Xbox 360 Homebrew Scene is pretty lackluster

I've been quite noticing this lately that the last time and the other times I'd frequently check over the Xbox-Scene sites and usually i really don't see that many Homebrew Emulators (Homebrew Games don't matter much to me as we have Xbox Live Indie Games for that desire) i know there's a Nintendo 64 emulator (though that only runs through Xell i believe) and i do acknowledge there's a RetroArch emulator for it as well but i've heard it's not really good i think? But, my point is I'm sorta confused as to why the Xbox 360 hacking/Homebrew is so mediocre compared to the Original Xbox or Nintendo Wii, hell even the PlayStation 3 has better homebrew emulator support!

is it because those mentioned systems are much easier to install custom firmware too making developers seem to take a small interest into making a quick port or two while the 360 is tougher and creating less sceners to take into account or something i'm not aware of exactly?

What's the issue if anybody knows what? just curious is all

 

My guess it has to do with the complexity involved to run unsigned code on a retail kit, as where one can easily modify a Wii with no hardware involved for pretty much every model out there and for PS3 it's a matter of getting the right kit with old(er) firmware.

 

I just wished someone made a softmod around the early days of the Xbox 360, maybe then it would be easier to do mods without too much hardware tools or if ODDE device could run unsigned code similar to Cobra on PS3 consoles.

 

The secrecy of everything killed it. That, and they had piracy almost immediately.

 

The whole scene took a turn when the 360 came out. Straight to custom dvd firmware and like Boreman said, Piracy took over. When the Jtag came out nobody wanted to mess with that. the RGH was an expensive route at the time, and tedious. The whole modding process to get homebrew was for the die hard fan and not as common. Most people like that wanted to get their hands on dev kits. I personally did not want to go through the process so I got pre mod RGH way after the fact and ran into what you explain above. the lack of homebrew. and mind you I'm not sure how many people were hacking call of duty on the original xbox, on the 360 the cheaters all came out to play. the scene has split into several areas imoo. I was disinterested the moment I got my RGH due to lack of homebrew being in one place. Xbox-scene was the go to place for original xbox info. Ever since the 360 came out i feel like the main page went down hill. As for consoles that can be soft modded..They attract more attention and obviously have more being developed most likely due to ease of use and installation. Even the e3 Nor downgrader was and still is a better route to go when it comes to modding a console these days. Blu-Ray, Winning. Emulator Catagory, Winning. Backwards Compatability, Everything was there and those sony fans took advantage of every bit they could. is free60 even a thing anymore? libxenon? PS3 put 360 homebrew 6ft under. also shout out to Deank for all his hard work.

 

Wow... that's like LITERALLY alot of things just for one console not to have anymore homebrew lol i hadn't had no clue that piracy would make tons of homebrew coders to not work on the Xbox 360 anymore! Shouldn't that stuff be Microsoft's issue and not us? Yeah Custom DVD firmware hacking and Call of Duty lobby hostings was definitely rampant around the scene much more than PlayStation 3 is but that shouldn't mean that people should straight up give up for very small or pity reasons because that's completely unfair for those who wants both sides of the modding world like one would have their homebrew emulators, XBLA, XBLIG, and Backwards compatible original Xbox games and then you have every kids and tweens favorite the lobby hacking/mod menu scene but instead sadly we only get ONE that is very heavily focused to this day.

As i said earlier, those guys should have made a softmod or a ODDE that could run unsigned code somehow like have it pretend it's a DVD game or Xbox Live Indie Game title (or maybe create one and have it run offline somehow i guess) just throwing out a few ideas.

Anyways thanks for the great insight and back story to this mystery.

 

You keep saying that someone should make a softmod but my question is why don't you? The 360 has some solid security system side unlike the PS3.

A "softmod" is emensly difficult on the Xbox for a few reasons. It's not like people haven't tried ya know.

In fact there is one softmod and it came out very early in the life span of the Xbox, look up the king kong exploit.

 

That literately the point i'm not trying to make exactly, I adore the hard work these devs put into making these hardware exploits possible and without them we wouldn't have a ODDE device nor JTAG or RGH.

All i was asking is why the homebrew scene isn't as big as the Nintendo Wii (and Wii U), Original Xbox, or PlayStation 3 as i'm totally unfamiliar with how the community was holding after i'd left for quite awhile.

Heck i wish i knew how to do that softmodding creating stuff and would LOVED to help get back on it's feet but just don't have the free time to do so that much and plus the security is defintely tough so i'll agree with you on that one.

 

The one and only software exploit that existed was a hyper visor exploit, Needless to say that ain't happening again.
I would highly suggest looking at how the security systems work on the Xbox 360.

As for why it never got big well just look at the kind of people that used the Xbox 360, it wasn't a very nice community, Even now there are still things being kept hidden.
Shadowboot anyone?

