
A short time go we reported on the Ironhax exploit which would allow 3DS users to run homebrew and unsigned code on their consoles. The work of Jordan "Smealum" Rabet, Ironhax was unique in that unlike other methods, it didn't require the user to purchase a physical game in order to make it run - Ironfall Invasion is a free-to-play release and therefore costs nothing to acquire.
Here's the exploit in action:
Ironhax is still unreleased, but Rabet has been encouraging people to download Ironfall in preparation for its launch. Predictably, Nintendo has beaten him to the chase and removed the game from the 3DS eShop:
Rabet has since responded to the news, apologising to the developer of Ironfall:
It is not known if Ironhax will still be released, or when Ironfall will be reinstated to the eShop. If we hear anything, we will update this post.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 117
@Damo
Any word on Mad Men Football my good man?
This happened 4 days ago, kinda slow to report on this.
Not to mention that Smealum is now also advising people to download the 3DS YouTube app for some reason.
Poor Ironfall developers. Hopefully they'll get Ironfall back up again shortly, one it gets more stability.
Do these kids have nothing better to do then to ruin somebody through the internet? Hackers and these kind of people that are illegally downloading something for free need to be fined heavily. This is why music, game and movie industries are barely making money and having to worry about lawsuits. Some of these kids today need to grow up and step outside into the real world.
I'm interested to see how this pans out - especially with the YouTube app.
Obviously, hacking and pirating is doing no harm whatsoever, right? Poor guys, getting their game pulled out because of some stupid kid and missing on real money.
It's really sad this is happening and it's even sadder that Nintendo's actually a main cause of this. Most of this hacking mess is a direct result of Nintendo making their systems region locked.
Is it just me or smealum comment on Ironfall being removed from the eShop kinda sounds hypocritical?
Admires the screenshot before reading article
A little late, you know. But it is what it is. If Nintendo keeps region lock, then this will just keep happening.
@Grumblevolcano region lock is just the usual excuse but once the exploit is out in the wild 90% will use it to pirate games.
Don't get me wrong. I think you and I could use such an exploit to play Jap games with fan translations and other wonderful stuff but the pirates that also get in on it will ruin the 3ds games market and there will be fewer good games in the future.
@Lycidas Pirating and exploit hacking are two very different things.
And stuff like that happen all teh time, it was the usual M.O. back on the PSP.
It went so far, that we had a joke topic about the "pulled game of the week"
And its a direct answer to Nintendos Region-Lock policy. I mean i get its purpose, licensing BS and all, but in the end, a Region-Free system is the better option from a consumer standpoint.
So, this can go two ways from here:
These hacks ruin Nintendos reputation so much, that devs unable to provide a world wide release themself will shun away from it completely and Nintendo plays the hardliner and doesnt do anything.
Or
Nintendo realises whats happening and thinks about changing the situation or at least adapts a Region-Free policy in the futire.
Some of you are so naive, this hack is only to gain region free and run homebrew. It can't pirate games, it's not that easy. If it can be done, people won't be spending money on those expensive flashcarts.
This hack is exactly the same as the Ninjhax exploit, it is not stable and can easily crash your 3DS. Not worth using in my opinion.
@Boshar Pretty sure these 3DS exploits make it impossible to pirate but I don't agree with both types of exploits anyway in addition to Nintendo's region lock decision.
The worst part about all of this is Nintendo's the odd one out. Lets imagine that someone from North America goes on 2 holidays, one in Europe and one in Japan. During each holiday they buy a few games for each of their current systems (PS4, XB1, Wii U, PS Vita, 3DS). When they get back from the 2nd holiday to play them all, the only ones which won't work on their North American systems are the ones bought for 3DS and Wii U.
Eh, YouTube is Plan B. Which means that garbage program finally has a use.
@JLPick Hahahaha! You actually buy that? The constant whining from media companies often stems from overly exaggerated "theoretical losses" - they just assume that x percent of people pirate their stuff without any base to their numbers. I don't mean to defend piracy at all, but not only are company losses miniscule, at best, they also put up a drama show of highest calibers to draw people to their side.
Also, this hack does in fact NOT allow pirated 3DS games to work, it merely allows circumventing the region-lock and allows Homebrews, so the furthest people can go with this hack alone is emulators for systems that are LONG out of commission, which is a questionable loss, in all honesty.
