Wii Update 3.3 Defeats Twilight Hack, Freeloader

Richter X writes "The newest update to the Nintendo Wii's Menu, version 3.3, contains code specifically designed to find and kill the popular Twilight Hack used by homebrewers to play unauthorized code on the Wii. The update also prevents the Freeloader software used to play imported games on the Wii. However, it does not seem to affect the Homebrew Channel in Wiis that already have it installed. The updated code is currently being researched in order to find what code has been changed. So far it has been confirmed that Nintendo included specific instructions to target the Twilight Hack. Work is also being done to update the Twilight Hack in order to bypass this new code."

Countdown

[LameAssTheMity]

I wonder how long it will take to get around the newest most securest(tm) DRM EVER?!

Increased Usability

[kellyb9]

Doesn't the allowance of "unauthorized code" increase the usability of a particular device? Regardless, I'm getting pretty sick of the trend of buying a physical product and being limited in what I'm allowed to do with it.

Re:Countdown

[0100010001010011]

Is it a crack or a fixing of a bug/exploit? Home brew channel still works, mod chips still work, etc.

Wouldn't complaining about Nintendo fixing a known exploit be like complaining about Microsoft fixing a known hole in XP?

A known overflow/exploit is found.
Company fixes known overflow/exploit.
People outraged that you can't "crack" a box like you used to.

You know that this might have fixed someone from remotely rooting your Wii?

Re:Increased Usability

[Christianson]

I'm no expert or insider in the game industry at all, but console manufacturers have to be aware that a portion of their current success relative to PC gaming has to do with their platform standardization, the fact that games "just work" on consoles. Upgradeable system software is already a worrisome step away from that golden standard, and homebrew and system hacks are getting back into PC-level of complexity. Which is fine, as long as people recognize any problems they might have are a result of their own messing around, and not a fault of the console manufacturer. That's pretty much what their efforts accomplish, really. Certainly they haven't been able to stamp out homebrew.

So it's not entirely unreasonable for console manufacturers to be taking this attitude. Should you be allowed to do whatever you want with your own hardware? Yes, but the hardware manufacturer has no obligation to make it easy for you.

Re:Increased Usability

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

...I'm getting pretty sick of the trend of buying a physical product and being limited in what I'm allowed to do with it.

It would appear that anyone who feels that way is in a minority so small that companies making physical products don't care.

WTF are you smoking

[Moryath]

and why won't you share you stingy bastard?

A flaw in an internet-aware OS: one thing.

A flaw that requires someone to load a hacked savegame, and do something specific in a specific game?

Further, the only difference between the two being that in the second case, the "flaw" is actually the FIX for the broken and stupid nature of the OS?

Really now. I have right of first sale on my side. I bought *hardware*. If I want to load linux on it, that's my fucking business and Nintendo can go fuck themselves. The worst they can do is void my warranty and refuse to contract with me for servicing if the hardware fails.

Re:Increased Usability

[SwordsmanLuke]

I understand (and agree with) your frustration. The reason for this (WRT video game consoles, anyway) is that unlocked hardware is one of the things that contributed to the fall of Atari back in the early 80s. In particular, the Atari 2600 had no barriers preventing people from writing their own cartridges for it. At first, this was a good thing, as it increased the overall value of the 2600. Later in life, however, Atari had managed to piss off many of it's best developers, who then spun off to create Activision. At the same time, plenty of shovelware companies were dumping everything they could onto the market. The result: if you wanted good games, you bought Activision titles. If you wanted cheap games, you bought the shovelware. Atari's own games weren't moving and since the market for new *consoles* was already pretty well saturated (the current upgrade treadmill of console development hadn't been invented yet), the bottom fell out of Atari's profits.

Of course, shortly thereafter, the NES showed up - and one of it's main features was a hardware lock which prevented unauthorized software from running on it*. This has been the standard ever since.



*This is, incidentally why you get the annoying gray screen when you try to play dirty NES carts - the contacts aren't making a good enough connection to transmit the unlock code.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[digitrev]

Look. These updates are not mandatory. My Wii currently is not connected to the internet and doing just fine. Even when it is, you have to set it up to install updates automatically. You should have known that by hacking a proprietary system that further updates would probably screw over your hack. Just be glad you didn't get bricked. Caveat emptor, my friend.

Nintendo owns my Wii...

[Anonymous Coward]

I keep hearing from people that Nintendo can do as they wish because it's their console. Isn't it my console to do what I see fit with, since I bought it and own every single transistor in that machine?

Re:WTF are you smoking

[KillerBob]

some of the updates are manditory, and they do have the ability to force one through a game... I had to install an update to my console the first time I played Mario Kart.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[vux984]

I had to install an update to my console the first time I played Mario Kart.

You didn't have to play Mario Kart.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[Von Helmet]

Parent is correct. I agree that a person buying hardware has the right to do whatever they like with it. However, I'm not sure where people get the idea that a supplier is then obliged to support their non-standard hardware/firmware with regard to games or online services.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[BarryJacobsen]

I had to install an update to my console the first time I played Mario Kart. You didn't have to play Mario Kart.

No, but he couldn't have returned it to the store either, since it had already been opened.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[vux984]

No, but he couldn't have returned it to the store either, since it had already been opened.

Caveat emptor.

As far as I'm concerned the moment you hack your console to do homebrew or whatever else, you forfeit the expectation that purchased software released in the future will work or be compatible.

Next time rent the game before buying it. Or check on the net if there are issues with you 'homebrew' stuff before buying a title.

Plus, at least with the case of MK:Wii he can sell it easily.... MK:Wii in particular probably sell quickly... its been sold out every time I've tried getting one in the last month.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[ADRA]

Yeah, well, maybe I'll rip out the DVD and replace it with some super l33t faster reading one and I'll just expect it to work with all future Wii games.

Oh, that's right. The second I do something not specifically authorized by Nintendo, I'm off the support chain and left to rot. I may feel raw about it, but ultimately its my responsibility for introducing the unintended process.

Re:WTF are you smoking

[KillerBob]

As far as I'm concerned the moment you hack your console to do homebrew or whatever else, you forfeit the expectation that purchased software released in the future will work or be compatible.

Oh, I agree with you fully. I haven't hacked my Wii, and I have no intention of doing so. I have an HTPC and a laptop computer for stuff like that, and have absolutely no reason to void the warranty on my console. I bought the console for specifically that reason: so I can buy games for years to come and have no worries about whether it'll work, or whether I'll have to spend hundreds of dollars every 2 years to keep it up to date. The fact that the Wii was cheaper than a new computer in the first place was just a pleasant bonus.

Who would install the update...

[kevind23]

...when right in the update notice text Nintendo says it will destroy "invalid" save files, referring indirectly to the TP chainloader?

PSP firmware cat-and-mouse

[tepples]

I found it terribly amusing that you just describe my perception of the PSP vs the Wii (the PSP being the modifiable, parent co. does not give a fuck device.)

If Sony Computer Entertainment doesn't give a secks about people modifying their PSP systems, then what was the cat and mouse game through PSP firmware versions 1.51 through 3.51 supposed to represent?

General guideline

[StarKruzr]

Control of a consumer device should belong to the end-user, not to the corporation that produced it.

Re:General guideline

[SaDan]

You have control over the device, 100%. After purchasing the Wii, you never ever have to put a game in, or connect it to the internet.

If someone wanted to hack on the Wii, but also play games, I think it would make sense to purchase two units.

Nintendo is going to do updates to a Wii to add functionality or fix issues when new games are released, there's no way around that.