Hacking PSA: Unique Cartridge ID Sharing

[Foxi4]

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Recent developments in the 3DS scene allowed for something every 3DS flashcart user has dreamed of since these devices entered the market - online play. We also learned a little bit more about the information stored in ROM's, namely about the Unique Cartridge ID's. This is a Public Service Announcement specifically about them.​

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Unique ID's are only as unique as you let them be. Users quickly figured out a method of injecting pre-existing Unique ID's from their Gateway dumps (*.3DZ) into standard scene dumps (*.3DS). As handy as this is for your average user, this procedure has risen some concerns about possible future bans Nintendo might resort to when notified that the same ID's are used by numerous games and numerous users.​

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GBATemp.net's stance on the matter is relatively lenient - you are free to share your Unique ID's with other users, however by doing so, you accept any penalties resulting from such trading as your own fault. If you post your "Unique ID" online or start sharing it with your friends, it immediately stops being "unique". If Nintendo resorts to banning games, systems or NNID accounts from using their online services and you happen to be affected by it, you are the sole responsible party in such an event.​

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As such, we do not recommend sharing your Unique ID's publicly - keep them to yourself and keep them "unique". This website or its users will not to be held liable regardless of what the results of trading ID's may be in the future. You have been forewarned.​

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Thank you for your attention and if you play online with backups, play it safe!​

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Best Regards,​

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The GBATemp.net Staff​

 

[tbgtbg]

If they do start banning due to ID sharing, I wonder what that'll do to the 3DS used game market. Here's hoping they just ban the cart that's had its ID "stolen" and not systems or NNID's, or things will get quite messy.

 

[Foxi4]

If they do start banning due to ID sharing, I wonder what that'll do to the 3DS used game market. Here's hoping they just ban the cart that's had its ID "stolen" and not systems or NNID's, or things will get quite messy.

If the same ID is used in the US one minute, in Japan the next and in Iceland after ten minutes, you're not going to convince anyone that this is due to the pre-owned market, no matter how silver your tongue is. Even worse, you won't convince anyone that you've multiplied your cartridges with pixie dust when two or more identical ID's are logged on at the same time.

 

[DinohScene]

Well, I can't disagree with Ninty.

Ofcourse, some innocent users will get banned over it, much like it happened with the 360.

 

[Friendsxix]

If the same ID is used in the US one minute, in Japan the next and in Iceland after ten minutes, you're not going to convince anyone that this is due to the pre-owned market, no matter how silver your tongue is. Even worse, you won't convince anyone that you've multiplied your cartridges with pixie dust when two or more identical ID's are logged on at the same time.

What if one dumps a cart's ID onto the internet in say, the USA, and then sells it second hand? Then, people in a public forum such as gbatemp from all over the world use the dumped ID. If they ban the involved consoles, the person who bought it second hand could be penalized, even though he was a "legitimate" user.

 

[Foxi4]

What if one dumps a cart's ID onto the internet in say, the USA, and then sells it second hand? Then, people in a public forum such as gbatemp from all over the world use the dumped ID. If they ban the involved consoles, the person who bought it second hand could be penalized, even though he was a "legitimate" user.

Except the person caught in the blast wave has a cartridge and you don't, which means that he's the legal owner of the game and the ID along with it. All he has to do is provide Nintendo with proof of purchase and mention that it was pre-owned, chances are that they will unban him... unlike the rest of users who will be stuck with potentially banned systems, games or accounts. I don't think it's worth it, online support on flash carts has only just started, give it some time before you go nuts with it.

 

[Friendsxix]

Except the person caught in the blast wave has a cartridge and you don't, which means that he's a legal owner of the ID in question. All he has to do is provide Nintendo with proof of purchase and mention that it was pre-owned, chances are that they will unban him... unlike the rest of users who will be stuck with potentially banned systems, games or accounts. I don't think it's worth it, online support on flash carts has only just started, give it some time before you go nuts with it.

I suppose, but what if the bans take place months after the purchase and poor Jimmy lost his receipt? All the proof he could have is a picture of a cartridge, and then any pirate could easily provide that from a picture skimmed off of Google images.

 

[Foxi4]

I suppose, but what if the bans take place months after the purchase and poor Jimmy lost his receipt? All the proof he could have is a picture of a cartridge, and then any pirate could easily provide that from a picture skimmed off of Google images.

If the cartridge has a *Unique* ID then the cartridge is all he needs. If not, casualties of war, man.

 

[Arras]

If they just ban the cartridge IDs and not the whole 3DS/NNID for something like this, they could always say second hand carts are not their responsibility or something. Or is there some law preventing them from doing that?

 

[Friendsxix]

If the cartridge has a *Unique* ID then the cartridge is all he needs. If not, casualties of war, man.