Lets be honest, I imagine most of the money the Ironfall devs would have made has been made by now. Also if anything this guy has probably caused Ironfall ro be downloaded more times over the past few weeks than it has since launch. I bet they've actually made more money from this hack in the last few weeks than they will lose by the game being pulled.
Sure it sucks that their game had to be taken down but if the game had a hole in it then that kinda is the devs fault so it needs to be fixed.
@Morph I agree, if anything they have made more money and will make more money when they put a fixed version back up.
Nintendo will do anything to keep their draconian policies alive.
@JLPick They're not ruining anyone and they're not wasting their time. They're learning. You obviously have no clue about the hacking scene. It's not too seldom that hackers get offered a good job in a big company because of the skill they showed in their hacks.
This really is of no concern to me since I am not interested in the homebrew scene. I like my New Nintendo 3DS XL exactly like it is, and I definitely don't trust every single person who releases hacks on the system. You never know their real background. Still, I really do hope region locking will someday be a thing of the past without needing to resort to hacks.
Well I doubt we see Ironfall ever again. Kind of a bummer as it is a pretty decent game
What happens when that target one of Nintendo's free to play games? Will that pull Pokemon Shuffle because of something like this?
Nintendo was wrong to Region lock the 3DS. The GBA and DS let you use games from other countries and I assumed this was to be the 'standard' they set. Let the consumer decide whether they want to import or not, it's the global age, humanity should be coming together not be all segmented.
It's like they never watched 60s TV shows, where the human race wins when they act as one species.
Wasn't he working on an Ocarina of Time 3D version of this hack at one point? They can't pull THAT from the eShop.
@Spoony_Tech Considering how fast they were to pull Flip note b/c of alleged penis drawings I'm guessing yes, they would be willing to pull their own game at the slightest provacation. They pulled Digital Deluxe Promotion, they pulled Club Nintendo, they pulled weather and news out of Wii, they pulled the Internet out of Wii Mini, they pulled 3D and stereo sound out of 2DS. Why wouldn't you think they would pull one of their own games if they had reason? Doesn't take much w/ Nintendo, very thin skinned.
Correct me if I am wrong but Nintendo system are the only ones that still use region lock, right?
@Stu13 it exists and is based on Ninjhax, it's just notoriously hard to get up and running as it requires either the save dumper device or help from an owner of already-Ninjax'd xonsole.
I payed the full amount for this game to support the devs. Sadly no one else plays this game online except for the demo-map.
This Homebrew stuff will never die, it's annoying.
@Grumblevolcano It's worth pointing out the Xbox region free nature is purely down to the last minute shift and not really intended, as evidenced by the hoops you have to jump through in order to redeem digital content from other regions.
I suspect region free will come back to Nintendo in the next systems.
There are two sides to the coin. The vocal minority of pro-region free only ever looks at the one side though.
Region free destroys localizations. Importers throw the estimated sales off kilter, and for niche games bordering on being worth localizing in the first place, it can be enough to deter translation and localization.
Legend of Legacy, Stella Glow, Etrian Odyssey Fafnir Knight, Rhodea Sky Soldier... Would these games be localized in an era of region free? I don't know, but I'm not eager to find out.
Region free costs the silent majority great game localizations, all so a select vocal minority can save $200 on buying a Japanese console. Doesn't seem right. Those who insist on playing imported games in a foreign language- they HAVE a solution. Buy a Japanese console. But those who get screwed out of localizations? What solution would they have? None. There's nothing they can do. They're screwed. They can't just go out and pop $200 and gain access to all those missed games.
Bottom line is there is a cost. But those in favor only want to look at the benefit. No one is saying it wouldn't be good to play games of any region on any system. That's great- terrific even. It's AT WHAT COST though. The cost of losing game localizations so the 95% + who don't care about playing games in a language they don't understand get screwed out of great games? Yet what's the cost the other way around? The < 5% who do want to play games in a foreign language have to pay $200 on a Japanese console. Now which is worse, you tell me.
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the number of importers is low enough to be counted as negligible. Maybe it would have little to no impact- it's hard to say without any real data. But the possibility is there, and it's one that should be considered. Because it's an awful high price to pay.
So for now, I caution people to be careful what they wish for, cause they just might get it.
@JaxonH Flaw: EO actually got localized during the DS era. All three entries, in fact, occasionally with bug fixes not present in the JP versions. Stella Glow came from the former developer of the Luminous Arc series, so if that got localized, there shouldn't be any doubt about Stella Glow. And...XSEED and Aksys both exist.
