Just a few weeks ago TechRaptor reported on an exploit which allowed player to play Gameboy Color ROMS on the old style 3DS, 3DSXL and 2DS models, by injecting ROMs files into legitimately bought Gameboy Color games on the Virtual Console. The exploit allowed players to play any Gameboy Color title which they could find a ROM for, including games unavailable through Nintendo's Virtual Console, and was only available on the older console models. It was unavailable on the new 3DS models due to them being sold already with the browser update.
Apparently following concerns that the exploit could be use to bypass micro-transactions in free-to-play titles such as Pokemon Shuffle, Nintendo has issued a new firmware update for the 3DS which blocks this web browser exploit. The new system update 9.5.0-23 downloadable from the 3rd March 2015, closes the loophole completely and once updated, your system will no longer be able to use it.
The exploit was discovered as consumers have been begging for Nintendo to make popular Gameboy Color titles, such as many of the old Pokemon titles, purchasable on the Virtual Console. This is not the only exploit that has been discovered for the 3DS, as consumers are often looking for ways to manipulate 3DS software following unpopular decisions on the part of Nintendo.
An example of this was Nintendo's decision to region-lock the 3DS despite a petition signed by over 35,000 gamers asking for the 3DS and WiiU to be region-free. Last year an exploit was found which could make your 3DS region-free, meaning that you can play games from Japanese/PAL/AU/NA regions on your console, no matter where the console was purchased, much like the 3DS's predecessors the DS and DSLite. However, this method also no longer works following Nintendo's updates to firmware.
TechRaptor hopes that Nintendo gives their fans what they want and make more retro titles available through their Virtual Console.
Did you use the 3DS exploit? What do you think of Nintendo's decision to close the loophole?
