Tag: Hacking
News Nintendo Admits It Released A New Model Of The Switch To Fight Piracy
A "direct result" of hackers "attacking... technological protection measures"
Last year, Nintendo was successful in securing a jail term for Team Xecutor member Gary Bowser, who was accused of causing the Japanese company to lose millions of dollars via the piracy-enabling devices and software he sold. Court documents are now available which fill...
News Gary Bowser Jail Term Intended To "Send A Message" To Other Switch Hackers
"This is a very significant moment for us"
Team Xecutor member Gary Bowser was recently jailed for three years and fined almost $15 million for his part in a business which enabled Switch owners to hack their systems and play pirated games, and recently-unearthed court documents – dug up by Axios (thanks,
Random Now This Is What You Call A 'Super' Game Boy
9 screens, and it's still blurry
Back in the days before massive LCD displays, mankind had to settle with the idea of linking up banks of CRT TVs to create that 'big screen' vibe – and now, a hacker has achieved the same kind of effect using Game Boy displays. In his efforts to reverse engineer the Game Boy's crude greyscale LCD display, kgsws...
News Ouch! Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Hit With Additional $10 Million Fine
He's already $4.5 million down and facing possible jail time
Remember Gary Bowser? He shares his name with Mario's greatest foe (and Nintendo of America's current president), but he's been something of an enemy of Nintendo in general over the past few years. Bowser is a member of Team Xecutor, one of the world's most "notorious videogame piracy...
News This Zelda II ROM Hack Removes All The Annoying Stuff To Present A Totally New Adventure
"The game has been rebuilt from the ground up"
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is beloved by many – so much so that it's often mentioned whenever 'Zelda remakes' are discussed – but only the most diehard fan would try to argue that it doesn't have its fair share of problems. There's a lot of (sometimes tedious) side-scrolling combat and the
News The 'Unhackable' Wii Mini Has Been Hacked
A mini marvel
Remember the Nintendo Wii Mini? It arrived on the market in 2012, after the original Wii had sold millions of units all over the world. With the shiny new Wii U hitting store shelves around the same time, the intention was for the Wii Mini to provide a cut-price, $99 option for gamers on a budget. The problem was that in reducing the...
News Nintendo Scores Another Victory In Its War Against Switch Piracy
So long, Winmart
Back in 2020, Nintendo took legal action against Le Hoang Minh – a Vietnamese citizen trading on Amazon under the name Winmart – to prevent the sale of RCM Loaders, which use special software to hack the console and permit the running of unlicensed code, as well as pirated games. It has now been confirmed that Nintendo has...
Random Hacker Creates The Game Boy Tetris Of Your Dreams
Lots of easy pieces
Tetris on the Game Boy is one of the best multiplayer titles of all time, even if it did exist in a period when wireless local play was the stuff of a madman's dreams. Instead, players would have to connect their consoles using the (easily lost) link cable – and it's this primitive method of connectivity that has allowed a...
News Nintendo Is Suing A Reported "Leader" Of The Notorious Piracy Group Team Xecuter
So long, Gary Bowser
Nintendo appears to be fed up with Bowser and has decided to take some action. No, this isn't about Mario's archenemy or the current Nintendo of America president, Doug - we're talking about Gary Bowser, one of the supposed leaders of the "notorious" piracy group, Team Xecuter. As you might recall, Bowser - a 51-year-old...
News Super Coder Speeds Up Yet Another SNES Classic
Konami's Axelay benefits from the FastROM treatment
Remember Brazilan coder Vitor Vilela? He's been making it his quest to fix SNES games that are plagued with slowdown, and he's already worked his magic on titles such as Contra III, Super R-Type and Super Mario World. The issue is that th
News Popular Game & Watch Hacking Videos Are Being Targeted By Nintendo's Ninjas
Watch out, retro enthusiasts
Hackers, as you might recall, wasted no time getting various retro games up and running on the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch. First, it was id Software's classic first-person shooter DOOM and this wa
News How One Man Is Fixing The SNES' Biggest Weakness
Slowdown, be gone
The SNES is a legendary console, of that there can be absolutely no doubt. However, it did have one considerable weakness when compared to its main rival, the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis: the clock speed of its CPU. The Ricoh 5A22 which powers the console runs at 3.58 MHz, while Sega's 16-bit system has a Motorola 68000 running at...