Also, one cursory look at the Vita is enough to disprove your point.
And, when you have localization teams like NIS America has, don't you think that you'd rather play the original rather than go for the...poor localization?
@TheWPCTraveler
These were just examples off the top of my head. Not to be taken as literal claims that these particular games wouldn't have come. There are many, many others. And can you definitively say they all would have been localized? No, no one can.
Etrian Odyseey did come to DS. But DS also had 3x the install base. No guarantee the remake would have been localized. And maybe it still would have come to NA, but not EU (seeing as sales there are always lower). The possibility is real.
The Vita is missing a TON of Japanese games. It's only got like what, 15 known releases at this point? Yet it's missed countless games. GodEater 2 for example. Maybe sales estimates would have been higher knowing a portion of the install base isn't importing...
And no, I'd rather play the "poor" version of a game any day of the week as opposed to playing a game in a language I don't understand, with text and menus and script I can't read.
@Einherjar
Maybe, maybe not. If tomorrow Nintendo removes Region Lock, do you honestly think those people will stop? I don't.
And I am in no way happy with that Region Lock thing, because I miss out on a lot of Games, especially Atlus ones. So yes, I can understand people wanting to remove Region Lock, but most of the ones having an eye out for that sort of stuff are the ones who're using it to get their games "free".
@JaxonH But you left out the most important thing of all - word of mouth. In a region free world you will have importers, and those importers, as weird as they may be, will most likely have some friends. And those friends will see them playing the cool imported games and want them, and the movement will grow like Operation Rsinfall.
WiiWiidn't outsell Wii U 10x over b/c Nintendo was great at marketing the Wii but stopped for the Wii U, Wii sold on word of mouth, local news coverage, other mass media, it went real world viral in the US b/c of the uniqueness and easiness of pick up and play Wii Sports.
More games get imported, more people spread the word, more people want them, more localizations. Plus you get the added double benefit of both shutting up people who want region free to importers and the criminals using it as an excuse to hack. I think if you put it all together benefits, rewards, outweigh the losses. But of course I would think that, Nintendo and I have opposite views on almost everything.
@rjejr
Difference is the Wii impressed- motion controls were revolutionary. People had to have one.
No one looks at some niche Japanese game in a language they can't understand and get hyped to the point they just have to have it.
That's wishful thinking my friend. I can't even get friends to go buy top tier games in English, much less niche Japanese games in a foreign language.
But even assuming your theory were to play out, it still doesn't solve the issue of less localizations. It would simply mean more importers.
@Nintendian How 'bout YOU stop your naiveness. Ninjhax 1.1, which can be run only on consoles < 9.2 CAN launch rxTools which is essentially a free Gateway3DS minus one or two things. Ninjhax 2.0 which is the only solution for > 9.3 CANNOT lead to launching CFW for a LONG time as the system is locked down very tightly (yellows8 himself). And WTH you talking about "the exploit is not stable and can easily crash your 3ds", no it's not. The exploit is perfectly fine, the crashing is probably cause by launching unstable apps.
edit: And to all those people that want homebrew to die and that it's pointless, how you enjoying all those SNES games and easy to make custom themes on your 3ds? oh wait... you need homebrew to do that.
This is fairly big news as it allows any 3ds console to run homebrew. If it were only region free and a handful of not-very-useful apps, then it might not be so big an issue. However, the homebrew launcher is really the key to manipulating the system. As well as region free, it allows cheating because it makes available save files and other data dumps. All those massive scores on Pokemon Shuffle competitions? A few will definitely be hacked games with maxed out pokemon, free power ups, hearts etc. I know python, so I was asked to manipulate a save file by a friend. I refused. Region free might be useful. Back ups of saves might be useful. But in order to do that, the exploits that make homebrew run also lead to further exploits used simply for cheating and piracy. So if Ironhax is released and it works on latest firmware, it opens the door wide for cheaters and pirates.
A shame the game is pulled. I played the demo and it wasn't bad, though hard to control via stylus. But it has to be pulled - Ironhax will allow other unscrupulous programmers to take advantage so the fewer end users who can get it to run, the better. Won't stop piracy development though. That's what happened with the earlier exploit - the underlying work was used to boot an "illegal" flashcard on the N3DS and to create tools for reverse engineering by end users. A few custom firmwares already out and that's just from a quick internet search. Those do boot game "back ups", but only on certain firmwares. Ironhax is "dangerous" because it works on 9.9, and even though it doesn't yet launch games, the fact that it works at all will be of huge interest to those who support the custom firmwares and flashcarts. Not a done deal, but you can bet there are people working on it.
