PS4 Hacked, Video Demonstrates Console Playing Pokemon

The notorious hacking group Fail0verflow has demonstrated what appears to be the world's first low-level hack of the PlayStation 4.

As well as bypassing the console's security measures, Fail0verflow has also managed to write a custom version of Linux for the console, and has made the PS4 Linux port publicly available on its website.

A video demonstration of the hack also shows the PS4 playing what appears to be a modded version of Pokemon Emerald, renamed as "Pokemon PlayStation Version."

Fail0verflow has been responsible for hacks of numerous consoles. Digital Foundry claims the group had previously hacked the Wii, Wii U, and PlayStation 3.

The PlayStation 4 had proven to be free from such hacks for more than two years since its release.

But late in December, at the Chaos Communication Congress event in Hamburg, representatives for Fai0verflow published a five-minute video demonstrating the PS4 running a custom version of Linux.

The group appeared to be impressed by the PlayStation 4's architecture, claiming: "The Marvell engineers who designed the southbridge were smoking some really good stuff."

While some hackers advocate the bypassing of console security as more a hobbyist pursuit, corporations tend to claim that such hacks pave the way for pirated games.