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WiiWare games cracked?

Posted May 14, 2008 at 5:02PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii Tags: Frontier Development, Hackers, Square Enix

Hackers apparently grabbed copies of WiiWare games straight from the servers at Nintendo, and the video game titles such as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles from Square Enix are now available over peer-to-peer download means.

Games such as Frontier Development's LostWinds and several other Japanese WiiWare releases are making their way to PCs illegally, but we have not heard confirmation that these copies actually work.

As of press time, we have no response from Nintendo, so stay tuned for more updates.

Via Go Nintendo

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I can confirm they work, you need the latest firmware update that supports wiiware to launch them though.

you use the wad installer, 'they come in wad format' and you install them via the twlight hack with the installer,

shiney new channel.

~people in the homebrew scene want to make this into some huge deal. it's no different then pirating a rom which is something we are all guilty of.

the only difference is these roms are brand new and hot off the presses.

why people in the homebrew scene want to make angels out of theirselves and sinners out of the guys who are playing newer pirated meterial is bayond me,

it's all the same.,

stealing is stealing. period. if your going to steal a rom of chrono trigger or secret of mana you are already guilty.

hypocrites claiming benovelance.

you are less a sinner then I because the roms you steal are older then mine.

I bring this point to you because we are all thives. And if your reading this, you know it..

so i've said my peace. cast your stones.

# lol — FreePlay 2008-05-14 23:55

Idiot.

"Hi, I'm justifying my theft because everyone does it"

Except that not everyone *does*.

# ... — Matt-N 2008-05-14 23:56

While on the surface it seems the same, I do disagree!

The old SNES (and that entire generation) ROMs had a good number of years to earn the developers their investment back, plus profit, before the respective systems died. I only downloaded ROMs as I wanted to relive my youth and had no hardware to do so... and before 'Well, go on eBay then' comments surface, the developers still wouldn't get royalties from that route!

So, like I said, it not exactly the same... though I will be downloading these too LOL!

# Roms are illegal...period..."True" Homebrewers OK — jbondsr 2008-05-15 00:34

It doesn't matter if the developers get royalties or not. Doesn't matter if the hardware or software is still available for sale or not.

The fact is, under law, someone still holds the license, hence they are in charge of how it is to be used. You downloading it for free, without their permission, is a violation of that right.

Now whether you agree with the law or not is a whole different story.

There are people on the Hombrew scene who don't ever use "Illegal Roms". They stick to fan made games and software. Sure, most people who deal with homebrew may have played a rom or 2, but I'm sure there are many people who haven't and wont.

# Well. — ShadeyProphet 2008-05-15 01:17

I dont mean to make people angry or upset,

i dont mean to shake their beliefes, or insult their scene.

I have been a fan of the homebrew scene for a long long time, Since the dreamcast days in fact.

I bring to you, this point.

with the psp, It was originaly unlocked. and didnt become locked untill firmware version 1.50

I dont know enough about the original swaploit To call bs on it.

but I do know the gta homebrew method Took offical game saves And altered them to bypass the digital signature check.

the gta method was largly popular and widely accepted in the homebrew scene even though, it was a stolen snepit of code from a commercial game,. we all looked the other way and allowed it to be.

The twlight hack. is very much the same method. if not worse because the offical digital signature for the save had to be dumped from the systems Nand. these are "offical-illegal-stolen digital signatures. and every person who has experienced homebrew on the wii via the twlight hack........

i'll stop there.

My point is. while my above statment wont be very popular here. The truth hurts. we will always judge others harshly while overlooking our own short comings.

Where are the lines between right and wrong drawn?

I'm not so sure I know anymore..

# Not to double post. — ShadeyProphet 2008-05-15 01:26

the psp Gba emulator,,

your not playing a good gba emu on the psp without a gba bios. it's the way the emu was writen.

hmm., arent bioses illegal too?

No surely our great homebrew scene wouldnt allow something like that...

The point is. Homebrews true origions began in warez.

We are more alike to those warez pirate people then we would ever want to admit.

# ... — Matt-N 2008-05-15 01:33

I think you read my comment in the wrong context. Using ROMs is using ROMs, which is illegal, I agree.

I'm merely saying that I personally downloaded ROMs because I couldn't play them another way. WiiWare is current and I'll be happy to pay for them.

As for the royalty thing, I tried to answer the question before it was asked (yet, here I am making it more laymen's for you): secondhand private purchasing/selling on eBay is not the answer and also against usual Video Games' Terms of Use, ie, also illegal. Check out the Terms in instruction manuals... we shouldn't even be lending games to friends!

Anyway, back on topic. In my opinion, playing ROMs from dead consoles (Lynx, etc) is a world away from current consoles. My opinion only!