Want to play retro games? - buy a retro system, get the full experience. Want to play other region games? - import a console. Want to play Nintendo games? Buy Nintendo games. Going to be hard next gen for Nintendo to argue that region locking prevents piracy or easy importation of games at a cheaper cost. They may have to give in and simply make their systems region free. Region free NX would be great.
so many anti-homebrew sjws on here it's hilarious
A bit late on this, aren't you Nintendo Life? The homebrew may or may not even require Ironfall Invasion any more. (Look in other places of the internet for more info)
How is this even news anymore? This happened 4 days ago!
Why is everybody so late on these things?
Good thing I already have it downloaded. Now I can do some Awakening RAM hacking.
@JLPick This only allows honebrew and region free games though. The developer of this made sure it won't allow piracy and did not release the exploit till he was sure of it.
My guess is that most people who are providing pro comments for the hack have never created anything of true value in their life or they would probably see this in a very different light. Since my wife quit her job so she could stay at home full time with our kiddos it has been hard finding any cash for stuff I want. I even sold off my brand New 3DS so I could afford a vacation for my family. I never felt I had the right to steal others property though.
@JaxonH its a small % of people who import games. This idea that games will no longer be localised is laughable.
DS, PSP, Vita, PS3 and PS4 prove the games still get localised even when the console offers region free gaming.
Nintendo can put and end to this hacking by simply releasing a patch asap which breaks the region lock.
@JaxonH
What are you talking about? Vita has gotten plenty of Japanese games localized already with plenty more coming. There's still a few in Japan though, but for those that will never be localized like IA/VT we can always import.
@JohnBlackstar
There's a difference between pro hack and pro piracy. Learn the difference.
@AVahne @kobashi100
Really? Cause I see an extremely small percentage of Vita games being localized.
And as for PS3 and PS4, it's just like Wii and DS. Popular systems provide higher install base so it is less likely games will be riding that threshold of barely worth localizing, and therefore less likely for the (as you said) smaller number of importers to impact enough to deter. Nonetheless, can you say for sure PS3 and PS4 have NEVER missed a game we would have otherwise seen localized? No. Just because some games still get localized doesn't mean there aren't others that would have been.
And it's not going to be some major impact where all of a sudden no games get localized. No no no, it's much more subtle than that. A game here, a game there. Nothing you would notice from a macro perspective.
But to the gamer who values each and every localization, how many are worth giving up for the sake of importing? One? Two? Would five still be worth it? How bout ten? Is it still worth it then? I say even one game is too high a price to pay.
@JaxonH
Check again
Soul Sacrifice and SS Delta
Ragnarok Odyssey and RO Ace
Freedom Wars
Toukiden and T Kiwami
Various Warriors games
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1, 2, and 3
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD
Akiba's Trip
Hyperdimension Neptunia PP
Hyperdimension Neptunia U
Hyperdevotion Noire
A whole lot of Atelier games whose names I can't remember
SAO Hollow Fragment
Ys Celceta
Criminal Girls
Conception 2
Persona 4 Golden
Project Diva f 1 and 2
Various Bamco and Capcom games that I'm too lazy to list
Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
And there are many more, but I need to get back to work. Lots of games get localized, you just need to know where to look for this information. Try Gematsu.com
Lovely site
Poor Ironfall developer. I honestly don't care or have any interest to hack my 3DS, even though region free is nice to have, this gen we already have plenty of localization coming.
@JaxonH These 2 statements are somewhat contradictory:
"much less niche Japanese games in a foreign language."
"It would simply mean more importers."
My point was seeing the games IN JAPANESE would let people know abut the game, but they would want an imported ENGLISH version. My guess is way more people want it translated than the original, but w/ the Japanese exposure companies could get pre-emptive advertising for their games. Most new properties need early adpaters to spread the word.
I could be wrong, but I think early adopters as viral marketing IS part of the equation. Maybe not for a big title like XCX or FF15, but the smaller Japanese stuff. Not enough people would import XCX to justify not localizing it, but the early adopters would start the hype train rolling.
Well as usually you're getting hammered from all sides so I'll let you go have fun, I'm going to play Saplton.