News The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch Can Now Run Pokémon, Zelda And More
DOOM was just the start
Hackers have wasted no time with the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch - discovering its secrets before it was even officially released. Within just weeks, one talented individual known as 'stacksmashing' dug into the system
News Yes, The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch Can Run DOOM
A stripped-down version, anyway
Nintendo's new Game & Watch handheld was pulled apart in pretty quick order, with hacker stacksmashing digging deep into the system's code before it even officially launched.
News Nintendo Calls Switch Piracy "A Worsening International Problem" As It Sues Another Hack Seller
Going to court
Piracy on the Switch is proving to be a real problem for Nintendo, but it's one the company is tackling head-on. The firm has already won cases against online stores re-selling devices which can "jailbreak" the Switch, coming away with a c
News The Super Mario Game & Watch Has Been Hacked Already, And It Could Fix That Unfortunate Bug
Hack the planet
Nintendo's new Super Mario Game & Watch isn't officially out until tomorrow, but as we've already reported, some lucky people have gotten theirs early – and one such individual has been tearing the thing apart all day to find out precisely what makes it tick. Hacker stacksmashing has been posting th
News It Looks Like Hackers Are Already Cheating In Super Mario Bros. 35
But Nintendo appears to be on the case
It's only been out for a matter of days, but it would appear that hackers have found a way to cheat in Nintendo's new Mario battle royale, Super Mario Bros. 35. As reported by Polygon, social media users began to notice some suspicious activity in the game earlier this week, with players topping the...
News Two Members Of "Notorious" Video Game Piracy Group Team Xecuter Arrested
Facing 11 felony counts
Two members of Team Xecuter - one of the world's most "notorious videogame piracy groups" - have been arrested. This is the same enterprise infamously known for exploiting vulnerabilities in Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft video game hardware. The United States Department of Justice revealed Max Louarn - a 48-year-old French...
News Nintendo Wins $2 Million In Lawsuit Against Switch Piracy Hack Store
Hacking tools to be destroyed
Nintendo has taken another positive step in its fight against Switch piracy, winning a legal battle to the tune of $2 million. As we reported back in May, Nintendo recently filed a lawsuit against Uberchips.com and its owner, Tom Dilts Jr., a website accused of selling tools that can enable customers to play pirated...
Random Forget The Switch, Super Mario 64 Has Been Ported To Dreamcast, PS2 And PS Vita
The ports we REALLY wanted, right? Right?!
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is available now on Switch, and it's a good time indeed. However, if you're of the opinion that Mario's 3D adventures should be available on even more consoles, then you'll be pleased to learn that industrious coders have converted the sublime Super Mario 64 to three non-Nintendo...
News Is Your Copy Of Super Mario 3D All-Stars Crashing? That's Because You've Got A Modded Switch
Naughty naughty
Super Mario 3D All-Stars launches today, but, as is often the case in the world of video games, some people got access to it early thanks to kindly retailers shipping them out so they arrived yesterday. However, a lot of people also gained access to the title by somewhat shadier means, thanks to the fact that it leaked on the net a...
News Nintendo Is Already Fighting Off Hackers In Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Cheaters could be banned
Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn't even properly out yet and hackers are already carving their way through the game like a hot knife through butter. It seems Nintendo was well prepared for such invasions, however, with today's Version 1.1.0 patch already working towards getting rid of the issue. In just a handful of days,...
News The Genesis / Mega Drive Mini Hack Is Finally Here
More games! More emulators!
When the NES and SNES Classic Editions were released it didn't take long for hackers to find a way of installing new games onto them, so it shouldn't come as a massive shock to discover that the same thing has happened to the Genesis / Mega Drive Mini, a rival system from Sega. As was the case with Nintendo's...
News You Can Now (Unofficially) Run Android On Nintendo Switch
Netflix, emulators and more
On the one hand, we love the simplicity of the Nintendo Switch, and the fact that it acts as a dedicated games console and nothing more is a rather charming thing. On the other, it's sometimes frustrating that we need to boot up another console or device to run things like Netflix, and we wouldn't say no to a simple web...
Feature Inside The World Of Pokémon ROM Hacks
"I just wanted to make a game people would enjoy"
Games often inspire their fans. Sometimes they make tournaments. Sometimes, players bring themselves into the world of the game. The core of this inspiration, though, is when players take a game they love and mould it into something completely new. This is the way of the Pokémon ROM hacking...
