Since the first video games consoles 30 years ago, people have been compelled to subvert and hack the game code and also the hardware systems they’re run on. From the classic POKE hacks on the Spectrum handing you invincibility on Sabre Wulf way back in the 80s, to Nintendo DS Lite flashcarts permitting you to play a larger range of games on their Nintendo DS.
Software developers and system developers have had a tricky relationship in regards to the hacking and soldering crowd. In a sense, they add worth to the systems and games – for instance modified chips give great convenience to gamers who can play backups on their consoles. Likewise, software hacks breathe new life into very challenging games, and nowadays it’s even a convention for games makers to actually embed cheat codes for gamers to discover.
But to balance that out, software developers opine that such chip modding hurts their revenue, as mods are also applied to circumvent piracy steps, and short-circuiting hardware that restricts discs to play just in particular countries. These are strong reasons for console and games manufacturers to forever add new steps to make modding more difficult to carry out.
Yet, no matter how persuasive the arguments are in opposition to chipmods, modding is now a burgeoning market that isn’t going to go away.