Last week we mentioned that the firmware of the Samsung disc drive in the Xbox 360 was hacked—allowing you to play 1:1 backups of games but not run unauthorized code—but that it required not only a degree from MIT to get it working, but also resources that only a mad scientist would have access to.
A group by the name of Team Xecuter is getting fantastically close to making a modchip of the plug-n-play variety that would permit the drive to use both the hacked and normal firmware. There's still some bugs to work out, namely that the firmware chip is connected to the Xbox 360 with nigh impossible-to-remove epoxy, thereby hindering the plug-n-play model, but this is certainly a promising development for all of you who need to backup your games because your kids throw the originals around like frisbees.
Dual Firmware Mod Update [Team Xecuter via Xbox-Scene]