Nintendo 3DS
Image: Gemma Smith / Time Extension

This week, Nintendo released an update for its 3DS range of consoles which aimed to make the 'dead' console harder to hack.

The company recently shut down the 3DS eShop, effectively placing the system – which launched in 2011 – out to pasture. Digital games can no longer be purchased on the console, removing legitimate access to countless titles.

This move triggered a wave of people hacking their 3DS and 2DS consoles, but it would seem Nintendo isn't too happy about this, as the recent 11.17-0-50 update locked off some popular hacking routines.

While the official patch notes use the traditional 'stability' line, under the hood, changes were made to the 'System Settings', eShop app, and Internet Browser. Given that this is a 'dead' system, those changes were clearly intended to prevent people from hacking their machines.

No one expected this latest update to totally lock down the system, but the speed at which the hacking community has worked to overcome this latest barrier is genuinely amazing:

Apparently, the only systems which are still locked down are older 3DS consoles; these will need a R4 card using ntrboot going forward.