PC games can now be played on Nintendo’s latest console, thanks to a discovery by Wii U hackers. Even though it probably violates several copyrights, the possibility could help boost sales of the console and bring Nintendo back as a contender.

You might not be able to get the bigger games on the portable console, but games don’t need to be big to be fun. If Nintendo can find a way to capitalize on the idea instead of fighting it, they could find themselves with an unexpected stream of income from pirates.

At this year’s Chaos Communication Congress, hackers introduced the concept during a seminar titled, “Reverse engineering the Wii U Gamepad.”

They stated:

“When the Wii U was released, a few console hackers and I were talking about potential uses for the Wii U GamePad. However, before being able to use a Wii U GamePad as a remote controller for a robot or a quadricopter, the first step was to understand how it worked and how to communicate with it.”

Wii U hackers were able to stream PC games on the portable console, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and the acclaimed Final Fantasy VII. Both of these games were played using an emulator, but the possibilities could make Nintendo wealthy again as their game library could explode. A firmware update could automatically allow PC games to be streamed via a paid app and casual PC gamers would have a much larger selection to choose from.

The online slideshow can be viewed by clicking here.

It isn’t likely to happen, though. Nintendo has always been strict about what can be done with their consoles, even refusing to follow the standards every other console manufacturer uses. When the PlayStation made the CD a viable gaming format, Nintendo stuck with cartridges. When the DVD was the new norm, Nintendo took the DVD and made it spin in the opposite direction. Nintendo even regularly removes emulator ROMs from the internet that make their first-party games playable on emulators.

Would you pay for an authorized app if Nintendo allowed a Wii U hacker app which streams PC games?