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Nintendo's Homebrew-Blocking Update Hacked
Posted by
timothy
on Monday October 27, @07:28AM
from the initiative-applied dept.
from the initiative-applied dept.
ElementC writes "Team Twiizers, the group behind almost all of the Wii Homebrew scene, has released an update to the Homebrew Channel (and installer) that allows for installation on a Wii with the most recent update installed. While the team still recommends against installing the Nintendo update, those who accidentally updated or purchase games that require the update are no longer left out to dry. This update to the Homebrew Channel also adds SDHC support, a feature Nintendo has not implemented in vanilla Wiis. The community has also created an app that updates just the Wii Shop Channel — allowing users to purchase Wiiware and Virtual Console games without losing their homebrew. It took the team only two days to get the fix out."
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Hardware: Nintendo Blocks Homebrew Installation 251 comments
ElementC writes "Sometime yesterday Nintendo uploaded the latest Wii system update. This update quietly patches a few bugs that allowed the installation of both homebrew and warez apps. Currently installed apps such as the Homebrew Channel and the video DVD library, DVDX, are reportedly not affected. Those not installing this update are blocked out of the Wii Shop channel and in the future may be blocked out of certain games. Team Twiizers cracked the last update within about eight hours. They're already on the case. Readers familiar with the architecture of the Wii will find the list of currently discovered changes interesting."
Firehose:Nintendo's Homebrew-blocking update hacked by Anonymous Coward
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
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Is this one of those "secret support" things? (Score:5, Interesting)
Like when Nintendo doesn't condone it, but leave little bits of stuff "open" for someone to find and break to keep a scene healthy?
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
no, it's one of these "stupid security holes in all their software" thing where just glancing in the general direction of a function reveals 20 exploits :-)
Re:Is this one of those "secret support" things? (Score:4, Interesting)
No. They're writing DRM. You don't have to try to make DRM breakable. They all come that way.
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Re:When will they learn??? (Score:4, Funny)
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Analog signal cannot represent interactivity (Score:3, Insightful)
Even when they secure the path all the way from the UV-ray disc to each dot in the LCD/plasma/OLED display in 2038, all one needs to get the color of each pixel with greater than 99.999% accuracy is half a dozen US$ 100 cheap cameras
True, analog reconversion defeats digital restrictions management on non-interactive works. But Nintendo publishes video games, which are interactive works.
Re:When will they learn??? (Score:5, Insightful)
Honest men aren't tempted by an unlocked door. Door locks are designed to convince the casual thief to rob your neighbour.
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Re:When will they learn??? (Score:5, Insightful)
It encrypts the content with a key (sometimes unique to an instance of the media, sometimes it is shared among a whole release) and then that key is sent to the consumer via a different channel. For example on DVD players (of both new and old) the key is embedded in the DVD player on a chip (or, so much less securely, inside a sotware player).
This is DRM's only trick, hide the key a little bit!
In the end in order for the user view the content it has to be decrypted. Since the user has the key (in some form) to view the content then they can use that key to remove the DRM form that content.
I hope that you can see the DRM is not a locked door, it is more like a locked door with the key under the doormat!
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Hooray... (Score:5, Funny)
Both Wii homebrew users are reported to be delighted.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
SDHC support? (Score:5, Interesting)
The biggest news out of the whole thing for me is that they have added SDHC support through a _channel_ in the Wii dashboard. People have been speculating why the Wii would not support SDHC and if it was some hardware limitation...well, it seems like it isn't. Which really makes me wonder why Nintendo has not added it, yet...in this day and age it's almost getting hard to find a non-SDHC card...
Seriously...WTF. This isn't the first time some 3rd party tool squeezes more functionality out of hardware. But this should really be a no-brainer to implement for the big N.
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This doesn't affect the Wii itself in anyway, so you won't be able to use it to copy save files to etc.
Re:SDHC support? (Score:5, Interesting)
just speculation, obviously
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Not a surprise, really (Score:5, Interesting)
Check this article [thedailywtf.com] to find out why this is not really surprising.
Yup, that is indeed Nintendo featuring on TheDailyWTF.
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This is good to hear (Score:5, Insightful)
Anything that opens up the Wii platform is good news, so a hearty cheer from me.
If Nintendo created a proper home-brew platform, making it easier and cheaper to make small games and apps, the Wii could become a killer home entertainment platform (especially if they add DVD and local storage support). Something along the lines of the iPhone/Android apps store, where you can sell cheap games and they take a small cut. Currently the selection on WiiWare is pretty limited unless you want old NES games.
If they did that, I'd become a Wii developer overnight.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:5, Insightful)
I feel sorry for Nintendo on this one.
That's nice. I'm sure profitable corporations need your sympathy.
The console is about as cheap as they get, and Nintendo put an incredible amount of research and effort into making the best games in the world. When do you folk feel a bit ethically obliged to let the company just make some money out of the good work they've done.
Nintendo sell the console at a profit. They make money off anyone who buys one, including the homebrewers. Anyway, Nintendo don't lease you a wii under a signed contract, they sell you one in a shop. Therefore, aren't they ethically obliged (not to mention legally) to let you do with it what you wish?