@AVahne
Yes, lots of games get localized. I never said otherwise. Sure, PLENTY of games will always be localized. What I'm saying is regardless of how many DO get localized, it will be less. LESS. Instead of 150 games, maybe just 135. Less is less.
And even one game is too much.
Unless you have a "can't miss what you don't have" attitude. Me, I know it could mean less games and I'm not keen to see that play out.
@DarthNocturnal Just b/c there are explanations for all those doesn't mean Ntineod woudlnt' pull it's own game if it had reason, which was thew original question from Spoony, would Ninteod pull their own game or are they only doing it b/c its another developers game? I was using all of that history to show a pattern, the reasons aren't as important as the fact that the events took place.
@rjejr
It's to be expected. It's like telling welfare recipients that free money has a cost. All they care about is getting that "free money". After all, how could anyone dare argue free money is a bad thing, right totally neglecting the cost paid for it.
@AVahne There are games localized, but there's a royal s***ton more that aren't. It's very far from "plenty" of games being localized. If that was Nintendo's system, you'd have nearly every person on this website bashing Nintendo over them not localizing enough Vita games.
Let's be real here, they'd be doing homebrew hacks regardless of region lock.
@AVahne
Thank you for insulting my intelligence. I do know the difference. Playing games from a different region is theft. It was not how the creator wanted their creations to be sold. We here in the west have in our mind that if we want something it should be allowed and no one can tell us no. I love playing import games and that is why I bought Japanese systems. It is the only legitimate way of playing them currently
@kiigu are you in Europe or the states.
We in Europe wait months and sometimes years for NA versions to be released.
It isn't nice.
@JaxonH how do you know region free will make any impact of even 1 game not being localised.
You are just speculating. Sorry dude but the world has moved on. Region locked gaming is a thing of the past. It's just Nintendo who have a problem with it.
Also I don't see any Japanese publishers saying that region free gaming is bad for them. Importers barley touch their bottom line profits.
@kobashi100
I don't, any more than I know not buying a certain game will likely result in no sequel. It's educated speculation based on the reality of less potential customers due to fact they already imported.
The world hasn't moved on from anything. It's just a policy sometimes incorporated, and sometimes not. Movies and DVD players are also region locked. There is no "moved on". There are some that do it, and some that dont, simple as that.
Both have merit, and both have their downsides. Though I would argue region locking is the lesser evil than region free.
And I never said it was bad for Japanese publishers, I said it was bad for us, the gamer. A few less localizations isn't going to majorly impact a publisher's profit, but it could potentially cost gamers one of the best games they've ever played. Each game missed is like Russian Roulette- you never know when you'll miss a game that would have been one of your all time favorites.
For the people asking for region locking to go away on 3DS and Wii U it's possible (and likely) that Nintendo has buisness agreements that prevent it.
Also JaxonH most devs don't care about region locking, it's a practice invented by retail stores who want to be able to "react to the local market" in other words they want to have the ability to sell something overpriced. Rumors even say that some of the bigger retail stores are willing to throw around million dollar deals to make it happen.
Quite a shame because while the game has about as much personality as a chunk of iron, it's actually quite fun. I've been enjoying the campaign anyway. Hope they get it back up soon.
@Lycidas They wont stop, that you can be sure of.
But the whole thing also has its good sides, believe it or not.
It can push devs in the right direction. I remember, back in the PSP days, that hackers discoveres that the PSPs CPU was immensly underclocked.
They unlocked it and several games got a giant boost in FPS and load times.
Soon after, this was implemented into the official firmware, first enabling certain games to take advantage of it, later by default.
Its the same with emulators. It led Sony and Nintendo to team up with emulator programmers to implement such features in their consoles.
It has its pros, but the cons heavily outweight them, sure.
Piracy is a huge issue and there is no way around it other then playing super fair with your fanbase (fair prices, proper account management and controll, keeping DRM out of it etc)
@Einherjar It is not. These Hacks always lead to piracy. If you develop such a hack you will develop it for piracy by proxy. You can not sugarcoat it with region lock removal or anything else.
@Sinister Piracy isn't even possible with this exploit.
@Toleboy But the next hacker might pick up the hack and change that. Something he/she might not even be able to do without prior work. You are laying a foundation.
Why homebrew when you can just make something and sell it on the eShop? People who think they're developers release experimental garbage all the time.
