There was a booming economy for flash carts during the DS era, which were cartridges that could house MicroSD cards. The Nintendo DS is Nintendo's best-selling console of all time, but that success was offset by rampant piracy of the system's games. The fact that the new Pokémon games are available online early and are playable on PC is reminiscent of the days of the Nintendo DS. Screen Rant will not share links to sites hosting the ROM. Now, it's possible to play these games through illegal means, as a Pokémon Brilliant Diamond ROM has been uploaded online and is playable via an emulator. Pokémon BDSP gameplay has leaked online previously, but almost all of these videos are ultimately taken down by Nintendo.

Well ahead of the remakes' November 19 release date, copies of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have already made their way into the hands of players. Related: Pokémon Legends: Arceus Will Have 17 New Hisuian Forms, Per Leak In the past, curious parties were able to see every Pokémon in a given game through hacking, but that is (generally) no longer the case.

One benefit newer Pokémon games enjoy is the addition Legendary or Mythical Pokémon via online updates, meaning these creatures don't need to be included in the game's code at launch. The most recent Pokémon games to be leaked early were Pokémon Sword and Shield, as the Galar Pokédex, as well as the identities of which Pokémon were planned to be added in post-launch updates, were shared before release.

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