A Used Game From 2011 Can Hack A Nintendo 3DS, But It'll Cost You Some Big Bucks
Screenshot
Using the game, hackers could install "homebrew" software onto the 3DS. Nintendo quickly pulled it from the digital download store, according to VentureBeat. That made the game hard - but not impossible - to find.
Homebrew refers to third-party games, apps, emulators, etc., that can be downloaded onto the 3DS. Homebrew software isn't sanctioned by Nintendo.
Some retailers are cashing in on how popular this old, (and until now) forgotten game is. You can buy a used copy of "Cubic Ninja" at GameStop for up to $39.99. On Amazon it's going for as much as $130. "Cubic Ninja" was only $5 as recently as last week, according to Polygon.
Although the fear is that the hack could make it easy for people to download pirated games, it wouldn't be possible with "Cubic Ninja."
"I don't care if people pirate in their private lives, but I don't want to be a part of it," Jordan Rabet, the person who found the hack, tells Eurogamer. "I don't want to release something others can use to steal someone else's intellectual property. That's not what I want. I wouldn't release something that could be used for piracy ... it's just not something I want to do."
Instead he's hoping that the exploit in "Cubic Ninja" will make people want to develop more homebrew games for the 3DS. Right now he's even working on a 3DS version of "Minecraft."
It's not a surprise that Nintendo pulled "Cubic Ninja" so rapidly from its e-store. The company has a strict policy against emulators and piracy. But still, a quick firmware patch could render the game's exploiting powers useless.
"It's just a vulnerability in a game to access a vulnerability in the system firmware. All they'd really need to do is patch the firmware and then the game doesn't even matter," Rabat says.
- I got a $40K raise using this 30-second strategy. It made me realize loud work, not hard work, always wins.
- Qatar Airways' new CEO explains why it's sticking with the Airbus A380 as other airlines retire the costly superjumbo
- Prince Harry and Meghan found out about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis on TV like everyone else, report says
- Upcoming cars and two-wheelers launching in India in April 2024
- Ice melt in Antarctica and Greenland is slowing Earth's rotation, affecting timekeeping: Study
- Elections on a plate: Poll panels fix menu & expense ceiling for Samosa, tea, biryani & more
- Regenerative farming, cover crops will help farmers increase yields, reduce stubble burning: IDH CEO
- Sustainable Event Planning