New Wii update attempts to eliminate homebrew

September 29th, 2009 Posted in News, Posted by Valay, Wii

Wii owners who wish to continue with homebrew may be interested in holding back on the latest system update. Upgrading to 4.2 will effectively kill the channel through deletion. According to Nintendo, menu 4.2 “provides behind-the-scene fixes that will not affect features but will improve the overall system performance,” but also warns that the update “will also check for and automatically remove such save data (unauthorized modifications to save data or program files) or program files.”

It should  be noted that this is the first time Nintendo has intentionally taken on the heart of homebrew. Although previous action was taken to disable homebrew installation, an update has never actually removed the channel.


  1. 16 Responses to “New Wii update attempts to eliminate homebrew”

  2. By Thomas on Sep 29, 2009

    It would not be wise for Nintendo Everything to be in support of homebrew as it is often associated with piracy and online cheating.

  3. By Optimus on Sep 29, 2009

    Thanks for the warning!

  4. User avatar

    By Valay on Sep 29, 2009

    @ Thomas – We’re not promoting piracy, we’re simply informing people of the true intentions behind this update. Also, it’s been used more recently to bypass region blocking, not for questionable activities.

  5. By Used Cisco on Sep 29, 2009

    Nothing about this post “supports” homebrew. It’s simply informative in nature. Chill out Thomas. I agree that piracy and online cheating is bad and even sometimes illegal, but the homebrew channel does so much more. If you own a Wii, you have a right to do with it what you want and I appreciate the information even though I don’t use homebrew. If I had the interest, I certainly would.

  6. By trey on Sep 29, 2009

    I guess its the usb loaders which can be installed/launched through homebrew which have forced their hand on this matter/ not to mention wiiware/vc piracy is probably on the increase.

  7. By Javed on Sep 29, 2009

    Hmm….Removal of homebrew channel. This is a bad move by Nintendo. I don’t do piracy but I think this update would cause loss of sales. There aready losing the on the verge of losing the console war this would just aid in turning off people who just want to just backup there games they already have. Which is about one percent of the wii population. Writing this article kind of foiled Nintendo’s plans to clamp down on piracy. Oh well I hope you guys learn sometihng. Anti Piracy Act!

  8. By Jason Tanner on Sep 29, 2009

    @Thomas,

    Who are you to say what is or is not a wise decision for Nintendo Everything to begin with?

    Also, Piracy and sharing are two completely different things. Piracy has to do with the actual sales/transaction of unlawfully copied materials, sharing is just as it implies, one person giving, lending, borrowing something to another person, not against the law but still frowned upon by the gaming greed, if things were up to them, there would be drm on your console games so that you couldn’t even lend a game to a friend or sell it used.

    You obviously don’t know anything about Wii homebrew because if you did, you would know that piracy is a single digit percentage of what the Wii hombrew scene is about.

    The homebrew channel allows for the playback of DVD movies and video files, old school emulators, original homebrew titles, internet radio, out of region wii and gamecube disc playback and so much more.

    You might want to do your homework before you go shooting off you mouth about things you’ve no idea about.

  9. By Rhys on Sep 29, 2009

    wouldn’t worry to much though, wont be long before they find a way to by pass the whole thing

  10. User avatar

    By Valay on Sep 29, 2009

    Definitely don’t think anyone here is trying to rag on Thomas (at least I hope not!)

    But yeah, there certainly are benefits to the homebrew channel, mainly the region restriction bypass I mentioned. If you use if you legal activity, I don’t see a problem with it (although I myself have never installed it). I don’t think anyone should commend the use of it for those who are taking advantage of the channel’s functionality, though.

  11. By Jason Tanner on Sep 29, 2009

    Valay,

    I don’t see post for this story anywhere on your site, I can only seem to access it from N4G to here. Forgot to do a post for it? T

    The Homebrew channel is also great for *trying* out import games (games with zero or little chance of seeing a N.A. release) before deciding to fork over the large amount of cash they usually cost.

    I’m sure the hackers will have an exploit for this immediately though, they always do, thank God.

  12. By Jason Tanner on Sep 29, 2009

    Wow,

    Disregard the comment about not being able to find the post on this article.

  13. By keyz on Sep 29, 2009

    Javed

    Nintendo’s on the verge of losing the console war? The last time i checked, Wii has sold 53 million units, which is more than the other two systems combined! Get your facts straight bub.

  14. By Heebs on Oct 4, 2009

    Lets focus on finding a way to bypass 4.2 and install homebrew, instead of debating the finer points of copyright law.

    All i want is my SNES emulator back.

  15. By ed hardy on Nov 5, 2009

    It was a very nice idea! Just wanna say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. I will be your loyal reader. Thanks again.

  1. 2 Trackback(s)

  2. Sep 29, 2009: Firmware 4.2 del firmware Wii elimina el Homebrew Channel | Nivel 100
  3. Sep 29, 2009: Nova atualização para Wii, 4.2, promete acabar com os homebrew | Gameoverstart

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