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Report: 3DS Can Detect And Record Attempts At Piracy
Nintendo has made combating the piracy that plagued the Nintendo DS a high priority. The company has said that automatic firmware updates will help thwart game pirates, and many publishers -- most notably THQ -- have stated that they feel the 3DS has enough fail safes in place to prevent it from becoming a haven for game piracy.
However, a recent YouTube video, which showed that Japanese hackers had already found a way to use "R4" cartridges to play GBA and DS (not 3DS) titles on the system, seemed to poke holes in these claims.
Today, there appears to be a good deal more to the story. Kotaku is reporting that the Japanese game retailer Enterking has informed consumers that it will not buy back used 3DS units that have been used with hacking devices like the R4. According to Kotaku, "The notice states that there seems to be a record of such use left on the system. This would be in line with the rumors that the 3DS keeps a log of flash cart use, which then can be checked."
The story goes on to speculate that Nintendo could actually disable hacked units through later automatic firmware updates. The bottom line? Think long and hard before you hack your 3DS.
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