Random Nintendo Shuts Down Its Anti-Piracy Website
Farewell, angry Mario
Like many other video game companies, Nintendo does not tolerate piracy. Over the past year, we have heard about the Japanese publisher and developer taking action against individuals selling modified systems and sharing ROMS online. This has resulted in a number of legal battles and some hefty fines. As part of its measures...
Random Game Boy Classic Super Mario Land Gets A Fan-Made DX Update
A splash of colour, plus a facelift!
Everyone found ways to celebrate the Game Boy's 30th anniversary (we certainly contributed our share) but toruzz's effort certainly went above and beyond. Nintendo never gave us an updated 'DX' edition of their first Mario outing on the Game Boy, but if it did, it might just look a bit like this. Sarasaland...
News Nintendo Switch Firmware 7.0.0 Already Hacked Just Four Hours After Going Live
Worrying times
The Nintendo Switch's security issues appear to be going from bad to worse, as the very recently implemented 7.0.0 firmware update has already been compromised. Launching just hours ago, firmware version 7.0.0 brought with it the usual system stability improvements and new security codes to fend off any potential hacking threat...
News Nintendo Seeking Senior Security Software Engineer With Hacking Expertise
If you can't beat them, hire them
Given Nintendo's recent crackdown on emulation, piracy and hacking, it comes as no surprise the company is now seeking an individual who specialises in tightening up security and identifying any vulnerabilities. Nintendo Technology Development - a known hardware division of the company - has posted a new job listing...
News Hackers Have Now Found A Way To Emulate Nintendo 64 Games On Switch
Pokémon Stadium anyone?
Nintendo 64 games have now been successfully emulated on Switch, teasing those who would love to see the classic console's stellar library come to the new system for real. We've been hearing of multiple stories surrounding hacking on Switch over the last few months, with players forcing adult-themed imagery into Super Mario...
The very definition of irony
There's been a lot of chatter about Switch piracy in recent months, with various groups releasing code which cracks open Nintendo's security measures and allows users to run homebrew programs on their machines, as well as play emulators and run pirated Switch software. One such program, SX OS, has recently been...
News Switch Hackers Are Now Forcing Adult-Themed Imagery Into Super Mario Odyssey
The Switch hacking woes continue
Just lately, every day seems to bring more troubling stories of hacking issues on Switch; already this week we've seen Splatoon 2 players being forced to play with unreleased content by game hackers, as well as some rather bold movements from Nintendo itself to combat attempted piracy. This
Rumour Nintendo Is Banning Online Features For Suspected Pirated Game Carts
Impossible to know if pre-owned games are safe
Update: To avoid any upset or confusion on the matter, and for the sake of clarification: as we currently understand it, only game cartridges that have been used to create illegal copies of its software will receive online bans from Nintendo. Most pre-owned cartridges, and those that you have...
News Splatoon 2 Hackers Are Forcing Unreleased Content Onto Other Players
Taking things one step too far
We've heard an increasing number of stories surrounding hacking attempts on Switch recently, and this latest Splatoon 2-centric hack has taken things a little too far. There have been several reports of Splatoon 2 users using all manner of hacks to cheat in online multiplayer, or otherwise disrupt the natural content...
News Hackers Create A Way To Replace Models And Text In Switch Games
Already modded Skyrim and Super Mario Odyssey
The Switch hacking community has had another major success this week thanks to a brand new program called LayeredFS, allowing them to replace in-game models and text with pretty much whatever they like. LayeredFS is a tool that works in a similar fashion to those more commonly found on PC, giving...
News Hackers Have Already Found A Way To Maximise Items And PM Tickets In Pokémon Quest
Free-to-complete-by-cheating
The free-to-play pocket monster RPG Pokémon Quest only launched on Switch at the very end of last month, but hackers have already found a way to manipulate the game's save files to net themselves as many items and PM Tickets as they like. A member of the homebrew community has released a save reader and writer...
News Programmer Gets SNES Games Running On The NES With A Little Bit Of Hacking
SNES-ception!
Wherever you look, people seem to love hacking into games systems and cartridges to create gameplay experiences that just would never be possible through official means. This latest project is no exception, and amazingly allows SNES games to be played on a real, unmodified NES console. Tom Murphy, aka Tom7, has found a way to...
News Nintendo Bans Online Services For Prominent Hacker's Switch Console
Tut tut
It would appear that several Switch users have found themselves receiving online bans from Nintendo after attempting to hack into the console's operating system. One such user is Shiny Quagsire, a prominent member of the Nintendo Switch homebrew community, who has explained his predicament via Twitter. When trying to load up the...
