• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Wii got Hacked for real! Homebrew now possible?

D

Durante

Member
wsippel said:
Maybe not. There are at least two protection schemes: discs are protected and the code is encrypted. This would allow to run unsigned code, but you'd still need a chip to get the disc to even load I think.
Click to expand...
That's probably correct, though if you really have all the keys you could just make a signed unlocking app and put it on SD card.
 
D

Dachande

Member
I'm happy if this removes the region lock.

If it wasn't for the Wii being the only console this gen with this problem, I wouldn't have taken the slightest bit of notice of this news. Thanks, Nintendo. Maybe you'll learn next gen.
 
MisterHero

MisterHero

Super Member
Baryn said:
I don't care if people use it for piracy, this means true indie development for Wii.
Click to expand...
WiiWare says hi.

But I guess you need an actual office space and be a licensed developer to get a dev kit. :p
 
D

Diablohead

Member
Using these keys, they were able to create a Wii ‘game’ that ran their own code
Click to expand...
Just those words make it sound like to play backup's someone would have to write an app that first launches up and then runs the game from the inside of that app, or something.

I would love to see homebrew with the wiimote, but to have that you basicly open doors to piracy :/
 
K

koam

Member
*sigh*

The Wii has been hacked since near launch. You can play pirate/imports on it. None of the firmware updates have ever bricked a modded Wii.

What these people did, is find a way to run home made games or apps on the Wii in Wii mode instead of Gamecube mode. So basically, you have access to the sensor bar, the wiimote and the wii balance board.

You can now stop with your conspiracy theories. This news has nothing to do with piracy as piracy has been alive and well for the Wii for almost a year now.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
Diablohead said:
Just those words make it sound like to play backup's someone would have to write an app that first launches up and then runs the game from the inside of that app, or something.

I would love to see homebrew with the wiimote, but to have that you basicly open doors to piracy :/
Click to expand...
Unless you care more about software sales than having the best possible experience with the console, why is that such a big deal? I want to see ScummVM on the Wii, and screw the consequences.
 
S

smurfx

get some go again
[Nintex] said:
Yamauchi will have a "meeting" with these guys. They never fucking ever learn do they?
SEGA didn't have the money to compete with the pirates. Nintendo could sue everyone and believe me, they would if this gets out of hand.

New marketing strategy for 2008:
"Ah, there are those nice Japanese folks Timmy who showed us the Wii!"
"Good evening!"
"Wii would like to kill!"

Joking aside, I highly doubt that this will hurt the Wii in the long run. I don't think that the non-gamers will know how to do this.
Click to expand...
:lol i think you are overestimating nintendo's powers. if these guys release all the source code online then it doesn't matter what nintendo does they will never be able to stop the piracy.
 
P

PantherAttacks

Member
In this age of consoles constantly connected to some central server, I don't see how hacking the machines is really possible. Won't Nintendo detect this and then ban your console? Does the Wii get updated like the 360?
 
M

MiloFoxburr

Member
koam said:
*sigh*

The Wii has been hacked since near launch. You can play pirate/imports on it. None of the firmware updates have ever bricked a modded Wii.

What these people did, is find a way to run home made games or apps on the Wii in Wii mode instead of Gamecube mode. So basically, you have access to the sensor bar, the wiimote and the wii balance board.

You can now stop with your conspiracy theories. This news has nothing to do with piracy as piracy has been alive and well for the Wii for almost a year now.
Click to expand...

But if it can run without a modchip it could lead to a GCOS type application for Wii Games making it even easier to pirate games (No soldiering at all hell no cost at all)
 
M

MiloFoxburr

Member
ForzaItalia said:
Thanks. I'm clueless to this whole modding stuff. What benefits would the boot-up disc add then?
Click to expand...

No ModChip needed meaning anyone with a PC could play copied Wii games for pennies much like the Dreamcast
 
W

wsippel

Banned
Durante said:
That's probably correct, though if you really have all the keys you could just make a signed unlocking app and put it on SD card.
Click to expand...
The drive handles disk authentication on it's own, and I don't know whether or not you could unlock the drive firmware from a Wii application.
 
