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Wii U hacked?

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
No mod necessary. This is what I used to play import games. You also needed a spring or paper clip for swapping discs after loading.

3IfCk.jpg
Sheeet, this brings back memories. I had something called "game cracker", it was blue if I remember right. Probably a clone or something
 
Region free and multimedia features that will never be added by Nintendo (like bluray/dvd and an actual media player). And HD loaders.
Region free I can understand when you speak Japanese and stuff and if we could eventually get to a situation where lots of Japanese-centric software is being made (such as for 3DS). Doesn't really change the value proposition of Wii U now. And with the store actually carrying pretty much all retail software you can go full DD.

If it ain't worth something to you right now it may have to do with the available software, hacking won't help in that regard (it will probably be detrimental in the long run too).

And imo game consoles are not really good DVD/BR players. I replaced my PS3 with a dedicated BR player, drive and fan are simply too loud for my taste. While Wii U in general is pretty silent the drive is fairly noisy when searching/accessing the disc. Personal taste may vary though but I find it hard to imagine it's a redeeming feature if you don't like the available software.

So do we know all the reasons nintendo region locks? I'm sure there are reasons unbeknownst to us.
well we don't like it, so lets get angry.
Regional pricing and regions operate as their own profit centre most likely. Not defending this btw, just stating possible reasons.
 

ArynCrinn

Banned
PS2: I'm not really familiar with how easy it was to be hacked
PS: usually required a mod chip to be installed, and CD burning was not yet mainstream, so the effect of piracy was limited.
PC: PCs have a far larger install base than any console and dev tools are best on PC and there are no licensing fees (aside from Steam's rumoured 30% cut)
DS: was hacked late in its lifespan and major 3rd party support did indeed dry up after.

The point was, that piracy for it's own sake had nothing to do with the rise or fall of the device's legacy.

360: As discussed elsewhere in this thread the bannings and the fact that hacking requires you to open the system have mitigated the effect of piracy.

Fine, except that none of this is empirically true. Not for the mass majority of pirates. It also ignores many of the other factors. And again, it meant nothing to the success of the 360.
 

Zeal

Banned
No mod necessary. This is what I used to play import games. You also needed a spring or paper clip for swapping discs after loading.

3IfCk.jpg
Wow, talk about blast from the past. I remember this little guy letting me play my import copies of FFVII, Xenogears and SaGa Frontier. A 15 year old kid waiting with my $120 C.O.D. money orders (per game!) for imports to arrive from GameCave (lol) in California all the way down to bumblefuck Georgia.

Priceless gaming memories.
 

Pitmonkey

Junior Member
How are we having a conversation about hacked consoles not effecting the consoles life and not mention the Dreamcast?
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
How are we having a conversation about hacked consoles not effecting the consoles life and not mention the Dreamcast?
Because it was arguably a non-factor in DC's demise? DC was dead the moment Xbox was conceived.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Because it was arguably a non-factor in DC's demise? DC was dead the moment Xbox was conceived.

Uh, the fact that everyone I knew with a Dreamcast had at least one burned game and often had more than 10 burned games tells me that the Dreamcast was definitely impacted by the hilariously easy piracy scene for it.
 

lupinko

Member
How are we having a conversation about hacked consoles not effecting the consoles life and not mention the Dreamcast?

Well for starters the Dreamcast didn't even require modifications or hacks, just a boot disc and then later on self booting cdrs, ugh.

Dreamcast. :/
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Uh, the fact that everyone I knew with a Dreamcast had at least one burned game and often had more than 10 burned games tells me that the Dreamcast was definitely impacted by the hilariously easy piracy scene for it.
It does not matter if a person who got shot in head had also been poisoned shortly before - he still died from a firearm.
 

FyreWulff

Member
It does not matter if a person who got shot in head had also been poisoned shortly before - he still died from a firearm.

Yeah, except if any console was responsible, it was the PS2. Not the Xbox.

But I guess it's more fun to be in denial of the impact of piracy on the gaming industry.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Yeah, except if any console was responsible, it was the PS2. Not the Xbox.

But I guess it's more fun to be in denial of the impact of piracy on the gaming industry.
No, it wasn't the ps2. And I have no idea where you got the denial angle from - I've been strictly commenting on the factors that brought to the death of the DC, which would have been dead by the exact same time even if it was the most hack-proof device the world had ever seen.
 

ArynCrinn

Banned
Uh, the fact that everyone I knew with a Dreamcast had at least one burned game and often had more than 10 burned games tells me that the Dreamcast was definitely impacted by the hilariously easy piracy scene for it.

