Just hours after launching, the brand new Nintendo Switch Online service has already been hacked. One of the key features of Nintendo Switch Online is the ever-expanding library of classic NES games which you can play online with your friends. Unfortunately, the launch lineup is rather paltry, with a couple of highlights and a bunch of filler. And so it probably won’t surprise you to learn that by Tuesday night, the NES library had been hacked.
Shortly after the service went live on Tuesday night, a modder who goes by KapuccinoHeck on Twitter discovered that the database file for the NES games lists them all in plaintext, which should make it trivial for anyone with a modicum of skill to add their own games to the system and play them through the app.
About an hour later, Kapu shared a short video of Kirby’s Adventure (which isn’t one of official NES titles for the online service) running flawlessly on the Switch. He was unable to change the box art and had to reuse the art from River City Ransom (an official title), but says that this experiment proves “fully custom games ARE possible.” Another example comes from YouTube user DevRin, who demonstrates Battletoads running on his Switch:
“I would highly advise against anyone else doing it as I’ve been told there’s a lot of data from the app being sent to Nintendo and that it has a fair few legitimacy checks that occur at random,” KapuccinoHeck warned Kotaku when the website reached out for more details about the hacked NES games. So even if you know how to hack your Switch (which you shouldn’t do), this carries a great deal of risk that could endanger your account.
