New Wii update warning

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

There is a new Wii update out which you need to access the Wii shop from now on.

It cripples homebrew quite massively.

The Twilight hack still works but you can’t instal the homebrew channel. You also can't instal any fake-signed channels so that is WADs done with (good riddence I say since I am against priacy).

Sadly for me I have an imported Wiiware title. World of Goo. I now have no way of booting it. The Gecko OS rebooter won't work, downgrading the firmware won't work (at least through AnyRegion changer). Also I cannot change the region settings of the console through AnyRegion changer To put it simply i'm left with something I bought for 1500 points which I now cannot play. I feel as if my product which I paid good money for has been stolen...I might just return the favour if I get the chance 

Additionally, it seems that the really cool visit other Wii shop coutries, buy thier cheap points and buy their games...thats gone down the pan too...when visiting countries you shouldn't be able the Wii shop will throws Error #205958 at me.

All I'll say is by Nintendo doing all this they have shot themselves in the foot. Since I'm now paying £7 per 1000 points rather than £5.15 I'm just going to buy less points, I'm starting to think less as in none at all since I don't like being ripped off, its the same fucking server, same transaction yet I pay more because of where I live in the world...works with logistics and shipping but not virtual money. Less points=less games=less royalties for Nintendo. Also limiting my choice to Europe with its policily of lets release two crap Wiiware games every other week has limited my choice.

So unless you need to access the Wii shop stick with the firmware you've got...at least until instaling the homebrew channel as for now that will be your last chance. Seriously its easy as pie to do and you read up about all the great things you can do here:
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Main_Page

The good news is...Gecko OS still boots imported games just fine and the vast majority of homebrew applications still work 100% fine.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for preventing piracy but I'm not a fan of Nintendos stance which is homebrew is as bad if not worse than piracy. If anything if I had known all of the above would happen I would not upgrade my Wii, hence not buying anything from the Wii shop ever again and just instal WADs.

[Superbus]

If there's one thing I'm getting a little tired of, it's being forced updates where I don't know what's going on, I don't know what's being loaded, and I don't know what's being updated, just that I have to update my machine with... something, and if I don't, I'm going to get kicked offline.

I haven't complained TOO loudly in the past, because it's just a console and I'm not a pirate - if this was my PC, I'd be out for blood - but this whole "damn the torpedoes" approach, where if they kill something legitimate who cares - is getting on my tits, and what makes me upset is that I don't see it changing. I don't see consumers caring, as long as they get they're given something to shut them up.

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

The update isn't forced as you have to agree to it and all reports I read gave it a green light or I thought "prft WADs, good riddence, I'm not pirate" but no rebooter and no downgrading was crossing the line. But without it you won't be visting the Wii shop (I like buying my Wiiware but I am starting to despise NOE and their rubbish choices* or release and Nintendos cruise control of the whole thing**) or playing any games that may have it (game discs seem to be months behind on updates so I doubt the update will be on Animal Crossing though it may be) so its a bit of gun to head.

I'm told Wi-Fi games still work without updating but I think the news channel doesn't...I actually like the news channel with the globe and all...

Thats the thing the update is still 3.3 but all it does is basically tighten the screws that should have been tightened months ago (protecting every IOS against fakesigning, preventing instalaiton of fake-signed stuff) oh and updates the user agent and custom java script the Wii Shop uses for stuff (Yes and No are swapped somewhere or other and some slight page tweeks).

So basically if Nintendo were to put an update list out Wii Shop "updates" would be the whole list. Better than 3.3s block the twilight hack (but thankfully be so poorly programmed it is worked around) and move your miis from the parade and plazza (who cares?)

I think with Nintendo firmware big things happen on the whole numbers. 3.0 added the USB keybaord support for trying your Mii names and I think 2.0 allowed to move channels with A+B. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out 4.0 is.
Iwata: In Spring 2009 you will be able to download Wii shop games to SD card.
Everyone: And run them from SD?
Iwata: *laughs*
Miyamoto: *laughs*
Sakurai: *Now Loading...*

*-Today we got Home Sweet Home, Tetris Party and The Incredible Maze...out of those Tetris is the only decent one and even then I can't be bothered (no 16:9 support meaning on a 16:9 set the play area is a tiny blob of the screen, all the hyped gimik modes can't be played online)...see you in 2 weeks time WiiWare where Strong Bad 3 is one of the 2, maybe 3 games...what makes it sadest is Nintendo of Europe have 3 Art Style games pretty much readdy to ship. I would have expected one of them to actually come out by now as they've had the OFLC ratings for 15 days...