Even if the Dreamcast had been 100% secure and never had piracy, the result would have been exactly the same. Sega and market coincidence was responsible for the DC's failure, piracy wasn't even a drop in the bucket by comparison.

All of this "well, piracy definitely had some sort of effect" is pure No Shit Sherlock stuff. But it's also akin to saying "if I hadn't stepped in that puddle I wouldn't have robbed the bank in need of new sock money", it's often two spaces beside the fact. It draws a causal line that ignores and dismisses the far more important factors, like economic coincidence and appealing platform/service. Keep digging Watson. :p

Edit: Beaten badly by blu...
 

Cheerilee

Member
How are we having a conversation about hacked consoles not effecting the consoles life and not mention the Dreamcast?

The Dreamcast was killed by the looming threat of the PS2 and by Sega's crumbling foundations. The Dreamcast was bleeding money and had a CEO change, and the new guy apparently wanted to get Sega out of the hardware biz as soon as he took over. He was just waiting for an excuse, and the PS2 gave it to him. The development of a piracy boot disc (and subsequent self-booting games) was just coincidental timing.

The DC didn't need a modchip, but it couldn't play clean rips (unlike the PSX). Any kid with a CD burner could become a source of PSX piracy, but DC games needed to be edited down from 1GB to 700MB, and then they needed to be made self-booting. As a result, the online scene was the only source of DC piracy, and they didn't nearly have the entire library, and downloading 700MB was a problem back in those days, as was hosting. This was well before Bittorrent or Megaupload, so the scene rippers were hacking their way into University FTPs to host their files, and they were getting shot down faster than Youtube videos.

The promise of "Next gen console, piracy enabled right out of the box" probably sold a lot of systems once Sega put them on fire sale, but it was difficult for people to get more than a sampling of games through piracy. I knew a couple of people who bought the DC explicitly for piracy, and then paid to get the selection of games they wanted, or paid to get non-corrupt versions of previously-pirated games that they tried and liked.
 

Joni

Member
No, it wasn't the ps2. And I have no idea where you got the denial angle from - I've been strictly commenting on the factors that brought to the death of the DC, which would have been dead by the exact same time even if it was the most hack-proof device the world had ever seen.

The PS2 made sure almost nobody paid attention to the DC, or the GameCube/Xbox for that matter. The blitz campaign from Sony the year before the PS2 launch until the year after killed the DC.
 

Cheerilee

Member
Yeah, except if any console was responsible, it was the PS2. Not the Xbox.

No, it wasn't the ps2.

The PS2 had a "looming juggernaut" presence that was massive, and the N64 offered that same kind of fear a generation previously.

Sega at the time was expecting Sony/Nintendo, and Sony was already looking bigger than expected, the Nintendo effect wasn't really hitting yet but they knew it was coming, and then Microsoft threw their hat into the ring. So people "knew" that Nintendo fear was on it's way, and they feared that Microsoft would double it.

This was a very scary time to be Sega.
 

inner-G

Banned
No, it wasn't the ps2.
Lol, you cray.

It was definitely the PS2 that killed it. Better graphics, 4x media caPacity, DVD player, etc. Once the PS2 came out, it was curtains for the DC. I don't think Xbox was a very big factor worldwide in the DC's demise, it was already dead by then.

PS2 had been around for a year, basically 2 years outside the US.
 

linkboy

Member
The lack of any EA Sports games (aka Madden) hurt the Dreamcast a lot. Granted, we got 2k Sports out of it, but that still didn't help SEGA.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
The PS2 made sure almost nobody paid attention to the DC, or the GameCube/Xbox for that matter. The blitz campaign from Sony the year before the PS2 launch until the year after killed the DC.
I'm well aware what effect the ps2 marketing campaign had on the DC. That's not what killed the DC, though. History trivia (as apparently badly needed in this thread): Sega were in the red by the time they launched the DC. One of the major factors that gave them confidence to pull the act was Microsoft's support - MS were being seen as a partner in this venture. And MS were quite serious about it - they looked at the DC as their footing in the console market. So the console had its own Windows CE and its DirectX version. Yes, 3rd parties bought it too - they even made a few high-profile games which were DX-based, despite the performance disadvantages that such a choice imposed back then. So DC was literally a joint Sega-MS product. Long story short, shortly down the line MS realized they had bet on the wrong horse, and pulled a 180 - they dropped the idea of being the sw partner to an established console vendor, and kicked off their own console project (rather hastily, at that, which had its own long-term consequences - mainly nv getting the benefits from it all). Anyhow, enter the xbox. At the very first exec meeting Sega discussed the news, the towel was dropped. So yes, xbox killed the DC.
 