@VR32F1END You mean aside from the amount of money it costs to put something on the eShop? And also, "People who think they're developers"? "Experimental garbage"? I'm sorry, but it's incredibly obvious you know nothing about the homebrew industry.
@Sinister Yes, but that's pretty much unavoidable. It's gonna happen regardless of if this exploit gets released. No point in complaining about stuff that can't be changed.
Game is bad anyway. I wouldn't see a reason to get it besides online multiplayer and this possible exploit.
I fully intend to use it for region free games if possible. Nintendo gets more sales of their games if I have access to that, so it's hard to feel bad about using the exploit, I'll be importing a handful of Japanese-only games that I otherwise would be blocked from buying and enjoying.
Most of all though I'm glad Nintendo is finally wising up to the region lock thing, they're one of my favorite publishers but region lock is anti-consumer and has to go.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-05-11-nintendo-optimistic-on-ending-region-locks-starting-with-nx
@VR32F1END You're right. Out of dozens of homebrews I've tried on DS and only Colors worth it. I won't count emulators because they're not original pieces of software anyway. But yeah, bring homebrews and emulators to 3DS, we need a way to play GBA and SNES since Nintendo is ignoring the demand.
What an @sshole. One moron ruins a game for millions of others.
@TheHunter so you are making an excuse to justify criminal behavior. Well, the safe was open so I just had to rob that bank.
I have the game but didn't make any purchases. Can I still make a purchase in-game even if it's pulled from eShop?
The lame youtube app apparently will be the other app that will allow the explot to be run.
Also people should stop assuming things.
You will never be able to pirate 3DS games with this hack. This exploit only access a couple of the system RAM, and it has no kernel access (it was patched from 9.2).
I don't see why people who defend region locking always turn it into a Japanese language/localisation issue.
Localisation will always be required for certain games. Even with region free systems, most gamers in the west simply don't speak or understand Japanese. My issue (and most other people's) with region locking is that it often prevents English speaking countries from getting the same games. Let's look at examples. Why weren't Excitebots or the Kirby Dream Collection released over here in England on the Wii? It's ridiculous that an entire country has to miss out on games because Nintendo can't be bothered to localise it into French, German, and Spanish, right? And why didn't America get Disaster: Day Of Crisis (still one of my favourite Wii games) or Another Code R amongst others? In fact, America very nearly didn't get Xenoblade Chronicles thanks to region locking, even though it had been fully localised into English.
Think about that one the next time you defend this outdated, draconian policy.
@rushiosan Ignoring the demand? I don't know, it looks like they're trying their best to bring us a lot of VC releases. They already established last month that they can't bring out VC games as fast as people want. It's not as easy as just taking a rom and throwing it out on the eshop, you know. Take that however you want, but they definitely see the demand.
Well I actually wanted to try this game. Thanks hackers. The 3ds is not a pc, you are not supposed to be making changes to the os or exploiting the games, and "I bought it so it is mine" doesn't cut it. Read that huge manual that comes with it, part of it is a EULA. Can't they leave the system alone so people can just play and that Nintendo doesn't have to waste time and resources trying to prevent this sort of thing?
I guess they rework the game so that the exploit can't be used again. If the game doesn't come back, that's bad. It could frankly happen to any game, and then it would be lost forever.
@IceClimbers
If you can say that about Vita, you can easily say the same about 3DS. I actually keep an eye on both systems, and it's not as if Vita misses so many games that could be localized. I guess I should expect commentors on a Nintendo fansite to do whatever they must in order to bash the Vita.
@kensredemption
I keep an eye on 3DS and own two systems in two regions. I KNOW what games are localized. Don't tell me that I don't look hard enough, as I've had to tell the same thing to Wii bashers last gen. Just because I say negative things about Nintendo doesn't mean I don't love them.
@Sinister Thats like saying "Developing metal works was bad because it was eventually used to make weapons". True, but it also revolutionised the world in a good way.
Stupid example, i know, but you also cant just label everything as evil by default. If a hacker discovers a way to enable a feature he was looking for, but it also enables something bad, its not his fault that it was actually used for this bad purpose.
@JohnBlackstar
You are very welcome, and you're kidding right? Theft? Not what developers intended? Now you're just shoving your own opinions into said developers mouths.
@JaxonH
You said a very small percentage. Yes, you didn't specifically say that a lot of games don't get localized, but at this point it sounds like you're just trying to find ways to put the Vita down. Especially when the 3DS is guilty of the same "crime". Unlike the Vita though, you'd have to buy a Japanese 3DS in order to enjoy those games that never get localized.