Secondly, the because its there argument. I cracked games in the past, way back in the days of C-64, All those Block executes on track 5 sector 5 etc. But I didn't distribute - I cracked it cause it was fun to do and for my own benefit - I didn't want to get in trouble, or ruin those software companies.
My goodness, not only did you not read the article, or summary, you also failed to even read the article title. NB: Home-brew.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:5, Insightful)
They sell their product for profit?!!! The scoundrels!
I disagree with you on this. They are well within their rights to sell the wii at a profit.
Because, you know, most successful companies just give their stuff away.
I believe you are mistaken.
No, not when what you're doing with it is illegal.
Since when is homebrew illegal?
They are ethically obliged to do as much as possible to ensure you can't run illegal, unlicensed software on it.
What about legal software, legally licensed from homebrewers? Or legal software which you legally wrote yourself? How are they ethically obliged to stop you running legal, licensed software?
Just from a glance at the wiki, some of the games being made available are clones of Nintendo's own games!
And none of Nintendo's games are clones of what has gone on before, and may well be available for free? People have been cloning ideas in computer games for years. That has nothing to do with homebrew.
If you're going to defend homebrew do not take the stance that Nintendo should be happy and endorse it.
If you're going to attack homebrew, don't just invent stuff about it being illegal and unethical.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:4, Funny)
No, not when what you're doing with it is illegal. They are ethically obliged to do as much as possible to ensure you can't run illegal, unlicensed software on it.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:5, Interesting)
The console is about as cheap as they get, and Nintendo put an incredible amount of research and effort into making the best games in the world. When do you folk feel a bit ethically obliged to let the company just make some money out of the good work they've done.
Nintendo makes about $50 on each Wii, compare that to MS and Sony who lose money whenever a 360 or PS3 is bought. Plus, most homebrewers are exactly that, homebrewers, this isn't a 1337 W@r3z h@ck either, its simply homebrew.
Thirdly Nintendo may not have deliberately broken the previous hacks anyway. All they did was release a new binary and the compiled code moved a bit in memory. I think a little too much credit may be being given here.
Ah, yes, because there was so much else in that update. Oh and never mind the fact that it searched for modified saves and deleted them, that's certainly not intentional.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:4, Interesting)
Who said anything about cracked or pirate games? This is about installing homebrew and open source software on a hardware platform which has been paid for by the consumer who bought it - and Nintendo are not selling Wii's at a loss like Sony's PS3.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:5, Informative)
The console is about as cheap as they get, and Nintendo put an incredible amount of research and effort into making the best games in the world. When do you folk feel a bit ethically obliged to let the company just make some money out of the good work they've done.
Err, I really like Nintendo, I really like the Wii, and I'd really like some of what you were smoking.
1) The console price hasn't gone down AT ALL since it was released almost two years ago. Compare that to the prices of the PS3 or Xbox360 during the same timeframe. Also compare it to the fact that the Xbox360 is now way cheaper than the Wii while being much, much faster.
2) The last few months there were nothing but half-assed games coming out for the Wii, especially from Nintendo. I don't see "the best games in the world" anymore, anywhere. Think back to the last Nintendo press conference and tell me you were really positively surprised with what they came up with.
3) The Homebrew Channel can do a lot, but what it can't do is play Wii games off of burned discs. You still need a modchip for that. You can play copied WiiWare games, but team Twiizers officially denounces warez. They're doing it to open up the platform itself, not to open it up for the warez kids.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:4, Insightful)
People don't buy $250 systems just to play homebrew. Conversely, people that already have the system will dabble in homebrew to increase the value of their hardware, and allow it to do things it couldn't otherwise (like play Monkey Island, or watch DVDs).
If Nintendo is smart, they will put of a token fight - mainly to stay within contractual obligations with their game developing partners and keep them happy - while leaving plenty of loopholes for homebrew to exist. Best of both worlds for all involved.
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Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:5, Informative)
Uhm, for the hardware you get, it's actually rather overpriced (Nintendo makes a nice profit from each console sold). Also, the topic is about running homebrew software, not necessarily about running pirated games. (Yes, I know a lot of people will use it to do just that).
This is decidedly not true; they add code [thedailywtf.com] that specifically fixes the symptoms (current exploits against known holes), but not the real cause (horribly broken usage and implementations of crypto/hashing/signing algorithms, among others). This is why new cracks typically appear within a day or two. Putting in such code, however, can hardly be designated "accidental". Please do a little fact-checking next time.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo put an incredible amount of research and effort into making the best games in the world. When do you folk feel a bit ethically obliged to let the company just make some money out of the good work they've done.
How does allowing me to run my own software on hardware I have purchased prevent Nintendo from making money? In fact, it makes me more likely to buy the console. At the moment I don't have a Wii - if it were possible to run Linux on it I would buy one and it would become my MythTV frontend. So they would make more money since they would have another customer. At the same time, because I would then have a Wii, I would buy games for it, so they would make more money. By preventing me using the hardware h
Re:Don't encourage the crackers... (Score:4, Informative)
I had no interest in hacking my wii until I heard they had blocked it. That got me looking into homebrew and then I found mplayer for wii. That night I went out and bought a sdcard reader for my computer and installed the homebrew channel on my wii.
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