flatz shared some findings on Twitter of emulating PS2 games on the PS4, which comparatively with PS3 seems like a simpler task overall. 
A summary list is below... it appears the built-in PlayStation 2 emulator known as ps2_netemu can be configured with Lua on PS4, and unlike the PS3 both the PS2 iSO and virtual memory card image aren't encrypted on PlayStation 4 either.
@flatz also mentions on 'exploited Firmware' (PS4 CFW aka PlayStation 4 Custom Firmware or Patched PS4 MFW aka PlayStation 4 Modified Firmware) that PS2 games can be converted into PS4 format and emulated using a modified EBOOT.ELF with each PS2 game's Title ID, for example SLES-50326 from the Max Payne Directory Structure below.
Here is a summary with the related Tweets from flat_z below, as follows:
A summary list is below... it appears the built-in PlayStation 2 emulator known as ps2_netemu can be configured with Lua on PS4, and unlike the PS3 both the PS2 iSO and virtual memory card image aren't encrypted on PlayStation 4 either.
@flatz also mentions on 'exploited Firmware' (PS4 CFW aka PlayStation 4 Custom Firmware or Patched PS4 MFW aka PlayStation 4 Modified Firmware) that PS2 games can be converted into PS4 format and emulated using a modified EBOOT.ELF with each PS2 game's Title ID, for example SLES-50326 from the Max Payne Directory Structure below.
Here is a summary with the related Tweets from flat_z below, as follows:
- a PS2 emulator for PS4 looks like more flexible than the one we have seen on PS3, at least you can configure it (hooks, params) using Lua
- it seems they have an additional *** for PS2 games on PS4 platform, EBOOT and compiler is not tied to entitlement keys
- and now I think it is the same for all games that use the same SD version, earlier I've thought they compile it for each game
- here is an example of directory structures for max payne 1: Ybin.me
- a rom named as PS20220WD20050620.crack, just for fun or what?
- if you remember on PS3's ps2_netemu we have encrypted PS2 iso image and encrypted virtual memory card image, on PS4 they are not encrypted
- everything are stored in encrypted PKG+PFS image, there is no additional encryption layer
- also it seems we can easily convert PS2 games into PS4 format on exploited firmware with PS2 support
- but as usual we need to make custom PKG+PFS loader for retail firmwares that can handle unencrypted or semi-encrypted/semi-signed packages
- a small correction: eboot.elf (an actual emulator?) should differs for each...
GTA V Simple Mod Menu v1.0 for PS4 1.76 Released by 2much4u!
Last year we saw a preview of the Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) PS4 Mod Menu followed more recently by a Serendipity 4.5 GTA V PS3 Mod Menu, and today PlayStation 4 developer @2much4u (Twitter) has released their GTA V Simple Mod Menu v1.0 for PS4 1.76 console owners!
Download: GTAMenu.bin (23.83 KB)
From 2much4u, to quote: [PS4 1.76][GTA 5 1.00] Simple Mod Menu v1.0
Note: The following is only for 1.76 PS4's, and because of that, is not able to be used online. It has been tested and confirmed working on both the US (CUSA00419) and EU (CUSA00411) game regions. It is currently unknown if it will work on the JP (CUSA00880) region. It will only work on version 1.00 of GTA 5, which means there are no updates or dlc.
I'm sure many of you saw the preview for this back in December. I have added a few thing since then as well as rewritten the entire thing to call natives by hash so as to not have to change a hundred addresses for a different game region (stupid decision to call them by address in the first place, I know).
However, the menu remains extremely simple because of the memory and coding limitations set forth by the code injection method I use to make this work at all. Everything is done within the payload, there is no outside tool.
The payload will also enable debug settings and spoof your firmware version to 9.99. I do plan to release some sample code for calling natives from a webkit payload in the near future. I also plan to eventually add more to this menu.
Usage
Download: GTAMenu.bin (23.83 KB)
From 2much4u, to quote: [PS4 1.76][GTA 5 1.00] Simple Mod Menu v1.0
Note: The following is only for 1.76 PS4's, and because of that, is not able to be used online. It has been tested and confirmed working on both the US (CUSA00419) and EU (CUSA00411) game regions. It is currently unknown if it will work on the JP (CUSA00880) region. It will only work on version 1.00 of GTA 5, which means there are no updates or dlc.
I'm sure many of you saw the preview for this back in December. I have added a few thing since then as well as rewritten the entire thing to call natives by hash so as to not have to change a hundred addresses for a different game region (stupid decision to call them by address in the first place, I know).
However, the menu remains extremely simple because of the memory and coding limitations set forth by the code injection method I use to make this work at all. Everything is done within the payload, there is no outside tool.
The payload will also enable debug settings and spoof your firmware version to 9.99. I do plan to release some sample code for calling natives from a webkit payload in the near future. I also plan to eventually add more to this menu.
Usage
- Navigate to a Webkit Playground on your PS4 web browser
- Start code execution and wait until it is ready for the payload
- Send payload and wait until you get...