Nintendo didn’t just render old flashcarts unusable with its latest DS model, the company left itself the option of adding more advanced anti-piracy measures in the future with downloadable firmware updates. Several companies like Acekard and M3 have released new carts that circumvent the DSi’s protections, but Nintendo could make those products obsolete by forcing upgrades that patch up whatever holes the carts are exploiting.

To combat that, SuperCard is releasing its DSONEi with a “USB-based firmware updater”, which will allow owners to flash their cart with a workaround (provided that hackers find one) should Nintendo introduce a firmware update locking out current carts. Pretty neat! It’s just unfortunate that kids will mostly use the DSONEi to play pirated games and not homebrew releases.

See also: Flashcarts defeating anti-piracy measures with anti-anti-piracy feature

[Via GBAtemp]

tags / supercard / piracy / homebrew / dsi / dsonei / firmware / ec