... but then Jimmy would have to mail in the cartridge and Nintendo would have to put people on staff to check the cartridge's unique ID, all the while Jimmy is inconvenienced because his 3DS can't play online for a reason unbeknownst to him. I just think that banning consoles outright is a bit risky, and could result in more bad PR than it's worth for Nintendo.

 

[Armadillo]

If they want to ban ids and can, they will. Concern for 2nd hand users never stopped Microsoft from banning 360s. Plenty of banned 360s flood the used market after banwaves.

I wonder if they can actually do it though. Considering Nintendo seem to be years behind everyone else when it comes to online stuff, I wonder if they even have the capability to detect and ban or if that is yet another online system that Nintendo fails at.

 

[TheCasketMan]

I do not know what is the big deal about this, unless you pirate the games.

 

[ground]

The only problem i can see is thawt a guy is buying a game, take the id out of it (share it on the internet) an sells the game again on the same day

 

[Ryukouki]

I do not know what is the big deal about this, unless you pirate the games.

It's kinda a way for users to be safe at their own responsibility, and for us to cover our tracks in the event that something does happen.

 

[Arras]

Even if they currently can't, as long as the system actually sends the unique identifier to the server (and I can't imagine it doesn't), adding an automated bansystem wouldn't be that much work. All they'd have to do is check for duplicate keys (possibly by creating a database of all keys currently connected or whatever if that doesn't already exist), add those to a banlist and as soon as someone tries to go online, check against that banlist first. Main issues would be testing to make sure nobody gets accidentally banned which would take forever.

 

[pwsincd]

But whos to say who owns the actual original "unique" ID . Say i buy a pre owned cart that has been ID cloned all over the place ... who could you realistically ban ? the noob who legitimately buys a pre owned cart ?

 

[Friendsxix]

If they want to ban ids and can, they will. Concern for 2nd hand users never stopped Microsoft from banning 360s. Plenty of banned 360s flood the used market after banwaves.

I wonder if they can actually do it though. Considering Nintendo seem to be years behind everyone else when it comes to online stuff, I wonder if they even have the capability to detect and ban or if that is yet another online system that Nintendo fails at.

About the former: I don't recall a case where Microsoft banned a user for buying a used Xbox 360 game, which would better relate to the issue at hand, but please correct me if I'm wrong as I very well could be.

About the latter: I honestly don't think this "Unique Game ID" feature was built to ban anything but cheaters using legitimate cartridges with the aid of a blacklist on Nintendo's servers. Hence the error "You cannot use online services with this Game Card." and not "This Game Card is not legitimate." So, I think that if the unique cartridge IDs were used to ban consoles, they'd probably have to modify the system in place. This is obviously conjecture though, so just take it as it is.

At any rate, I don't disagree with the idea that it's not wise to share your cartridge IDs online.

 

[Armadillo]

About the former: I don't recall a case where Microsoft banned a user for buying a used Xbox 360 game, which would better relate to the issue at hand, but please correct me if I'm wrong as I very well could be.

They haven't banned for buying a used game, my response was to do with concern of buying a used game, only to find it's id banned (assuming bans on game id rather than console). I don't think that would stop Nintendo doing it if they could.

Banning the ID of a used cart would only effect the market the same way banned xboxs did. Buy used and it's possible it can't go online. In this case, buying a used game there is a chance it couldn't go online, in xbox case, buying a used console had the chance it was banned and couldn't go online.

If Microsoft was fine to ban consoles, even if it meant someone could buy a used console to find it's banned, I don't know why Nintendo would suddenly be concerned that someone would buy a used game just to find it's banned.

 

[smf]

But whos to say who owns the actual original "unique" ID . Say i buy a pre owned cart that has been ID cloned all over the place ... who could you realistically ban ? the noob who legitimately buys a pre owned cart ?

Nintendo don't have a responsibility to make sure the game works, that is the retailers responsibility. If it gets banned then all you can do is try to return it for a refund. Shops will quickly start saying that 2nd hand games aren't guaranteed to work online, or will only guarantee it within their standard guarantee (which I've seen as short as 14 days).

game in the UK already cover this in their faq as ps2 games used to come with a code.

http://www.game.co.uk/en/info/Stati...il=Help|Products+and+Services&catalogId=10201

What about additional online content? Will this be available? Unfortunately the answer is usually no. Some games have special content that can only be accessed by the original owner and can't be included when the game is traded in. For some games this extra content can be accessed by an 'online pass', but this can come with an extra charge from the publishers of the game to do so.

 

[Tattorack]

This sounds reasonable (and quite logical).
Though there will always be those that disregard this and just want to fill the forum with angry dribble, or are looking to blame someperson.
Be prepaired GBAtemp!