If I am way of base then please someone feel free to correct me.

 

Give it a few years.

 

I can agree with others in saying it was the high cost of entry and the hardware being the barrier as well. On the Wii and PS3 (if you have an exploitable system) all you need is some storage and a few files, then BAM.

The Xbox 360 scene has game save modding and some in game USB mod tools, which is neat, but as far as a legitimate console modification the lowest level and easiest one would be flashing the DVD drive which most people do not want to do. It's much easier to do now but it took me several near sleepless nights to learn how to pull it off by myself, something most people do not want to dedicate themselves to.

The only other way to properly execute unsigned code is with a hardmod, and at this point it's evolved beyond just slapping in a modchip. Pick what type of console exploit you can use, select the exploit, buy the chips or hardware needed for said exploit, buy a programmer, troubleshooting, soldering, etc. Sure that's something I know how to do now, but even I myself ended up learning how to solder because I was dedicated to this for a bit. Again, something most people do not want to do. All of that right there is not super easy to learn and can get pricey quite fast.

BUT WAIT!!! You can buy a pre-modded console!

While this is true you also have to remember that you're paying a premium for that, and most people don't want to buy another console.

If you don't believe me, look at any other scene which was mostly based around softmods. Wii, Wii U, PS3, 3DS, PSP, now Vita - All of these have an INSANE amount of homebrew and dedication to them. Just recently the Wii U and 3DS exploded because easy enough to use, software based exploits all running on the latest firmwares were released. There's a ton of talented devs out there who have these consoles but don't have a way to access what they need to. If the exploits are easy enough to run, they're given a golden key and can pump out some really awesome projects for everyone to enjoy.

Oh, and I have some posts to reply to.... By the way, I love that this site saves posts. Was on this line and my whole browser went white, nearly flipped out due to the fact that all of this post would have been gone.

Even with that it wasn't an explicit softmod, it required you to flash the DVD drive with a custom firmware (which at that time was rocket science compared to where it's at now, give me a 360USB Pro and I can do that in my sleep or severely impaired) and the exploit was killed off quite early on. The idea of a softmod itself is normally to modify a console only using software and not having to crack it open.

JTAG exploit came out in 2009, we've given it quite a few years.

 

Yes BUT XBOX 360 production has just ended. The Homebrew scene doesn't really blow up until after support for a console ends.

 

Not necessarily! Wii, Xbox, PSP, now even Wii U and the 3DS had extremely healthy homebrew scenes while the consoles were being sold and were relevant.

 

Right yea forgot you needed to modify some files in the game to run the exploit.
So there in fact has never been a software only solution.

Oh and the WiiU hasn't exactly "exploded" other then on the piracy front, Shame cause I really like my WiiU

 

I just thought of this today and wanted to return to inquire about this - Do you all think the homebrew scene could have also been lackluster due to monetization? It was actually the first generation I saw in which people were selling software and mod tools and such, where people were trying to make a business out of everything instead of just the modding services (such as flashing and JTAG installation).

In previous generations I never saw people trying to sell everything on this scale. Not too sure how the PS3 scene was, but I know in the Wii scene devs were very adamant on not selling or having people pay for their software.

 

When/if the ps4/x1 get hacked then we will see amazing stuff - like on the original Xbox.
I still have my jtag 360 and my cfw ps3 - cracked them almost immediately after the processes became known and I am still waiting for great stuff like emus, media players etc... Not gonna happen though, both systems use architectures that home brew devs don't want to tackle... That's why I have high hopes for the x86 based ps4/x1.
jm2c

 

I think you can still find sealed 360's they are a bit expensive but if you want to use King Kong exploit

 

Even when they managed to get unsigned code on the 360 I don't think that many people bothered modifying their consoles - the online bans also dealt a pretty swift hammer to piracy. Yes, it's possible - but you had to keep up to date, etc with new firmwares, etc. It wasn't just solder a chip and you're away... I'm guessing the Wii may be the last easily modded console and the end of an era for console piracy in a sense.

...and that's why homebrew never really took off - the audience was/is simply too small. Likewise, the idea of someone messing around with the system and writing something becomes an even rarer prospect.

It's interesting because I have two 360's - one modded (with the first hack, from way back when) and an unmodded console which I actually use. The modded machine is almost frozen in time because I can't run any new games for fear of applying an update that will remove the mod. I've had a look at the idea of upgrading, etc - but it seems like such a maze with glitch kits and whatever else I'd need...

 

When you're saying first hack that can either signify two things - Either a flashed DVD drive or a JTAG exploit.

If it's a JTAG all you need to do is use something like XeBuild GUI or JRunner to update your NAND image.

If it's a flashed drive, most likely you'd need to update your drive.

 

The second... flashed dvd drive.

I've looked into it - and I need some sort of kit with various components and the confidence to know I'm not going to screw it up (which I sadly lack)