The beloved Metal Gear Online, the online component of the Metal Gear Solid franchise which launched in 2008 (and subsequently closed in 2012), is being brought back to life in this year by a professional group of ethical hackers, working under the name, “SaveMGO.”.
Read more details on Metal Gear Online and its resurrection after the break.
Metal Gear Online Resurrection
The group consists of IOActive security consultant Joseph Tartaro and his aforementioned crew of professional “ethical hackers.”
Tartaro and company’s aim was to create a server that would essentially fool PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 systems into believing that they were communicating with the original Metal Gear Online official server.
According to Tartaro, it would possibly be the first private PlayStation 3 server that could hold online multiplayer battles.
The following explanation of the team’s techniques are courtesy of The Guardian:
The group’s aim was to create a server that would effectively trick PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 consoles into believing they were speaking with the old official server. In the case of the PS3, the researcher believes this could be the first private server to host multiplayer melees on the console.
The team started with the PlayStation discs themselves, taking a look at the executable files that make the game run.
They figured out how the code worked – reverse engineering it, and then did something similar with the network protocol determining how the consoles communicated with each other, and the now-defunct remote server that once hosted the multiplayer games.
The process was rather tedious because the original online server was no longer available, said Tartaro. The team had to use educated guesses in pushing various pieces of fake data to their consoles, and then using the responses to craft adequate private servers.
Furthermore, Tartaro stated:
“We broke the encryption for the network protocol, as well as the file encryption, but the network protocol was the only one necessary to get it back online,”
An announcement detailing the manner in which Tartaro and his team managed to bring Metal Gear Online back to life will be made later on this week.
Gamers itching to get back into the fray of Metal Gear Online are going to have to hurdle some obstacles however. Anybody who desires to play Metal Gear Online on PS3 will need a hacked system, but PS2 owners can get by by owning a rooted console or using a cheat device such as Code Breaker.
Tartaro advises people don’t mess with the PlayStation 2/3 hardware themselves. A better solution would be to get one’s hands on a console that is compatible with the necessary custom firmware.
Interestingly, Tartaro has also said that other online games that have been shut down may be able to be brought back to life in the same manner as the ones they used to resurrect Metal Gear Online.
Read the full details on how Tartaro and SaveMGO were able to revive Metal Gear Online here.
What are your thoughts on the resurrection of Metal Gear Online? Did you play MGO back in the day? Are you excited that it may be able to be played again? Why or why not?
Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to GamerHeadlines.com for the latest in video game and technology news.
Source. TheGuardian.com
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