After targeting two games on 3DS allowing users to run their own unofficial games and apps, it looks like a hacker is targeting the system’s official YouTube app next.
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The exploit is of particular value to homebrew enthusiasts because the YouTube app is free and, as of now, it’s still on the 3DS eShop.
The Homebrew Launcher is the latest project from an active development community centered around legacy Nintendo hardware. The good news (if that worries you) is that tubehax will only remain in operation so long as you’ve got your 3DS pointed towards a specific DNS.
3DS tinkerer extraordinaire Jordan Rabet, aka smea, has (with a little help) found a really easy way for Nintendo 3DS owners to get around the company’s region-locking. He insists that “this launcher does not in any way let users run pirated 3DS software”. It uses a copy of Iron Fall to give you offline access to the Homebrew Launcher and all its benefits. The Nintendo DS previously hosted a number of cartridges and exploits that enabled support for user-created software, and the Nintendo Wii features a wide variety of homebrew applications and emulators.
Using tubehax 3DS players can get access to a slew of homebrew content including old-school SNES ROMs running on the handheld’s latest 9.9 firmware. Before the “IronFall” exploit, dubbed IronHax, Smealum revealed a similar hack last November which utilized the puzzle game “Cubic Ninja“.
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Smealum has been behind several other exploits for the 3DS. The exploit was called as NinjaHax, and it was also used to launch homebrewed games for the 3DS.