# slightly flawed view — ppcasm 2008-05-15 03:15

ShadeyProphet, It seems you have a slightly flawed view on what the "homebrew" scene actually is, and it started way before dreamcast was even thought of. Homebrew is not JUST about emulators and haxoring the next firmware to play "the isoz", believe it or not there are very legit purposes for homebrew, such as per say running linux on a multitude of platforms, including gamesystems. I wont really get into your other flawed view of these so called "stolen snippets of code" , either im loosing focus of what your trying to say, or you really believe that modifying a savegame to trigger a vulnerability in a savesystem is considered theft?

# WTF!?!?!?!?! — ISOHaven 2008-05-15 05:37

@Matt-N, I agree. I never understood this part. Nintendo DOES NOT sell Super Mario Brothers for the NES. They can not possibly make any money on someone obtaining it. So, who cares if someone obtains it?

Is Nintendo going to SPEND MONEY in order to take back a license they wont make money on? It would seem you could walk straight into a Nintendo store, hand someone an "illegal" ROM and it would cost Nintendo less to do NOTHING.

# Well — ThrashWolf 2008-05-15 05:38

Yes, Jap and NTSC wiiware on PAL Wii's, currently, I've downloaded the VC games of games I own, mainly because I cba having four nintendo consoles at the foot of my tv, and I own the original games. I bought Paper Mario for the VC, and tbh I think that covers the emulator Nintendo hashed together(yes, emulator, the roms can be extracted and even played from a cracked VC game).

And as for WiiWare, yes I have it, I've had it since the first few wads popped up on torrent sites. I'll be uninstalling and buying lost winds when it gets a uk release, as well as FFCC.

They're new games that have had alot of time put into them by developers, and deserve to be paid for. Some WiiWare games(Pokemon farm is an example) are terrible, and I only discovered this because I tried before I bought. I support Piracy, but I also support developers who release good games. I'm not trying to justify the scene, more express my opinion on the matter, I feel it's ok to test out these games, it means games that are WORTH buying can be bought, while the rubbish is expelled, meaning horrible applications like Pokemon farm don't do well, and as a result, we won't see a pokemon farm 2. And as for the VC, those games have seen their day, if I own the original carts, why the hell should I pay nintendo again just for a crude emulator over and over?

# Mehh — BIH 2008-05-15 07:37

This has been know for a while and i doubt it will hurt Nintendos profits as i doubt many familys would go through the hassle and risk to install a few pirated VC games....

# wut? — Mattroid 2008-05-15 07:40

Wait, you consider being into homebrew since the Dreamcast days "a long long time"?

Ha. Wow.

I guess that's before it was so "mainstream" as it is now. Hmm. I suppose the only response now is "I liked homebrew before it was cool," lol.

# yeah — ThrashWolf 2008-05-15 10:38

True that

# jeez — aaronandshag 2008-05-15 15:08

Wow, Who gives? Gah all of you are drama*****s on qj.

# what else is new — otacon 2008-05-15 16:04

All wii games weather they be dl or store bought have been torrented for as long as the system has been circulation. This means nothing though unless youre using mods because each download is sysstem specific and usually can't be played. If the games sexurity was cracked though than it would be possible but I didn't see anything about that?

# ??? — Cloudhunter 2008-05-16 10:11

I'm sorry, but what is the point? Why are you trying to argue this? And if you're going to argue, at least argue with correct information.

"the gta method was largly popular and widely accepted in the homebrew scene even though, it was a stolen snepit of code from a commercial game,. we all looked the other way and allowed it to be. " WRONG.

The save game that was modified didn't contain any Rockstar code. It was just a way of storing data. They found a bug in the original code in the actual game (NOT the source) which allowed a buffer overflow to happen.

"The twlight hack. is very much the same method. if not worse because the offical digital signature for the save had to be dumped from the systems Nand. these are "offical-illegal-stolen digital signatures. and every person who has experienced homebrew on the wii via the twlight hack........" WRONG.

Same method maybe, but not the method you're thinking of. Basically, you can name your horse in the game. The game save was hacked to add a longer name than the maximum, and yet again caused a buffer overflow.

Also, the thing that allows you to even sign the homebrew you run, isn't stealing a key. It's finding a bug in the key.

And as for your key part? I'm not sure that a key can even be copyrighted. The algorithm was a freely available one also.

"Homebrews true origions began in warez." While its true many people do homebrew for Warez - it's not the exclusive reasons. Emulators aren't illegal, and roms are a grey area if you own the actual cart.

"hmm., arent bioses illegal too?"

Illegal to download when you don't own the console? Of course. Illegal full stop? Nope.

There are many valid ways to dump a bios if you own the console, and even if you can't dump it it's not strictly illegal to download it if you own it.

Moral of the story is - Think before you make a fool out of yourself by claiming incorrect information. Even I have been able to pull your arguments apart.