M

MiloFoxburr

Member
wsippel said:
The drive handles disk authentication on it's own, and I don't know whether or not you could unlock the drive firmware from a Wii application.
Click to expand...

Don't the modchips modify the drive ram thus allow copies to boot. I don't think the firmware is modified on the Wii Drive. So surely a signed application could do the same.
 
D

Durante

Member
wsippel said:
The drive handles disk authentication on it's own, and I don't know whether or not you could unlock the drive firmware from a Wii application.
Click to expand...
With this level of access you could perhaps even stream isos over the network if so inclined.
 
T

Tobor

Member
Tim-E said:
Because the Dreamcast sold so well it was impossible to find one over a year after it launched, right?
Click to expand...

no, no ,no, I mean this is exactly how the DC pirating worked.

Again, if it works with no modding, then it is a serious problem.
 
A

AtomicShroom

Member
Wow the VC is about to die. I have a feeling someone will hack out the VC emulators, and cook up togheter a custom menu that will allow you to just dump your own romsets onto a DVD. Just like the Dreamcast Genesis emulator.
 
F

FiRez

Member
PantherAttacks said:
In this age of consoles constantly connected to some central server, I don't see how hacking the machines is really possible. Won't Nintendo detect this and then ban your console? Does the Wii get updated like the 360?
Click to expand...

I doubt it, it seems that Only MS have that policy
you can play online with DS roms
you can play online with PSP isos
you can play online with WII backups
 
M

MiloFoxburr

Member
Tobor said:
no, no ,no, I mean this is exactly how the DC pirating worked.

Again, if it works with no modding, then it is a serious problem.
Click to expand...

The developers have to release the code first which they may choose not to do.

This is a wait and see sorta thing tbh.
 
T

theultimo

Member
Tobor said:
no, no ,no, I mean this is exactly how the DC pirating worked.

Again, if it works with no modding, then it is a serious problem.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Any two-bit Wii player can search Wii IZO and pick up the latest game without modding the console. If the source is released, Sega just might want to release the Dreamcast 2 to woo third party developers away from a piracy magnet.
 
T

Tobor

Member
MiloFoxburr said:
The developers have to release the code first which they may choose not to do.

This is a wait and see sorta thing tbh.
Click to expand...

They also explained how they got the keys, so someone else could theoretically come along and find them regardless. Either way, the genie is starting to poke through the bottle.
 
B

badcrumble

Member
AtomicShroom said:
Wow the VC is about to die. I have a feeling someone will hack out the VC emulators, and cook up togheter a custom menu that will allow you to just dump your own romsets onto a DVD. Just like the Dreamcast Genesis emulator.
Click to expand...
Oh my god you are right that is perfect
 
K

koam

Member
Who said it works with no modding? The video doesn't mention that they aren't using a mod chip. It's basically just running a game in Wiimode instead of gamecube mode. To run a game in Gamecube mode on the wii, you still need a modchip.
 
M

MiloFoxburr

Member
Tobor said:
They also explained how they got the keys, so someone else could theoretically come along and find them regardless. Either way, the genie is starting to poke through the bottle.
Click to expand...

I didn't actually listen to the video. Guess it is only a matter of time then :/

A 'hacked' Virtual Console would be pretty kick ass though. Games that we know have no chance of being released on the VC could perhaps be made to work with the emulators
 
I

Imperial Hot

Banned
Wario64 said:
So pretty much Wii was fucked like 5 months ago?
Click to expand...
According to my understanding, it is a lot easier to do. This requires no modification to the Wii hardware itself. These guys extracted the encryption keys, which to my understanding, makes it possible to make discs that run on any Wii.
 
T

theultimo

Member
The Faceless Master said:
wtf, hasn't wii piracy been around since around a month or two after tmbinc's "wii theoretically hacked" presentation last year?

how does homebrew justify piracy when piracy already existed outside of homebrew for almost a year?
Click to expand...
This is different. He pretty much gives step by step instructions to find the decryption keys. Then in turn, a Dark Alex of Wii can basically use these keys to allow booting of just about anything.
 
