In mid-2023, Nintendo will update the Nintendo 3DS firmware under the pretext of improving stability … and making it more difficult for hackers, the only way to access hundreds of games after the eShop shut down in March .
The Nintendo 3DS got a new update today. Specifically, version 11.17.0-50, aimed at “improving system stability”.
Notably, the only patch note says that it improves overall stability and introduces other minor changes to improve the user experience. But soon it is known that what is the real reason.
The last update was in September 2022. Why are these updates needed for a console so old, that Nintendo stopped releasing games in 2019, and in which you can no longer buy digital games (the eShop shut down in March)?
Nintendo protects the 3DS from piracy after Nintendo shuts down its online store
Quickly, modders have figured out what the 3DS firmware changes are in this version 11.17.0-50.
According to modder OatmealDome, the North American versions featured changes to the browser, 3DS apps (where you can re-download but not purchase), and the home menu.
But they have also discovered that this update blocks all the exploits that allow the console to be hacked. If you’ve already hacked it, there’s no problem even installing the update, but if your plan was to hack it after updating the system, you’ll run into an (for now) impenetrable wall.
And it’s sparked a heated debate on forums and Twitter, because although modifying a console isn’t illegal, doing so to download games and programs is clearly piracy.
And we’re talking about consoles like the Nintendo 3DS, which came out 12 years ago, and for which it’s impossible to buy games legally today, except second-hand. This leaves dozens of exclusive digital format games in limbo, which can no longer be purchased in any way.
After depriving us of the only legal way to obtain them, Nintendo has now closed the only remaining way to access dozens of games that were only on the 3DS eShop, many of which didn’t even have versions for other platforms. Such as the “Guild” from Level-5 for the famous Nintendo 3DS, such as Attack of the Friday Monsters or Liberation Maiden.
