Are PS3 ODE's the answer?

Well?

Simple answer is a great big No!

However that doesnt make for a very interesting blog post so I guess I should elaborate on that at least a little.

Firsly lets get the moral argument out of the way.  ODE devices have one purpose in life.  To run game backups.  Now we all know the legitimate reasons that are often touted for wanting to backup ones games such has having kids and wanting to protect the original media.  However we all know that while this is certainly something that is true for a small minority of users the rest of the rabble just want to grab games for free off the net.  This is a type of scene that can only have a detrimental effect on the life of a machine.  Just look at some of the past scenes like this such as the Dreamcast or even further back the Amiga.  All these machines were eventually killed off as so few people were actually buying the games.

This is obviously not what we want to become of the PS3, especially now its new shinny big brother is soon to be released.

This is also not what the PS3 scene has been about up until now.  For many people just being able to play emulators on their consoles as well as the new games as they come out is all they need.  Some also need the extra movie compatibility that showtime can bring.

Then of course there the cost. Jailbreaking a ps3 cost nothing unless you need to buy a USB memory stick where as the ODE devices such as the Cobra ODE and the 3K3Y are not cheap.  Just checking now they are also out of stock at all the main retailers.

Another possibly quite large problem associated with the PS3 ODE's is that you need to update your PS3 to the latest official firmware for the games to work.  While this is great what will happen when Sony decide to patch this method of running backups?  You will then be on a firmware version too high to jailbreak and a non functioning backup device.

This is a major factor that is hardly being mentioned by any of the  mainstream news sites.  If you think it can happen then think again.  3K3Y's manufacturers were also responsible for a very successful Xbox 360 ODE called the XK3Y  (See the pattern?).  It wasnt long before Microsoft found a way of detecting the devices and started handing out permanent bans.  Before jumping into the world of ODE's its good too google around about XK3Y Bans or something.

Make an informed decision.