@LuciusHellmonde Yeap, that's what I thought too. Hypocritical all the way. He is responsible for the game being pulled out and he feels sorry for the devs!!!
What a d!ck! I'm indifferent to region-free/home brew but to take advantage of someone else's creation and compromise it is a d!ck move of the highest order. He just removed a stream of revenue for these guys. I'm pretty sure they are totally dependent on it. A$$hole needs to create his own game to exploit. He's overstepping boundaries by taking advantage of another developer for offering a free download. I hope he feels terrible about what he has caused.
@123akis Yes. I purchased the in-game campaign/multiplayer bundle last night for $19.98 plus tax! . The download size for the bundle is 2 blocks.
Got the game right after the exploit was announced!
Youtube is probably going to be taken down too!
I would be so happy if I could get any game off the eshop just by saying it has an exploit. XD
That sucks big time for the devs of Ironfall. Especially considering it's a title with some real effort behind it.
The region-free thing's a pretty poor excuse anyway. Everyone can try to deny it until they're blue in the face, but 99% of such a hack's use will be pirating games - we all know this.
@Spoony_Tech They did but it was through QR codes, said exploit was patched, and all it did was make it so everything costing coins was free.
@JohnBlackstar So I buy the game and play it with a hack that removes region lock and thats theft?! "It was not how the creator wanted their creations to be sold." Nice job shoving words down dev's thoats there. Really brings your "intelligence" into question.
@Spoony_Tech I was thinking the exact same thing. You also have to think if this hack exists in Ironfall it probably exists in many Eshop games. Didn't one of the pokemon games have exploits in it as well? I just hope a bunch of games from the Eshop don't start getting removed. But you gotta think if they can exploit ironfall there are probably more games in the Eshop which can be exploited.
@Donutman I'm against the hack and definitely won't be using it when it comes out. What I mean is that there are hundreds of games that can't be used to hack the system, so the fact that this one can means the dev screwed up somewhere, so it's their responsibility to fix it. If a fence company put up a fence but left a gap in it that wasn't supposed to be there, it would be their job to go back and patch the hole, regardless of whether people were sneaking through it or not.
@FargusPelagius The GBA and DS where not Region Locked.
The 3DS was the first handheld to have region lock.
I live in EU and decided to pick up some DS games i have been wanting to play when i went to the US, cause i knew those would run on my 3DS, unlike US 3DS games.
@JohnBlackstar this has to be a joke post right?
How does importing games legitimately = theft?
I feel sorry for the developer. All their hard work taken down because of people who just can't not hack something.
@Boshar I'm curious where you got the figure of 90% from?
@JLPick this exploit will not allow commercial 3DS games to be played illegally. It doesn't have that kind of access, this will only allow homebrew. A lot of devs now are against piracy. The Wii U was hacked within the first month it came out and that group still will not release how they did because of piracy
@ChronicMids as the ROM substitution hack from the browser exploits fixed as of 9.3 showed, you can actually do exactly that with half of the ROMset for GB/GBC and with most anything that doesn't need a special chip (VRC6, etc) on the NES/Famicom.
Copyrights are the larger issue here, but still, that ain't a reason why not all of Nintey's games are on VC yet, yes?
@CB85 this exploit doesn't allow for playing commercial 3DS games.
The developer is the one who dropped the ball, and Nintendo is the one who removed the game, so blaming the guy who found the exploit is just stupid. Almost as stupid as some of the absurd crap being spouted by so many butt-hurt sheep in these comments.
And this instance isn't about piracy, period. Feel free to cry about piracy when it actually happens, as I'm sure many of you can't wait to do. Let me know and I'll send you a box of tissues in preparation for the big day.
Laters. o/
@JFizDaWiz
Yet. It's a given it'll happen, eventually.
@Donutman This isn't criminal behavior, lol.
Jeez, you people, it's like you want everybody's 3DS to be as limited as possible.
When you import games with a system it is within the confines of your user agreement and working with the developers. You guys must have no experience with international sales. Most Nintendo games do not require the ability to read the language the game is sold in. This is very different from most of the other video game systems out there. Nintendo could potentially lose a lot of sales in each region if the lock is not in place. They use sales from other regions a lot of times to actually fund the expanded release of titles too. There is a reason that Nintendo has been able to weather the Wii U storm. It is because they have a well thought out business model that work to maximize profits and eliminate waste.
