Wii hacking.... a possibillity?
Alright, first of all, this is just a theory and idea and has not been performed and I am not asking you to perform this because it may be illegal. I was just wondering, on the wii channel listings (in the save menu) it gives you the option to move a game to and SD memory card. Would you not be able to get wii virtual console games onto your SD memory card, upload them to your computer and edit them/make them available to download? (again, not suggesting, just trying to see if this is a flaw in the Wii… please, prove it wrong :) )
The Wii doesn't allow DVD's :P I have a Wii but my camera is broken and it is the only thing that can connect to the comp that supports SD memorys… I might borrow one from someone else and try. Maybe. If you could, you would be able to run all sorts of programs on it, different games, and tweak the internet browser to do, oh I don't know, umm… "other features" like java etc… Anyways, I may test, but I myself would think nintendo would be smart enough to block it but then again- you never know till you try. (I need to brrow a cam/mp3 player or something !!! :P)
Man…I NEED A Wii! Anyway, besides my yearning for a console of which I have no money for:
To get a game on the SD is something that is blocked by the Wii (I don't know for SURE (because I don't have one to mess with.) but I am pretty sure Nintendo has thought of it.) However, the Wii is CAPABLE of reading and writing to the card, meaning that it is possible. So what do we do now? Well, we need to find a way to save files to a SD card.
So that means that we either gotta hijack some game to do it for us…OR we need to get the hell away from nintendo. I don't know about you guys, but I would vote the "great Nintendo Ecscape" route.
So, right now, the best bet for that would be: WiiLinux. (WiiLi.org). So I guess we would go on there and poke around until we find a file that would be the full game and stick it on the SDcard. Then you do what you want.
This is just me thinking semi-logically for like…20 seconds. If anyone proves me wrong, or can actually test this (I need a Wii!) then PLEASE post results.
NC
Well, the Wii does give the feature to add that and save data to any SD card through the memory section (right click on the file with the SD inserted and click copy, making sure your lock is not on….) it is very simple to copy it to the memory card, it is accessing that area in the card that is the tricky part…. also a little tidbit information, it allows you to listen to mp3 files on your SD card by going to the photo channel and checking out slideshow > options (or something) and change the music. You can view pics and movie files in the photo channel as well. So in conclusion, yes, you can copy just about anything saved on your Wii to the memory card (they released their own SD cards as it is basically the Wii's external memory card) and Yes you can access certain file types over the card. So, I hope this information helps (and as well, I have been on wiili many times ;) )
EDIT: And fyi, I meant virtual-console games, saved game information (like saved game blocks etc) etc. I don't know how you may go about saving an entire wii game other than maybe obtaining critical information through the saved game info file. And I do have a Wii- but nothing to test it with :( I may be able to borrow one soon though. Anyone able to do this please pm me, message in here or even use msn or yahoo to contact (dont have to, just if you want further instruction and tips)
Why would they give you external storage on a common format, which already interacts with known file types, but not give you access to save games you put on there.
They would have no reason not to let people access save games, the only down fall to them would be people cheating, and i dont think they'll care about that.
Why would you think its even a DRM issue, its a save game.
I reckon its as simple as coping files.
If I had a Wii, i would have already gotten it, copied and edited files. But then again I dont have a Wii
Unless I am wrong (which I may be) he was talking about saving the games on to the SD cards, not saved game data. There for he could mess with it and give it to people for free, or he could modify it and make his own virtual game allowing homebrew gaming.
Nintendo would want to stop this because: 1)They would lose profits from games if others were selling them/giving them away 2)this could allow people to cheat on the virtual games…which Nintendo DOES want to discourage because there is talk (I don't know if they implemented it yet) of there being a universal high score table for all the wiis hooked up to the internet. Cheating would throw that whole thing off. 3)Nintendo wants to stop home brew gaming because of one reason: money. There is no law stating that you can't make games for a console w/o the makers consent, however Nintendo needs big developers to think they have to go to Nintendo. Nintendo, Xbox, Sony PSs, all of them lose MILLIONS on the console. They sell the console for so cheap compared to how much it costs to make it. They lose about $150 per console (depending on the specific console the price may very.) So how do they get that money back? By giving out the secrets to coding them. The company sells the devkit to developers for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The wii is the first to make it relatively cheap…for $2000. But the point is, they can't have a way to make homebrew games, or else the big companies will use it, and they will lose money. Its a big deal, because with the exception of the minor profit they get from games (a small cut from the developer) that is one of the only ways they are making money.
I cant really say much till I am able to view the files on my SD. But that is exactly what I was thinking neo. You could stick them on the net for download, you could edit them, you could even totally reprogram games at will and do whatever you want, find out how it works etc. So ya. I am going to attempt to fix my camera. Anyone who has something that can read an SD card, an SD card, and a Wii, plz contribute :)
Because everything else is a normal thing like a camera which reads SD's, an mp3 player that reads SD's etc.
EDIT: And just for extra proof- check out this section at Wiili… I can't believe I didn't notice 8-)