Homebrew-enabling 3DS game pulled from eShop

Nintendo has withdrawn Cubic Ninja from sale on the Japanese 3DS eShop following the reveal of an exploit allowing users to run homebrew software - and by extension, pirated games.

Cubic Ninja is a 3DS puzzle game from AQ Interactive.

Last week, French hacker Smealum revealed he'd managed to get homebrew software running on the 3DS by leveraging a quirk of Cubic Ninja save files, and would release the exploit for everyone to take advantage of.

According to Tiny Cartridge, Nintendo immediately pulled the game from sale on the Japanese eShop. Cubic Ninja has not been made available via digital distribution in other territories, but a physical release was distributed in the west by Ubisoft and is widely available - or was, until news of the exploit drove auction prices up and sold through loads of stock.

Speaking to Eurogamer, the 22 year-old hacker - whose real name is Jordan Rabet - said that the exploit would be quite easily patched with a 3DS firmware update, making the rush to pick up the game a little premature.

Rabet also said his release won't specifically enable piracy. If history is any indication, his intentions won't matter for long; someone will take his work and build on it. Regardless, the wide availability of flash cartridges designed to play pirated games means the 3DS is already host to a flourishing piracy scene.

Thanks, Polygon.