3DS homebrew hacker to release YouTube exploit

A new method to launch homebrew 3DS software will use the handheld's official YouTube app.

Prolific 3DS coder Jordan "smealum" Rabet revealed the news via Twitter yesterday, alongside a video showing his latest exploit in action.

It comes just days after Nintendo pulled 3DS title Ironfall: Invasion from the eShop, due to Rabet revealing another method to launch homebrew software that used the free-to-play game.

Before that, Rabet released an initial method that required users to own little-known Ubisoft puzzler Cubic Ninja. Nintendo delisted that from the eShop, too.

The advantage of using Ironfall was that it could be downloaded for free, meaning that anyone would be able access Rabet's method.

The same is true of this latest method, which boots via an exploit in the 3DS YouTube app.

Nintendo has yet to take action to pull down or update the 3DS YouTube app, though it may only be a matter of time.

But the company will have to act fast. Rabet is due to launch his "Tubehax" method "very soon", according to a post on his Twitter last night.

An early look at Rabet's instructions for Tubehax shows that it will allow users to download unofficial 3DS software such as the coder's own Aperture Science 3D - a handheld version of Portal rebuilt from the ground up.

Tubehax will also allow users to play 3DS games from any region and make their own 3DS home themes.

Finally - and most controversially - the method will allow users to play SNES games via an emulator, instead of buying official versions from Nintendo's eShop.

Speaking to Eurogamer last year, Rabet insisted that he was not trying to encourage piracy. Instead, the 22-year-old said that he hoped his homebrew launcher would encourage others to take up 3DS coding as a result.