Region free I can understand when you speak Japanese and stuff and if we could eventually get to a situation where lots of Japanese-centric software is being made (such as for 3DS). Doesn't really change the value proposition of Wii U now. And with the store actually carrying pretty much all retail software you can go full DD.

Except when you are in a situation like me and not really committed to living in one place for the next 5 years. I know this is less of a problem in the US, but in Europe even moving to a neighbouring country (think different US state) would cut me off e-shop - because most likely Nintendo is just as dumb as Microsoft and you cannot change the country you registered with, and other credit cards will not work.

I wanted to get new toy for Christmas. Did I get WiiU? No. Did I get 3DS? No. I got a Vita.
 
This has turned into an amazing hacking history thread, so I will add my contribution:

5igjM.jpg


the professor SF2 (also game doctor SF7) the magical backup unit which put SNES games onto 3.5" floppies. nothing like 4 disks worth of CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK before a game of chrono trigger.

now THIS is obscure piracy. chipped PS1s might as well be the top40 station.
 

Jubern

Member
I saw someone say that piracy came late in the DS life. Now that's bullsht, I remember about how every store in Paris's infamous Republique district was selling flash cards as soon as mid-2006. And they probably started earlier, it's just that I moved to Paris in 2006 lol

Also I had a chipped PS1. Why you ask? My PS1 drive died and the guy who repaired it just put one inside "because" when he did the job. That's how prevalent PS1 piracy was. I remember quite vividly how there was also a "guy who sells backups" in my middle school.
Ironically enough, it's thanks to that chip that I was able to play an import copy of Chrono Cross they were selling in a shop where I lived, and down the line a fuckton of (mainly Square) JRPG that never came out in Europe and yet shaped my gaming tastes to be what they are today.

Still, I'll recognize that in this day in age where you can get everything in a simple and timely fashion on the Internet, piracy might be a biggest problem than it was 10+ years ago.
 
Except when you are in a situation like me and not really committed to living in one place for the next 5 years. I know this is less of a problem in the US, but in Europe even moving to a neighbouring country (think different US state) would cut me off e-shop - because most likely Nintendo is just as dumb as Microsoft and you cannot change the country you registered with, and other credit cards will not work.

I wanted to get new toy for Christmas. Did I get WiiU? No. Did I get 3DS? No. I got a Vita.
I live in the EU as well. You can change regions, by associating a NNID to that region you can also access the eshop. Funds will be handled seperately (say one wallet for DE and one for UK). My CCs worked on 3DS in either region can't see that change but you can always just buy point cards. You could just stick to the initial region when you move too.

If the sole reason getting a PSV over 3DS was access to the eshop from different EU countries you dun goofed.
 
This has turned into an amazing hacking history thread, so I will add my contribution:

5igjM.jpg


the professor SF2 (also game doctor SF7) the magical backup unit which put SNES games onto 3.5" floppies. nothing like 4 disks worth of CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK before a game of chrono trigger.

now THIS is obscure piracy. chipped PS1s might as well be the top40 station.

There were some friggin' wild accessories back in the days! How about floppydrive you can copy your PS1 saves with? Or a huge brick that attaches to your PS1 so you can watch video-cd's?

I need to take some old mag with an ad and scan it someday.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
I live in the EU as well. You can change regions, by associating a NNID to that region you can also access the eshop. Funds will be handled seperately (say one wallet for DE and one for UK). My CCs worked on 3DS in either region can't see that change but you can always just buy point cards. You could just stick to the initial region when you move too.

If the sole reason getting a PSV over 3DS was access to the eshop from different EU countries you dun goofed.
No friggin kidding. I've been jumping through EU eShops from my 3DS at the drop of a hat - UK, DE, PL (currently on the PL store and loving it - DE prices, English locale). AAMOF, I've been doing this since the DSi. All with one CC.
 

Cheerilee

Member
This has turned into an amazing hacking history thread, so I will add my contribution:

5igjM.jpg


the professor SF2 (also game doctor SF7) the magical backup unit which put SNES games onto 3.5" floppies. nothing like 4 disks worth of CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK before a game of chrono trigger.

now THIS is obscure piracy. chipped PS1s might as well be the top40 station.

That Game Doctor CD Drive was kind of unnecessary. The basic copier idea was...

- Rip carts to multi-floppies
- Keep box of floppy games next to system
- Move floppies to PC (optional)

The CD idea was...
- Rip carts to multi-floppies
- Move floppies to PC
- Burn your entire collection to a single CD
- Keep that CD in a drive attached to the copier, now all of your games are available without the need for more disk-swapping

But the port that connects the CD drive to the copier was a common PC connection port. So even without the CD drive itself, it had...
- Rip carts to multi-floppies
- Move floppies to PC
- Now all of your games are available without the need for more disk-swapping

All they needed to do was sell a really long cable. But nah, let's make a CD drive to hold one CD instead. It'll be fun!


