After watching Modern Vintage Gamer’s video on the 3DS Homebrew experience a while back, I got inspired. I owned a Japanese New 3DS I got from a friend many years ago, but it did absolutely nothing but gather dust. So, one random day in February, I decided to make my move. I decided to set up 3DS Homebrew for the very first time.
It was honestly extremely straightforward! I’m shocked. I tried to put homebrew on a Wii U a few months prior, and it was so much harder. I think I succeeded, but it took an entire day and exhausted me. The 3DS took like, 2 or 3 hours tops.
And now the 3DS can do so much cool stuff. Mods, cheats, installing games to the system, emulators out the wazoo… It’s a pretty capable PS1 machine, surprisingly (N64 on the other hand is not the 3DS’s forte). And it can natively play DS and GBA games, so you can go through them with no glitches, no slowdown, no errors or any of that.
The 3DS homebrew experience is really mature, which is to say, a ton of support, really straightforward tutorials, and good programs. I’m happy for it.
With just days left to go until the eshop is shut down for good, there’s not much else to do with the 3DS than hack it and let the thing roam free. It’s not just a way to pirate games. Although it is a way to pirate games, which I can’t argue against after everything is shut down and impossible to access.
There’s a bunch of utility apps, if you want to go old-school or cut down on phone time. There’s legitimately an ereader on there, if you want. You can read The Gay Gatsby on your 3DS. Imagine it. Weep in joy.
And hacking your 3DS is the only way you’ll get to play the complete, uncensored version of Fire Emblem Fates on original hardware. That might be reason enough for some people to try it, honestly. It’s the only way to play a glasses-free 3D version of Super Mario 64, which actually exists thanks to mad lads on the internet.
My 3ds homebrew experience has been extremely positive. How about yours?
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Read more of my blogs, like this one about Fire Emblem Three Houses