T

Tobor

Member
koam said:
Who said it works with no modding? The video doesn't mention that they aren't using a mod chip. It's basically just running a game in Wiimode instead of gamecube mode. To run a game in Gamecube mode on the wii, you still need a modchip.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right.
 
K

koam

Member
The Faceless Master said:
wtf, hasn't wii piracy been around since around a month or two after tmbinc's "wii theoretically hacked" presentation last year?

how does homebrew justify piracy when piracy already existed outside of homebrew for almost a year?
Click to expand...

People are idiots and don't understand simple facts even thought they've been mentioned time and time again.
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
theultimo said:
This is different. He pretty much gives step by step instructions to find the decryption keys. Then in turn, a Dark Alex of Wii can basically use these keys to allow booting of just about anything.
Click to expand...
no, my point was that the people who were saying "OMG I BLAME HOMEBREW FOR WAREZ" are deluded as there already was piracy with no homebrew.
 
T

Tobor

Member
koam said:
People are idiots and don't understand simple facts even thought they've been mentioned time and time again.
Click to expand...

Well, then we're all idiots, because else here seems to think the full encryption keys can allow for non-modded piracy. We humbly apologize if we're all wrong.

The Faceless Master said:
no, my point was that the people who were saying "OMG I BLAME HOMEBREW FOR WAREZ" are deluded as there already was piracy with no homebrew.
Click to expand...

Modded Piracy. This is theoretically non-modded piracy.
 
W

wsippel

Banned
MiloFoxburr said:
Don't the modchips modify the drive ram thus allow copies to boot. I don't think the firmware is modified on the Wii Drive. So surely a signed application could do the same.
Click to expand...
I don't know. But can you access the drive RAM from a Wii application? I have no idea...
 
T

Tim-E

Member
Tobor said:
no, no ,no, I mean this is exactly how the DC pirating worked.

Again, if it works with no modding, then it is a serious problem.
Click to expand...

Oh, okay. Yes, it would definitely be a serious problem, but the thing is a pppular as shit and I don't think piracy would kill it. You can pirate games on PS2 extremely easily now, with the top loading ones all you need is this cheap disc and a little piece of plastic. No modding required. I think it would probably impact it, but I don't think it would kill it.

Anyway, I'll believe more on this when I see it.
 
M

-MB-

Member
As if the majority of the casual crowd that bought a wii even cares or knows about piracy.
I don't see this being as much an issue as it was for Dreamcast.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
FiRez said:
I doubt it, it seems that Only MS have that policy
you can play online with DS roms
you can play online with PSP isos
you can play online with WII backups
Click to expand...

The difference between Nintendo and Microsoft is, Microsoft based it's console experience around online, so banning consoles from Live due to mod detection is actually a deterrent. That plus people are getting very attached to their gamertags and achievements. The Wii is based around local multiplayer, and there is no way to scare someone with the threat of an online ban if they don't care about online.
 
A

AlphaTwo00

Member
Tim-E said:
Oh, okay. Yes, it would definitely be a serious problem, but the thing is a pppular as shit and I don't think piracy would kill it. You can pirate games on PS2 extremely easily now, with the top loading ones all you need is this cheap disc and a little piece of plastic. No modding required. I think it would probably impact it, but I don't think it would kill it.
Click to expand...
Easily now, as in 7 years after the PS2's launch, vs 1 year after Wii's lifecycle. Looking back, the first year for the PS2 was hot endless list of hoops that people tried to jump to do anything similar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Insomniac possibly got hacked?
2
86
12K
ReBurn replied
Digital Foundry: 60FPS on PS5: Red Dead 2, DriveClub, Arkham Knight + More! Unofficial Patches Tested on Modded PS5
2 3
107
6K
RJMacready73 replied
The PlayStation 4 has been hacked to allow for homebrew apps
Hardware Indie
44
4K
SaiyanRaoh replied
  • Locked
Monster Hunter World has world has sold over 23M copies, MH Rise 13 Million. Monster Hunter Now Reaches 10 million downloads.
Sales-Age 2
54
3K
John Bilbo replied
Is the Meta Quest a Wii U-sized flop? Software numbers suggest it might be - Arse Technica
Sales-Age
46
4K
Reallink replied
Top Bottom