And to think, Nintendo at the same time thought it wasn't worth bothering to make a SNES CD drive, because...
- Massively cheaper games
- Massively increased storage capacity

I mean really, what's the use in that?
 
Marcan also tweeted:
https://twitter.com/marcan42/status/285216268674547713 said:
I love it when people forget to strip their binaries. Thanks, Nintendo!
Basically you remove debug symbols from a binary to make it run quicker and also you shouldn't need them anymore...
 

Mael

Member
PS2: I'm not really familiar with how easy it was to be hacked
PS: usually required a mod chip to be installed, and CD burning was not yet mainstream, so the effect of piracy was limited.
PC: PCs have a far larger install base than any console and dev tools are best on PC and there are no licensing fees (aside from Steam's rumoured 30% cut)
DS: was hacked late in its lifespan and major 3rd party support did indeed dry up after.
360: As discussed elsewhere in this thread the bannings and the fact that hacking requires you to open the system have mitigated the effect of piracy.

It took 1hrs to burn and test the thing, actually anyone could do it.
Shops actually provided the service for a small fee.
And believe me you didn't need everyone to get a burner.
If anything ps2 curbed the thing since Dvd burner were way less common than CD burners for most of their lifespans.
Seriously it was ridiculously easy to break into the ps1 and get pirated game.
It even made the news here (Infogrammes actually complained about that, :lol)
Seriously the big thing about Metal Gear Solid was how hard it was to break the safety on it :lol
 

Rich!

Member
Back in the PS1 days, all you had to do in the UK was walk to your local town market, and you'd guaranteed find a stall with hundreds of pirated PS1 games, all selling for under £10 each.

So there's the CD burner argument completely shot.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
It can give clearer hints about what the source code was doing and/or other system information that doesn't need to be in a game. Stripped binaries would be tougher to decipher what's going on. At least that's my take on it.
Ah ok, i see, thanks :)


CPU and GPU? Question mark could be the IO controller on the GPU if the design is anything like Wii?

I dunno.
This is what i also was thinking.
 

ss_lemonade

Member
Speaking of dreamcast piracy and its boot disc thingamajig, whatever happened to the guys who created the disc itself? I remember reading a story about them just disappearing or something and it was because of the dumb idea of them using a picture with their faces on the boot disc screen lol
 

Bonk

Member
Except when you are in a situation like me and not really committed to living in one place for the next 5 years. I know this is less of a problem in the US, but in Europe even moving to a neighbouring country (think different US state) would cut me off e-shop - because most likely Nintendo is just as dumb as Microsoft and you cannot change the country you registered with, and other credit cards will not work.

I wanted to get new toy for Christmas. Did I get WiiU? No. Did I get 3DS? No. I got a Vita.

If the Wii is any indication the eshop will work in any country. At least I had no problem using the US eShop with an US console from Germany with a German credit card.
 
Well, to me, it looks like an architecture diagram, with the way the components are grouped and the arrows and such. Though what stands for what is a mystery to me (though I do wonder what that small question mark stands for - something to do with a component that handles security?)
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
The fail0verflow site was updated again and it keeps getting weirder and weirder:

http://fail0verflow.com/blog/2013/clarification.html


I wonder what do they mean by "relative areas of the diagram". Maybe this shows to which areas inside the Wii U they gained access over the last days?
My take:

WiiU got released in EU on the 30th of November. On the 14th of December, fail0verflow made the '14 days' post. On the 30th of December they made the '30 days' post.

My guess is that the 'A'<->'B' diagram represents the Wii and WiiU hacking chronology - 'A' being the Wii, and 'B' being the WiiU; fail0verflow got to the same 'stages' in the hacking effort in as many days as the diagram for each respective console shows.

Regarding the unstripped binaries - this is something you don't do, last but not least due to security reasons. Apparently nobody at nintendo expected such a fast progress by the hackers. A simple explanation is that somebody just totally forgot to strip the release (happens under stress). On a more positive note, lots of mem will be freed once nintendo remember to strip their binaries ; )
 
I guess it represents WiiUs hardware architecture or some part of it. The arrows could illustrate the datapath. It seems the big boxes A and B, whatever they are, share data in both directions whereas the upper smaller blocks only propagate their data to the respective lower boxes.
But i've no idea what the blocks are in specific. Maybe some hardware guys have a better idea.
 

Durante

Member
I agree with Blu's interpretation. I'm almost certain the "A" and "B" boxes are Wii and Wii U, and the days are progress to some milestone.
 
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