Wii Hacked for Better Homebrew Games

arbourp writes to mention that hackers Michael Steil and Felix Domke have demonstrated a way to hack the Wii that makes running homebrew code much easier. "The hack advances the possibility of running homebrew code with access to full system resources on the device, not just programs that Nintendo has sanctioned. Such games might be developed to run from a DVD drive, at least in theory. No such games are available as yet and Nintendo may respond by attempting to revoke compromised encryption keys. However history shows such countermeasures are likely to ultimately prove futile."

Re:hint hint

[Tetsujin]

Wii Hacked for Better Homebrew Games

And the majority of these homebrew games look like retail games, except they're free.

It's true that homebrew stuff invariably winds up getting used for software piracy... Even when it's not native software for the console, a popular use of a cracked console is for emulation - that is, playing games Nintendo would rather you buy through the Shop Channel instead of playing via the ROMs we've all had on our computers for the last ten years...

Still, some people really are interested in real homebrew... Either learning to write it, or just using it...

Re:Wii and homebrew

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe not bad news for Nintendo.

Game consoles have never interested me, but I'd get one if it was hackable enough to run my own programs with full access to all the interesting bits of the hardware.

I suppose once I owned a game console, then I'd probably end up with a game or two. So maybe not bad news for Nintendo.

Re:Why a console? Why not your own breed?

[Mr. Underbridge]

Many times I've been thinking - why is it so important to break the latest console to work with your "insert-homebrew-here"? Is it because it's some hardware that most have been importing in to your homes? is it because of the "scene" or is it because you "can"?.

I don't know. Did Edmund Hillary climb Everest because he thought there was prime real estate up there?

Re:USB.

[rkanodia]

Metroid just tricks you into thinking there are no load times. Ever wonder why sometimes a door opens instantly, and sometimes it takes 15 seconds?

Re:hint hint

[Calmiche]

Woops. Sorry... Forgot what I was going to originally post.

The Wii isn't much more powerful than an original Xbox, and in some ways is less powerful. There is no chance that it will be able to play high definition any better than an Apple TV can. (Meaning it CAN, but it's not pretty or fast. Anything with lots of colors or moving objects will bring the system to it's knees.)

Nah, a nice Linux box with good hardware is the wave of the future, as far as high definition personal home media distribution servers are concerned. (Don't get me started on the joke of Windows Vista's media center PC's.)

Re:why bother? Just buy a PC

[Necreia]

DRM and Copy Protection Schemes are cancer.

Homebrew? Yeah right for like a handful!

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember when the gamecube was hacked using a similar method, it was suppose to herald the dawn of homebrewing... But instead it proliferated gamecube piracy. it started with streaming a copy of Animal Crossing and within months it made pro-pirate gamers all around the world happy.

same with xbox, xbox 360, psp and ds. it will probably be the same once a dark-alex of the ps3 world appears.

hack-4-homebrew are just an insignificant minority... but a major gateway for the pro-piracy group.