Earlier this week, Nintendo released a firmware update for its dead console, the 3DS. While the 3DS still has a ton of dedicated gamers, the update came as quite a surprise as no new games are being developed for the console and its eShop has been offline for weeks. Therefore, it was quickly assumed that there was only one real purpose for the update: to stop piracy.
However, if this was Nintendo’s plan, it failed. While there was initially some panic that the 3DS update would disrupt the modding scene, the community has already found a solution. Now, 3DS owners in certain regions can hack their devices again even if they downloaded the version 11.17 update. This fix is expected to be available worldwide soon, thwarting Nintendo’s apparent plans to prevent gamers from using the 3DS for anything other than officially released games.
This development was spotted by Nintendo’s homebrew site WiiDatabase, which lists the 3DS super-skaterhax exploit as being compatible with the 11.17 update. Right now this seems to only apply to those in Europe, but given how many updates the hacking scene has run before, we can expect that to change soon. Super-skaterhax creator Zoogie has also confirmed that this is in the works, as they prevent US-only changes to the launch screen that interfere with the software.
Others on Twitter are also reporting that 3DS consoles are again hackable in both Europe and Japan, so it seems other modders are circumventing Nintendo’s changes as well. In fact, it seems that some were able to find fixes on the same day patch 11.17 was released. If throwing a wrench into your plans was Nintendo’s goal, then you’ll definitely have to go back to the drawing board. Or leave them alone, since the 3DS isn’t supported right now anyway.
As we mentioned in our initial report, some 3DS exclusives are now only playable through hacking or splurging on a console that already had them installed. Even some physical games can only be purchased through resellers, another method that won’t make the developers, or Nintendo, any money.
In any case, this has been an incredibly unpopular move by Nintendo. While it hasn’t been confirmed that stopping hackers was the company’s intent, it’s hard to imagine why it would go the extra mile to update a console it no longer releases games for. Whether he comments on the matter, or even gets another shot at stopping the modding scene remains to be seen.
