Nintendo Targets Homebrew Channel With Wii Update

[Logan Westbrook]

Nintendo Targets Homebrew Channel With Wii Update

New firmware will remove any non-approved functionality from the Wii.

Nintendo is again updating the Wii in an effort to combat piracy on the machine. Much like the 4.2 update back in September, the 4.3 update will seek out and remove any homebrew content that it finds.

"Because unauthorized channels or firmware may impair game play or the Wii console, updating to Wii Menu version 4.3 will check for and automatically remove such unauthorized files," Nintendo said in a message on its support site.

Nintendo does say that the update includes "behind the scenes enhancements that do not affect any prominently-used features or menus but will improve system performance," but the focus is very clearly on dealing with homebrew.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180045]


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[Nimbus]

So... uh... Nintendo is releasing an update that no-one will bother downloading?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

Also, can't these updates be avoided easily on the Wii?

 

[Megacherv]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

The Wii-scene is quite big actually, about as big as the DS-scene


They tried this with 4.2, which just broke stuff. Wii-modders managed to get 4.2 on our their Wiis and still be able to do stuff like run copied discs and games via HDD without hardware modifications

 

[Tales of Golden Sun]

So... uh... Nintendo is releasing an update that no-one will bother downloading?

Some games (like Super Mario Galaxy 2) make you update your Wii before you can play.
Nintendo doesn't know that Wii Homebrew users can just bypass that forced update.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

The Wii-scene is quite big actually, about as big as the DS-scene


They tried this with 4.2, which just broke stuff. Wii-modders managed to get 4.2 on our their Wiis and still be able to do stuff like run copied discs and games via HDD without hardware modifications

We'll see what effect this has, then.

 

[Aggressor and Usurper]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

I didn't either. >_> To me it seems too basic to bother hacking.

 

[Deofuta]

NOOOOOOO NOT MAH HOMEBREW CHANNNELLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

How am I going to play quake 2 now?

Jerks. It probably wont take long to get a new version out, but still!

Also, the reason the wii-scene is so open is because modding a wii is incredibly simple. It requires no extra hardware baring a micro sd card, and it is just awesome to try out.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Let's start timing how long it takes before this update gets cracked open! One, two, three...

 

[ViolentlyHappy91]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

I didn't either. >_> To me it seems too basic to bother hacking.

Surprisingly, it's awesome when hacked. I've been using mine to play my old Mega Drive, N64, SNES, NES, and Master System games rather than re-buying them from Nintendo. I also have it set up as a DVD player because I'm too lazy to replace my broken one.

 

[Christemo]

it´ll get bypassed quickly, Nintendo´s programming on stuff like this is absolutely terrible anyway. when it does, people can begin using Brawl texture hacks and free games again.

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

The Wii-scene is quite big actually, about as big as the DS-scene


They tried this with 4.2, which just broke stuff. Wii-modders managed to get 4.2 on our their Wiis and still be able to do stuff like run copied discs and games via HDD without hardware modifications

We'll see what effect this has, then.

It pretty much won't have any effect. Most hacked Wii owners are smart enough to know that updating can cause problems, thus most of us don't update through Nintendo themselves. A hacked homebrew-frendly update is pretty much guaranteed to be released within the first week after an official update anyway, so Nintendo's efforts are actually quite futile.

Hell, there are actually methods to disable updates alltogether, so most smart Wii-modders shouldn't be worried at all.

 

[Aggressor and Usurper]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

I didn't either. >_> To me it seems too basic to bother hacking.

Surprisingly, it's awesome when hacked. I've been using mine to play my old Mega Drive, N64, SNES, NES, and Master System games rather than re-buying them from Nintendo. I also have it set up as a DVD player because I'm too lazy to replace my broken one.

Huh. Do you put the games on SD cards like the R4 or what?

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Wii piracy, eh?

It's typically not for "piracy", but to run homebrew applications (people have made a TON of neat applications and free games for the Wii).

Being able to play DVDs is nice too, since Nintendo refuses to let the damn thing do it even though the hardware's there.

 

[ViolentlyHappy91]

Huh. Do you put the games on SD cards like the R4 or what?

Indeed. Setting up the NAND emulator was the only hard part for me. Using a NAND emulator stops the system from copying files to and from the SD stick and flash memory (which causes damage over time) and just runs it all from the stick.

It only takes about 30 minutes to have everything fully set up.

 

[zmanu]

So... uh... Nintendo is releasing an update that no-one will bother downloading?

Some games (like Super Mario Galaxy 2) make you update your Wii before you can play.
Nintendo doesn't know that Wii Homebrew users can just bypass that forced update.

Also, the shop channel (and, I suppose, any other channel that needs to access the net) can force you to update before it runs.

Anyway, their previous attempts to get rid of homebrew failed miserably. Best they can hope for ever is to prevent hacking of new or previously unhacked Wiis at this point. They should concentrate on battling piracy directly, say by guarding the games against getting run from an attached hard drive by hardcoding DVD reads instead of letting them go over the IOS and upping the encryption/signing on new WiiWare/Virtual Console titles.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

This is mildly obnoxious, but I'm sure it'll be worked around quickly enough (especially with the older model Wiis, where there's basically nothing they can do to block it short of coming to your house and replacing the hardware). I modded mine not for homebrew or piracy, but because the optical drive is slowly dying, and if I can play games off a USB device of some sort instead, then I only need to use the drive once per game to copy from the disc to the drive, then go put the game disc back on the shelf. I don't use it nearly enough (or have the money) to pay to replace it or get it repaired, so it's nice for now to still be able to get some use out of the games I bought.

 

[Jared]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

I didn't either. >_> To me it seems too basic to bother hacking.

Same...I never even heard things like this existed! What little do I know!

 

[GonzoGamer]

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

The Wii-scene is quite big actually, about as big as the DS-scene


They tried this with 4.2, which just broke stuff. Wii-modders managed to get 4.2 on our their Wiis and still be able to do stuff like run copied discs and games via HDD without hardware modifications

I was thinking of that update too. It was supposed to brick the modded consoles but only bricked the legit ones. It?s one of the reasons I never update on update day. I like to wait and see if there are any problems.
Is this one designed to brick or just mod out the HB.

 

[sooperman]

Well it's nice to hear that Nintendo is taking steps forward, but this is going to be hacked also.

Wii piracy, eh? I didn't even know it existed!

I didn't either. >_> To me it seems too basic to bother hacking.

Same...I never even heard things like this existed! What little do I know!

A friend of mine used Homebrew and hacked W@W. It was good times, and the first time I'd ever heard of hacking a Wii. Very strange.