**-It is starting to fragment with a slant towards the US and Japan having the most world exclusives. Why? Publishers, small indie teams are not pursuing European publishers meaning no European releases...Nintendo should be adopting titles in these cases but instead they are twiddling their thumbs while they go and nuke the one thing that unifies this (changing shop countries and getting the import channels to run) in the name of preventing piracy...
At this stage i'm 100% certain Europe will never get any WiiWare by High Voltage Games or Arc System Works while with other developers i'll give it a few months as Australian developed Pop didn't see a release in Australia until about a month and a half after the US.

[Derpicane]

...So the only downside to ignoring this patch is that you can't access Wii Shop Channel- which, I might note, there is a viable workaround to use if you want to use it without downloading the update- whereas if you do get it, you can't use homebrew? Yyyyyeah. Pass.

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

It seems the homebrew people have made their own version of the update which gives you access to the new Wii shop and Adds the IOSes but doesn't patch the old ones.

Also a version of the homebrew channel which can be instaled on updated Wiis has been made...however, ELF files won't work (I think they changed the specifiation). That means no Gecko OS for you (and Gecko OS might never be updated again).

Edit: I forgoet to mention that while the firmware is 3.3 it isn't. AnyRegion changer shows it being " . " and Gecko OS rebooter works on 3.2 and 3.3. but this new menu isn't 3.3...

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

The conclusion to this story was I downgraded back to 3.2 by dubious means and now we have a new update upon us.

3.4. Read all about it here.

The SD card improvement is your milage may vary. Some folkes go from taking 5 minutes on a 300 block file to 30 seconds, others see only a few seconds improved.

And fuck giving Nintendo power of attorney over my system ("we can instal updates without your cosent" I'm not even sure that is legal in some parts of Europe*)

*-I'm sure Nintendo had somewhere in their terms of service agreeing to their terms is "our law not the law of land"...

[Mizekel]

What advantage is there to homebrewing a Wii anyways? I could probably install the homebrew channel etc. relatively easy, but I don't really know what the difference would be between a normal Wii and a homebrew'd one.

[Superbus]

The conclusion to this story was I downgraded back to 3.2 by dubious means and now we have a new update upon us.

3.4. Read all about it here.

The SD card improvement is your milage may vary. Some folkes go from taking 5 minutes on a 300 block file to 30 seconds, others see only a few seconds improved.

And fuck giving Nintendo power of attorney over my system ("we can instal updates without your cosent" I'm not even sure that is legal in some parts of Europe*)

*-I'm sure Nintendo had somewhere in their terms of service agreeing to their terms is "our law not the law of land"...

So what you're saying is that to get the new update, you're automatically accepting, via their verbage, that you're giving your system's firmware to them to do as they wish?

I love what I pay $250 for...

[SlippyToasterTrooper_UK]

What advantage is there to homebrewing a Wii anyways? I could probably install the homebrew channel etc. relatively easy, but I don't really know what the difference would be between a normal Wii and a homebrew'd one.

Ability to play import games via Gecko OS. Ability to use applications such as emulators and even a port of Doom. There are also a few ports of MPlayer but the Wii doesn't have the power to handle h264 videos (it might with coreavc used but that would require me getting the source and recompiling it), the MPlayer port has no button to change audio or turn subtitles on so all I'm left with is a divx player which my DVD palyer already does

Read through this site.

It looks like the Twilgiht hack is dead for good with 3.4 as the makers of the hack have said so. One person attempting to make a custom version of firmware 3.4 (basically 3.4 with a load of starfall styled patches like region free discs and channels*, hacked recovery mode**) has managed to stop the Twilight hack from being deleted if it is already instaled but not been able to make a twilight hack on a SD card copyable

*-This is the only bit I'm interested in as I want to keep my legit bought copy of World of Goo clean. Sure I could make and instal a regionfree WAD but Nintendo might kill fakesigned channels in the future (rather than only checking on instalation).
**-Usual recovery mode is hold all 4 directions down on a Gamecube D-pad (use a dance mat) and all you can really do with it is instal a newer firmware (btw, given that the newest discs these days hqve the old verison of 3.3 its pretty useless) or boot the recovery disc (which only Nintendo are meant to have...). The hacked one changes this to hold Y and will boot any game up.