Cloudy

# @Cloudy — ShadeyProphet 2008-05-16 14:06

*The save game that was modified didn't contain any Rockstar code. It was just a way of storing data. They found a bug in the original code in the actual game (NOT the source) which allowed a buffer overflow to happen.

When you take something from a commercial product. no matter what you take from it . it's stolen. And protected under copyright law.

If you can not grasp that, Why are you in here argueing points?

"The twlight hack. is very much the same method. if not worse because the offical digital signature for the save had to be dumped from the systems Nand. these are "offical-illegal-stolen digital signatures. and every person who has experienced homebrew on the wii via the twlight hack........"WRONG.

umm No im really not, im wrong because you dissagree? im wrong because you dont know the facts about the things your speaking of?

I dont understand ? Because the twlight hack is very much like the gta method...

are you by chance. Specail ? how do you not see that?

look Im going to stop here. it seems to me you couldnt think of anything intelligent to say so you just decided to come in and argue points.

I dont know what to say really.

# I mean.. — ShadeyProphet 2008-05-16 14:19

They are both software exploits that use a save state to bypass security.

A picture, A sound, a lettering font, Any part of a game in part or in whole is protected by copy right laws.

Why dont you read up a bit before you come in playing johnny law..

# idiots — dmanv2 2008-05-16 17:47

its not stealing because no one with the right mind would buy all of this second rate garbage from nintendos service. Nintendo has DESTROYED its relationship with its "used to be" loyal fanbase. They now cater to 12 year olds and grandmothers. Download everything you can, so you may be able to reclaim some of the money that you wasted on buying the pathetic, low powered, waggle replacing button pressing useless and inaccurate controller, useless online poor excuse for a "new-age" videogame console. You call it stealing? They still have the game that they created. And you were never going to buy that piece of garbage. NINTENDONE

# WTF!?!?!?!?! — ISOHaven 2008-05-16 18:37

Wow, that was a boat load of WRONG information. You should try going to school once in a while. Fix that whole ignorance problem you have.

# On the flip side of things. — ShadeyProphet 2008-05-16 22:58

ff my life as a king is a really great game. I will be buying that one and most of its add on content.

somehow, while the game is a city type sim, They managed to put a lot of depth into character development wepapons items and spells for the different classes of fighters.

while you never directly battle any enemies or go through any dungeons with the main character.

many needed items for weapon and armor and magic development can be found in those dungeons.

You will want to make sure you fighter guys have the ability to buy the best weapons and armor and spells and items for those places.

it's not a masterpeice. but for what it is, it's really quite deep.

# Wii sucks....Period — dmanv2 2008-05-18 18:34

Ill say it again....Wii sucks.....Period.....Anyone who thinks other wise is in denile.....I was once in denile......due to my loyal fortitude to Nintendo....Then as the days passed, i just kept falling deeper and deeper into denile.....until one day I woke up, and realized that the Wii is a fad....Since then (Been about 5 months since I sold it) I have bought a ps3 and play it non stop.....Everyday there is something to do on the wonderfull feature rich box.... Everything about it is superior.... And that was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life.......My name is Danny and I am 35...

# Oh Geez... — Kojiro 2008-05-19 03:27

Playing a rom of a copyrighted game even if you own a cart - illegal

Playing a pirated iso/ware/whatever - illegal

Playing a game you borrow from a friend - illegal

Recording a song you hear on the radio - illegal

Listening to a CD your dad bought - illegal

Putting music from your CDs onto an mp3 player - illegal

copying a game to play a backup that you own - illegal

watching a dvd with a group of friends who all didn't buy it but you - illegal

Using Fireworks in many states - illegal

Lots of things are technically illegal by American copyright laws. That's why laws like the DMCA need to be revised by people that actually know something about the industry. Many things are illegal under American law, but some things aren't morally wrong even though they are illegal. Sure, playing games from the early 80's on your computer might be frowned on by the government, but when theres no possible way for you to go out and legally buy that software from the company, why does paying someone on eBay 50 dollars for it make any sense? Theres a fine line between people who download recent titles they could easily go pick up and people who download abandonware that hasn't seen a legal release in over 10 years.

# WTF!?!?!?!?! — ISOHaven 2008-05-20 11:58

Heterosexual? What kind of a douche bag comment was that supposed to be?

STFU you nazi POS.

# Tell Da Truth — Gameeye2 2008-05-28 08:01

Amen Bruffuh

# Teehee — Gameeye2 2008-05-28 08:03

HaHa Someone is mad

# Lol! — Gameeye2 2008-05-28 08:05

Dman + pwned

# Hmm — Gameeye2 2008-05-28 08:08

Why does it seem like Dman made another screenname just to agree with himself?

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