Also for those that keep arguing this exploit doesn't allow pirating or region free gaming - it is the equivalent of leaving the bank vault door unlocked and saying that all is well because the door is a pain to always unlock when you need in. Someone just takes the exploit to the next step and opens the door for everyone.
region locking is punitive for expatriates. They force people to buy the same console twice, no thx, I would rather have the local game stores of the new target country unblock my device for a few bucks and make it region free.
Most people either forgot or are too young to remember. Most of this hard core stance on locking down systems is what allowed Nintendo to revitalize the video game industry. I lived through the days you could find any Atari game you wanted for 50 cents at the mall. It also was developed after watching how prevalent copying became in the music and home video industry with VCR and Cassete Tape Decks. People will normally always choose to break the laws if it is easy to do and they feel they are not harming someone. Yet they are harming people's livelihoods.
@kobashi100 I'm from Asia, well, Nintendo isn't even operate in my country, but I play US system. I'm not arguing over region locking, I prefer one without, after all I could try some obscure game that'll never see the light in the west. But I can understand Nintendo reasoning, part of which you just mentioned, Europe wait a bit too long for some Atlus releases, but if everyone just import from US, wouldn't that hurt European business? Waiting sucks, but it's a part of protecting each region business, you wouldn't want the company in your region go out of business.
Also for my stance of hacking, I'm against it. Sure it might be for a valid reason (bypass region lock in this case), but that was just the beginning. Once the hack is open, someone out there will find a way to play pirated games. Once that happen, and more accessible method is available, it's us gamer that'll lose. Hell, I have even had a hard time finding older games in my country, since the importer will prefer to sell flash card and newer releases. Thankfully we now have digital releases.
I will repeat till you start vomit it. Who want to steal game will steal it that or another way. Who want to support developers/publisher will buy them (games/programs).
Smealum said that his hack will never play roms of 3ds games. He is a talented programmer but who really knows what this homebrew give us. Remember petit computer? Maybe if Nintendo give us a tool (even if we have to pay for it) in eshop (but far more advanced than that this "s*it" with basic)?
@Dipso
The first Comma of my post should have been a full stop.Apologies, I've edited so it reads more clearly.
@Blastcorp64
It's completely true, he's creating a piece of software that Manipulates someone else's work. It is a complete breach of license and to be honest he should be found in breach and damages sought after.
The crux of the matter is Nintendo should have anticipated things like this happening because they did a U turn on region locking (after over a decade of not region locking their handhelds, they decide too with 3DS).
It is just a poor situation all together and no one party is 'right' or 'wrong', but the situation perpetuates further mishaps in the absence of a healthy compromise being sought.
'The Vita already has plenty of localised games' is a ridiculous statement to make.
Why not?
The Vita is actually doing well in Japan.
If ANY games were being made Stateside, the number of import games would diminish. But there aren't any.
EA is treating a Sony system like a Nintendo system, it's that bad.
Even Ubisoft is looking at it like a portable Wii U (which is kind of what it is, if you think about it).
@CB85 You should actually investigate how the exploit works before commenting like this.
Playing commercial 3DS games has long been possible with the gateway.
This exploit will never, EVER allow to run 3DS games because it doesn't have full access to the kernel and RAM to make it possible to load commercial 3DS games.
It's not like it will miraculously suddenly get full control of the system in a next update (unless nintendo derps out) If an exploit comes to make it possible to pirate 3DS games, then it wont be this exploit, it would be another one.
@Gridatttack
OK. Hacking will inevitably lead to pirating, whatever the original reasons and intentions.
It's a shame I actually was planning on getting this game soon!
Hardly beaten to the punch I'd say as all who are interested in the homebrew scene already had downloaded it within a day or so of it being announced. Sucks for the devs but I'm sure version 1.2 will be out shortly to patch it and then everyone who wants it for playing online will be happy and those who want to play Earthbound will be happy with what they got.
@DarthNocturnal - "I do agree they'd remove their own game if they had a major concerns."
OK, so I'm 4 days behind on email - some slipped thru the cracks apparently.
I have a sort of related question for you - do you think Wii U or 3DS would ever get HBO Go/Now or does Nintendo avoid it b/c they consider it too risque or HBO ignores them b/c of the low install base? I bought a PS3 for my bedroom in part due to HBO Go. Would have bought a PS TV if it had Netflix, Amazon and HBO Go at launch.
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