iPhone hacking started as a minor cult phenomenon with UNIX and programming experts. In a few short weeks, however, it has reached a much wider audience, and the hacker community is now firmly in control of the iPhone, according to the Washington Post on Sunday.

Recently, Stephen White, a software consultant in Silicon Valley, released software that allows people to play classic games on their iPhone, such as Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Brothers.

I was sitting in a pub with a friend one night musing about what the iPhone needed," he said. "I decided that every device I own needs to have Mario on it."

Other hackers have provided toolkits to break into the iPhone and customize it, like Jailbreak, and some hackers in Europe claim to have made the phone work there.

Now, the cat and mouse game with hackers and Apple is in full swing, according to Mike Musgrove. So while there may be some risk for the every day user and issues related to the iPhone license and warranty, those who see the enterprise of iPhone hacking as a way to make a name for themselves and even get cool jobs are rocking the Apple community.

It’s all been done before, most notably with the Sony PSP.

Apple knows that only a few people have the expertise to hack the iPhone and only a few more are willing to risk new and experimental tools like Jailbreak. However, the overall effect is to keep the iPhone in the news and whet people’s appetites for what could come next. Officially, Apple doesn’t have to say a thing, yet the fever continues to ramp up and reach the wider, curious audience. It’s all a very satisfactory situation for a mobile phone that’s been shipping for only 52 days.