In a recent Q%26amp;A session, Nintendo reveale﷽d the possibility of automatic firmware updates for the 3DS, which they hope to useto deliver additional features and functionality to the handheld.

Yawn. Firmware updates aren%26rsquo;t anything new to videogame platforms, so you%26rsquo;re probably wondering why this is noteworthy. Well,the fact that the updates would be automatic could give Nintendo a huge advantage in their fight against♕ piracy.

Pirates abused the DS like a small town sheriff in the last year of his term, so Nintendo has to be putting a lot of effort into making sure that doesn%26rsquo;t happen again. They%26rsquo;re looking into using the handheld%26rsquo;s new networking systems to download firmware while in sleep mode, which means you could be eating lunch in a Wi-Fi hotspot while your 3DS silently downloads an update. Or you might even getone from another 3DS owner riding on the ꦦsame bus; likelypreferable to anything else you could catch fromsomeone on a bus. And even if pirates manage to avoid downloading anything, Nintendo is looking at including the updates on game cartridges.

The only concern the average gamer might have is that we%26r🧸squo;ve seen firmware updates break systems in the past. If🙈 Nintendo is making these updates involuntary, they had better be careful about what they put out.

Seeing as how the 3DS won%26rsquo;t be out for months, no one knows exactly how this will all turn out, so you might want to tempe🐷r any nerd rage for now. If we%26rsquo;re lucky though, this system will work as intended and will curb piracy without negativ💞ely affecting everyone else.

Oct 1, 2010