News Fancy Some SNES Classic On Your Nintendo Switch? There's A Hack For That
A real 'virtual' console
Nintendo's plans for retro games on Switch don't seem to include the Virtual Console, and at the time of writing the company is going to focus on 8-bit titles when its online subscription service launches this September. However, one hacker has decided that they can't wait for SNES games to appear on their Switch and has...
News Hacker Praises Nintendo's Switch Security Efforts, But Says Console Is "Completely Compromised"
"All current hardware can be compromised"
Nintendo takes the security of its consoles very seriously, and puts a lot of effort into making sure they're as hard to hack as possible. However, in the case of the Switch, we've seen exploits and vulnerabilities appear quite swiftly in the system's lifespan - it's now possible to hack the console to run...
News NIS America's Online Stores Hacked, Credit Card Details Compromised
"We are committed to earning back your trust and confidence"
Publisher NIS America is contacting customers to inform then that the company's online stores have been hacked and user information - including credit card details - has been stolen. The attach occurred sometime between January 23rd and February 26th on the...
News Hackers Are On A Mission To Port More Doom To Switch
We heard you like Doom
Last year, the unthinkable happened - the Switch got a new Doom game, the first since the '90s. A remarkable technical accomplishment, Doom gained rave reviews - but if industrious hackers have their way, it won't be the last slice of hellish FPS action we get on Switch. As reported by Kotaku, there are other Doom games...
News Hackers Turn The Nintendo Switch Into A Functioning Linux Tablet
"Code execution is all the rage these days, but can your Switch do this?"
Nintendo's reputation for fighting hackers every step of the way in commendable, but it would seem that by pairing itself with tech giant Nvidia - whose Tegra silicon powers the console - the Japanese giant is going have to accept that things aren't as nailed-down as they used...
News Hackers Get Linux Running On Switch And Claim Nintendo Can't Patch The Exploit
Wide open
No piece of hardware is totally hack-proof but Nintendo's consoles usually put up a pretty good fight - this a company that is prepared to offer a reward to people who find exploits, lest we forget. However, the Switch has fallen to the hackers pretty swiftly. Last year it was reported that a homebrew launcher was incoming, and we've...
Video Retro Emulation Finally Comes To Switch Following Homebrew Hacking Efforts
NES, SNES and Jaguar emulators shown in action
Just before 2018 arrived hackers declared that a custom launcher would be made available for Switch that would allow users to run homebrew apps on their systems. We're now seeing the first fruits of this development, and unsurprisingly a host of emulators have appeared, covering platforms such as the...
News Switch Hackers Declare That a Homebrew Launcher Will Be Available 'Soon'
Detail given on how the hack was discovered
In November it became clear that homebrew was going to be a reality on the Switch, with a breakthrough declared for those most determined to use it. That process appears to be continually moving forward, with a Homebrew Launcher apparently coming 'soon'. This was confirmed by hackers Plutoo, Derrek and...
News Naughty Hackers Have Homebrew Running On Switch Now
But your mileage may vary
It's not like the Switch has any shortage of amazing quality games, but that never stops homebrew enthusiasts from trying to get experimental with Nintendo hardware. After all, the Wii U and 3DS were eventually opened up to play homebrew, so it was only a matter of time before an exploit was found on the Switch. Over on...
News Captain Rainbow's Fan-Made Translation Patch Is Now Available For Testing
A rocky rainbow road to English text
Captain Rainbow was one of the Wii's most original titles but sadly it never got localised for western release. While it's certainly possible to fight your way through the game without any knowledge of Kanji, a western translation is something fans have been holding out for for years - and it's now a reality...
News The Inevitable SNES Classic Mini Hack Is Now Complete
"75% of games are working fine"
Last week we reported on Russian hacker Alexey 'Cluster' Avdyukhin's intention to modify his popular hacking tool hakchi2 to add support for the SNES Classic Mini. He's stayed true to his word that this work would take around a week and now v2.20 of hakchi2 has been released which offers the following...
News The Inevitable SNES Classic Mini Hack Is Well Underway
Chrono Trigger is playable already
Given the ease of hacking the NES Mini to add additional games, due to the efforts of Russian hacker Alexey 'Cluster' Avdyukhin with his hakchi2 software, it was only going to be a matter of time until the SNES Classic Mini got the same treatment given that it uses basically the same hardware under the...
