A Closer Look at the Games Console Modification Industry
Since the first video games consoles thirty years ago, gamers have loved to modify both software and hardware for fun and for monetary gain. From the classic POKE hacks on the ZX Spectrum giving you infinite lives on Paperboy way back in the 1980s, to Nintendo DS Lite flashcarts enabling you to run a bigger range of applications on their Nintendo.
Software developers and console producers have had an on/off relationship in regards to the soldering and hacking crowd. In a sense, modders/hackers add value to the systems and games - for instance modified chips make it handy for gamers who can download non-sanctioned games from the web. To add to that, game hacks brings extra value to very tricky games, and these days it’s even de rigeur for software producers to build in cheat codes for gamers to seek out.
Then again, games manufacturers state that this kind of modding hurts their profits, as chipmods are also utilized to get around piracy measures, and short-circuiting hardware that limits discs to play just in certain locations. These are powerful reasons for console and software manufacturers to perpetually develop new steps to make modding more and more tricky.
But whatever the grounds in opposition to chip modification, modding is a big market that isn’t will not go away while the demand is there.