Hold your homebrew horses: semi-bricking Wii Region Changer wrings drama |
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The recently released Wii Region Changer from Waninkoko has a risk of semi-bricking your Wii, but that's old news. Those who've taken the time to absorb the basics of region-lock circumvention already know that changing the region settings of your console will also change the console's system configuration.
And a configuration mismatch is a stall waiting to happen. Of course, there are already ways of reverting from semi-bricks. Heck, I had a couple of those in three months, and that's no biggie.
But Marcan of Elotrolado.net believes the lack of warning or safety was a huge irresponsibility on Waninkoko's part, because the homebrew was publicly released, and was rendered usable for even first-time region-free users.
This is where everything breaks apart. Marcan says on record that region-lock circumvention was allegedly discussed with Bushing of Team Twiizer, and to some degree, it had some ties to the issue of encouraging piracy.
I guess this feeling of resentment towards Waninkoko's pro-piracy image pretty much bottled up since the release of WAD Manager, then the custom IOS installer, the IOS uninstaller, and the Downgrader for the Wii.
After all, we all know that Bushing has been against pro-Wii piracy all this time. He sternly said that an ISO loader will never spew from the Wii homebrew community. It appears to be the code of honor for the Wii homebrew community.
To that end, news has come 'round that Marcan, together with Bushing, have decided to call a full information blackout on Waninkoko, and will no longer share new information the closely-knit Wii homebrew community may encounter in the future.
This has sparked some serious friction in the community, as Waninkoko's allies rallied to his end. Another division stayed neutral, but managed to put out these points of sense before the tomato-throwing started.
As with all unsigned code, there's always a risk of malfunction, error, or damage to devices and peripherals. Something a 20-year period of getting intimate with all things technical in computers would teach you, believe me. Homebrew is no exception. As many have pointed out, there are always risks, even if the risk isn't obvious, advised, or hinted. Waninkoko's Region Changer is one such given.
Are the higher-ups listening? I can't tell much from where I'm standing, but it does appear they want to keep their relations with Nintendo amenable - if it's even at a good stage right this moment.
The status quo is divided: some believe that relations might not even be existent with Nintendo, if the opinions from shadowz of Wiinewz are anything to ponder over. On the other hand, some might agree that even the most impressive of the Wii homebrew community is getting a bit too hypocritical with their stance. Shadowz' take, we quote (a bit long):
Are they forgetting why homebrew exists in the first place? Nintendo disagrees with openness because of some apps that homebrewers could possibly make so they do not give them the information to make apps. Now Marcan is wants to do the same thing in homebrew community. Yes, Waninkoko's apps may be unstable but they are making new, useful functionality available to more people. Bushing et al. may have done 90% of the work to make it possible, but in the same way Nintendo has done 90% of the work to make the wii platform work. The situation seems somewhat hypocritical to me, they are working on making the platform more open and accessible for everything but at the same time limiting information when they disagree how its used. Of course, there are always shades of gray in situations like this, which is why I didn't have a huge problem with all the negativity towards this in the past, but it seems like its getting the point where its too much.
Need more be said? If so, jot down your thoughts below. Pro-piracy or anti-piracy - so not the drama. A translation of Marcan's two-cents can be had from in-the-scene correspondent Brakken, who's all over it like a bear on honey (follow external link).
Related articles:
- Homebrew - Wii Region Changer v1.0
- Wiibrew Custom Firmware: Custom IOS Installer rev03, Uninstaller v1.1, Downgrader v1.0
- Twilight Hack's Team Twiizer: No ISOloader in the future
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Comments [refresh]
"The situation seems somewhat hypocritical to me, they are working on making the platform more open and accessible for everything but at the same time limiting information when they disagree how its used."
Tough sh*t. They're the ones who discovered it; they're under no obligation to share it other than their own generosity.
well i think he rite people do forget how it all started
Bushing is in the wrong. Just because you discover and utilize an exploit doesn't make you a god. It just makes you a tad faster than the other guy. Piracy is going to the wii no matter what, whether he likes it or not, whether we want it or not, and they won't be able to control that when the time comes.
I still find it amusing that Bushing seems to think Nintendo is going to treat him and his group any differently than anyone else in the homebrew community. Face it. Console manufacturers HATE HOMEBREW. It doesn't matter what moral high ground you take, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are going to come after you anyway. All they care about is the fact that you are hacking their console and altering the way it functions. They see EVERY attempt at homebrew as a potential threat and will hunt down anyone and every exploit they can. Not having ISO loaders and the like is not going to make Nintendo say "Oh don't worry Bushing. We don't mind you screwing with our intellectual property. You're not condoning piracy so any chance you get to hack the crap out of system, you go right ahead." Can we have a little bit of common sense to this argument? If Waninkoko wants to make less-legitimate homebrew, I say let him. If Bushing and his Twiizers want to stay on the straight and narrow, let them. Each to his own. But I don't think its fair to judge others or attempt to control their creativity just because you don't agree with them. Its the same argument as angry parents blaming TV shows for inappropriate content for their children. Its up to the parents to decide what's appropriate for their children to watch, just as its the homebrew user's decision whether he or she wants to condone piracy or not. Bushing can't simply say "I FORBID IT!!!!!!!" and expect everyone to agree.
