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Nintendo e-Reader Gets Homebrew Dot-Code Games

Posted by simoniker on from the gotta-love-dem-hackers dept.

figa writes "Tim Schuerewegen announced that the Reed Solomon error correction used by the Nintendo Game Boy Advance e-Reader has been figured out. This was the last remaining obstacle to creating custom dot-code printouts for use with the GBA e-Reader (more info), which scans special Nintendo trading cards to load in mini-games on your Game Boy Advance. This should be a boon to homebrew GBA developers who want to print their own games - Schuerewegen has examples and documentation on his site, and has released a dot-code version of the homebrew BombSweeper game by SnowBro."

22 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Homebrew? by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, when can we load Linux on it, so we can make a beowu...

  2. Thanks to the awful Job Market by RicJohnson · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can develop my own games
    Thank god for the awful job market for Geeks like us to have to to reverse-engiNerd this stuff so I can play with it

    1. Re:Thanks to the awful Job Market by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey, idjit.

      I linked to the ACTUAL LAW.

      It is DMCA. Not DCMA. Digital. Millenium. Copyright. Act.

      A bunch of dumb motherfuckers on Google does not a correct answer make.

      --

      ---
      Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
      (I read with sigs off.)
  3. Wait...I see a 6! by gevmage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait, the dots resolve into a 6!

    Does that mean I owe my optometrist a bunch of money?

    --
    Craig Steffen
    http://www.craigsteffen.net
  4. I'm telling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just wait until Nintendo gets home and finds out. You are going to be so buuuussted.

  5. Who needs E-Readers by Munden · · Score: 5, Funny

    I want P-Readers for punchcards and the ability to swap and exchange thousands of punchcards per games.

  6. OMG, OLD SCHOOL JOKES by lotsofno · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now if only they could get the games to work without having to blow into the e-reader all the time...

    1. Re:OMG, OLD SCHOOL JOKES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Look what other alarming facts can be discovered using this tool.

  7. OMG YEAH by MukiMuki · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's easy, just dab a cotton swab in alcohol and wipe all your cards clean!

  8. Damn you Dave by nevek · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe this will give me somethign to do with my HU (football/p3) Card!!

  9. Re:Place You bets by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 4, Funny

    To lawyers, the little, round tape seal holding the box shut counts as "copy protection"...

  10. Re:Place You bets by zalas · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wouldn't that mean that the dot code was created as a security feature to prevent copy protection?
    I can see the headlines now:
    Samuel Morse Cracks Copy Protection, Sued Under DMCA

  11. Bill Gates sues... by Frank+of+Earth · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. for dot-code infringement. Err.. dot-code is the same as .Net right?

    --
    Live web cams
  12. Re:Hacked eReaders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cool, now people can experence the fun of punch-cards!

    "..47...48...33...Oh shit...1..2.."

  13. Re:Why? by RagManX · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you have to ask why, do you really deserve to read /. now? :)

    RagManX

  14. I whish.... by I_l00P · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...they manage to produce some good n' old Dot Code Pr0n!!

  15. Re:Too much work by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 2, Funny
    and the GBA seriously lacks a good tetris.

    Probably why they didn't sell so many Gameboys with that title ?
    ...Ohwait :P

  16. Re:Anti-piracy measures? by Gzip+Christ · · Score: 4, Funny
    They're really, really, really tiny dots. Too tiny to be scanned and reproduced by the equipment in most people's houses.
    Indeed, it's pretty amazing how much information they can fit on those trading cards. For those of you with ultra-high resolution printers, here's the code to Super Mario 3:

    [.]
  17. Re:Place You bets by LittleBigLui · · Score: 5, Funny

    Error correction cannot be copy protection, since it is not encryption, copying the error-coded dots is trivial, and stripping the error codes from the data is easy.
    ... or so the defendant would want you to believe, dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury. Of course, his arguments seem plausible and logical, but let me show you one thing: *rolls down poster of wookie*

    This *points to poster* is Chewbacca.

    --
    Free as in mason.
  18. Good idea! by Trejkaz · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually that might not be too hard. An image viewer is pretty trivial, and then you just need to see how much data you can compress into the size they allow for the code.

    OMG, imagine printing fake eReader cards which look just like the original, but when run display TubGirl on the GameBoy!!!!

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  19. Re:Anti-piracy measures? by Dirtside · · Score: 3, Funny
    Indeed, it's pretty amazing how much information they can fit on those trading cards. For those of you with ultra-high resolution printers, here's the code to Super Mario 3:
    [.]
    You missed a semicolon on line 382.
    --
    "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
  20. Re:Resolution? by The_dev0 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Yes, apparently they will stilll print okay if your printer resolution is set somewhere between stupid-crazy fresh and too-dope extreme. Only crazy-mad wicked is considered too high for the home printer.

    ;o)

    --
    Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...