Vodacixi said:
I didn't say no one wants homebrew and emulators. Heck, I want emulators. I said, no one would risk to brick their very expensive console just for those things. There's a fundemantal difference. I hope you are wrong on the last and Nintendo can do something about it without creating a Switch 2.0 |
It is a hardware exploit in the Tegra X1's boot rom. However, Nintendo and Nvidia do not need to release a Switch 2 to fix it. They will just need to release a small revision that patches the issue on the boot rom in future systems (though current models that have already been sold and most likely the systems that will be sold in the first half of the year will likely have the exploit). Of course, part of this will depend on whether or not Nvidia would be willing to make a modified Tegra X1 that would fix this issue. The Wii had a similar boot rom related exploit and Nintendo patched it in newer models.
The second question is how easy the hack will be to exploit. If the boot rom can be exploited right before the OS boots through the SD Card or by using an app on PC (like how people unlock bootloaders for Android devices; this would be the absolute worst case scenario for Nintendo, since this method is really easy for users to do) then Nintendo would ideally want to release a hardware revision right away or they will risk mass piracy. On the other hand, if the boot rom can only be exploited through a chain exploit from the Switch's OS, then they have more time since they can patch entry points by updating the firmware (this is essentially how they dealt with 3DS's unpatchable boot rom exploit; though Switch is a much more open system, which might make this approach more difficult).
The Switch has two broad things that are going against its security. Firstly, they are using an off the shelf component (Tegra X1) that has readily available public documentation (in some of which, Nvidia themselves ironically detail backdoors) and publicly available development boards (Tegra Jetson) and other consumer electronics based around it (Shield TV, Pixel C, etc). This gives developers a huge knowledge base to work on. The second issue is that Switch uses a newer version of the 3DS's operating system, which hackers are intimately familiar with at this point.
While I am all for homebrew. I do hope Nintendo does manage thwart piracy (though based on how much more open the Switch is compared to their past systems, it is going to be difficult for them), especially so early in the system's life when it needs to secure software support. We certainly don't need a PSP where the software output peaked in its second year, as developers got spooked due to how easy it was to hack the system.
