End of the devkit preservation era?

I have heard from some people that the PSVita, PS4, and XBone devkits / test kits all require you to "phone home" to Sony / Microsoft periodically, or they will stop working. That phone home, of course, requires an account and being on a whitelisted IP address range.


I can't confirm whether this is true, but if it is, it seems like it would be the end of the preservation of development consoles. Once this generation goes obsolete, Sony and Microsoft will turn off the activation servers for good, making all those development consoles as good as bricks. Is the PS3 an end of an era?

 

There are always ways around activation. Whether or not people keep to themselves or not is a bigger question.

 

It's just a matter of time before those things will be hacked/emulated.

 

I can't confirm 100% if the PS4 Debug will continue to work after expiration but I have seen employees took them home for couple weeks during their vacation and it worked at their houses so I'm not sure if it's required a Whitelisted IP. I believe as long as the system still in the 90 days activation period, it'd work.

I can't confirm all the PSV debugs will work after 90 days period but for couple units I have seen. They still function properly after 90 days without re-activation.

 

Yep, just like most "activated" products there are usually patches, hacks or cracks. It just takes someone with the motivation to do so.