Absolutely right, well said sir, I can't think of any way to put it better
I think that anyone using homebrew and all those thing related to the system configuration and setting may brick your wii. If not now, maybe in future updates of the console. While at least it's a semi brick, I guess it's not that bad. People resourceful enough to use that will probably be able to fix it.
A warning would not have changed anything to this.
But I can't seem to run the dvd dump Waninkoko relased. At that point I noticed many flaws in it, such as the dump still continues without any dvd in the drive and you can't resume dumps.
My opinion in that matter is that Waninkoko should not publicly release his work so fast.
anyone not understand? Doesn't matter it is a sick joke or honest mistake it is the end user's responsibility for anything could happen to their wii if they use homebrew and etc.
I have been fortunate enough to not have any problems yet, but if I did one day brick my wii, I would kick myself for not being safe enough or responsable enough to prevent it. I always wait on a new program for it to be tested because (i asume) Waninkoko only has a wii or at best a few and that is not enough to test every situation.
For the record I feel anyone who makes a contribution to the hombrew community, no matter if it causes problems or is amazing, is equaly important to the overall goal of allowing people to be happy with the hardware they have purchased. So Waninkoko I hope this has taught you something and that you do not stop trying to do what you feel is best.
You have my support
You sir have just won the jawesomeness award.
I have said it before, but I will say it again just because this touches more on it.
Nintendo does NOT think that some homebrew is ok, and others are not. They have a responsability to the develeports to keep the system safe, secure and controlled. Allowing programs like HBC to run on the system basuially gives anyone a back door to make the system do whatever they want. So by rights, even if the author of HBC is dead set against ISO loaders and piracy what is stopping guys like waninko from making them and having them execute from hbc or TP???
Second point - ISO loaders, region changers, dvd dumpers is bad (bushing says so). BUT, emulators is ok??? So, wait..... if someone makes an iso loader that allows me to backup MY games and run them on MY wii then its terrible. But someone else can make a program that allows you to run ANY snes, nes, GBC, genesis, etc game on the wii and its ok? Nobody thought maybe a fully functioning Snes emu MAY cut the sales of VC games off??? Then waninko releases a wad installer. Now this allows you to download a VC game and install it on your wii. So whats the difference? If I can run mario 1, 2, and 3 on a nes emu or a hacked VC title, either way I did NOT pay ninty to run it on my wii. Yet ONLY the wad installer gets bad press?? News flash, homebrew does NOT equal Emulators!!! The emu may be "homebrew" in its purest form, BUT usuing that emulator to run games that you do NOT own is just as bad as an ISO loader.
third point - Guitar fun....... yes, it is a totally legit homebrew game. Well, as legit as you can get. I would guess that no royalties are paid for the songs used to the record companies??? Either way, if I want a stupid game that has random button pushes in sequence to have bragging rights over my friends what are my choices? I can BUY guitar hero, I can BUY rockband, or I can download Guitar fun. Now, if gutar fun is free, and I am not cought up in the marketing of guitar hero to the point that I MUST only play that game, and no clones, then I would be happy with guitar fun. IF the wii was NOT unlocked guitar fun would NOT be possible on the wii, so if I HAD to have one of those games I would HAVE to go buy one of them. So the developer would get rewarded for their work. By me getting guitar fun I may not be stealing their property, but I am taking away their rights to make a sale. This is just one game. What if there was a mario kart clone that was just as fun and free? What if there were people that cloned ALL the "good" wii games and released them as homebrew for free? Sure they are still NOT stealing anything from the devs, but if ninty allowed homebrew to run on their system they could be int he same spot as psp. Hardware sales would be up, but software sales would be at an all time low. Simply because you could download all the clones you wanted. I would be interested to know what Bushings actual thoughts on this are. Because legally these types of homebrew are well within the definition of them. And nothing is being stolen. The concept may be similar, but we see that all the time anyway. In my mind games like guitar fun may as well be downloads of guitar hero, because either way the devs of that game dont get money.
point 3 - Wii ware........ It is my understanding that wii ware was made for people with limited budgets that still wanted to code for the wii. It allowed you to make ninty the distribution party, you just have to submit your game to them, they say yes or no. If they say yes, it shows up on the shop channel and people buy it. if you REALLY wanted to make your own homebrew this could be a rewarding way to do it. The process is still the same, you make the game, you trouble shoot it, then you release it. The ONLY excpetion is that you have to be thorough with your testing BEFORE its released. You cant sell people revision 1A, then expect them to download the bug fixes later. Unless your name is M$! Yes, some people will complain that your stuck to the sandbox dev environment that ninty allows you. But really, do you need more access to "other"
Drama's fun. Bushing's a *****. If he hadn't done what he did, someone else would have. I do not consider Bushing a God like most of the brown-nosing idiots in the Wii Homebrew community. I don't know why anyone listens to him. He did his part, now he needs to screw off. We're the Wii Homebrew community after all, not the *****ing Bushing community. Stinky_1 really nailed it on the head, I just needed to vent about it. I just really hate what a stuck-up *****head Bushing is.