Ever since the very first video games consoles thirty years ago, individuals have had a compulsion to tweak and hack the game code and also the systems they run on. Right from the game hacks on the ZX Spectrum giving you invincibility on Sabre Wulf way back in the 80s, to DS Lite flashcarts permitting one to run a greater range of games on their Nintendo.
System manufacturers and software makers have had an on/off relationship in regards to gamers and modders who are oftentimes one and the same. In one way, modders add worth to the systems and games – for instance modified chips give great convenience to games players who can download non-sanctioned games from the net. Likewise, games hacking breathe new life into “uncompletable” games, and in the modern gaming era it’s even de rigeur for software makers to embed cheat codes for gamers to find.
But to balance that out, software producers opine that such modification lessens their revenue, as chipmods are also applied to get around measures to try and prevent illegal copying, and circumventing firmware that fixes cartridges to play only in particular locations. These are compelling causes for console and software producers to continually develop progressive steps to make modding more difficult to carry out.
But whatever the arguments against chipmods, chip modification is now a huge market that isn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
